[MOD] After the End - A post-apocalyptic America mod

[mahler5]

Are the Occultists Cthulhu worshippers? Or are they supposed to be just a mystery religion? I just see that they practice eldritch worship and obscene rituals, but it's really vague. The flavor events refer to "spirits" and "ancestors," which could have several meanings depending on how you interpret that. It would be cool to see a little more flavour, even if it's just in the text description.

 

[SholanShaman]

There's not a religion that uses the caste system mechanics from the indian religions yet. I think a militarist religion with strict hierarchies would be quite clever use of this. It'd be somewhere between Rust Cultist and Americanist, worshiping rusted warmachines and the god Eisenhower and his angels Patton, MacArthur, and Bradley. Or if the ambiguous timeline doesn't accommodate WWii, Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Jackson.

Mind you lots of people are suggesting new ideas for religions, but compared to base CK2 there are already quite a few. That's not a bad thing. The diversity is awesome and every session there's an opportunity for a new winner, not just the binary result of Christianity vs Islam.

 

[GooseyPasture]

I think Deseret should be in the game as an Empire that can be formed open to only Mormons. Having it from the start would be bad for balance reasons (unless it's to counter the Confederacy in the East).

 

[TKFS]

Are the Occultists Cthulhu worshippers? Or are they supposed to be just a mystery religion? I just see that they practice eldritch worship and obscene rituals, but it's really vague. The flavor events refer to "spirits" and "ancestors," which could have several meanings depending on how you interpret that. It would be cool to see a little more flavour, even if it's just in the text description.

I agree, the Occultists need some love. Unless its intentionally vague.

 

[Ofaloaf]

Are the Occultists Cthulhu worshippers? Or are they supposed to be just a mystery religion? I just see that they practice eldritch worship and obscene rituals, but it's really vague. The flavor events refer to "spirits" and "ancestors," which could have several meanings depending on how you interpret that. It would be cool to see a little more flavour, even if it's just in the text description.

I agree, the Occultists need some love. Unless its intentionally vague.

I wanted the Occultists to be Lovecraft-esque, but not outright so-- there needed to be some upshot to following that religion, because if we went by strictly following Lovecraft's works then every Occultist would end up insane, dead or secretly a demonic mutant with gross bits underneath the clothes.

 

[mahler5]

I wanted the Occultists to be Lovecraft-esque, but not outright so-- there needed to be some upshot to following that religion, because if we went by strictly following Lovecraft's works then every Occultist would end up insane, dead or secretly a demonic mutant with gross bits underneath the clothes.

You don't have to go with this, but since some beliefs have been distorted over time (like the Revelationists from Christianity), perhaps the occultists don't want Cthulhu to rise, since that would spell doom for mankind. So they worship him to keep him asleep. Of course, there should be some flavor events resulting in lunatic or possessed, to keep in line with Lovecraft, but you can take some artistic liberties.

 

[Ofaloaf]

MINOR ORGANIZATIONAL OVERHAUL

For those of you who follow the Github (oh my god do it if you're not), I've just pushed through a slight organizational overhaul along with some other changes. I've really wanted to use the Mesoamerican faces from the Sunset Invasion DLC, but as I understand it a certain portion of the userbase hasn't even touched that DLC and so doesn't have it. With that in mind, I've set up two modules separate from the main mod directory.

Along with the main After the End mod, there's now a 'Sunset Invasion DLC' module that should be used if you have that DLC, so the mod can reference Mesoamerican faces properly, as well as a separate 'African Faces DLC' module. This way, if you don't have African Faces or Sunset Invasion I think you won't have any graphical errors, but if you do have it that'll be pretty darn rad.

e: Extra Bonus Note: Enabling the Sunset Invasion DLC doesn't mean Aztecs will invade. Those events are commented out and disabled, and have been for quite some time. Enabling Sunset Invasion is the only way I can figure out for the game to access the Mesoamerican faces, so that's got to be enabled for Natives to have faces that actually look Native-like-ish.

You don't have to go with this, but since some beliefs have been distorted over time (like the Revelationists from Christianity), perhaps the occultists don't want Cthulhu to rise, since that would spell doom for mankind. So they worship him to keep him asleep. Of course, there should be some flavor events resulting in lunatic or possessed, to keep in line with Lovecraft, but you can take some artistic liberties.

We've been trying to hash out a few events along these lines (along with some Bad Ends for those who want a straight Lovecraft story in CK2), but it's been slow going. Rest assured, we're working on it though.

 

[QuixoticPasha]

MINOR ORGANIZATIONAL OVERHAUL

For those of you who follow the Github (oh my god do it if you're not), I've just pushed through a slight organizational overhaul along with some other changes. I've really wanted to use the Mesoamerican faces from the Sunset Invasion DLC, but as I understand it a certain portion of the userbase hasn't even touched that DLC and so doesn't have it. With that in mind, I've set up two modules separate from the main mod directory.

Along with the main After the End mod, there's now a 'Sunset Invasion DLC' module that should be used if you have that DLC, so the mod can reference Mesoamerican faces properly, as well as a separate 'African Faces DLC' module. This way, if you don't have African Faces or Sunset Invasion I think you won't have any graphical errors, but if you do have it that'll be pretty darn rad.



We've been trying to hash out a few events along these lines (along with some Bad Ends for those who want a straight Lovecraft story in CK2), but it's been slow going. Rest assured, we're working on it though.

The Occultist religion could have developed along two different lines in my mind based on the misinterpreted works of Lovecraft and similar works like the King in Yellow.

A religion that focuses on achieving some kind of distorted transhuman form of enlightenment by emulating the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods in form and thought. Kind of like a twisted Buddhism or how the Atomicist use the radioactive material currently to get the "blessing of the Atom". They might believe that the only way to survive the next event or the awakening of the Great Old Ones is to become more like them. Thus Nyalathotep and the King in Yellow become paragons to aspire to, corrupt Bodhisattvas of sorts. This very straight lovecraftian interpretation could use events like some of the ones I have suggested already an "Innsmouth look" trait or a Dunwich Horror spin on the demon spawn chain. Maybe a piety bonus for ugly or club footed and some other bad physical traits or have close kin marriages/caste traits to keep "the bloodlines pure" for old New England money families if you really want to go down the whole quasi-eugenics road.

A fearful maltheistic religion that wants to keep the Great Old Ones asleep and sacrifices to appease them kind of like the Aztec or the Mesoamerican in general spin on human sacrifice as necessary to preserve the world and to keep the sun moving. Maybe use deity names or titles if you want to keep in vague, as both god names and bad god names in the. This religion would view lovecraftian deities as dangerous forces of nature (maybe even have Azatoth's title of nuclear chaos be misinterpreted), so more of a Derleth, take that are best avoided. Perhaps they believe that pre-event America disturbed the slumber of the Great Old Ones by delving in to knowledge man was not mean to know. They could have mass book burnings kind of like the simpletons in a Canticle or a alot of games of Call of Cthulhu in addition to human sacrifices. A trade off of slow tech growth or the occasion loss of tech like when you banish the Jews, with better religious casus belli could potentially work.

A great race of Yith possession chain would also be kind of cool in general.

Hope you find some of this helpful and I can't wait to see this mod become more fleshed out.

 

[Keperry]

On the subject of the Cowboy Controversy, maybe the mod could use something like the GoT mod's knighthood mechanics, with cowboys as knights?

If I might ask, why is the New York area (Gotham and Hudsonia) so heavily Evangelical? It seems like it would make more sense for it to be Americanist, or Catholic if it has to be Christian. Or maybe that would be a good area to get a new religion or sect (I look at Woodstock and imagine hippies)?

I think that the Americanist Pilgrimage needs more content for visiting the holy sites that you own. It seems logical that as an Americanist you would want to take control of all the holy sites, but doing so puts you at a disadvantage as far as the pilgrimage goes because it leaves you with only two options for each place you visit and neither of them is all that great. The ability to control other pilgrimages hardly makes up for it--I've never seen one person stay in my dungeon after throwing them in my dungeon, and when the pilgrims give you a gift of gold you don't even get any gold.

Some of the heresies seem like they should have religious heads--Charismatic and the Americanist heresies in particular. It would make sense for Charismatic to use the same mechanics as Evangelical, while the Americanist sects could have their own presidents. Maybe they wouldn't exist from the start but you could found them in-game and then they would work like the normal president. On a related note, the desc says that Libertarians are supposed to have a First Lady, but they don't, they have a First Knight. And then there's the High Church, which feels like it should be its own religion and not a heresy. And what about the Afro-Syncretists? Could they get heads? Or reformations, maybe? A Voodoo reformation would certainly be cool.

What's up with the Electoral College?

 

[TKFS]

The Occultist religion could have developed along two different lines in my mind based on the misinterpreted works of Lovecraft and similar works like the King in Yellow.

A religion that focuses on achieving some kind of distorted transhuman form of enlightenment by emulating the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods in form and thought. Kind of like a twisted Buddhism or how the Atomicist use the radioactive material currently to get the "blessing of the Atom". They might believe that the only way to survive the next event or the awakening of the Great Old Ones is to become more like them. Thus Nyalathotep and the King in Yellow become paragons to aspire to, corrupt Bodhisattvas of sorts. This very straight lovecraftian interpretation could use events like some of the ones I have suggested already an "Innsmouth look" trait or a Dunwich Horror spin on the demon spawn chain. Maybe a piety bonus for ugly or club footed and some other bad physical traits or have close kin marriages/caste traits to keep "the bloodlines pure" for old New England money families if you really want to go down the whole quasi-eugenics road.

A fearful maltheistic religion that wants to keep the Great Old Ones asleep and sacrifices to appease them kind of like the Aztec or the Mesoamerican in general spin on human sacrifice as necessary to preserve the world and to keep the sun moving. Maybe use deity names or titles if you want to keep in vague, as both god names and bad god names in the. This religion would view lovecraftian deities as dangerous forces of nature (maybe even have Azatoth's title of nuclear chaos be misinterpreted), so more of a Derleth, take that are best avoided. Perhaps they believe that pre-event America disturbed the slumber of the Great Old Ones by delving in to knowledge man was not mean to know. They could have mass book burnings kind of like the simpletons in a Canticle or a alot of games of Call of Cthulhu in addition to human sacrifices. A trade off of slow tech growth or the occasion loss of tech like when you banish the Jews, with better religious casus belli could potentially work.

A great race of Yith possession chain would also be kind of cool in general.

Hope you find some of this helpful and I can't wait to see this mod become more fleshed out.

Both of these sound quite amazing. I was also thinking about the possibility of patron gods for the Occultists as well.

 

[Black Conqueror]

So I'm playing the latest version on GitHub and the Liberation Wars event says "America will Not rise again". Probably should fix that phrasing.

 

[SteelyGlint]

I think that the Americanist Pilgrimage needs more content for visiting the holy sites that you own. It seems logical that as an Americanist you would want to take control of all the holy sites, but doing so puts you at a disadvantage as far as the pilgrimage goes because it leaves you with only two options for each place you visit and neither of them is all that great. The ability to control other pilgrimages hardly makes up for it--I've never seen one person stay in my dungeon after throwing them in my dungeon, and when the pilgrims give you a gift of gold you don't even get any gold.

I intended for there to be smaller rewards when you already own the city, mostly for balance reasons. You take no risk visiting your own city, and there are several benefits. You do actually get the gold when a pilgrim presents you the gift, it's just that the transfer takes place when the pilgrim selects the option rather than when the owner is informed. You get opinion bonuses with anyone you allow to pass through your cities, as well as the chance to become friends with those you spend money to personally host. Not to mention that all the holy cities are already good provinces with 6-7 holdings, and we may end up having special monument buildings in the future that add yet more benefits.

I haven't personally seen any issues with imprisonments not working as intended, but if they are that's probably a bug of some sort.

So I'm playing the latest version on GitHub and the Liberation Wars event says "America will Not rise again". Probably should fix that phrasing.

It should only say that if you're not an Americanist. If you're Americanist, it should say "E Pluribus Unum".

 

[Black Conqueror]

I intended for there to be smaller rewards when you already own the city, mostly for balance reasons. You take no risk visiting your own city, and there are several benefits. You do actually get the gold when a pilgrim presents you the gift, it's just that the transfer takes place when the pilgrim selects the option rather than when the owner is informed. You get opinion bonuses with anyone you allow to pass through your cities, as well as the chance to become friends with those you spend money to personally host. Not to mention that all the holy cities are already good provinces with 6-7 holdings, and we may end up having special monument buildings in the future that add yet more benefits.

I haven't personally seen any issues with imprisonments not working as intended, but if they are that's probably a bug of some sort.


It should only say that if you're not an Americanist. If you're Americanist, it should say "E Pluribus Unum".

Okay just wanted to make sure that the game wasn't broken (Playing as a Rust Cultist)

 

[unmerged(661890)]

Wait, I have a great idea.

So, there should be a big wall of Catholics in northern Mexico and Texas, (I'm operating under the assumption the South of Mexico is syncretic).

To provide map changing-ness, a different religion should be added.

I think it should be the Ignatian heresy of Catholicism, derived from the Jesuit order of priests. The Order is super popular in Latin American countries for promoting social justice and equality, so maybe a mechanic for women priests. The leader should be called the Black Pope ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pope ).

It also covers... wait for it... Louisiana, because the order is also very, very important in that area.

SO, in short, Jesuit heresy would mean rivals for Catholics in Mexico and also no anachronistic Voodoos in New Orleans!

 

[Keperry]

Wait, I have a great idea.

So, there should be a big wall of Catholics in northern Mexico and Texas, (I'm operating under the assumption the South of Mexico is syncretic).

To provide map changing-ness, a different religion should be added.

I think it should be the Ignatian heresy of Catholicism, derived from the Jesuit order of priests. The Order is super popular in Latin American countries for promoting social justice and equality, so maybe a mechanic for women priests. The leader should be called the Black Pope ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pope ).

It also covers... wait for it... Louisiana, because the order is also very, very important in that area.

SO, in short, Jesuit heresy would mean rivals for Catholics in Mexico and also no anachronistic Voodoos in New Orleans!

Quiet, you! Voodoo is the best and must stay in the game at all costs. It has too much potential for cool events and patron deities and such.

That said, a Jesuit heresy would be cool, so long as it doesn't interfere with the One True Faith of Voodoo.

 

[unmerged(661890)]

Quiet, you! Voodoo is the best and must stay in the game at all costs. It has too much potential for cool events and patron deities and such.

That said, a Jesuit heresy would be cool, so long as it doesn't interfere with the One True Faith of Voodoo.

Without spamming (cuz I've complained before about this) Voodoo's ok to have, just not in Louisiana.

Trust me, this is cool.

 

[Keperry]

Without spamming (cuz I've complained before about this) Voodoo's ok to have, just not in Louisiana.

Trust me, this is cool.

Of all the religious things in this mod that don't make sense, Voodoo in Louisiana is the least of them, and if there's anything this mod needs it certainly isn't more Christians at the expense of non-Christians.

 

[Morosaurus]

If I might ask, why is the New York area (Gotham and Hudsonia) so heavily Evangelical? It seems like it would make more sense for it to be Americanist, or Catholic if it has to be Christian. Or maybe that would be a good area to get a new religion or sect (I look at Woodstock and imagine hippies)?

If there were to be a new religion added to the New York area I think that a Jewish resurgence would make sense as there is quite a minority of them in and around New York City

 

[Ofaloaf]

If I might ask, why is the New York area (Gotham and Hudsonia) so heavily Evangelical? It seems like it would make more sense for it to be Americanist, or Catholic if it has to be Christian. Or maybe that would be a good area to get a new religion or sect (I look at Woodstock and imagine hippies)?

New York started off Catholic, but then it was switched to Evangelical since Catholic crusades for New England were turning into an absolute curbstomp with a big Catholic realm immediately neighboring that Occultist realm. I'm dead-set against expanding Americanists much further, outside of maybe an enclave around Mount Rushmore or something, since it was originally made to be just a DC-centered cult to begin with and I never wanted it to be much more than that.

 

[Keperry]

New York started off Catholic, but then it was switched to Evangelical since Catholic crusades for New England were turning into an absolute curbstomp with a big Catholic realm immediately neighboring that Occultist realm. I'm dead-set against expanding Americanists much further, outside of maybe an enclave around Mount Rushmore or something, since it was originally made to be just a DC-centered cult to begin with and I never wanted it to be much more than that.

Alright, but why Evangelical and not some other non-Catholic non-Americanist religion that fits the area better?