I've got a theoretical question about personal unions. The wiki's article on the subject is pretty comprehensive, but there are always unknown situations that don't necessarily play out the way you'd expect them to! The situation I'm thinking of is fairly simple: if country A leads a PU with country B, and if country B leads a PU with country C, how does inheritance shake out? I can see a few scenarios:
Inheritance mechanics are crazy, I know, but I'm still curious. In my current game as Castille, I managed to inherit Savoy even through I was excommunicated. According to the wiki, excommunicated rulers lose the PU at death -- I wouldn't know; I don't make a habit of being excommunicated (or being Catholic, come to think of it) -- but since I inherited at the same time, obviously the inheritance check would have to fire before the excommunication check. This implies, at least to me, that the inheritance checks are made sequentially, rather than in some sort of group mechanic. (That is to say, if the checks were all processed at the same time, or in some sort of dependency system, the excommunication flag would logically have to block the inheritance.)
On the assumption that inheritance checks are sequential, this of course begs the question of precedence in those checks... which would directly affect not only which of the above options are statistically significant, but also which of them are even possible.
In the spirit of disclosure, I know very little of the game engine's mechanics, and I haven't been playing DW for long. (This scenario is loosely based on an experience I had in IN, where I as Scandinavia led GB, who led Burgundy. My dreams of double-inheritance and instant-superpower-hood were quickly shattered by a steady stream of insults -- I swear, both of them levied their entire diplomatic corps at me for the better part of a decade....) Nevertheless, I figure a theoretical question on such a potentially valuable topic as inheritance would be, at the very least, an interesting question.
- No inheritance: This is (statistically? possibly? let's call it 'probably) the most likely option. It's also the most boring one. Moving on.
- A inherits B only: Seems to be the most sensible inheritance option; B gets inherited and C continues in the PU under A.
- A inherits B and C: Doesn't seem ridiculous, due to the all-or-nothing inheritance results with multiple (independent) PUs.
- A inherits C only: Seems ridiculous... but if the inheritance checks are entirely separate, then shouldn't technically be any less rare than option 2.
- A inherits none; B inherits C: Perhaps absurd, but if inheritance checks are made based on factors specific to each country, then wouldn't necessarily be out of the question. That is to say, if inheritance is tied to the strength of a country's royal ties rather than the ruler's royal ties, then, since royal ties are represented abstractly (I'm envisioning a relations-like system for 'royal closeness,' abstracting down to a single number), it's not impossible for B to be closely tied to C and not at all to A. (Or, looking back, for A to be close with C and not at all to B.)
Inheritance mechanics are crazy, I know, but I'm still curious. In my current game as Castille, I managed to inherit Savoy even through I was excommunicated. According to the wiki, excommunicated rulers lose the PU at death -- I wouldn't know; I don't make a habit of being excommunicated (or being Catholic, come to think of it) -- but since I inherited at the same time, obviously the inheritance check would have to fire before the excommunication check. This implies, at least to me, that the inheritance checks are made sequentially, rather than in some sort of group mechanic. (That is to say, if the checks were all processed at the same time, or in some sort of dependency system, the excommunication flag would logically have to block the inheritance.)
On the assumption that inheritance checks are sequential, this of course begs the question of precedence in those checks... which would directly affect not only which of the above options are statistically significant, but also which of them are even possible.
In the spirit of disclosure, I know very little of the game engine's mechanics, and I haven't been playing DW for long. (This scenario is loosely based on an experience I had in IN, where I as Scandinavia led GB, who led Burgundy. My dreams of double-inheritance and instant-superpower-hood were quickly shattered by a steady stream of insults -- I swear, both of them levied their entire diplomatic corps at me for the better part of a decade....) Nevertheless, I figure a theoretical question on such a potentially valuable topic as inheritance would be, at the very least, an interesting question.
