The proper care of Characters: A guide to character development

[Blue_Ball]

Guide to Character Traits

In this guide, I’ve listed and analyzed the Character traits that I found the most useful to have in the game. You’ll find a lot of information on what to do with your characters to insure that they get good stats. This is a work in progress and I will be adding new sections as I complete them.

Good family traits:

Key
Trait Name A/B/C/D… (E) –Conditions that will give you points to reach the threshold.

ABCD…: Points required to attain the multiple levels of the character trait.
E: The max level of the Trait.

GoodCommander 1/2/4/8/16 (5) – This traits and it’s many variants (Good attacker, defender…) has too many conditions to list here. Suffice it to say, if you win battles, this stat will go up. If you make certain that you only have the minimum amount of troop to win the fight, it will go up much faster.

Disciplinarian 1/2/4 (3) – Although this trait gives you a morale penalty at the 2 higher levels, the move bonus compensate for that. The only thing you can actively do to get this is to stage riots(10%) or rebellions(15%) in the city the character is in.

LogisticalSkill 1/3/5 (3) – This one is really hard to get. In the triggers the only way to gain it is to have less than 16% move left and then you have a 60% chance of getting a 15% chance of having it. In essence you have 4% chance if you use up all your move points. I usually tweak this trigger by removing the “RandomPercent > 40” entry in the trigger, leaving me a 15% chance of getting it if I use up my move.

Brave 1/2/4/8/16 (5) – This one is easy to get. Join a Crusade (100%). Besides that, you get points for losing HP in battle. If you lose 1/3 of your General’s HP, you get 15% chance. And if you also kill at least 6 enemies, there’s another 60% chance. If you lose 2/3, you get another trigger that gives you a 33% chance.

Energetic 1/3/5/8 (4) – Mobility is one of the hallmark of a good army. Unfortunately, the only way to get this is to be born with it. It is self-perpetuating though at 7% if you have no more moves left. So if you have it, drain all but 10% of your movement points every turn and it has a chance to go up.

Prim 1/3/5 (3) – Some of you may wonder why Prim is here as it has as many negative effects as positive. The reason is that it prevents you from getting the following REALLY bad traits: Lewd, Feck, Perverted, Girls, Arse. All you need to do is have all your move points and be in a town or castle with a church building and you get 2% chance. Considering that the other BAD traits are much easier to get, I usually tweak this one for a higher percentage.

GoodAdministrator 1/6/12 (3) – There are two ways to get this one and many triggers for each so I’ll keep it simple. If taxes are at least high and you complete a building or train a unit and your people are still happy, you get a 10 and 4% chance respectively. Also if your taxes are on Very High and your people are yellow or green, you get a 5 and 10% chance respectively.

InspiringSpeaker 1/2/4 (3) – If you win a battle with fair (1.2) odds, your character does not have Ignorance or InspiringSpeaker itself, he gets a 75% chance to get the skill. If he already has InspiringSpeaker, the chance goes down to 10%.

StrategicSkill 1/3/5 (3) – If you win a battle with close odds (1.2), you get 25% chance if you were attacking and 30% if defending. Furthermore, if you win at least a Clear victory with less than half the forces (0.5) you get 60% chance.

Upright 1/2/4 (3) – In the same line as “Prim” this trait prevents lots of other BAD traits: Corrupt, Embezzler, Liar, Disloyal, Gambling. For that alone, it’s good. When you build any church you get 10% chance at a point of “Upright”. Again, I usually tweak this one as the other traits are much easier to get.

GoodMiner 1/2/4 (3) – You get a point if you finish a Mine building (100%). There’s another broken trigger that should give you 1% chance if you end your turn in a settlement with mine buildings. As it is it gives you the 1% only if you finish the mine. You can fix this by replacing the “SettlementBuildingFinished >= mines” by “SettlementBuildingExists >= mines” in the “Trigger building_mines”. I would also tweak up the percentage to 5%.

GoodTrader 3/6/10 (3) – If you end your turn with 100% move points in a town with at least a Merchant Quarter, you get a chance at a point(15%). If you train a merchant, you get a point (100%). If you build a money building (Markets, Ports, Roads, Banks, Merchant wharf and Caravan stop) you get a point (100%).

Just 1/3/7 (3) – If you have at least 1 Chivalry and you complete a Town Hall+, you get a point (100%). Just is self-perpetuating.

KindRuler 1/3/7 (3) – If you keep People Happy at low tax rate (easy to do), you get 8% chance. If you have chivalry and you “occupy” a settlement you just conquered, you get 2% chance. There are other ways to get it if you have Trusting or NonAuthoritarian through self-perpetuation but KindRuler itself is not self-perpetuating. I usually tweak the second trigger at 15 or 30% as I don’t “Occupy” settlements that often in the game.

GoodBuilder 5/12/20 (3) – This one is only hard to get if you don’t focus. The character gets a point if he finishes a building (100%). The Threshold being so high makes it a little hard to get. This is what I recommend: Get every one to the first level which appears on the character scroll as “Active Builder”. You only need to finish 5 buildings. Then you pick the generals you want to be your builders and you make certain that they are in the settlement when a building completes. If you have the trait “Great Builder” in the character scroll, park the general in a town with a high tech level so you can get discounts on the expensive improvements. The only other trait that gives you a Construction discount is “Cheapskate” which gives you a Squalor penalty. I prefer to go for the ancillary “architect and overseer”.

BattleScarred 1/2/3/4 (4) – Dangerous to get but well worth it. If your General looses 1/3 of his HP, he gets 40% chance. If he loses 2/3, he gets another chance at 90%.

Fertile 1/2/4 (3) – There’s really nothing you can do to get this one. If you’re not born with it, forget it. That’s why if a character comes of age and his dad has “fertile” or “wifeIsFertile” and they don’t get the trait, I reload before the turn end and try again. It may be worth adding a trigger that permits you to get it if there’s a hospital or other relevant building in the settlement.

HaleAndHearty 1/2/3 (3) – There are lots of triggers for this Trait. Ending your turn in a settlement with Bizmaristan+ gives you 10%. If you end your turn outside a Settlement and you still have 60% move (not in a siege though), you get 15% chance. If you end your turn in a Settlement with coaching house+, you get 25%; and if the Pleasure Palace is built, you get another at 35%. You also get small percentages if you complete, or finish your turn in a settlement with a Health building. This trait is Self-Perpetuating.

Intelligent 1/2/4 (3) – This one also has lots of triggers but you have to wait until you get Alchemists lab+ and Library+. If you have them, make certain your character’s father is in one of the settlements when he comes of age. Also, you get a chance at a point if you end your turn or if you complete construction on these buildings.

CrusaderHistory 3/6/9 (3) – This is the easiest one to get IMHO. You get 1 point for joining a crusade, you get another when you get to the target region, you get 2 points for laying siege to the target Settlement and finally, you get another 2 points if you take the target. This means that if you complete a Crusade, you WILL have level 2 “Great Crusader”. And if you at least siege the city in another crusade, you get the top level “Grand Crusader”.

BattleChivalry 1/3/6/10/15 (5) – This one has a high threshold because there are lots of triggers to get it. In essence, you get points when you win a battle that the general fought in and where you were outnumbered (0.8 if defending, 0.5 if attacking). Also, the general gets points if he wins against an opposite religion. (Catholic and Orthodox vs. Islam). These only work if you already have chivalry. For those of you who like dread instead, don’t pay attention to this entire guide. I find that it’s better all around to have a high chivalry that Dread.

StrategyChivalry 1/2/4/6/9 (5) – If you’ve been in a settlement for 4+ turns, the taxes are low and the people are happy, you get 25% chance. If you complete any church or joust building, you get a point (100%). If you choose to “Occupy” once you win a siege, you get a point (100%). Again I prefer Chivalry to Dread as it tends to lead to other good traits and Dread tends to lead to bad traits.

CaptorChivalry and RansomChivalry 1/2/3/4 (4) – More easy ways to raise you chivalry. You’ll get a point if you release or ransom at least 80 soldiers. The amount of the ransom must be at least 1000FL though. So once you have “Merciful Champion” always ransom your prisoners because you’ll get no more points for releasing captives.

WifeIsCharming, WifeIsFertile, WifeIsWise 1/2/3 (3) – Marry your princess with the required traits (Charm 5+, FertileWoman and EducatedWoman respectively) to a general and you get these stats. Or, if you’re looking for a mate for your faction heir, Spy on the princesses and try to snatch up these ladies as they not only improve the general’s stats, they improve the traits of their children as well.

AcademyTrained 1/2 (2) – Gotta love easy command points. There is only one trigger for this one. End your turn in a settlement with a military_academy+ and you get 15%. Once a general has “Officer Training” on his character scroll, take him to another town and give someone else a chance.

ReligiousActivity 1/4/8/12(4) – You get really easy Piety and Chivalry points with this trait. Build a religion improvement or train a preist/bishop and you get a point. Once you get “Devoutly Religious” on your scroll, switch to someone else.

This is it for now but I plan to add the following when I have the time:
Hereditary Traits, Self-Perpetuating traits, really bad traits and how to avoid them, good Ancillary and how to get them, bad ancillary and how to avoid them.

[Guru]

Hello there Blue_Ball and welcome to the .org!

That's a very good first post. It's nice to know how to get good traits and how to avoid bad ones. *waiting for the guide to be continued*

Cheers, Guru

[Andres]

Welcome BlueBall

Very nice post indeed

[Ciaran]

Very well done!
If you´ve got too much time on your hands, maybe you could do a similar list for the negative traits as well, to show what to avoid.

[Ars Moriendi]

Very interesting and useful. There's so many traits and triggers, I usually give up checking them after a few turns - this guide could help improve the situation.

If I may make some suggestions for usability :

1. Try to include brief description of effects, eg. HaleAndHearty +(2,4,6) Hitpoints ; Intelligent +(1,2,3)Command, +(2,5,10)Trade & Taxes ; and so on.

2. It would be nice of you group the traits into sections based on main effects or character use (Command, Administration, Dread/Chivalry etc.)
The most likely way to use this guide would be to have it as a quick reference for those moments when you see a young 16yo coming of age, and you wonder "What will I use him for ? Oh, so he's Born Conqueror, to the general's tent with him !" - so you'll just skip to the "Command" section and get a quick look at your freshman's future life, what he should or should not do to become a great military leader.

[Didz]

Well done...very usefull information.

[Kraggenmor]

Welcome Blue Ball!

I agree with the fellows; excellent post!

Nothing to add but I do have a question based on observation:

I have gotten the 'Disciplinarian' trait while never having had a riot or revolt. I've noticed it occuring most often when getting a 'Man of the Hour' result after having attacked twice in a turn.

(you attack the rebels; they withdraw. You run them down and attack again)

So, that may be related.

[supadodo]

Do you know it is easier to get the battescarred traits by auto-resolving instead. I had my general continue mop up rebels and take on small enemy stacks. Eventually after about 10 turns he has up to terribly scarred which gives +6 HP.

The reason why its so hard to get in manual battles is that you can't see your generals hitpoints and mostly if you see your general bodyguard getting casualties, you would want to pull him out. The AI in auto-resolve is surprisingly good at taking care of your generals so don't worry too much. I have a 99% chance of my generals surviving a auto-resolve with good odds on my side.

[Kobal2fr]

*sniffs haughtily, checks for dust under the furniture, tssk-tssk's at the coffee rings on the table*
So this is what passes for a guide these days, uh ?

@supa : true, which is weird because for some reason, auto-resolving also makes your generals pretty much immune to gaining BattleDread/Chiv traits, which also rely on him fighting.

[Blue_Ball]

Thanks to everyone who read this guide and thanks for your comments and suggestions. If I had the time, I could write a 20 page essay on the triggers and the possible motivations of CA but that would not be very interesting. I will try to Post the Negative traits section by the end of this week since there appears to be an interest in this kind of analysis.

To Ars Morendi: I had thought of adding brief descriptions of the effects in a latter version and I think your idea of grouping the traits into the "good governor" & "good commander" section is interesting and I may add it then.

To Kraggnmor: Some of these traits appear randomly when a new character is created. Since there's no way to control this, and this guide is about things you can do, I left out that info on purpose.

To supadodo: I noticed that as well. When the computer Auto-Calc a battle it must assume that the general fights in every fight. Although I don't think it happens more often than when you control the action, it is a much safer way to get this trait.

[Czar Alexsandr]

Welcome to the Org!

Excellent first post. I've found the guide useful. I haven't observed all of thesse traits in my game yet or their triggers so I'll need to check them out. And I agree with you on chivalry. Chivalry gets you good traits allright.

By the way you should get customised Blue_Ball! Pick a new avatar pic etc...

[imnothere]

thankyou very much for the guide!!!

[Blue_Ball]

This is part 2 of this guide.

Bad Familly traits

Key
Trait Name A/B/C/D… (E) – Conditions that will give you points and how to prevent it.
ABCD…: Points required to attain the multiple levels of the character trait.
E: Effects of the trait: Self-Explanatory abbreviations like Comm for command or unrst for unrest.

BadCommander 1/2/3/5 (-comm) – Don’t lose with good odds (1.5 or less) so you don’t get this one. In fact, the only reason to get this is if the difficulty of battles are too high for you. If you find that you get it often, you may want to lower the battle difficulty by a notch.

Drink 1/2/4/8/16/32 (-comm,-tax,-aut) – You get a very small chance to get this if you end your turn in a settlement with 100%MP (move points) and a small chance if at sea. If in town and the “Brothel” series is there you get another small chance. Move the characters a little bit out and back in to town and you should avoid this. When you get married or have kids, this trait may disappear. Drink is self-perpetuating.

Arse 1/4/8/16 (-comm,-mor,-aut) – This also has a small chance if 100%MP in town and small chance while at sea. This may also be caused by the adoption of a brother. If you crusade and manage to get to the target region, this trait will reduce. Arse is self-perpetuating

BadDisciplinarian 1/3/5 (-move,-law,-comm,+mor,-aut) – You have a small chance to get this if you are outside a settlement, you still have at least 60%MP and are not occupied in a siege. Make sure you have 50% or less move if you have to end your turn outside.

Coward 1/2/4/6 (-mor,-aut) – If you attack and then decide to back out or if you abandon a crusade, you will get this trait. Try to make certain that you want to attack before you do so. This also happens if you quit a fight without killing any of the enemy.

Slothful 1/2/4/8 (-tax,-move,-aut) – If you end your turn in a settlement with Coaching House or better and 100%MP, or if a brother is adopted, you have a small chance of getting this trait. Again, move around to prevent this. Slothfull is self-perpetuating.

PublicAtheism 1/3/6/10 (+unrst,-piety) – This may be caused by having a heretic with 5+ faith nearby. Also, you can get it if you are in a settlement with no churches for 3+ turns and you have less than 2 Piety. Kill or denounce all Heretic and make certain you at least build a small church (takes 1 turn) within the first 3 turns. This trait is self-perpetuating.

BadAdministrator 1/2/3 (-trade,+unrst,-aut) – If a city riots (50%) or rebels (100%) while the taxes are low, you may get this trait. This is almost impossible so don’t worry too much about it. There’s another trigger “governing19” that I can’t figure out. I think it’s broken.

Ignorance 2/5/8 (-trade,-tax,-aut) – Aside from the stat penalty, this trait also prevents the following traits: RhetoricSkill, StrategicSkill, TacticalSkill, MathematicsSkill, LogisticalSkill. You get this trait if you end your turn under the following conditions: 1.100%MP in a town with Pleasure Palace. 2. 100%MP in a town with no library, alchemist lab or city hall. 3.End your turn in enemy lands with 40%+MP while not in siege. The chances are small though so again, if you move your characters during the turn, this won’t happen. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Gambling 1/4/8/12 (-trade,-bribe) – This one is almost identical as Drink. You get a very small chance to get this if you end your turn in a settlement with 100%MP. If in town and the “Brothel” series is there you get another small chance. There’s also a small chance if a brother is adopted. This goes down if you arrive at your Crusade target region. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Paranoia 1/2/4/8 (-comm,-aut) – You have a small chance if a brother is adopted. This is also caused by assassination attempts so I would kill any assassin you detect, but that should be self-evident. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Embezzler 1/3/6 (-tax) – If you have 50000Fl in the treasury there’s a small chance you’ll get it. If you have 100000Fl you get an extra chance and if it’s at 150000Fl you get a third chance. Keep that treasury lower that 50000Fl by building and recruiting and giving away money to other factions if in a pinch.

Corrupt 2/4/6 (-loy,-tax,-law,-bribe,-aut) – One of the worst traits, you get this under the same conditions as Embezzler and you have a small chance if you end your turn with 100%MP in a town with Pleasure Palace or Merchant Bank+. You may also get it if you finish building one of the Brothel series or when a brother is adopted. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Cuckold 2/3/4/5 (-comm,-fertile,-aut) – You only get this if you are in enemy lands and you are married to an unchaste woman or if you don’t have Wife is Fair. To get wife is fair marry a woman with one of the following: FairWoman, HumbleWoman, BraveWoman, SpiritedWoman at level of 2+. This trait is self-perpetuating but if you have a “sex” ancillary it will stop. If your character has “Arse” (Homosexual) you may also get this (obviously she’s not gonna wait for him to switch teams).

BadTrader 1/4/7 (-trade) – If the character has been in a town with no Grain exchange+ for 3 or more turns you have a chance to get this trait. Grain Exchange is cheap and doesn’t take too long to build so make sure it’s in all your settlements. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Unjust 1/3/7 (+unrst,-chiv) – The first way to get this trait is if you’ve been in a town for 3+ turns in a settlement with no Town Hall+. If you have no chivalry and you demolish a building while the treasury is above 10000Fl you have a chance. Finally, you can also get this if a brother is adopted. This trait is self-perpetuating.

Perverted 1/2/4/7/10/12 (-pop,-piety,-aut) – End your turn with 100%MP in a city with pleasure palace and you have a small chance to get this. This trait is self-perpetuating. Move around to avoid this.

Ugly 1/2/3/4/5 (+comm,-pop,-fertile,+Prsnl-sec) – This one you are born with and there is no way to get rid of it. Down the line though, if you don’t want the children to have it too, don’t marry an Ugly Woman or better yet, marry a fair Woman and you character’s children will be Handsome instead of Ugly.

BadTaxman 1/2/3 (-trade,-squal,-aut) – Even though this trait reduces squalor at higher levels, the tax penalty is punishing. You get a 15% chance of getting this if you complete a building while the happiness is less than green. To avoid it, make certain you lower taxes in a settlement to bring that face back to green the turn before a building is complete.

ExpensiveTastes 1/3/6 (-const,-tax,-squal) – Again, the squalor reduction is not worth the tax and construction penalty. End your turn with 100% MP in a settlement with the following buildings and you may get it: coaching_house+ theatre+ public_baths+ merchants_quarter+ artist_studio+. This may also appear if you keep a high treasury (50000/100000/150000Fl). Lastly it can also appear if a brother is adopted. Once more, moving around is a good way to avoid this trait.

Hypochondriac 1/2/3 (-mor,-att,-HP) – This may appear if you are near a Witch with at least 4 magic. More chances if she has 7+.

Bloodthirsty 1/2/3 (-chiv,-comm,-mor) – You may get this trait if you have no chivalry and you kill more than 10 enemies in battle. You also can get it by exterminating the populace. Make sure you have chivalry and only sack or occupy conquered settlements and this should not appear.

Haemophobic 1/2/3 (-mor,-aut) – Don’t back out of a fight or you may get this. You also have a small chance if you get routed.

Anger 1/2/3 (-chiv,-mor,+comm) – The only thing you can do to avoid this one is not to adopt unless the brothers are minors as you have a chance to get this trait if you do so.

BattleDread 1/3/6/10/15 (-chiv,+comm) – You get this one if you attack a significantly inferior force or when you win battle with no chivalry. Always try to attack with the bare minimum of troops you will need to win and keep that chivalry up and you should be OK.

StrategyDread 1/2/4/6/9 (-chiv,+aut) – There is lots of triggers for this one. The faction leader may get it if you order an assassination of spying mission. If you have no more than 1 chivalry, the taxes are very high and the population is not green, you have a chance of getting it. If you train a spy or assassin the governor may get this if his chivalry is less than 2. You may also get this if you exterminate a settlement.

[Didz]

Do they really have a trait called Arse?

Are you sure its not Ass, we would get in trouble if we used that word out of context on this board, let alone in a game, and it seems a bit out of sync with the other labels in that it doesn't really describe anything tangible, mind you neither does Ass.

Any idea what it is intended to represent, you seem to suggest under Cuckold that it indicates the character is HomoSexual, which only makes things worse in my opinion.

[Ars Moriendi]

They call it "Arse" only in the character traits file, this being the generic name for the trait. In-game you'll see one of the following names for each level : uninhibited, shameful, too well groomed, shameless queen.
And yes, it refers to the character being gay, take this for example :
"Too Well Groomed : Just one step too pretty and polished for his sexual preference to escape a discerning eye." (in game trait description)

It might seem politically incorrect for the XXI century, but the game just presents the medieval mindset concerning this matters.

(please no jokes about "Arse Moriendi", I only became aware of the potential misreading of this name after I chose it for registering on this forum - English is not my native language )

[phonicsmonkey]

it's an in-joke - the programmers are apparently fans of the UK TV comedy "Father Ted", in which the elderly and disreputable Father Jack repeatedly and randomly shouts "Feck! Arse! Girls!" from his bathchair.....

[Kansas Bear]

This is part 2 of this guide.

Bad Familly traits

Key
Trait Name A/B/C/D… (E) – Conditions that will give you points and how to prevent it.
ABCD…: Points required to attain the multiple levels of the character trait.
E: Effects of the trait: Self-Explanatory abbreviations like Comm for command or unrst for unrest.


Cuckold 2/3/4/5 (-comm,-fertile,-aut) – You only get this if you are in enemy lands and you are married to an unchaste woman or if you don’t have Wife is Fair. To get wife is fair marry a woman with one of the following: FairWoman, HumbleWoman, BraveWoman, SpiritedWoman at level of 2+. This trait is self-perpetuating but if you have a “sex” ancillary it will stop. If your character has “Arse” (Homosexual) you may also get this (obviously she’s not gonna wait for him to switch teams).

One of my generals located in Edinburgh(I had conquered Scotland and Ireland) was 'awarded' Cuckold while in friendly territory...

[LilleLurve]

I see alot of these guides (and like them ofc), which look at the game data and analyse it and make it discernable for mere mortals... I know what files to look into in RTW, but I can't seem to find them myself in M2TW, which kinda annoys me a little ;)

Can anyone point me in the right dirrection?