99 Struggles: A Crowd-Sourced List of Alternative Uses

[crusaderking]

--Turkic Conquests--
It's pretty vague and covers a large amount of territory, but it's an attempt at trying to generify the Seljuk and Ghaznavid empires and their expansion into Persia and India, respectively.

Region:
e_turan, e_persia, and e_rajastan

Involved cultures:
(I'm not going to spend the next half hour writing all the cultures in those empires)

Involved religions:
Sunni, Shia, Zoroastrian, Buddhism, Jainism, Hindu, Tengri

Conditions:
there are tribal (nomads) in e_turan in 950

Question:
The Turks ride forth from Turkestan: will they find capable leaders to claim an empire in the civilized lands? Will they become the ghulam of the Amirs and the mameluks of the Caliph, or will they command an army of elephants? Will their horses be able to bath in the waters of the Indus, the Ganges, the Tigris, and the Euphrates?

Effects:
Tribals have reinforcement bonuses and cheaper MAA recruitment costs
Tribals get 50% more loot from raiding
Turkic cultures gain additional military experience, and characters are more likely to be ambitious
Tribal mercenary bands are cheaper to create
Turkic heritage culture mercenary bands are cheaper to hire
Turkic heritage mercenary bands can be rehired by gifting them land (as a vassal?)
Turkic heritage mercenary bands can be hired from further away (increased diplomatic range?)
Powerful Turkic heritage mercenary bands will declare wars like Northmen Army conquest wars
Events to proselytize your branch of Islam into e_turan
Clan goverments gain opinion bonuses with vassals for making powerful alliances outside their realms
e_rajastan forces can unite in defensive wars against foreign invaders
Interfaith marriages allowed between Muslim and Indian Faiths (Hindu, Jain, and Buddhists)

Phases:
1. Fires on the Steppe: empowering tribals to expand into clan-held e_turan
2a. Beaten Back: the Turks don't win many wars or form any impressive empires. Their buffs wane, and will eventually return to Phase 1 in another century [this only can repeat once, achieving this a second time ends the Struggle]
2b. Conquests: the Turks have exploded out of their homelands, and now have ripe claims to continue advancing until they find a foe worthy of defeating them
[Ending phases]
3a. A Fire Tempered: Despite their impressive victories and great leaders, the Turks have been repelled from expanding further, and will have to content with managing their gains.
3b. Embraced The Way: the Turks have adopted the methods of their conquered and, while they still yearn for campaigns from horseback, it shall come with the administration and faith of their new subjects
3c. Shared Rule: the Turks have pride in themselves and how far they have come, but acknowledge they are strangers in these lands: they shall lead their new peoples towards a united future
3d. Foreign Conquerors: the Turks will not bow to their new subjects, and will remain a separate people, ruling and enforcing their will in their own manner

This is an excellent suggestion. The way I see it, a Struggle represents multiple phases of a conflict that spanned centuries. Most of the other suggestions do not involve such conflicts. But the Turkic invasions does fit the bill, and I'd love to see this added in the game.

 

[Wokeg]

[quiet observation]

 

[MateuszS]

Far-reaching goal: extreme feudal fragmentation and lack of central authority (not limited to one particular region, I imagine it as sort of EU4 disaster a bit). Affected kingdom/empire either implodes (is dissolved and all sub-realms gain independence), barely survives and stagnates, or weathers the storm.

 

[Amtep]

HRE Power of the Emperor

Phases: Decentralized, Centralized, Crisis

Decentralized (starting):
Lower taxes and levies
Vassals less likely to join factions
Phase eventually leads to Crisis

Centralized:
Higher taxes and levies
Vassals prefer to vote for a powerful ruler who is not close family of the Emperor
Phase eventually leads to Crisis

Crisis: a controversy sweeps the Empire
Vassals much more likely to join factions
Phase can lead to Centralized or Decentralized


Decentralized ending decision: Dissolution. The empire title is destroyed.
Centralized ending decision: Hereditary Rule. The HRE gets primogeniture and is no longer elective.

Currently, the HRE starts with Low taxes and levies for all vassals. This struggle would replace that with the Decentralized Phase. So the feudal contracts would be Normal, but Decentralized then reduces the taxes and levies with a modifier.

 

[noblehunter]

Could the whole Viking invasions be a struggle?

Region:
Europe Coasts and Rivers?

Involved Cultures:
All in e_britannia
All in Karling Realms
Baltic
All in Russia?
Norse

Involved Religions:
Asatru (Norse)
Catholic
Baltic Pagans
Slavic

Conditions:
867 Game Start
Vulnerable to raiding as on-going condition?

Question:
Will local rulers be displaced or collapsed by the Viking invasions?

Effects:
Enable viking adventurers
Enable other migration type mechanics
Raiding defence/weakness
Danegeld
Loss of local income in Scandinavia (or whatever impelled the norse to go raider more than previously)

Phases:
Raiding
Trading
Conquest
Settlement

End conditions:
Fortification - a region is too well protected to raid
Conquered - the vikings are here to stay and are in charge
Integrated - the local vikings have been brought into the power structure and keep the rest away

 

[Atossa]

Far-reaching goal: extreme feudal fragmentation and lack of central authority (not limited to one particular region, I imagine it as sort of EU4 disaster a bit). Affected kingdom/empire either implodes (is dissolved and all sub-realms gain independence), barely survives and stagnates, or weathers the storm.

That's actually what Tibet is in the process of in both start dates of the game. Plus fun religious fights as various regional powers back different religious groups.

 

[chelvo]

-- Outremer --

Region:
e_Arabia

Involved Cultures:
Levantine
Greek

Involved Religions:
Sunni
Shia
Orthodox
Catholic
Maronites
Druze
Coptic?
(Any religion with holy sites in e_Arabia?)

Conditions:
Chance to spark after crusade success

Question:
Will pilgrimage to the Holy Land be Open to All, Religiously Exclusive, or Ruined for (i.e. destroyed by Mongols or other party)?

Effects:
Pilgrims, Crusaders, and relatives of lieges in Levant can elect to be involved characters?
While at peace for extended periods of time, Levantine holy sites generate income to holy site holder for each character pilgrim?
While at war, pilgrim characters face perils of imprisonment or death (reduced risk if speaker of Levantine language)?
All parties access raiding ability?
Successful Christian (or organized religion) raids on Muslim characters increase Muslim fervor (& vice versa)?
Characters reigning in Levant increase language learning success chance for local languages?
Decision available to Open (to all), Close (to specific faiths), or Ruin(or Repair) holy sites for pilgrimage?
Decision available to grant barony to Holy Order in exchange for piety?
Decision available to Search for Relics (or manufacture) and either keep or sell authentic/fake relics?
Decision to swear fealty/return land to Byzantines?

I would actually have this struggle exist since game start and maybe be a 2 parter. One for initial tensions and one for the Deus Io Vult Time.
The first phase being the muslims owning the holy land, being able to make choices whether to allow or hinder pilgrims and the turkic invasions into byzantium having the side effect of progressing this to the second phase, which would be the part with the crusades.
Also I'd argue that the second part would actually be the thing that would make Jerusalem, Egypt, Syria, etc. more valuable crusading targets.

 

[chelvo]

-- Ostsiedlung --


Region:
e_wendish_empire
e_west_slavia
(Not sure if a more general Eastern Europe Region exists, which would be more optimal for this)
Involved Cultures:
Central Germanic
Baltic
West Slavic
Involved Religions:
Catholic
Slavic Pagan
Baltic Pagan

Conditions:
Around the year 1000
The HRE expands eastwards

Question:
Will eastern europe christianize, christianize and germanize or remain entirely pagan of the slavic, baltic, etc. variety?

Effects:
West Slavic rulers get events that let them invite german settlers into provinces, both having the possible outcome of the settlers assimilating, or getting assimilated by, the natives?
HRE gets motivated to expand eastwards?
Eastern europe gets incentiviced to become catholic, either by deliberate conversion?
Cities being built in tribal land and development is raised?
Increased trade with eastern europe once that has mechanics?
Conflicts between old settlers and new settlers?
Places having the possibility of their name getting adapted into german?
Eastern Europe gets Central German Technologies quicker?
Eastern European Kingdoms being integrated into the Holy Roman Empire?
Eastern European Kingdoms getting united by one of the tribes and standing against it?

 

[TheMind]

Italian struggle between duchies (Tuscany, Lombardy, Papal States...).

 

[luxfelix]

I would actually have this struggle exist since game start and maybe be a 2 parter. One for initial tensions and one for the Deus Io Vult Time.
The first phase being the muslims owning the holy land, being able to make choices whether to allow or hinder pilgrims and the turkic invasions into byzantium having the side effect of progressing this to the second phase, which would be the part with the crusades.
Also I'd argue that the second part would actually be the thing that would make Jerusalem, Egypt, Syria, etc. more valuable crusading targets.

Yeah, the phases aspect of Struggles was something I overlooked... A great opportunity to introduce "acts" to the story of the central questions.

 

[fcc56]

--Turkic Conquests--
It's pretty vague and covers a large amount of territory, but it's an attempt at trying to generify the Seljuk and Ghaznavid empires and their expansion into Persia and India, respectively.

[snip]

This looks really interesting and challenging and probably beyond my competence level with the game.

 

[Darsara]

The Sahel and the spread of Islam would be a pretty close mirror to Iberia. Could mostly be based on the spread of Islamic faiths, but also include trigger for Christians or other foreign religions.

 

[Gibusghastly]

• Western India
• Fourth Crusade/Latin Empire. If Struggles can be used to disable holy wars between hostile faiths, they can be used to enable holy wars between non-hositle faiths.
• Egypt and Ethopia

 

[luxfelix]

• If Struggles can be used to disable holy wars between hostile faiths, they can be used to enable holy wars between non-hositle faiths.

Good point!

 

[SupremTurtle]

*Hundred Years War, a sruggle between England and France, with either a historical ending (both being independent and England abandons continental matters), a planteget ending (a "dual monarchy" empire title with kingdom of France and Britain as de jure kingdoms, perhaps even a hybrid culture), a stalemate ending, France never regaining parts of France such as Normandy, Brittanty, and Aquitane, or even a fractured ending - both parties are devastated, the English continental holdings become independent, France fractures.

*The Black death, a worldwide struggle that is triggered by the mongol invasion, serverely devastating highly populated regions unless decisions such as the Ventian quarantine is taken. (a struggle is probably not the nest way to emulate the black death, but it is possible)

*Formation of the Swiss confederation - triggered by high tryanny of the emperor while having high crownland, leads to a historical "republican" Confederation, the emperor completely crushing the confederation, or an ending where the confederation becames too successful and weakens the empire.

*Authority of the Pope - whether the emperor and Norman conqerors would cede central Italian lands to the Pope or not, as promised by the donation of Pepin. The struggle would either end in the pope gaining the entirety of the de jure kingdom Romagna, the emperor stripping the Pope of temporal powers, or a stalemate where the Kingdom of Romagna loses de jure duchies to Italy and Sicily except for Latium.

*Almohad Caliphate - Whether or not the Magreb and Al-Andalus would fall under Islamic funamentalism, in addition to the struggle of Arabization of Berbers in Magreb.

*Struggle of Anatolia - previous posts has already suggested a Turkish invasion of Anatolia, this is the struggle after the invasion. Anatolia fractures as the Sultanate of Rum weakens, would one of the beyliks reclaim the title of Sultan, or would Anatolia remained fractured, or would Eastern Rome restore its authority over Anatolia?

Matter of Pannonia - would the Avars, the Magyars, the Bulgarians, the Slovaks, or the Romanians dominate Pannonia or would none of them?

There are many more historical situations which can be a struggle in game, I am just listing a few.

 

[luxfelix]

*Hundred Years War, a sruggle between England and France, with either a historical ending (both being independent and England abandons continental matters), a planteget ending (a "dual monarchy" empire title with kingdom of France and Britain as de jure kingdoms, perhaps even a hybrid culture), a stalemate ending, France never regaining parts of France such as Normandy, Brittanty, and Aquitane, or even a fractured ending - both parties are devastated, the English continental holdings become independent, France fractures.

*The Black death, a worldwide struggle that is triggered by the mongol invasion, serverely devastating highly populated regions unless decisions such as the Ventian quarantine is taken. (a struggle is probably not the nest way to emulate the black death, but it is possible)

*Formation of the Swiss confederation - triggered by high tryanny of the emperor while having high crownland, leads to a historical "republican" Confederation, the emperor completely crushing the confederation, or an ending where the confederation becames too successful and weakens the empire.

*Authority of the Pope - whether the emperor and Norman conqerors would cede central Italian lands to the Pope or not, as promised by the donation of Pepin. The struggle would either end in the pope gaining the entirety of the de jure kingdom Romagna, the emperor stripping the Pope of temporal powers, or a stalemate where the Kingdom of Romagna loses de jure duchies to Italy and Sicily except for Latium.

*Almohad Caliphate - Whether or not the Magreb and Al-Andalus would fall under Islamic funamentalism, in addition to the struggle of Arabization of Berbers in Magreb.

*Struggle of Anatolia - previous posts has already suggested a Turkish invasion of Anatolia, this is the struggle after the invasion. Anatolia fractures as the Sultanate of Rum weakens, would one of the beyliks reclaim the title of Sultan, or would Anatolia remained fractured, or would Eastern Rome restore its authority over Anatolia?

Matter of Pannonia - would the Avars, the Magyars, the Bulgarians, the Slovaks, or the Romanians dominate Pannonia or would none of them?

There are many more historical situations which can be a struggle in game, I am just listing a few.

Awesome!


I see potential in the Black Death Struggle as, not only would it likely imperil the health of characters, it would also potentially affect the power dynamics between the nobility and peasant classes (where they could punch way above their weight class as a faction).

I recall that the massive loss of life gave the peasant class leverage in negotiating wages, which wasn't previously common in the feudal system?

In this way, the Black Death is the catalyst for a much larger question regarding the survival of the feudal system; will order be restored as before, will certain rights be won as concessions, or will the reign of the nobility come to an end?

Additionally, the Church lost some of its credibility, leading to heresies?