Limited Balance Mod

[Rizzmond]

LIMITED BALANCE MOD

I've created a small mod to rectify some of the imbalances in the game. AI plotting also has been made much more effective.

You should see a lot more of this:



Installation is simple. Just extract the contents of the folder to the mod folder, then select the mod checkbox in the launcher.

DOWNLOAD:
View attachment Balance Mod v2.rar

Changelog:
v1:
-Crown authority feudal lord relations penalty scaled differently. Steps are now +5/-5/-20/-25/-30 instead of +5/-5/-10/-20/-30 to reflect the importance of vassals not being able to declare war on each other in step three.
-Mercenaries now cost twice as much to raise and require ~40% more upkeep.
-Eligible titled lords are now much more likely to start a plot to lower crown authority.
-gavelkind no longer gives non dynasty members +5 to relations with liege.
-Assassination now costs 75 gold instead of 50.
-Increased relations penalty from an individual if he discovers your attempted assassination towards him from -50 to -75.
-Increased relations penalty towards the murderer of a close kin (if discovered) from -30 to -40.
-elective succession now gives a +5 modifier to vassals' relations with liege instead of a +20

v2:
-increased temporary vassal relations penalty for increasing crown authority from 30 to 40
-vassals can only declare a war for independence if they are 15% as powerful as liege or another vassal is already fighting for independence
-lowest crown authroity level now gives +10 to relations instead of +5
-reduced chances of plot discovery
-Mercs now cost as much as vanilla hire cost (since the patch upped it) but slightly more upkeep than vanilla

 

[Van Diemen]

Thanks for your effort.

 

[Rob de Hard]

--- Updated 20/02/12 18:22 --

Ok I took your mod and ran with it. I wanted to create a gameplay experience much more dynamic and challenging and, well, like Ck1. My biggest frustration with Ck2 is the lacklustre gameplay as a count/duke. So this spices it up a lot and makes it much more like I think ck should be - no more blob tastic superpowers raging accross iberia etc.

Loads of tweaks for ck1.03b

Biggest tips I can offer:

1. Watch out for the muslims in the early game.
2. Don't commit to wars against kings whose vassals like him more than yours do.
3. Unless you are mega rich forget mercenaries in the early game
4. Keep your baronies, you'll need the troops. In fact maintaing your own supply of high quality troops is massively important. So don't build loads of cities willy nill. Decide where your troops are coming from and make sure you have enough in key strategic areas of your demesne.
5. Don't raise crown authority too quickly, the penalties for doing so are doubled. I hope that authority will oscillate between low and medium for most of the game because the AI is dumb and keeps trying to do it, then his AI vassals will keep slapping him down again. It works real well in France!
6. Kids don't start their education until 12 now. Altho you may get pestered by the AI for guardianships before then.. The spam was too annoying once I became Emperor. Changed back to 6.
7. Your liege/you won't command armies unless you have an opinion of at least 25. Instead you'll send the marshal. So have a good marshal. Also heavy cavalry ie knights have 3x more morale. So they are going to be very important to have.
8. Prestige for winning battles is much higher. As is the risk of being wiped in a rout.
9. If your vassals don't have at least 80 opinion of you, they will not consider you a friend. If they have 20 or less they will consider you a rival. If they have 90 or less they will only commit the bare minimum to your armies under fuedal contract laws.
10. Fighters will fight better than lovers. Don't lead armies in battle unless you are good at it.
11. Have plenty of heirs, because life's a lot harder.
12. Disbanding your armies now gives you a sizeable manpower drain. Doing it repeatedly is bad. So be careful about when you mobilize and how many. Troops take a lot longer to replenish, so don't waste them in silly wars and leave yourself vulnerable.
12a. Vassals start to get pissed off with your using their levies after a month not 6. The penalties for ignoring this are much more severe. So don't rely on vassals to win wars. Use them to defend your key assets.
13. Don't expect to paint the map your colour very often, if ever. You're going to spend most of the game struggling to survive and the rest trying to enforce your will against vasals and neighbours. Its going to be a lot quicker/easier to expand as a count and become a Duke. I wanted the gameplay to be skewed to starting low and aiming high rather than being stuck for 100 years as an AI vassal in a NAP fest.
14. Don't dishonour calls to arms etc as its now really bad. Likewise don't break truces. The penalites are much steeper.
15. Sieges will go a bit slower and garrisons left behind are 2x higher so less ping pong, but forget conquering loads of land without a lot of stacks or allies. You now have the option of going balls deep and bringing your enemy to battle and hoping for a complete victory (Hastings style) or fabian war. Both will work and choosing when to commit and how is key to winning now. Not just hiring mercs by the bucket load or abusing insta-replenish levies.
16. Battle, disease etc are much more nasty. As are routs. The upside is winning gives you a lot more prestige and loot. The wars gonna be over real fast if you lose a major battle - so pay close attention to terrain and morale and set up your flanks and leaders properly. Also you have a considerably higher chance of capturing (and being captured) by enemies in routs.
+ loads more

Enjoy! I think the game is still easy, but this is the minimum level of challenge I need personally to enjoy myself and to actually get my ass whooped from time to time. Makes for better AAR's imho.

Feedback appreciated. If you want to expand/rebalance please do! I like trying other people's settings too!


Just so there's no confusion, with autonomous vassals/low crown authority you can expect nothing form your vassals unless they have at least an opinion of 75. An opinion of 90 or more will see them commit the maximum number of troops they are obliged to under fuedal law. Play the game on 'hard' by creating proper decentralized fuedal domains or min-max your demesne baronies for more pwn factor.