What if Stability was reintroduced to CK and functioned for feudal and republican governments somewhat like Decadence does iqta governments?
Though it might sound outright identical, the causes are essentially inverted; War and other stuff causing strife and instability will push it down while being at peace for a long time and maintaining the status quo will allow it to recover. In keeping with the "inversed decadence" theme, it might be a stat from 0-100 where higher is better. War (sieges, looting, casualties and the general state of war itself) would be the primary contributor, but law changes, some events and succession would all be gnawing at it. The [preferably moddable] effects could, for example, work as follows:
At..
100-95: Vassals cannot declare war outside of faction-wars against their liege (and potentially ask their liege for permission to declare wars outside the realm).
90-80: Vassals can declare war freely if their liege is preoccupied with war, imprisoned or otherwise made incapable. Their liege may, however, enforce realm peace once capable again (or without delay if he is simply at war).
79-50: Vassals can declare war freely and their liege can only enforce peace under limited conditions I haven't thought -that- much about (good relations, no powerful factions, unanimous council approval, etc.).
49-20: This is where it gets FUN!
Very bad events (I was mostly imagining lost favorites from CK1) such as declarations of independence, zealous firebrands spreading heresy, large separatist rebellions and plagues will occur at a scaled frequency and severity depending on just how low the RP-score is (from 49-1).
Accepting the immediate consequences instead of fighting them will instantly recover some RP for the now hopefully concerned player, whereas fighting them may potentially worsen things at an exponential rate.
19-1: Oh, dear!
All top level titles will be destroyed at succession, effectively making the top vassals independent, and ambitious neighbours (particularly pagans) may get events to invade a ducal title with extra troops much like viking and adventurer invasions. It may be time to give it a rest at this point!
0: "Game Over" may not be the right term, but at 0 your top titles all disintegrate immediately and the realm is undone without any claims for reconquest of your now ex-vassals. This symbolizes total chaos and the complete erosion of royal authority to the point where it simply can't be called upon anymore; the realm reverts back to mere idea rather than an actual title to fight over.
This system would mean that an invasion, a drawn-out civil war against a faction or letting those pesky nomads raid your dukes for too long could very well be that one little spark which brings total calamity upon your realm if you aren't careful.
An enforced peace can be defied at the cost of being branded traitorous or maybe immediate war with liege, so your hands won't magically be tied once the demand for an armistice arrives.
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As an example of how much fun this could be I came up with the tale of Ædelwurst IX "The Unyielding" of England:
An ongoing Viking invasion of England launched by Ingbert the Hairy has eroded the stability of the realm and the duke of Mercia siezes this opportunity to finally squash that eyesore of a neighbour called Wessex.
Their war goes on for a while until Ædelwurst, King of all England, tells them to quit messing around as soon as Ingbert has been repelled.
The duke of Mercia has no intention at all to listen to his foolish (and now significantly weakened) liege's demands, and so he rises up in arms against the King while continuing his war on Wessex.
Wessex which was already nearing defeat falls quickly at this point and a long, bloody war between Mercia and the high king ensues.
After over two whole decades of unending violence, first against the heathen Norsemen and then in this horrible civil war, the local landholders in occupied Dumnonia organize for a revolt against their foreign overlords while heretical preachers have started spreading a new, pacifistic creed all over the kingdom.
The king finally manages to beat his scoundrel of a vassal into submission, but the damage is done and the country lies in disarray. (RP has dropped to critical levels!)
Once a few too many heretical preachers have lost their heads, the Britons of Dumnonia lose their collective patience and finally declare independence.
Their stubborn king refuses to give in despite the sorry state of the realm and his now almost depleted levies and so another age of bloodshed follows in the footsteps of the former.
The war goes on for another five years (Dumnonia is small after all, regardless of how weakened the English kingdom may be), before the Britons finally manage to secure their independence under their [petty] king Bryffyrwffrwwrw, a local noble.
But they didn't win decisively; The high king of England, Ædelwurst IXX, had just foolishly gone off to die in glorious battle and, tired of the idiot's ceaseless warmongering (really low RP), all nobles of the realm simply agreed to declare England a dead realm upon succession for just ONE moment of peace.
His heir, Ædelwurst XX, who has only the weakened levy of the [formerly] royal duchy and a small band of mercenaries to draw upon (also being -way- smarter than his arrogant brother) simply makes peace with the now far-off Dumnonians.
In a mere forty years, England has been dissolved and heresy is widespread in the lands of the Angles and Saxons.
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"The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm." - Confucius
I hope I'm not the only one who likes the idea of this. Thoughts?
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