I know this is a lot of text, but I hope you take the time to read this suggestion. 
One of the current problems with the election of the Holy Roman Emperor in EU4 is that the whole process seems so very static. There are only two real ways to gain the Emperorship from underneath Austria's nose, and both are very gimmicky.
The first is to ally up all of the electors and get a royal marriage. That's it. You can improve relations if you want, but you're stuck with a large amount dead-end alliances with a bunch of OPMs just to nab the Emperorship. You ally and forget, not really that interesting, but simply OK.
Admittedly far less interesting is the other, far more popular option, of charging into the HRE, smashing in Austria's teeth, and vassalizing 3 or 4 electors, guaranteeing you the next Emperor slot. This option is by far the easier and far more appealing option for most players, and I find it to be both not very fun and not very hard to use this to gain the absurd buffs of the Emperor.
And to top it all off, it is nearly impossible to lose the Emperor position once you have it. Nearly impossible. Most of the time I don't even check because I've never ever lost the title once I've obtained it. The electors just blindly vote me in again and again, especially if I went the vassal route and they mindlessly vote for their overlord.
So I have created a few mockups for some additions to the HRE elections that will make it, in my opinion, more interesting and dynamic, with more effort required to be put in to not only obtain, but maintain the office of the Holy Roman Emperor. You should have to work for those buffs.
First up is the ability toBribe "Financially Support" certain electors to make them a little more likely to think of you come the next election. The bonus should be kept low, maybe 1 point per 10 ducats or 25 ducats, but enough so that a wealthy nation can flex that muscle to improve their standing in the next election, or allow competition to arise from more than just improving relations, as it is now.
This is somewhat based on the article I stumbled across of the bribe-war fought between Charles V and Francis I for the office in the election of 1519. Money played a large role there and it can here too.
In the mockup I tried to coney the meaning as much as I could in the little space I had to work with beneath the shields, but I think this combined with a hover-tooltip would get the meaning across well enough. I actually really like how this one turned out.
You notice there is no remove money button. No revoking bribes. That would be silly.
Next is a process really similar to the "Support Heir" action you can take in Poland, improving your Heir's support points by planting a diplomat there for some time. The idea here is that you are not improving relations with the nation of the elector, you are improving your standing with the elector himself. A powerful tool for nations that have invested in the diplomatic ideas and direction, this "Support Emperorship" (name pending) action would allow you to push for those few voting points and really try to make this guy vote for you.
Instead of plopping down a diplomat to improve relations for the vote bonus and the double-dipping bonus of making the elector's nation like you, you now have to send a diplomat specifically for the vote bonus, giving you far more choices when it comes to garnering vote power.
I also propose the "Improved Relations" bonus be reduced a bit to emphasize the usefulness of this action.
Last but not least, I propose that the "Vassal" vote bonus be reduced significantly, perhaps halved. I know the current system makes sense realistically, vassal votes for overlord, but in gameplay this results in mindless electors who vote for their overlord no matter what. It needs to be toned down so even elector puppet-masters need to work a bit to keep their top spot.
Bonus: My suggested alert for demanding Unlawful Territory
Banner Alert Suggestion Thread: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...mperor-when-a-nation-holds-Unlawful-Territory
So with these new systems I hope to allow players more choices and actions in their ability to gain the title Holy Roman Emperor, moving away from the old military based strategy of crushing Austria, to rewarding more economical and diplomatic approaches as well.
Thanks for reading. :wub:
Full album: https://imgur.com/a/RVz6N
One of the current problems with the election of the Holy Roman Emperor in EU4 is that the whole process seems so very static. There are only two real ways to gain the Emperorship from underneath Austria's nose, and both are very gimmicky.
The first is to ally up all of the electors and get a royal marriage. That's it. You can improve relations if you want, but you're stuck with a large amount dead-end alliances with a bunch of OPMs just to nab the Emperorship. You ally and forget, not really that interesting, but simply OK.
Admittedly far less interesting is the other, far more popular option, of charging into the HRE, smashing in Austria's teeth, and vassalizing 3 or 4 electors, guaranteeing you the next Emperor slot. This option is by far the easier and far more appealing option for most players, and I find it to be both not very fun and not very hard to use this to gain the absurd buffs of the Emperor.
And to top it all off, it is nearly impossible to lose the Emperor position once you have it. Nearly impossible. Most of the time I don't even check because I've never ever lost the title once I've obtained it. The electors just blindly vote me in again and again, especially if I went the vassal route and they mindlessly vote for their overlord.
So I have created a few mockups for some additions to the HRE elections that will make it, in my opinion, more interesting and dynamic, with more effort required to be put in to not only obtain, but maintain the office of the Holy Roman Emperor. You should have to work for those buffs.
First up is the ability to
This is somewhat based on the article I stumbled across of the bribe-war fought between Charles V and Francis I for the office in the election of 1519. Money played a large role there and it can here too.
In the mockup I tried to coney the meaning as much as I could in the little space I had to work with beneath the shields, but I think this combined with a hover-tooltip would get the meaning across well enough. I actually really like how this one turned out.
You notice there is no remove money button. No revoking bribes. That would be silly.
Next is a process really similar to the "Support Heir" action you can take in Poland, improving your Heir's support points by planting a diplomat there for some time. The idea here is that you are not improving relations with the nation of the elector, you are improving your standing with the elector himself. A powerful tool for nations that have invested in the diplomatic ideas and direction, this "Support Emperorship" (name pending) action would allow you to push for those few voting points and really try to make this guy vote for you.
Instead of plopping down a diplomat to improve relations for the vote bonus and the double-dipping bonus of making the elector's nation like you, you now have to send a diplomat specifically for the vote bonus, giving you far more choices when it comes to garnering vote power.
I also propose the "Improved Relations" bonus be reduced a bit to emphasize the usefulness of this action.
Last but not least, I propose that the "Vassal" vote bonus be reduced significantly, perhaps halved. I know the current system makes sense realistically, vassal votes for overlord, but in gameplay this results in mindless electors who vote for their overlord no matter what. It needs to be toned down so even elector puppet-masters need to work a bit to keep their top spot.
Bonus: My suggested alert for demanding Unlawful Territory
Banner Alert Suggestion Thread: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...mperor-when-a-nation-holds-Unlawful-Territory
So with these new systems I hope to allow players more choices and actions in their ability to gain the title Holy Roman Emperor, moving away from the old military based strategy of crushing Austria, to rewarding more economical and diplomatic approaches as well.
Thanks for reading. :wub:
Full album: https://imgur.com/a/RVz6N
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