PDOX Games VIII: Communism Will Win

[Grenartia]

Blessed are those who follow the Path to Origins

[Alvecia]

Blessed are those who follow the Path to Origins

Some of those sound awesome.

[Ifreann]

Blessed are those who follow the Path to Origins

They were led by Chief Executive Officer Affinitor, who was a Fertility Preacher. On a barren world. For robots.

[Bralia]

Are fanatic egalitarian empires that take the Doomsday origin… doomed? (Since they can’t resettle their pops?
Pretty much.

Well damn. See, liberals, this is why equality is bad.

[Ifreann]

Are fanatic egalitarian empires that take the Doomsday origin… doomed? (Since they can’t resettle their pops?
Pretty much.

Well damn. See, liberals, this is why equality is bad.

Totally gonna do a Doomsday run as Fanatic Egalitarians.

[Cisairse]

Wait, seriously? Holy shit.

Yup just have to worry about your Marshal if you do that. "The emperor’s close family members (spouse included), any claimants to the title, the current Marshal , and any commander under the emperor, can all be nominated as successors."

Yeah they elected my wife instead of any of my six children and my (wildly successful - I had already conquered most of Italy) game ended after 1 ruler.

Big sad.

[Grenartia]

Well damn. See, liberals, this is why equality is bad.

Totally gonna do a Doomsday run as Fanatic Egalitarians.

You'd have to have Conservationists, Rapid Breeders, and Nomadic. You might be able to swing it if you pick Repugnant.

[Purpelia]

Okay so I don't know if anyone remembers this but a while back I was having a problem in a Zoroastrian play I was doing where I kept trying to marry my kids to each other (because Zoroastrian) but I kept getting this event trigger where one of them would complain that they hated their new spouse and wanted the marriage annulled and refusing to do so risked having them pick a secret lover, go celibate, or some other bad thing I can't remember and most of them became celibate and it was fucking with my dynasty because it's already hard enough for incestuous couples to procreate like the game actively inhibits their ability to do so at a normal rate and I couldn't figure out why it was happening.

Well in my recent Nubia came I encountered that event again, only this time it wasn't an incestuous marriage. That got me thinking that it had nothing to do with inbreeding so I started thinking about what could be causing this event to fire because outside of that one Zoroastrian game this is the only time I've ever seen it happen and it only happened once and I think I might've figured out why it happens and more importantly why it happened so often in my Zoroastrian play.

They hate each other. I mean, it's pretty straight forward now that I think about it. Obvious they're unhappy if they're married to someone they hate, say a rival or someone of entirely different culture and religion with polar opposite traits. They hate each other, so the event fires. But then that just begs the question: why did it happen so often in my Zoroastrian game?

Simple: they're all title claimants. All your children are born with claims on your titles - they have these even before you die. Title claimants fucking hate each other no matter what. Add that to any existing opinion modifiers such as polar opposite traits, rivalries developed during childhood, or even just temporary modifiers from random events and you have two people who hate each other's guts. I figure the more they hate each other, the more likely the event is to trigger. And it's not just limited to your kids either, because you're automatically the de facto head of your dynasty so any dynasty member in your court who you marry to someone they don't like without them leaving your court may have a chance of triggering this event, thus potentially ensuring a good chunk of your relatives may not produce any offspring unless you annul the marriage.

Or at least, that's my current theory. I suppose I could test it to see for sure.

This is the first time I have ever heard of that event and I am mid way through a Zoroastrian game.

[Serrus]

OK speed update on my Aquitaine run:
Never seen this before.
And Esteve does work, kicks ass, and fulfills ambitions. Also I was trying to dispose of a Capet king due to his claiming my stuff. Rivalry duels didn't do it, assassination plots didn't do it, but it turns out rivalry wars end with the loser imprisoned. I decided to settle the claims thing with a friendly game of hangman. End result is 1 underage daughter ruling france, and a claim revolt with a bit over 4 times their numbers pushing in. I have only one more province to take and the claims are gone for good, with my borders cleansed. Next thing I'm going for is sainthood.

[The Huskar Social Union]

OK speed update on my Aquitaine run:
Never seen this before.
And Esteve does work, kicks ass, and fulfills ambitions. Also I was trying to dispose of a Capet king due to his claiming my stuff. Rivalry duels didn't do it, assassination plots didn't do it, but it turns out rivalry wars end with the loser imprisoned. I decided to settle the claims thing with a friendly game of hangman. End result is 1 underage daughter ruling france, and a claim revolt with a bit over 4 times their numbers pushing in. I have only one more province to take and the claims are gone for good, with my borders cleansed. Next thing I'm going for is sainthood.

Well done on the bloodline. Ive seen the "Price of Decadence" revolt a couple of times, its always entertaining. I even saw it happen to the Abbasids once or twice which is sooooooooo good

[Renoa]

OK speed update on my Aquitaine run:
Never seen this before.
And Esteve does work, kicks ass, and fulfills ambitions. Also I was trying to dispose of a Capet king due to his claiming my stuff. Rivalry duels didn't do it, assassination plots didn't do it, but it turns out rivalry wars end with the loser imprisoned. I decided to settle the claims thing with a friendly game of hangman. End result is 1 underage daughter ruling france, and a claim revolt with a bit over 4 times their numbers pushing in. I have only one more province to take and the claims are gone for good, with my borders cleansed. Next thing I'm going for is sainthood.

It feels like it's a coin flip if Prince of Decadence happens in my games. If it happens, it seems to happen every 30 years or so and the Crusaders run free. If it doesn't happen, the Abbasids blob like no one's business and end up crippling Christianity before 1150.

[Serrus]

OK speed update on my Aquitaine run:
Never seen this before.
And Esteve does work, kicks ass, and fulfills ambitions. Also I was trying to dispose of a Capet king due to his claiming my stuff. Rivalry duels didn't do it, assassination plots didn't do it, but it turns out rivalry wars end with the loser imprisoned. I decided to settle the claims thing with a friendly game of hangman. End result is 1 underage daughter ruling france, and a claim revolt with a bit over 4 times their numbers pushing in. I have only one more province to take and the claims are gone for good, with my borders cleansed. Next thing I'm going for is sainthood.

Well done on the bloodline. Ive seen the "Price of Decadence" revolt a couple of times, its always entertaining. I even saw it happen to the Abbasids once or twice which is sooooooooo good

I'm glad you're proud of me!
And hey, this was a useful revolt, broke up the Aftasid scaryblob

[The Imperial Reach]

Okay so I don't know if anyone remembers this but a while back I was having a problem in a Zoroastrian play I was doing where I kept trying to marry my kids to each other (because Zoroastrian) but I kept getting this event trigger where one of them would complain that they hated their new spouse and wanted the marriage annulled and refusing to do so risked having them pick a secret lover, go celibate, or some other bad thing I can't remember and most of them became celibate and it was fucking with my dynasty because it's already hard enough for incestuous couples to procreate like the game actively inhibits their ability to do so at a normal rate and I couldn't figure out why it was happening.

Well in my recent Nubia came I encountered that event again, only this time it wasn't an incestuous marriage. That got me thinking that it had nothing to do with inbreeding so I started thinking about what could be causing this event to fire because outside of that one Zoroastrian game this is the only time I've ever seen it happen and it only happened once and I think I might've figured out why it happens and more importantly why it happened so often in my Zoroastrian play.

They hate each other. I mean, it's pretty straight forward now that I think about it. Obvious they're unhappy if they're married to someone they hate, say a rival or someone of entirely different culture and religion with polar opposite traits. They hate each other, so the event fires. But then that just begs the question: why did it happen so often in my Zoroastrian game?

Simple: they're all title claimants. All your children are born with claims on your titles - they have these even before you die. Title claimants fucking hate each other no matter what. Add that to any existing opinion modifiers such as polar opposite traits, rivalries developed during childhood, or even just temporary modifiers from random events and you have two people who hate each other's guts. I figure the more they hate each other, the more likely the event is to trigger. And it's not just limited to your kids either, because you're automatically the de facto head of your dynasty so any dynasty member in your court who you marry to someone they don't like without them leaving your court may have a chance of triggering this event, thus potentially ensuring a good chunk of your relatives may not produce any offspring unless you annul the marriage.

Or at least, that's my current theory. I suppose I could test it to see for sure.

This is the first time I have ever heard of that event and I am mid way through a Zoroastrian game.

Really? Well I guess I just have shit luck then...

[The Imperial Reach]

Nomads are the worst neighbors. Literally the worst.

They stack entire armies of horse archers to wipe out armies three times their size without effort, they try to raid your provinces at least once a year and never leave you alone, 70% of the eligible wives for your male dynasty members are their daughters/mothers/cousins/sisters/kinswomen/nieces/aunts/random courtiers, they always shoot you marriage requests wanting your 19 year old daughter for their 46 year old relative who will inherit nothing and won't even get you an alliance for the trouble, half the nomad provinces you conquer you won't get to flip to feudal before you die so you end up having to re-conquer them with your successor, they always refuse to convert to your religion when you send missionaries but will gladly convert to literally any other religion that sends their own missionaries, they're rich as fuck from all the tributary wars they wage, their provinces are always massive and empty so it takes a whole month just to get through one province, they're constantly imploding and creating the absolute worse bordergore in the process, making them tributaries doesn't stop their vassals from trying to raid you anyway, every time you think you've secured an alliance with one he suddenly dies and none of his sons inherit anything, and about once every 3-5 years some rando nobody jackass from some rando nobody khan's court sets out to be an adventurer and of-fucking-course he targets you.

I am currently waging an anti-Nomadic genocide in my current Russian game. When I am finished the steppes of Eurasia will entirely belong to a glorious Feudal Orthodox Russian Empire and never again will the word "nomad" be uttered by any living soul.

[Impaled Nazarene]

Nomads are the worst neighbors. Literally the worst.

They stack entire armies of horse archers to wipe out armies three times their size without effort, they try to raid your provinces at least once a year and never leave you alone, 70% of the eligible wives for your male dynasty members are their daughters/mothers/cousins/sisters/kinswomen/nieces/aunts/random courtiers, they always shoot you marriage requests wanting your 19 year old daughter for their 46 year old relative who will inherit nothing and won't even get you an alliance for the trouble, half the nomad provinces you conquer you won't get to flip to feudal before you die so you end up having to re-conquer them with your successor, they always refuse to convert to your religion when you send missionaries but will gladly convert to literally any other religion that sends their own missionaries, they're rich as fuck from all the tributary wars they wage, their provinces are always massive and empty so it takes a whole month just to get through one province, they're constantly imploding and creating the absolute worse bordergore in the process, making them tributaries doesn't stop their vassals from trying to raid you anyway, every time you think you've secured an alliance with one he suddenly dies and none of his sons inherit anything, and about once every 3-5 years some rando nobody jackass from some rando nobody khan's court sets out to be an adventurer and of-fucking-course he targets you.

I am currently waging an anti-Nomadic genocide in my current Russian game. When I am finished the steppes of Eurasia will entirely belong to a glorious Feudal Orthodox Russian Empire and never again will the word "nomad" be uttered by any living soul.

Agreed. But you shouldn't hate them that much since the Muslims are doomed to suffer them for all eternity.

[Impaled Nazarene]

A very nice graphics mod for CK2

[Kractero]

A very nice graphics mod for CK2

that's hot

Makes me want CK3 even more though

[The Imperial Reach]

Nomads are the worst neighbors. Literally the worst.

They stack entire armies of horse archers to wipe out armies three times their size without effort, they try to raid your provinces at least once a year and never leave you alone, 70% of the eligible wives for your male dynasty members are their daughters/mothers/cousins/sisters/kinswomen/nieces/aunts/random courtiers, they always shoot you marriage requests wanting your 19 year old daughter for their 46 year old relative who will inherit nothing and won't even get you an alliance for the trouble, half the nomad provinces you conquer you won't get to flip to feudal before you die so you end up having to re-conquer them with your successor, they always refuse to convert to your religion when you send missionaries but will gladly convert to literally any other religion that sends their own missionaries, they're rich as fuck from all the tributary wars they wage, their provinces are always massive and empty so it takes a whole month just to get through one province, they're constantly imploding and creating the absolute worse bordergore in the process, making them tributaries doesn't stop their vassals from trying to raid you anyway, every time you think you've secured an alliance with one he suddenly dies and none of his sons inherit anything, and about once every 3-5 years some rando nobody jackass from some rando nobody khan's court sets out to be an adventurer and of-fucking-course he targets you.

I am currently waging an anti-Nomadic genocide in my current Russian game. When I am finished the steppes of Eurasia will entirely belong to a glorious Feudal Orthodox Russian Empire and never again will the word "nomad" be uttered by any living soul.

Agreed. But you shouldn't hate them that much since the Muslims are doomed to suffer them for all eternity.

That happens once in a blue moon for me. Usually the Nomads end up converting to Islam rather than conquering Muslims. Mongols are the exception, but they conquer everybody between Poland and the Indus so...

I've only seen nomads spread into Islamic areas a few times, usually whenever the Caliphate implodes. Otherwise it's typically the opposite.

[Cisairse]

I'm playing EU4 again for the first time in about two years. Doing a Venice run where my long-term goal is to restore as much of the Roman Republic as possible.

Unfortunately it seems they've added some weird mechanic where merchant republics get punished for owning more than 20 provinces? That was definitely not there the last time I played EU4, and is really quite annoying.

[Serrus]

I'm playing EU4 again for the first time in about two years. Doing a Venice run where my long-term goal is to restore as much of the Roman Republic as possible.

Unfortunately it seems they've added some weird mechanic where merchant republics get punished for owning more than 20 provinces? That was definitely not there the last time I played EU4, and is really quite annoying.

It'll be removed next patch

[Cisairse]

I'm playing EU4 again for the first time in about two years. Doing a Venice run where my long-term goal is to restore as much of the Roman Republic as possible.

Unfortunately it seems they've added some weird mechanic where merchant republics get punished for owning more than 20 provinces? That was definitely not there the last time I played EU4, and is really quite annoying.

It'll be removed next patch

Wait, seriously?

[Danubian Peoples]

I said I was done with this, but actually no.

So some screenshots from my Abyssinia game. Fortunately the Jin finally stopped being emperors of China, replaced by the Jurchen Han. As such, all of Jin's tributaries became independent. This allowed me to play again, and while it is still boring, at least I can reach 1453 on a high note (and with Abyssinia's name on the map). More details in the imgur album.

EDIT: Also I forgot to mention that a while back, I snatched myself the Iron Crown of Lombardy. I simply invited the courtier who had the artifact on them, and then plotted their demise. Every emperor since has worn it.

[Bralia]

I just had a Sicilian pizza last night, so it's fitting to have a Sicilian Dev Diary from the I:R devs today.

[Serrus]

It'll be removed next patch

Wait, seriously?

Yes. You'll just have less governing capacity. Luckily, that can be upgraded.

[Cisairse]

Wait, seriously?

Yes. You'll just have less governing capacity. Luckily, that can be upgraded.

What does "governing capacity" mean?

Also, I'm actually finding it quite fun to spend this game vassal-fueling while only staying one or two provinces over the limit. I'm sure eventually my vassals will reach a combined 100% Venice-strength and I'll have problems, but for now it is fun.