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Doomdark

Chief Creative Officer
Paradox Staff
61 Badges
Apr 3, 2000
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  • Sword of the Stars II
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Well, it's a new year and past time for another dev diary on The Republic - the upcoming DLC for Crusader Kings II! This time, I'll talk about the intricacies of Republican government. Republics - at least the Italian ones - are ruled by a Doge, who is elected for life by the senate. The senate is not represented directly in the game, but each Patrician has a "Respect" value which shows how well liked and respected he (yes, it's always a he - republics are even less gender equal than monarchies) is by the senators. Respect comes mostly with age, so that old - and hopefully wise - Patricians have a definite advantage, but Prestige also helps a great deal. These factors are known and predictable, but there is also a hidden variable called the "Campaign Fund", which is how much money a Family has reserved for the next election campaign; including things like bribes, strong-arming and good old fashioned blackmail. Players can add or subtract money from the Campaign Fund until the reigning Doge dies, when it's all spent regardless of who wins the election. Although there is an "expected successor", there is also an element of chance.

The_Republic_06_Respect.jpg

If you were the Doge and lose the election, don't panic; it is perfectly normal and to be expected from time to time. After all, your heir is unlikely to have as much Prestige as the other Family heads. You will just keep on playing as a regular Patrician. However, unlike Feudal Elective realms where your "default" heir is chosen by Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture, in Merchant Republics it is done by Agnatic Seniority. So you can never play as a woman in Merchant Republics; instead you will tend to play a lot of grumpy old men... but there is a neat loophole. Since you are in many ways the leader of a "family firm", you can designate your heir and pick any male family member by giving him a special honorary title. Be careful with your choice though; it cannot be undone. Also, a child cannot be elected Doge, and a young man will have a much harder time winning an election.

Speaking of the "family firm", Patricians - while they do tend to make a lot of money compared to Feudal Lords - have to provide for their entire family. Every adult male member of your Dynasty will get a cut of all the money you make; the closer related to you the bigger the share. If your Dynasty is large, this expense will become significant. Thus, you may want to be slightly careful with marrying off every male in the family. Having them killed also works, of course, but even if you are their heir, you will not inherit their entire treasury. This creates an interesting dynamic, where you want to keep your Dynasty big enough to ensure a healthy number of potential heirs to choose from, but not so big that it cripples your income. It also means that it might be beneficial to pick an heir with a lot of money rather than the most skilled one.

The_Republic_07_Family_Dues.jpg

I think I'll round off this dev diary with a few words about job titles and honorary titles in Merchant Republics: Patricians expect a position on the ruling Council, and will dislike the Doge if he has picked someone more competent. This is not just because of the Prestige involved, but due to the salary that comes with the position, which is higher in Merchant Republics than in Feudal realms. Lastly, Merchant Republics, for flavor, have a different set of honorary titles (apart, of course from the "Designated Heir" one.)

The_Republic_08_Honorary_Titles.jpg

That's all for now. Next week's entry is about the new events and decisions, as well as a few words about patch 1.09!
 
Interesting dynamics. I wonder if this 'splitting' of income within a Doge's dynasty comes becomes or after taxes, whenever they answer to an Emperor?
 
Nice, I thought you will not post it, but you good as always.

But I wanted to ask, will it be possible to mod in land trade posts/routes?

Any "Empire"-tier Republics?
 
Sounds really good so far.

How moddable is the designated heir honourary title? Will we be able to enable it for feudal rulers and set conditions for who can receive it?
 
In the first screenshot, the expected successor is not of della Gherardesca family, but is rather of Caetani family, who has a lower Respect score (2126 opposed to 3421). Is this a bug, or is it because you have just added campaign funds, and the screen has not had a chance to update yet?

Also, what's the relative weighting of age and prestige - it looks like campaign funds give 20 respect per gold ducat, but how high would the age factor be for a 40-year old versus a 50-year old? And how much respect can you gain from prestige? Can you expect to have a 50-50 weighting between age and prestige later in the game? Will it be moddable?
 
Fascinating stuff, I really like how different republics feel from a standard feudal order.

As a Patrician, I imagine you will have some lands in the Republic; is it still possible to hit game over by having only a minor title (Baronies/Mayorships, etc.)?
 
Will the Hanseatic League be a vassal of the Emperor?
 
In the first screenshot, the expected successor is not of della Gherardesca family, but is rather of Caetani family, who has a lower Respect score (2126 opposed to 3421). Is this a bug, or is it because you have just added campaign funds, and the screen has not had a chance to update yet?

Also, what's the relative weighting of age and prestige - it looks like campaign funds give 20 respect per gold ducat, but how high would the age factor be for a 40-year old versus a 50-year old? And how much respect can you gain from prestige? Can you expect to have a 50-50 weighting between age and prestige later in the game? Will it be moddable?

I am guessing the AI Patrician's have campaign funds as well... That might explain why the lower respect AI Patrician is currently the expected successor
 
I have a question.

I assume the lowest-tier republic is a Grand City (county), followed by Republic (duchy) and Most Seren Republic (kingdom). Is it possible to have a republic..within a republic...within a republic, and if the answer is yes, does each republic have an own cast of patricians or do duke-tier rulers run for the king-tier election?
 
Also, what's the relative weighting of age and prestige - it looks like campaign funds give 20 respect per gold ducat, but how high would the age factor be for a 40-year old versus a 50-year old? And how much respect can you gain from prestige? Can you expect to have a 50-50 weighting between age and prestige later in the game? Will it be moddable?

I guess della Gherardesca heir is 41 years old. So you get 41 respect for a year (41*41=1681). If it's true and 1 gold in campaign's fund gives you 20 respect, you need only 20.5 gold to beat 10 years difference.
 
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Intriguing.
 
Alas no news on the Republican version of Crown Authority.