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Besuchov

Studio Manager, PDS
Paradox Staff
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Mar 6, 2001
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Sengoku development diaries after a 2 week hiatus due to the Easter Holidays and a press tour in the US last week. As you have seen we've got plenty of good coverage out of it so far, and there is more to come in the next few weeks. Today Johan is in London, so that is why Besuchov is posting this development diary.

This time we want to talk a little about the options that you get from the diplomacy. Diplomacy is the slightly more peaceful way to become more powerful compared to the paths of martialness and intrigue.

Only independent rulers can negotiate with someone outside their clan. If you are part of a clan and not the clan leader, you do not talk to anyone outside the clan.

You can always try to ask a weaker clan to join your clan, and if they like you enough and respect you enough they may become a vassal of your clan.

In most of our games, alliances tend to be just words, broken at will when a player decides this is not to their advantage anymore. In sengoku this is no longer true. To arrange an alliance you have to exchange hostages, which will be actual characters that are closely related to you. So if you break your alliance, there are direct repercussions to those poor hostages.

Of course, since this is a character-driven game, you can always arrange marriages for your lord and/or his children. This is usually a way to get good relations with another clan. The impact on relations depends on how closely related the people are to the clan leaders. The difference between Sengoku and a game like Crusader Kings is that there is no inheritance of lands outside of a clan, so you don't marry to gain land immediately.

Since Sengoku is a game based on a feudal system, you can not control all the land your self, its neither efficient nor possible. Therefore there are several ways to organise your clan's holdings by setting up who controls which province. You can give titles to your vassals to strengthen them, or you can create new vassals from courtiers by handing them control over a province. If someone is slightly disloyal to you, or you have need of their lands, you may try to revoke the title from them.

Have you ever played Crusader Kings or Rome, and had a court filled to the brim with characters you had no reason to use for anything. In Sengoku you have the new option to Retire them to a Monastery, which will remove them from the game, at your choice.

If you have a vassal in your clan that has conspired against you, and is at low honor, you can always demand that he commits seppuku. Of course he can refuse, losing even more honor... and you will lose some honor as well.

Sengoku_dev_diary_4_Diplomacy_1.jpgSengoku_dev_diary_4_Diplomacy_2.jpg
 
Based on that, I assume there's no way to undermine your own clan by helping another? Backstabing within a clan is solely an internal matter, and you can't get outside support?
 
I love the hostage exchange stuff. This was exactly what I had in mind for Sengoku, even before you had announced the game! :)

EDIT: What are the "negotiating rights", and "chief negotiator" game aspects? Sounds like diplomacy to me, so should be in this dev diary! ;)
 
Based on that, I assume there's no way to undermine your own clan by helping another? Backstabing within a clan is solely an internal matter, and you can't get outside support?

(Note I do not have any inside information whatsoever)

I would assume that will fall under the "intrigue" aspect of unifying the lands.
 
Where is Johan in London today? Is even he making a move against poor Nick Clegg?

How randomly are hostages selected? Is there a way to refuse to send someone? Or is there a chance that your awesome general will be sent into exile? Equally can you just demand hostages or do you always exchange them? Ie can I accept peace with some weak clan in exchange for all their Daimyo's sons?
 
Based on that, I assume there's no way to undermine your own clan by helping another? Backstabing within a clan is solely an internal matter, and you can't get outside support?

One thing you can do is defect to another clan or you can plots with another clan leader to change allegiance at an opportune moment.

I love the hostage exchange stuff. This was exactly what I had in mind for Sengoku, even before you had announced the game! :)

EDIT: What are the "negotiating rights", and "chief negotiator" game aspects? Sounds like diplomacy to me, so should be in this dev diary! ;)

When you are both fighting the same enemy you can allow one party to en the war for both of you, convenient when you are in a war where the only way you can win is through the strength of your friends.
 
Sounds very good so far :)

btw in the second screenshot it says "only direct vassal of the clan leader can destert hist clan" :)
 
Where is Johan in London today? Is even he making a move against poor Nick Clegg?

How randomly are hostages selected? Is there a way to refuse to send someone? Or is there a chance that your awesome general will be sent into exile? Equally can you just demand hostages or do you always exchange them? Ie can I accept peace with some weak clan in exchange for all their Daimyo's sons?

Basically hostages are selected so that valuable characters go first. If you have a son, you send him. You can't take more than one hostage from one character. You can however demand a hostage hostage as a part of a peace agreement, without sending one of your own.
 
When you are both fighting the same enemy you can allow one party to en the war for both of you, convenient when you are in a war where the only way you can win is through the strength of your friends.

Very nice, I like this a lot. So basically, you can chose someone to be the "alliance leader" for a war. Very nice! :)
 
One thing you can do is defect to another clan or you can plots with another clan leader to change allegiance at an opportune moment.

Like just as a war against their liege is starting?

Basically hostages are selected so that valuable characters go first. If you have a son, you send him. You can't take more than one hostage from one character. You can however demand a hostage hostage as a part of a peace agreement, without sending one of your own.

Good. there would be no point if you could just send any eejit off as a hostage.
 
nice diplomacy :) only 2 things jumped to mind..

is Takeda of Aki province independent clan or part of Takeda of Kai province? i hope independent for the sake of realism...

also.. will there be more bookmarks for game start? or only one?
 
Basically hostages are selected so that valuable characters go first. If you have a son, you send him. You can't take more than one hostage from one character. You can however demand a hostage hostage as a part of a peace agreement, without sending one of your own.

Does relative strength have any effect? E.g. if I'm a powerful leader and want to ally with some small clan do I have to send my firstborn as a hostage?
 
What about adoption? Could you be adopted outside the clan for lineage purposes?
 
Will different AI factions/characters be more/less willing to have their own hostage killed or is it all codes the same??
 
looks nice :)
But about these "hostage exchanges", do they have any historic foundation?
And also, those red-dotted lines, are they possibly crossing points from one piece of land to another? if so there should be alot more of them I think :)
 
One thing you can do is defect to another clan or you can plots with another clan leader to change allegiance at an opportune moment.

Well that's all right then, Safferli must have been right about it coming under intrigue. This game needs to have great intrigue and diplomacy options to be a success, and it's looking promising.

When you say it's impossible to control all the land yourself, do you mean that literally ie some mechanic won't allow it, or do you simply mean it's difficult and doesn't give any benefits?
 
looks nice :)
But about these "hostage exchanges", do they have any historic foundation?
And also, those red-dotted lines, are they possibly crossing points from one piece of land to another? if so there should be alot more of them I think :)

Plenty of history in both Euro and Japanese feudal hostage systems.