Whats the point of empowering council?

[Mr_jon3s]

I quit around India and have just started playing again. Had some money left over on my steam account and bought the council DLC instead of the horse lords. Why would I ever want my to empower my council? All this expansion seems to do is make vassals with junk stats mad at me for not putting them on my council. Also favors seems like trash. If a guy is an ally you can use a favor to make him join you. But It doesn't just let you ask some other guy that owes you a favor to join your war. Or let me call in a favor by having them join my plot.

 

[Ultima_Ratio]

Because everybody will keep revolting every 10 years if you don't and with a bit of internal managing you really don't need to care about the council anyway. The only thing you'll miss is the demesne size bonus but since council powers increase vassal limit the trade-off is pretty similar to centralization.

 

[DPS]

There are several reasons to empower your council. In rough order of importance:

First, the council has to be empowered to enforce realm peace. If you want to change your succession laws, none of your vassals can be fighting one another, and without realm peace that might not ever happen.

Second, empowering the council opens up one or two advisor slots if you're a kingdom or empire, respectively. That gives you someplace to put those powerful but incompetent vassals who want council seats.

Third, if the council isn't empowered, there will be constant faction plots to empower it.

Fourth, the more the council is empowered, the higher your vassal limit.

What I normally do is let council power rise until I have my succession law where I want it and am ready to enact Imperial Administration (instituting Imperial Administration requires that you have absolute rule i.e., that the council not be empowered) and then un-empower them. At that point you should be powerful enough that factions aren't that big of a deal and Imperial Administration gives you a big boost to vassal limit; there's really no reason to let it become empowered again except role-play, or if you are really, really big and really need a higher vassal limit.

 

[balmung60]

IIRC, even with an unempowered council, incompetent vassals demand seats. Empowering the council gives extra seats that you can give to useless people.

Allowing the council to vote on wardecs disallows vassals on the council from joining factions so long as the council is content (which has nothing to do with if the councilors like you or their voting stance).

Also, IIRC, if the council is empowered, you can pass laws twice as often as if the council has no power.

 

[Sergeant Flutter]

The Council Members can't join factions if it's empowered.

It also makes all vassals happier overall.

 

[balmung60]

The Council Members can't join factions if it's empowered.

It also makes all vassals happier overall.

Not quite - they also need the power to vote on war declarations and for the council to be content (they're discontent for two years after a new ruler ascends and for some amount of time after you defy them, such as making a wardec that was no approved by a majority of the council).

 

[Sergeant Flutter]

Not quite - they also need the power to vote on war declarations and for the council to be content (they're discontent for two years after a new ruler ascends and for some amount of time after you defy them, such as making a wardec that was no approved by a majority of the council).

If the council's empowered, they have the power to vote on one thing? No? War typically, because the A.I. Always will make factions for the War Committee first.

And it's true that they'll only do it if they're content, but it's easy to keep them happy. You get a +40 bonus for having them on the council

 

[DPS]

If the council's empowered, they have the power to vote on one thing? No? War typically, because the A.I. Always will make factions for the War Committee first.

And it's true that they'll only do it if they're content, but it's easy to keep them happy. You get a +40 bonus for having them on the council

No, you're misunderstanding on both points, I think.

First, they don't make factions for a particular power; they just make factions to increase council power, and those increases just come in a certain order (I think, I could be wrong on this part).

The other part, those, I know I'm correct about--the council is always discontent and its members can join factions during the first 2 years of a ruler's reign. There's nothing you can do about that.

 

[Sergeant Flutter]

No, you're misunderstanding on both points, I think.

First, they don't make factions for a particular power; they just make factions to increase council power, and those increases just come in a certain order (I think, I could be wrong on this part).

The other part, those, I know I'm correct about--the council is always discontent and its members can join factions during the first 2 years of a ruler's reign. There's nothing you can do about that.

Yes, that's correct. But, War Declaration is the first one.

And you're right on that! It's just that later on it's very easy to keep them happy, unless your some kind of out of control tyrant.

 

[dragoon9105]

Or you know, you prefer spending your money purging your idiotic vassals when they get pissy you declared war on an OPM count without thier permission.

 

[Legionary Guard]

Or you know, you prefer spending your money purging your idiotic vassals when they get pissy you declared war on an OPM count without thier permission.

The same vassals, no doubt, that have stats that look like so much binary, yet expect their council seat to be delivered on a diamond platter and generally act less like a Peer of the Realm and more like an exceptionally slow four-year-old. :/

 

[balmung60]

The same vassals, no doubt, that have stats that look like so much binary, yet expect their council seat to be delivered on a diamond platter and generally act less like a Peer of the Realm and more like an exceptionally slow four-year-old. :/

Fortunately, I find such incompetent vassals to be similarly incapable of threatening the realm as they are of aiding in its rule - their poor martial gives them small levies, their bad diplomacy gives them bad relations with their own vassals, their bad stewardship gives them a small demesne and low income, and as such, their demands for a council seat can often be ignored with few, if any, ill effects, provided of course, that there are no openings in the purely ceremonial position of advisor.

 

[Knotz]

Mostly for the vassal limit, but in my Persian game empowering the council was always something forced on me. A civil war right after a big war while the Abbasids are sitting there all pretty like? No. My rulers would often vacillate between empowering the council just to abolish them a few years/decades later.

 

[Mike Louis]

I just empower my council and give them War Declaration powers to keep them from getting any ideas above their station. My More Councillors mod adds in 20 more seats called Peers which basically turns my council into a virtual House of Lords / Diet and at the same time not compromise the quality of my inner council (chancellor, marshal, steward, spymaster, court chaplain).

 

[orochi2k]

What's the point of democracy?