Dev diary 38: The Warriors of the Rising Sun + misc. Japanese stuff
As I believe I've mentioned in the past, Japan is one of the two areas we're planning on adding some flavour for in the next update (the other area is China), and though there likely will be smaller bits added both in this update and later on it is time to go into some of the meatier things that are coming. Note that some of the things here are unfinished (or even missing...) and somewhat subject to change (though it is highly doubtful anything mentioned here will be removed outright unless it turns out to have major issues).
The Warriors of the Rising Sun:
The Warriors of the Rising Sun is the society that was teased earlier this week. It is partially based on HF's Warrior Lodges (though the
event overlap is close to zero; you'll not be flyting or the like) and restricted to HF as a result.
It should be noted right away that this society isn't attempting to mirror any historical organization and instead is meant to provide some more things to do in Japan that should be
reasonably fitting if not
100 % accurate, which generally is the CK2 standard for flavour. If you want something new to do in Japan, it will be there, but if you don't feel like using it there's no requirement to do so, and aside from perhaps getting involved in some wars or challenged to duels it shouldn't affect you too much (and might even be beneficial in that it will make other people a bit less likely to join the DWs or a SRS as they actually have another choice).
The society is available for feudal and tribal rulers that are Shinto, Japonic Buddhist, and currently also Ryukyuan (both reformed and unreformed; we might remove access for them once we get around to Ryukyuan flavour) plus possibly some event-spawned characters belonging to other religions, and you begrudgingly get to stick around if you convert to Taoist (it is a bit weird, but still Eastern), Hindu (they know how to fight and would probably be Kshatriyas), or any Christian religion (as there were Christian daimyos later on historically), even if this is penalized (as is being Ryukyuan, if to a lesser extent).
While some of the traits that are good for a Warrior Lodge are useful when it comes to gaining Honor (the society currency), the society is a bit different when it comes to some things, for example penalizing the Viking traits (unlikely to be relevant in most games), frowning upon being Left-Handed, and really not looking kindly on female members (they can exist, but they get hefty penalties to Honor gain and their member score). The society also only has one Rank 4 member, with the member score determining the successor, similar to e.g. various Devil Worshipper societies, and you also don't have to fight a duel to join.
Rank 1 (Novice) gives the following benefits:
+0.25 monthly prestige
- The
Duel decision becomes available.
-
Survivor. As in the case of a Warrior Lodge, you're a bit harder to kill on the battlefield.
-
Lifetime of War. As in the case of a Warrior Lodge, you can get some more battlefield events (not all WL events are available, since some would be rather odd here).
- Access to the
War of Honor CB. This CB can be used to fight rivals, anyone that has a Mark of Dishonor (more on this below), or any ruler that's within a certain relative power difference from you and that doesn't have sufficient Honor if in the WotRS. Winning gives you Honor and reduces the enemy's Honor (if they're in the WotRS), with the Honor gain being higher if you beat a rival. Unlike other CBs battle warscore caps at 200 % for either side, meaning that winning sieges might not be necessary, and neither side can call in allies. The CB can also not be used against anyone that already is at war, since that would be cowardly.
- Brothers in Arms. You can spend Honor (scaling based on how much higher their rank is than yours, with a 100 Honor cost at the same rank) to call in any landed WotRS member that is at peace and that isn't a subject/liege of your enemy or bound by a truce or NAP with that enemy. This cannot be used during a War of Honor.
Before you can move on to Rank 2 you will need to find a mentor who is willing to take you on and then prove yourself to that mentor (read: Get through an event chain), as well as amass 750 Honor. This should be the first mission you get as a new member, and it should hopefully not present too much of a challenge as you of course are a brave and honourable warrior even before joining, but depending on the prospective mentor and partially depending on who you are it might be a bit more difficult; for example, a member that's higher than Rank 2 is more likely to refuse, and if the mentor isn't a woman but you are it might be held against you.
Rank 2 (Samurai/Onna-bugeisha) gives the following benefits:
+0.5 monthly prestige
+1 Martial
+5 Personal Combat Skill
- Your liege can appoint you as a
Commander even if you are female and that normally would be an issue. This is a Rank 1 WL power, but it is higher here because Japan is, again, not so egalitarian.
-
Warrior Training. Gives you a special commander trait.
-
Summon Lodge Commander. Gives you a new commander that joins the WotRS.
-
Enlist Ronin. Gives you a stack of event troops. Can only be used when at war, only once per war, and these troops disband when you make peace.
- You may mentor Rank 1 members of the WotRS that don't have a mentor.
To get to Rank 3 you'll either need 2000 Honor
or 1000 Honor plus two consecutive War of Honor victories (these can be gained both as the attacker and as the defender). There also needs to be an open spot, as there can only be seven Rank 3 members at once.
Rank 3 (Hatamoto) gives the following benefits:
+0.75 monthly prestige
+2 Martial
+10 PCS
-
Inspire Warriors. As in the case of a WL, you can right-click a holding to refill the garrison in exchange for Honor.
-
Indomitable. As in the case of the WL version you can no longer take lethal battlefield injuries. This is granted one rank earlier so that it actually is possible to get even if you're not deemed fit to lead the WotRS.
-
Choose Military Aspect. Yet another Rank 4 WL ability that lets you pick up Strategist/Duelist/Hunter.
-
Become Japanese Feudal. If the normal version costs too much prestige for your liking, you can use this and spend Honor instead.
Rank 4 (Master/Mistress) gives the following benefits:
+1 monthly prestige
+3 Martial
+15 PCS
- Lower rank members that are not independent and a higher rank than you, your rivals, any Regent, any liege of yours, the Tenno, or currently in a war against you are
Obedient towards you (meaning that they in AI hands will accept most diplomatic interactions).
- You can give any member of the Warriors of the Rising Sun a
Mark of Dishonor, making it possible for other members to declare Wars of Honor on them even if they normally wouldn't be able to. This will result in a rivalry with the target if you aren't already their rival.
- The ability to prepare a
Rising Sun Subjugation and declare one when the preparations are complete. Taking this decision starts the "Legend" progress for the society and lets you and other members periodically spend Honor to increase the "Legend" progress (which
only increases from Honor spent). Once the bar has been filled, you can spend 1000 Honor to declare a war on any independent ruler (that isn't the Tenno or the Tenno's liege) to subjugate any kingdom of theirs, dragging in every WotRS member that isn't a vassal of the target or blocked by a truce or NAP. This war counts as a holy war (meaning other realms can offer to join the defender), you cannot call in allies outside the WotRS (as that potentially could result in the main contributor not being part of the WotRS), and on victory the
main contributor subjugates the target kingdom. Should you die the war immediately invalidates, and any progress towards a war that hasn't been declared is lost (so no murdering the previous Master and declaring the war for him).
As a less isolationist Japan might not be to everyone's tastes (I'm looking at Korea in particular right now, though depending on where the Master is located a few other areas might also care about this) there will be two game rules related to the WotRS, one restricting Wars of Honor to the same realm only and one governing whether the Rising Sun Subjugation CB and the related decision is available (Allowed/No AI/Disabled).
In addition to the powers above there will of course be some new flavour events involving other members of the society (some of them concerning mentor/student relationships (usually not
that kind of relationship), some not), including a way to get a new bloodline.
Shinto/Japonic Buddhist Monastic Order:
One of these will be added (to an extent it is going to be copy-paste work, so I'm confident that it
will be added even though the work hasn't begun at this moment) and be a close match to the vanilla ones, and Japonic Buddhists will not be permitted to join the normal Buddhist MO (as it is weirder for them to band up with Indians and the like). The main difference will likely be that it allows easier access to the Japanese Monastic Feudal government type (for Shinto rulers), that it will have some new pilgrimage choices in Japan (with Buddhists probably getting the option to go to a normal Buddhist pilgrimage site if they prefer that), and that it of course is open to two religions rather than just the one.
Regency Power changes + Chrysanthemum Throne Succession:
The Regent's power can now wax and wane a bit (as it historically did) without the Permanent Regency having to end, as there are (mechanically speaking) laws governing which powers the Regent can use. This means that getting a Regent isn't guaranteed to be particularly troublesome right away, but that a lasting Regency is likely to become a problem.
From the easiest to the hardest to achieve, these powers are 1) interfering in your liege's marriage (forcing him to marry a kinsman of yours and turning his current spouse into a consort, with some restrictions on the suitability of your spouse), 2) transferring lower tier vassals to the Regent's direct control, 3) releasing prisoners held by the Regent's liege, 4) appropriating part of the liege's treasury for the good of the reg... realm!, 5) executing the liege's prisoners (cannot be used against the liege's dynasty, and the Regent gets all applicable penalties, e.g. Kinslayer traits), 6) appropriating lesser titles held by the liege, and finally 7) meddling in the liege's succession (only available if the liege is the Tenno); more on this below. The AI Regent will only release prisoners that belong to its dynasty, and will only consider executing its rivals (and will be less likely to execute its dynasty members if it isn't already a Kinslayer), while the player has more freedom. These interactions all cost prestige, and aside from releasing and executing prisoners there are cooldowns in place.
Currently, becoming the Regent by asking nicely grants the first two powers, becoming the Regent through a plot, an ultimatum, or a faction war grants four, and failing to overthrow the Regent grants the Regent two extra powers. Both the Tenno and the Regent can spend prestige (currently 1000) to grant or revoke one power (you do not get to choose the order), with a cooldown in place to prevent either side from very rapidly moving in their preferred direction.
The Tenno now uses a custom Tanistry-based succession law, which puts a lot of emphasis on things like being the child of a wife rather than a consort (which in turn is preferred over being a legitimized bastard), being a close relative of the current holder (preferably a descendant rather than a sibling), being married to the elector's dynasty, having a mother from the elector's dynasty, being an Amaterasu Descendant (unless something
weird has happened this should
always be the case for everyone eligible, but the check is there in case the Imperial Family dies out or something), and (barring Full Status of Women or a feminist culture) not being a woman (and the Tenno will be starting with Agnatic, which you can't swap out of during a Permanent Regency). The Regent also has a preference for a candidate that's less likely to have
ideas like "I don't want to be a figurehead!", and thus prefers a younger candidate, a candidate with less piety/prestige, a candidate that doesn't have very high stats (particularly not Diplomacy or Intrigue), and a non-Ambitious candidate.
If the Regent isn't allowed to meddle in the succession, the only elector is the Tenno, while the Regent gets to be an elector if meddling is allowed. By default the Tenno wins even if the Regent can meddle (unless he has a regent for a reason such as being a child or being Incapable) since ties are resolved in the holder's favour, but if the Regent is allowed to meddle he can spend prestige to boost his candidate's score, which the Tenno can counter in the same manner, with both parties upsetting the other party and the candidate that suddenly isn't the winner any longer.
As far as the historical setup goes at the moment, two powers will be enacted in 867, four in 936, and all seven in 1066. Post-1066, the Regent's power will decrease a bit since Fujiwara Norimichi and later regents lost quite a bit of the Regent's influence and certain powerful warriors (e.g. Taira Kiyomori) started to wield quite a bit of influence even before there was a Shogun.
Grant Minamoto surname + the Hachimantaro bloodline:
Assuming the Imperial Family holds the Chrysanthemum Throne (which
should be the case unless they go extinct as far as Shinto men (and women, if you pass certain laws) go, which probably won't happen unless the Black Death wipes them out or something) the Tenno has the ability to
permanently disinherit any member of the Imperial Family
and their (male line, barring matrilineal marriages) descendants by granting them the Minamoto surname (changing their dynasty) in exchange for prestige. The AI will never do this as we don't want the Imperial Family to go extinct simply because the AI wonders what happens if it presses the button, but as the player you can use this power on pretty much anyone who isn't your ancestor or your current heir (which rules out disinheriting the Regent's preferred heir if that heir is currently the frontrunner).
There's also a new bloodline in Japan (well, there are two, but one of them is a non-generic shogunate bloodline granted once the Kamakura Shogunate has been created, which is well after Stamford Bridge...), founded by a certain someone with a unique nickname.
This bloodline (which might get nerfed a bit since it currently has quite a few benefits) gives a middling PCS boost, Great Warriors (with HF), easier access to Japanese Feudal (by significantly cutting the prestige cost if there isn't a Regent), and easier access to Shogunates; Minamoto Yoshiie happens to be the ancestor of Minamoto Yoritomo, Minamoto Yoshinaka, Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada,
and (well outside CK2's timeframe) supposedly Tokugawa Ieyasu, with three of them (Yoritomo, Takauji, and Ieyasu) founding Shogunates and two of them (Yoshinaka and Yoshisada) conceivably having done so if certain events had turned out in their favour.
That would be everything for now. With the plans for the immediate future mainly having to do with the history file update (progress is being made, but there are
many characters that need to be added or changed) and finishing up/getting around to some of the things above, the usual bit regarding infrequent dev diaries applies, possibly excepting fillers.