All or nothing: Are you Good or Evil: Chivalrous or Dreadful?

**Divinus Arma** · 12-19-2006, 04:13

Which do you prefer overall? Are you a chivalrous faction with great global reputation or are you a faction with dread leaders and untrusted by all?

**knoddy** · 12-19-2006, 04:20

i tend to be quite chivilrous despite executing most prisoners and the like most of my generals tend to be quite chivilrous due to lots of crusading. but yes most of the time i struggle to get and with high dread, despite executing prisoners.

**maestro** · 12-19-2006, 04:21

I tend to play each general on their own merits so those who are naturally chivalrous I play chivalrously and those who are naturally dreaded I play dreadedly. Thos who are inbetweenies I play either way depending on their other traits. Role-playing generals is great fu

**cassiusdio** · 12-19-2006, 04:28

Being Chivlrous seems to make gaining ceasefires and negociating for other things a lot easier. I would much prefer to be well regarded as trustworthy by my opponent, than feared and find it impossible to reach favourable terms

**Ice** · 12-19-2006, 04:50

I'm usually pretty dreadful. If you screw me, I execute your prisoners and sack your cities.

**Grimmy** · 12-19-2006, 04:51

Dread all the way.

Any general that offers or requests quarter of any kind from an enemy will be punished for treason by his king.

My countrymen are in the business of conquest and make no bones about it, offer no appologies for it and have plans already drawn up to slaughter all who complain over it.

**Husar** · 12-19-2006, 04:55

I'm usually trying to be nice but since my neighbors always attack me, I end up with almost everyone hating me, especially neighbors. Haven't found a way to ally with a neighbor for more than a few turns. Almost all my diplomatic offers are usually very demanding unless I put some money on top, sometimes up to 50000. I really wish diplomacy would be more than that in the game.

**sapi** · 12-19-2006, 04:56

If the other nation has initiated the war, they're dead - i execute their prisoners and sack their cities. If not, i try to ransom the prisoners, unless it would give them so much of an advantage that i can't afford to.

**Poopflingr1** · 12-19-2006, 05:52

I play my generals as their traits dictate... I usually realease all prisoners... unless there are so many, its just better to kill them.. ransoms only come into my mind when there is ALOT of money on the line... and I know im either gonan make a ton of money... or they refuse and I get to kill them anyways!

**madchoochter** · 12-19-2006, 22:58

I like dread because the enemy run like sissies sooner rather than later. Sometimes I forget whether the general has dread or chiv and mess up. It'd be good if the prisoner and settlement screens had indicators for the generals alignment so that wouldn't happen. It's not good when Rufus the Chivalrous murders 4000 Scottish Catholics and executes all their army after sieging Edinburgh.

Anyway, I prefer Dread but only because I don't use governors much. I'd rather sack places like Antioch, Jerusalem repeatedly for cash than keep 'em when they have high Islamic populations. Catholic lands don't seem much of a problem with a good garrison until population goes through the roof. Then you evac, raise the taxes and after a rebellion sack/exterminate the joint. I guess that makes me a bad person!

**Faenaris** · 12-19-2006, 23:09

Chivalry all the way. Other factions love me and the poor soul that dares attack me, gets excommunicated and is then subjugated to a crusade. It is good to be good.

Although, I do have to add, if I was there and I fought a people that defied me, I would probably set a bloody and gruesome example. And if someone actually killed a loved one ... May God have mercy on your souls, for I shall not!

**Redtroll** · 12-21-2006, 00:42

Well, I tried a french campaign playing the White Knight (never declaring wars or executing prisonners), but looting all those big cities was too much incentive so I finally fell from grace.

Now I'm in the middle of a Byzantine Game, busy fighting a mongol invasion in Armenia. Probably due to repeated execution of mongolian prisonners (don't want to see them coming back at me for they cost me a lot to beat) and an immoderate use of assassins, my emperor John Commenus quickly earned his 10 skulls.
I'm quite certain even mongolian leaders were impressed ... His successors seems also to be going on the "dark side".

I'll try to stay an honest man in my next catholic campaign. Btw, does exterminating an excommunicated faction's town earn you some bad trait or is it just considered the right thing to do, burning pagans ?

**katank** · 12-21-2006, 01:44

Dread is great. Makes the enemy rout faster. Besides, why let them come back to fight you?

I tried chivalric characters before but just found that it doesn't fit into my conception of TOTAL WAR!!!

**Decker** · 12-21-2006, 02:27

DREAD all the way. Nothing says like "Don't Tread On Me". Anyone on the battlefield is game, and if I'm broke....well lets just say no one is walking out of that city with their teeth.