Yeah... no. It gives us a total of +1 removed. In net, it reduces our cent floor by 3 and our cent ceiling by 2. That widens our total range by 1, but shifts it significantly downwards.
Since we get disaster tolerance at higher cent, I can't help but view this as a neutral transaction at best. Think of it as getting +1 max cent at the cost of getting -1 event resistance; hardly a bargain.
And on top of that, it forms breakaway nexuses for our state to fracture around in case things get bad.
And we are supposed to pay for the privilege, too.
No, I'm sorry - but if there is virtue to these things, I am fundamentally not getting it.
In theory, yes. In practice we have more than a dozen roads progress to go until we hit our cap, so that isn't something we need to worry about anytime soon.
From what I remember, the King can technically move anyone anywhere they want to, but they generally let someone stay on the same plot of land so long as they aren't fucking it up.
When they can no longer work the land, usually because they die, their children usually go to "own" the land instead, with the justification being that they are the most familiar with the land and how to properly farm it.
Everyone can work the land in some way, half exiles excepting, so I guess by your definition everyone not in a city "owns" land.
Carrion Eaters are promoted from our priest/shaman caste, though they are semi-hereditary now, in that in most places Carrion Eaters are promoted from the children of Carrion Eaters.
They are an elite unit type, with corresponding social status, and considered to be basically combination Comissars/Chaplains/Medics.
Our warrior elites are basically as follows(discounting officer track heavy infantry):
-Chariot Archer
--This is the General/Marshal/Captain route to promotion. Chariot Archers require a good grasp of the battlefield, of relative movements of forces, so as to target and hit(much less volley!) while moving at high speeds. This makes them natural generals, and they cut their teeth on logistics by ensuring the maintenance of their own equipment. Alas, you need to be pretty wealthy to enter the caste, since chariots and horses aren't cheap to maintain.
-Blackbirds
--This is the intel route of promotion. Remember when they aren't foresters the Blackbirds are basically the state intelligence apparatus. They have sanction to spy on dissent, stop crime, and report all this to the Patricians. This in turn means they have a very good grip on the politicking and intrigue to social climb, as well as a decent grasp of administrative practices(if only to identify dodgy accounts) even if they're probably going to find it a little hard to promote by popularity.
-Carrion Eaters
--This is the grassroots connection route. Carrion Eaters are healers, but also technically priests for the purpose of performing funerary rites, exorcisms, and general spiritual advice. They get to meet a lot of people, but they're also kind of spoopy on the job, so they don't get promoted much. Sort of like getting a Priest-King.
Yeah... no. It gives us a total of +1 removed. In net, it reduces our cent floor by 3 and our cent ceiling by 2. That widens our total range by 1, but shifts it significantly downwards.
Since we get disaster tolerance at higher cent, I can't help but view this as a neutral transaction at best. Think of it as getting +1 max cent at the cost of getting -1 event resistance; hardly a bargain.
And on top of that, it forms breakaway nexuses for our state to fracture around in case things get bad.
And we are supposed to pay for the privilege, too.
No, I'm sorry - but if there is virtue to these things, I am fundamentally not getting it.
They make things also vastly less likely to fracture. Palaces extend the core's administrative reach, and necessary to holding onto far-flung fringe provinces. We've seen them raise Dependency in subordinates near the Palace site.
Yes, they provide nucleation points for breakaways, but that's good. The more nucleation points there are, the less likely that any breakaway attempt succeeds, because each point controls less territory, and thus grievances are more likely to be localized.
Ideally we want one Palace per Province, which would split the power enough ways that no individual governor administrates enough land to think they can breakaway without consequences. Whereas if there are several governors in alliance to break away...I think we've fucked up pretty damned big.
Ideally we also don't want subordinates to have Palaces, but we can't stop them, so all we can do is Integrate them.
It's the same issue as building roads before we had the connectivity stat revealed. Statistically there's no reason to do them, but lacking them is fucking up things in ways you can't even identify because the palaces are the tools for them.
In theory, yes. In practice we have more than a dozen roads progress to go until we hit our cap, so that isn't something we need to worry about anytime soon.
I mean that you have reached the cap where you gain Centralization from building more roads. Right now, more roads only gets you more Centralization tolerance, which GP lower, but they also lower the low end tolerance, so you can go into negative centralization if you want and not worry about exploding. GP do however increase the number of roads you can have that will contribute to centralization.
Ideally we want one Palace per Province, which would split the power enough ways that no individual governor administrates enough land to think they can breakaway without consequences.
Sure. That will only drop our Cent range to what, -10 to 0?
Oh, and cost a good half-dozen years of Infrastructure Policy progress.
Overall, crunch points to these things being very bad, and fluff points to them as useful but dangerous. I'm not seeing how you get "full steam ahead" out of that.
Our guild action has a long backlog nowdays; I wrote a whole post on it. So, if it is all the same, I would request that you refrain from calling it "free".
Sure. That will only drop our Cent range to what, -10 to 0?
Oh, and cost a good half-dozen years of Infrastructure Policy progress.
Overall, crunch points to these things being very bad, and fluff points to them as useful but dangerous. I'm not seeing how you get "full steam ahead" out of that.
It's pretty obvious to me that this is a case of we can't see remotely close to the whole picture, but the provinces can and are trying to head something off before it explodes in their faces and thus ours. This, to me, clearly has all the hallmarks of such a situation. As such I am okay with letting them do what they want while we handle what we can handle.
Now do I want one in every province? Nah. I don't see the need. Also since Roads still give cent cap I say still do them, the Diplo payout is still useful as well.
I assume you know he means for us to do it sensibly.
The cost in Infrastructure is pretty inarguable, though at uh 8 * 3 * 3 = 72 progress points and us gaining, what, 5/turn? that will only take a month, not a good half-dozen years.
Our guild action has a long backlog nowdays; I wrote a whole post on it. So, if it is all the same, I would request that you refrain from calling it "free".
Efficient Charcoal Kilns - Gives us a LOT of free forest slots, as well as "other effects" when taken as a Main. We will especially want this if we decide to go for the Yeoman Quest.
Plant Cotton - Useful for the Guild Mission, gives us a new Trade Good, burns our extra econ expansion, and gives a bunch of net resources.
Support Artisans - Likely to synergize with our new Artisan Genius.
Ironworks - Megaprojects are great ways to use the Guild Action, but I'd rather hold off on starting a new one until we've cleared up some of what we've already got on our plate.
This is not "long." Kilns = 2 secondaries or 1.5 mains (or something, I did math but forgot it) are necessary. Plant Cotton = I have no idea how many we'll need. Maybe just 1 main?
The Artisan Genius is likely to synergize with ironworks, too. And its status as a megaproject might be given priority over SA, depending on the actual background of the genius. Depth v breadth.
Sure. That will only drop our Cent range to what, -10 to 0?
Oh, and cost a good half-dozen years of Infrastructure Policy progress.
Overall, crunch points to these things being very bad, and fluff points to them as useful but dangerous. I'm not seeing how you get "full steam ahead" out of that.
Efficient Charcoal Kilns [Guild] - With better processes, large Guild controlled kilns can be built to efficiently turn wood into charcoal
*S: -1 Econ, Wealth, & Tech, -2 Sustainable Forest used
*M: -2 Econ & Wealth, -1 Tech, -3 Sustainable Forest used, other effects
Note: Efficient Charcoal production cannot take the total Sustainable Forest usage below 1/2 of the total
Plant Cotton [Guild] - These resource intensive plants produce an incredibly fine textile desirable for its superior comfort, although much of the cost comes from how labour intensive it is
*S: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, new trade good
*M: -4 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +1 Culture, new trade good
Unlike poppy listing, both give us a new trade good. The investment for a main is only +1 in each category, but it costs a main - which can probably be attributed, simply put, to more labor investment on behalf of the government toward efficient farming later.
So, due to the distance from the source, a single main might bring us to leading. A bit doubtful, though.
Harmurri & Khem are at the same level as before, presumably solely through trading w/ others.
I assume, thus, that we just need 1~2 main actions to be leading.
So we have 2~3 main guild actions to go before we can start on the ironworks.
Assuming there are no surprises and putting aside quest updates, what are we gonna do with our actions? We'll have a Mystic Genius and an Artisan Genius who could increase quite a few actions between them. The thing is, we have quite a few things to do. We have to get unused forests up (would benefit from either artisan genius or mystic genius, depending on what actions we take), we have to plant cotton to complete the Guild quest (benefits from neither genius), and we still have a crapload of roads to build.
I'm thinking we might want to finish the forest quest ASAP. If we get it done fast enough, we might be able to start the Ironworks soon enough to benefit from the artisan genius.
Assuming there are no surprises and putting aside quest updates, what are we gonna do with our actions? We'll have a Mystic Genius and an Artisan Genius who could increase quite a few actions between them. The thing is, we have quite a few things to do. We have to get unused forests up (would benefit from either artisan genius or mystic genius, depending on what actions we take), we have to plant cotton to complete the Guild quest (benefits from neither genius), and we still have a crapload of roads to build.
I'm thinking we might want to finish the forest quest ASAP. If we get it done fast enough, we might be able to start the Ironworks soon enough to benefit from the artisan genius.
Didn't Yshuyn put two more policies on forests to make it 1.5/turn because he was wise and farsighted that way? We lost a True City so we probably lost one of those, but did we lose both?
[X][Trelli] Yes (Merchant quest success, can send Sailing Missions beyond the straits, -2 Wealth per turn)
[X][AG] No (Artisan Games remain local)
[X][GA M] Gain Mystic Genius (-18 Mystic)
[X][GA T] Gain Artisan Genius (-18 Tech)
As royal patronage of the artisan games continued, a curious thing began to happen: if you wanted to be the best you needed to be supported by the second-best. The best master artisans needed the best journeymen needed the best apprentices, but finding all of those was impossible if you didn't have a wide base of at least competent options to draw upon, and the only way you had a wide base of that was by encouraging lots and lots of artisans to be at least good so you could pick out the best. This would have rapidly run into issues of not having enough resources to support all of these new artisans, but with a combination of royal patronage and the resumption of trade there was suddenly a market for very expensive goods and impetus to support second and third tier artisans for little more than practice purposes.
And then, strangely, the glut of artisans brought about revolutions elsewhere. Having a bunch of high quality tools come cheap meant that farmers and foresters could do more work, which meant that suddenly the demand for more people to work as artisans could be more effectively filled, which meant more artisans to make beautiful things for trade or useful things for work, which meant... It didn't result in infinite growth as the whole process quickly reached a new stable point, but it resulted in a massive migration from the countryside to the cities even as the countryside flourished with art and quality tools. Beyond that, it helped ingrain the idea that the artisans were a key component to the order of things, and that excellence was not confined to warriors and patricians.
Megaproject Completed! Artisan Games
By encouraging competition and excellence in "practical" crafts an abundance of goods are made simply to practice or to train, increasing access and honing skills on a social level. Every "innovation" type roll costs an additional 1 Wealth but provides two rolls, and innovations of all sort spread more quickly.
In particular the ship races saw a massive surge in innovation as the sailors and builders competed with each other to outdo each other, insisting on new and more sophisticated races to test all the skills and subtleties the profession had to offer. Very quickly the sort of design the Trelli had used to devastating effect in the war was reproduced with the People's own techniques and their increased knowledge of how the Trelli solved certain issues that came from having looked at wrecks. While the catamarans remained the fastest thing in the water when the wind was blowing in the right direction, having dozens of strong men all rowing at once in a sleek hulled ship meant that the winds could be ignored to great effect when needed, and combat placed significant and immediate needs on such utility.
The promotion of such artisans to the fore also brought forward a rare gem of a man, a somewhat mad artist of a smith who seemed to just get metals of all sorts. While not exactly the most stable of individuals, prone to violent outbursts of shouting when things didn't work out the way he wanted, none could fault him in his craft, and he never exploded at anyone who didn't do something wrong. If something didn't turn out the way he wanted despite everything doing exactly what he said, he would either puzzle out what they hadn't accounted for, or fall into a black depression for a short time as he internally exploded at his own failings. Still, he rapidly made his way to the palace arsenal as an expert worker of metal, where he began to craft and puzzle things out.
However, at the same time, out in the hinterland hills between the steppes and the lowlands to the east, in the oft neglected place between Redhills to the west, the Thunder Horse to the east, Txolla to the south, and Heaven's Hawk to the north, another man began to stir things up. A man born of the dry hills but educated by learned priests, he had begun to preach against what he saw of as the excesses of the central powers in Redvalley and Sacred Shore. He preached of the nobility of the pursuit of the Universal Truth and how it was being perverted by priests and patricians who were more concerned with the accumulation of material comforts and to trick and confuse the people with sophisticated but False teachings. While initially small in number, the voices of those who listened to this new prophet soon grew loud as they picked up his warning:
The old prophecy of a century of peace and prosperity had been abused and now for every sin those in power had accumulated was going to be repaid three times over once the hundreth year was passed. Only through atonement and rejection of the lucre acquired through lies and avarice would disaster be averted. The call was radical enough that many priests scoffed at the suggestion, or even called for this man to be officially censored for blasphemy against the gods. There were however more than a few priests who had taken in the lessons of Yshuyn and seemed to want to either test him or embrace him, damn the cost.
What to do about this new prophet?
[] [Prophet] Embrace his new philosophies (-10 Wealth, -1 RA, -1 Legitimacy, -2 Stability, removes Rule of Gold value, ???)
[] [Prophet] Ignore him (???)
[] [Prophet] Exile him (+1 RA, ???)
[] [Prophet] Silence him (+1 RA, +1 Stability, ???)
Meanwhile, everyone was clamouring for the king to support this project or that, with the priests rather loudly pointing out that they really needed another observatory to compare their observations at the Star Mirror against so that their astrological predictions would be more precise and accurate. However, other groups also wanted things and were being kind of insistent about them as well, and more than a few were still annoyed with the priests for getting them into the mess with the Trelli, so there was some sentiment of 'screw them', especially when the yeomen and guild masters were pressing about seeing their own needs met.
Patricians (4) - Objective: Distribute Land within 2 turns. Success: +1 Stability Guild (3) - Objective: Lead in a textile type good within 2 turns. Success: Free random technology, Failure: -4 Wealth Traders (3) - Objective: Have Naval Power above 5 within 3 turns. Success: Free tech advance Yeomen (3)- Objective: Have 8 or more forest slots unoccupied within 2 turns. Success: +2 Econ Priests (2)- Objective: Build an Observatory within 1 turns. Failure: -1 RA, -1 Legitimacy Urban Poor (1)- Objective: Have another faction fail a quest within 1 turns. Failure: -2 Stability These counters iterate at the next mid-turn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.
What to do? (Note: If a Temple for an Observatory is not built now the Priest quest autofails as it is obviously impossible to complete in time)
[] [React] Main Plant Cotton
[] [React] Main Expand Forests
[] [React] Main Efficient Charcoal Kilns
[] [React] Build Temple for Observatory
-[] [React] Horse Valley
-[] [React] Moonwell
[] [React] Study Metal (benefits from Genius Artisan)
[] [Prophet] Embrace his new philosophies (-10 Wealth, -1 RA, -1 Legitimacy, -2 Stability, removes Rule of Gold value, ???)
This ends our Golden Age, so that should be taken into account for anyone wanting to vote for this.
I really want to get rid of Rule of Gold, but I'm not sure if it's worth getting rid of the Golden Age for.
[] [React] Study Metal (benefits from Genius Artisan)
Get some use out of the artisan, probably the best reaction to take.
[] [PSN] Main Plant Cotton (-2 Centralization + cost)
Let's us get started on the Guild quest, and will eventually get us more money through Trade Dominance.
[] [PSN] Main Expand Forest (-2 Centralization + cost)
More Trees are always good, and the innovation rolls could give us something nice.
Would suggest a double main kiln, but my economy brain is poking me.
