Disclaimer: Pardon if this topic has been made before. I'm new to the forum and not even sure if this is the correct section. Just wanted to share an idea of mine for the upcoming DLC.
As the title says, I'd like to see the Byzantines and other landed Orthodox rulers i.e Georgia in 867 being able to join crusades under certain conditions. Having researched this, some claim that the Byzantines and other Orthodox rulers joining the Crusades would be far too OP. And I partially agree. That's why I used the phrase: "Under certain conditions." I'd not like to see the Byzantines and other Orthodox rulers join the holy wars for Jerusalem or other areas such as Britannia or wherever the Pope decides to declare it. Only the de-jure parts of the Byzantine Empire. In any other scenario, they are minding their own business.
For instance: if Georgia has fallen to the Abbasid Caliphate, and a crusade is called for Georgia, the Byzantines can offer to join it to reclaim their de-jure territory. Armenia, and other Orthodox rulers also part of the de-jure Byzantine empire, can offer to join such a crusade, even if independent and not a vassal to the current Byzantine Empire, only landed within it's de-jure territory.
There's already an event alerting the beginning of the "downfall" for the Byzantines. When enough land has been taken from them by infidels, it activates the Crusades if the year is past 900. But this crusade is directed, or even misdirected one could argue, towards Jerusalem, instead of towards the lost territories of Byzantium.
I'd like to suggest an option for the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire to request a favor from the Pope to call a Crusade against kingdoms such as Georgia, Armenia, Anatolia, Sicily etc if this event mentioned above has been triggered.
Requesting such a favor will of course come at no cheap price. Maybe -1 000 piety and -10% Orthodox moral authority for 25 years, with +10% Catholic moral authority for 25 years. This request will take priority over any other kingdoms such as Jerusalem, and will be bound by the 50-year cooldown rule like any other Catholic crusade.
Now, does this mean that the Byzantines will get their territories back? Not necessarily, as it will still be bound by the Crusader-state rules if successful. The important part is that the Byzantine Emperor believed he'd get it back once requesting a favor from the Pope. So he's both thankful and angry at the same time.
Now, how can the Pope make use of the favor? That's up for discussion, as everything else is, of course. One could be to abandon heresies like Iconoclasm, another to give up parts of Sicily / Corscia to the Papal State. The emperor could also come forth as Catholic, but his vassals, of course, won't join in [true believers]. This is just a one-time modifier for the current Emperor, unless he is zealous, in which case, he won't.
The important part here is the events between the Pope and the Byzantines, as such mechanics are lacking, and this would only serve to strengthen the bonds of Christianity.
This could also be paired with events giving the AI as well as Players the option to redirect the Crusade towards Constantinople instead. While the Byzantines have all their soldiers in Georgia, fighting the Abbasids, Rums, Ottomans, Zoroastrians or whoever are in power over there, the redirector instead sneaks up on Constantinople and decides to sack it through a surprise attack.
This would serve as any other declaration of war [Sack Constantinople, intrigue option] and can only begin once you have your troops within the county of Constantinople. In other words, you can already mobilise your troops before starting this war. Or rather said, you have to.
It would of course cost a lot of Piety, maybe -1 000, as well as giving Catholicism a general -10% moral authority for 25 years. This thus resulting in a -50 opinion from the Pope [betrayed my crusade!] and a -25 Temple vassal opinion. So it would be a double edged sword. But if successful, you'd get a huge sum of gold and perhaps even some random artifacts currently or not currently in the game.
Other modifiers for the Byzantine Empire would be a permanent tax modifier of -50% for the next 50 years and a -50% levy reinforcement rate. Severely crippling them from the world of politics, trade and warfare, allowing vassals to break free and for the Turks to conquer them completely.
Now, should the Byzantine Empire fall through the following events [all lands and titles gone or in the hands of infidels], it will open up an event for any other Orthodox characters to claim the "Third Rome" through the intrigue list. Be it Novgorod or some other Orthodox character entirely, for 1 000 prestige and 1 000 piety. It would give a huge boost to Orthodox moral authority as well making the Ecumenical Patriarch a vassal of the restorer.
In fact if the Byzantine Empire falls, the Orthodox religious head could be coded to fall with it [similar options should exist for the Miaphysite Christians etc], and thus this option completely being more of a "Restore the Orthodox Church." than a mere vassalization of the current head. A similar gameplay as the Zoroastrians in this case.
For the last part, this might be a bit too much for some, but the new religious head could perhaps even be reformed with some mechanics of its own if created through the third rome function. One being that it can call Crusades of its own. And perhaps something to make up for its hatred against the Catholics [unforgivable what happened to the Byzantine Empire!].
Thoughts?
As the title says, I'd like to see the Byzantines and other landed Orthodox rulers i.e Georgia in 867 being able to join crusades under certain conditions. Having researched this, some claim that the Byzantines and other Orthodox rulers joining the Crusades would be far too OP. And I partially agree. That's why I used the phrase: "Under certain conditions." I'd not like to see the Byzantines and other Orthodox rulers join the holy wars for Jerusalem or other areas such as Britannia or wherever the Pope decides to declare it. Only the de-jure parts of the Byzantine Empire. In any other scenario, they are minding their own business.
For instance: if Georgia has fallen to the Abbasid Caliphate, and a crusade is called for Georgia, the Byzantines can offer to join it to reclaim their de-jure territory. Armenia, and other Orthodox rulers also part of the de-jure Byzantine empire, can offer to join such a crusade, even if independent and not a vassal to the current Byzantine Empire, only landed within it's de-jure territory.
There's already an event alerting the beginning of the "downfall" for the Byzantines. When enough land has been taken from them by infidels, it activates the Crusades if the year is past 900. But this crusade is directed, or even misdirected one could argue, towards Jerusalem, instead of towards the lost territories of Byzantium.
I'd like to suggest an option for the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire to request a favor from the Pope to call a Crusade against kingdoms such as Georgia, Armenia, Anatolia, Sicily etc if this event mentioned above has been triggered.
Requesting such a favor will of course come at no cheap price. Maybe -1 000 piety and -10% Orthodox moral authority for 25 years, with +10% Catholic moral authority for 25 years. This request will take priority over any other kingdoms such as Jerusalem, and will be bound by the 50-year cooldown rule like any other Catholic crusade.
Now, does this mean that the Byzantines will get their territories back? Not necessarily, as it will still be bound by the Crusader-state rules if successful. The important part is that the Byzantine Emperor believed he'd get it back once requesting a favor from the Pope. So he's both thankful and angry at the same time.
Now, how can the Pope make use of the favor? That's up for discussion, as everything else is, of course. One could be to abandon heresies like Iconoclasm, another to give up parts of Sicily / Corscia to the Papal State. The emperor could also come forth as Catholic, but his vassals, of course, won't join in [true believers]. This is just a one-time modifier for the current Emperor, unless he is zealous, in which case, he won't.
The important part here is the events between the Pope and the Byzantines, as such mechanics are lacking, and this would only serve to strengthen the bonds of Christianity.
This could also be paired with events giving the AI as well as Players the option to redirect the Crusade towards Constantinople instead. While the Byzantines have all their soldiers in Georgia, fighting the Abbasids, Rums, Ottomans, Zoroastrians or whoever are in power over there, the redirector instead sneaks up on Constantinople and decides to sack it through a surprise attack.
This would serve as any other declaration of war [Sack Constantinople, intrigue option] and can only begin once you have your troops within the county of Constantinople. In other words, you can already mobilise your troops before starting this war. Or rather said, you have to.
It would of course cost a lot of Piety, maybe -1 000, as well as giving Catholicism a general -10% moral authority for 25 years. This thus resulting in a -50 opinion from the Pope [betrayed my crusade!] and a -25 Temple vassal opinion. So it would be a double edged sword. But if successful, you'd get a huge sum of gold and perhaps even some random artifacts currently or not currently in the game.
Other modifiers for the Byzantine Empire would be a permanent tax modifier of -50% for the next 50 years and a -50% levy reinforcement rate. Severely crippling them from the world of politics, trade and warfare, allowing vassals to break free and for the Turks to conquer them completely.
Now, should the Byzantine Empire fall through the following events [all lands and titles gone or in the hands of infidels], it will open up an event for any other Orthodox characters to claim the "Third Rome" through the intrigue list. Be it Novgorod or some other Orthodox character entirely, for 1 000 prestige and 1 000 piety. It would give a huge boost to Orthodox moral authority as well making the Ecumenical Patriarch a vassal of the restorer.
In fact if the Byzantine Empire falls, the Orthodox religious head could be coded to fall with it [similar options should exist for the Miaphysite Christians etc], and thus this option completely being more of a "Restore the Orthodox Church." than a mere vassalization of the current head. A similar gameplay as the Zoroastrians in this case.
For the last part, this might be a bit too much for some, but the new religious head could perhaps even be reformed with some mechanics of its own if created through the third rome function. One being that it can call Crusades of its own. And perhaps something to make up for its hatred against the Catholics [unforgivable what happened to the Byzantine Empire!].
Thoughts?
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