Alternate faction threats, besides civil war

[Jorlem]

Currently, if a faction build up enough power, and the liege doesn't back down, a civil war begins. Whether the faction wants to overthrow the king in favor of another, or just wants to tweak the legal system to give themselves a slight amount more power in the realm, it is always a civil war that results.

I would like to request that a less binary system be implemented, by giving the factions other threats besides outright war with which to threaten their liege.

Two example threats that I have thought of would be for the faction members to refuse to pay their taxes, or refuse to supply their levy. These both would have a serious bite, but wouldn't leave the realm nearly as vulnerable to outside invasion. The realm would still be weakened, yes, but wouldn't be vulnerable to a neighbor taking a huge bite out of the rebellion while the liege and the faction are fighting each other.

For some factions, such as overthrowing the king, armed rebellions still make the most sense, but this gives anyone who wants to add in new factions additional flexibility in how factions try to coerce the liege. It would also add to the immersion of the game, as the same response to being denied an increase in the council's power and to the king refusing to abdicate seems silly.

If anyone else has ideas on possible threats the factions could use, please post them here.

 

[kmh42]

So the faction does not start a civil war when they have enough power, rather they stop paying taxes? And what's next, what can the Liege do about that, other then go for war and accepts the demand?

 

[Jorlem]

So the faction does not start a civil war when they have enough power, rather they stop paying taxes? And what's next, what can the Liege do about that, other then go for war and accepts the demand?

Or start plotting against those in the faction. Start a plot against the faction leader to kill them, or to weaken them by seizing their land via a fabricated claim, or send the spymaster to try to blackmail the other members into loyalty to the crown. All the tools and strategies that can be used against factions before they fire in the game currently would still be usable against these factions after they fired, as they would not have left the realm by starting a war.

 

[Rags17]

One way to implement this would be to create an event chain which fired at around say 75% Plot Power. The chain would give the lord clues such as "Lord X has been heard conspiring to Lower the Crown Authority in the realm, if this conspiracy is left to itself the realm could be plunged into war !", along with options for the lord to bully, bribe, bluff or ignore their way through it. The results could be anything from favours gained from the conspirators / granted to the conspirators to accelerating or slowing the growth of the faction, eg by way of "forced out of factions" modifiers.

Of course the above suggestions would work too, but if it was in combination with the above event chains the results would be a lot more interesting than the simple "build until quashed or war breaks out" dynamic.

 

[Jorlem]

One way to implement this would be to create an event chain which fired at around say 75% Plot Power. The chain would give the lord clues such "Lord X has been heard conspiring to Lower the Crown Authority in the realm, if this conspiracy is left to itself the realm could be plunged into war !", along with options for the lord to bully, bribe, bluff or ignore their way through it. The results could be anything from favours gained from the conspirators / granted to the conspirators to accelerating or slowing the growth of the faction, eg by way of "forced out of cations" modifiers.

Of course the above suggestions would work too, but if it was in combination with the above event chains the results would be a lot more interesting than the simple "build until quashed or war breaks out" dynamic.

Agreed. More interactivity and sensible options is always better in my book.

To be perfectly honest, I'm of the opinion that things like "increase council power" shouldn't be a faction at all, but a plot. Courtiers can join plots and be on the council, but cannot enter factions, after all.

 

[BeyondExpectation]

To be perfectly honest, I'm of the opinion that things like "increase council power" shouldn't be a faction at all, but a plot. Courtiers can join plots and be on the council, but cannot enter factions, after all.

On a related note, I proposed that all factions start off secret here: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/intrigue-enhancement.917865/

Totally agree with the OP btw.