MTW Royal Family
The royal family is the mechanism used to track the evolving leadership of a faction through the years of a campaign. The health of the royal family is important to the faction as a whole, poor faction leaders cause problems with both the economic and military aspects of the empire. The actions and affects of the family insert some randomness to play, making the campaign more interesting by offering the opportunity for role-playing, and good, clean, sibling rivalry and the associated fun. The royal family info scroll shows the status and ages of the heirs and princesses of the faction.
Contents
The Faction Leader
The faction leader is the paterfamilias of the royal family. He is the head of the family as well as the leader of the empire. He appears on the campaign map as a unit of the faction-specific royal bodyguards. This unit has 1 more member than usual (this being the King), has a golden sceptre icon on the unit card, and will regenerate losses automatically after combat.
The faction leader is the only character in a faction with an Influence rating. Influence determines how the faction is viewed by others, how popular the leader is with the people and his generals, and the quality of generals the faction's units get. The faction leader's acumen has a global affect of the trade and farming income for the empire, and the leader's vices and virtues can also have far-reaching affects.
Faction leader isolation and it's effect on happiness. General's loyalty and proximity to leader.
On the year that a King dies, the new King will be transported to the most developed province controlled by the faction. This is not always the best scenario, as this province may be far away from the bulk of the faction's lands or surrounded by enemy armies, or the former prince may have been the only good general in the area he was in before ascension.
If a Catholic faction is currently excommunicated when their faction leader dies, the faction is recommunicated.
Heirs
The heirs are the younger brothers and sons of the current king. Once they come of age (16 years old) they will appear on the campaign map (in the King's province) with a unit of faction-specific royal bodyguards. Heir units have a silver sceptre icon on their unit cards. These heirs can be used as generals, and but care should be taken to keep them alive.
A faction is limited to 6 male heirs. These can be either younger brothers of the king, or sons of the king. This limitation includes males that are not yet of age. If six males exist, then no new male will be born (even using the .unfreeze. cheat). If the existing King has six brothers and no sons, this can lead to a problem. One of the brothers will inherit the throne after the King dies, but they will also be advanced in age and may not have time to bring a new heir to his 16th birthday before old age does in the new King and his remaining brothers.
Royal Uncles
Once the son of a King takes over the throne, the uncles of the new King are removed from the royal family. They do remain on the map as bodyguard units, and if properly cared for in their early life can be turned into extremely good generals. A royal uncle is identified on the general's scroll with a crown.
Royal uncles should be watched carefully. Because they can be easily groomed into excellent generals, they can become top candidates for leading a civil war. Their loyalty should always be kept high if possible. Unless the current King is an inbred, vice-ridden, chinless wonder with no acumen and influence, in which case a change in management might be the best thing for the empire as a whole!
Princesses
Princesses are only available to the Catholic and Orthodox factions. Once a princess reaches 15 years of age, she appears on the campaign map (in the same province as the king) as an agent marker. The princess can be used to spy in foreign provinces, act as an emissary and offer alliances, or can be married off.
Care and Feeding of Heirs
Importance of early training. One way trips for idiots and other ways to prune the family tree. Heir and a spare rule of thumb. Use of the king and heirs in military campaigns.
Inheritance and Faction Leader Attributes
When the King dies, his influence value affects the statistics of the new King.
Captured Kings and Heirs
Forced ransom.
Faction Elimination
If a faction has no heirs of age when the faction leader dies, the faction is eliminated from the game. If this happens to the player's faction, the game is over. If an AI faction is eliminated, there is a possibility of the faction reemerging, if underage heirs exist when the faction was eliminated.
There are 2 exceptions. The Papal faction will always reemerge at some point, this is set in the game code. The Holy Roman Empire cannot be eliminated by killing the faction leader and heirs, a new King will be elected from the existing generals if no heirs exist. The HRE can only be eliminated by conquering all of their territories (and they may still reemerge at a later date).
TBD - need to add game crash info on retrained kings/heirs.
rollover inheritance issues
Byzantine influence bonus
New king stats based on the old king's influence
