[MOD] Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment - a cultural flavor pack collection, sequel to Cybrxkhan’s Immersion Packs

[cybrxkhan]

Lesbos Flavor Pack Preview #10​

Paradox has a number of existing landless characters, a few of whom will be featured in RICE's new bookmarks. Ikhtiyar al-Din in the 1178 start date is one such example.

Historically, he was an important Ghurid general famed for leading their armies in various campaigns and raids in northern India, and carved out his own realm in Bengal after the collapse of the Ghurids. He hailed from the Khalaj tribe that was possibly partly descended from Turkicized Hephthalites.

Anyhow, like in vanilla, he starts off in 1178 as a measly adventurer of his own little mercenary band. You start off in Ghurid lands, so they might make good patrons, but perhaps you'll change history and seek employment elsewhere....

 

[Lordinquisitor]

I´m really looking forward for rice being updated and seeing how existing stuff will interact with landless gameplay. (Without expecting much, but simply wandering about and experiencing local events or noticing that a local activity/decision is available will add so much to landless gameplay. Real Ibn battuta or marco polo experience.)

 

[cybrxkhan]

I´m really looking forward for rice being updated and seeing how existing stuff will interact with landless gameplay. (Without expecting much, but simply wandering about and experiencing local events or noticing that a local activity/decision is available will add so much to landless gameplay. Real Ibn battuta or marco polo experience.)

At the moment I'm expecting integration with landless adventurers to be somewhat sloppy admittedly, mainly in the sense that my main priority is basic compatibility. That is, while I am doing a basic sweep to enable/disable certain things for adventurers as needed, I will probably miss out on tweaking a number of decisions, events, etc. that might not make sense for adventurers or would but are depicted from a landed POV. For instance with VIET, which I did a similar approach, when playtesting I've caught a few events that reference "my palace" and the like - but my plan is to smooth out those non-gamebreaking issues over a few patches when I have more time. So, integration with landless gameplay won't be perfect, but hopefully any oddities are minor and won't break immersion too much!

 

[Orinsul]

what is a tent to a wandering soul if not a palace?

 

[cybrxkhan]

Lesbos Flavor Pack Preview #11​

One of the new RICE adventurers showcased in the dev diary was Bartholomew Leslie, the supposed Hungarian ancestor of the Scottish clan Leslie. He starts off with a modifier as a nod to that, though in a future update, like with several other characters, I may expand on his flavor to give him a little event chain to explain how he came to Scotland (since he technically came there in 1067, not 1066, according to legend).

Fun fact: One of his descendants and a member of Clan Leslie is the Scottish actress Rose Leslie, best known for playing the character Ygritte in the hit TV series Game of Thrones. I heard a few CK fans might have watched that show... there might even be a mod dedicated to it, I've been told.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Lesbos Flavor Pack Preview #12​

First, I'm happy to report that I have a rough timetable for release - early or middle next week. This is subject to change, depending on whether I encounter an unexpected issue to fix, or am busy with IRL matters to attend to, but hopefully this will give some of you a decent timeframe of when to expect something.

Now, today, let's look at some of RICE's changes related to playable Admin rulers! Several "China adjacent" realms – namely Guiyi, Xixia, and the Kara-Khitan – will have Admin government at game start if you have Roads to Power. The ethnic diversity of these realms, with many non-Admin vassals, provide a different challenge compared to the ERE. I will not add any other Admin realms right now to save time, and because most of the usual suspects are covered by vanilla's game rules, and I think the case for these China-adjacent realms being Admin is less ambiguous.

Also, many previously landed counts in Guiyi are now noble families without governorships at game start. An example is the Zhai family. In 867, they aren't as prominent as Dunhuang's other elite families. Their most famous member, the astronomer Zhai Fengda, isn't even born yet, but his father Zhai Xin is a playable, bookmarked landless admin ruler.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Lesbos Flavor Pack Preview #13​

As you might've noticed, I've previewed a lot of stuff not related to Lesbos. This is a tiny flavor pack in terms of actual content related to Lesbos, but don't worry, there is still some content for the island, which I'd like to showcase for the last preview before release. (Yup, we're in the home stretch! Main focus is on bugfixing now.)

One thing that didn't make it to the dev diary that I'll share now is that Lesbos is home to a unique hot springs location, the town of Thermi, if you do the Hot Springs Visit activity. In ancient times, the springs were sacred to the goddess Artemis. As a nod to that, if you visit the springs as a Hellenic pagan, you'll get a better version of the modifier you'd get for visiting Thermi, and a small bit of piety.

 

[Lordinquisitor]

I´m looking forward to the changes to the "China adjectant" realms. Admin gameplay feels nice, and having such a melting pot of families vying for influence sounds neat and far more historical and engaging than the current implementation.

I once again lobby for moving the silk road legacy perk, which enables the decision to patronize mogao, from anywhere within the Tarim Basin to the second legacy tier, or something.

I always find it a bit sad, that i can´t interact with the feature as much as i want if i move my capital even a little bit.

 

[Orinsul]

I´m looking forward to the changes to the "China adjectant" realms. Admin gameplay feels nice, and having such a melting pot of families vying for influence sounds neat and far more historical and engaging than the current implementation.

I once again lobby for moving the silk road legacy perk, which enables the decision to patronize mogao, from anywhere within the Tarim Basin to the second legacy tier, or something.

I always find it a bit sad, that i can´t interact with the feature as much as i want if i move my capital even a little bit.

maybe as long as it's in your realm?
id be in favour of it just being anywhere in the world but the cost/time scales with distance after you have the legacy? but that probs is too far

 

[cybrxkhan]

I´m looking forward to the changes to the "China adjectant" realms. Admin gameplay feels nice, and having such a melting pot of families vying for influence sounds neat and far more historical and engaging than the current implementation.

I once again lobby for moving the silk road legacy perk, which enables the decision to patronize mogao, from anywhere within the Tarim Basin to the second legacy tier, or something.

I always find it a bit sad, that i can´t interact with the feature as much as i want if i move my capital even a little bit.

maybe as long as it's in your realm?
id be in favour of it just being anywhere in the world but the cost/time scales with distance after you have the legacy? but that probs is too far

It's intended to not be easy for non-Chinese/non-Chinese-adjacent groups to do since the construction of the Mogao Caves are largely tied to the Buddhist community in Dunhuang (major exceptions like the occasional King of Khotan showing up in some Mogao Cave artwork in the 10th century, for instance, are due to his close ties with the ruling family of Dunhuang). However, I can think of potential other ways to allow yourself to do it under specific circumstances.

 

[Orinsul]

It's intended to not be easy for non-Chinese/non-Chinese-adjacent groups to do since the construction of the Mogao Caves are largely tied to the Buddhist community in Dunhuang (major exceptions like the occasional King of Khotan showing up in some Mogao Cave artwork in the 10th century, for instance, are due to his close ties with the ruling family of Dunhuang). However, I can think of potential other ways to allow yourself to do it under specific circumstances.

Thanks, I agree it shouldn't be easy for randoms to do it, I just feel if you start there as a Mogao funding family, you should get to keep doing it even if you move away? It sort of traps you there as you have to keep your capitol or leave or rules you out if your brother inherits those provinces in the gravelkind or etc.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Thanks, I agree it shouldn't be easy for randoms to do it, I just feel if you start there as a Mogao funding family, you should get to keep doing it even if you move away? It sort of traps you there as you have to keep your capitol or leave or rules you out if your brother inherits those provinces in the gravelkind or etc.

Yeah, that makes sense. I'll make a note to do something like that, like the code will flag your dynasty if it has done the decision before and you would still be able to do it then (if you are close enough to Dunhuang, of course).

 

[cybrxkhan]

RICE has been officially updated to Patch 1.13/Roads to Power,
and includes RICE's 36th Flavor pack:
Lesbos: Island of the Poets
Steam Workshop Download | Github Manual Download | Paradox Mods Download
Discord Server | Twitter | Official Website
VIET/RICE 2024 Survey & Celtic Flavor Pack Poll
​

“The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and plunges them into utter darkness, both deeds of no account and deeds which are mighty and worthy of commemoration.”– Anna Komnene (1083-1153), Byzantine princess and historian, in the Alexiad

I'm happy to announce the official RICE update to Roads to Power, and with it RICE is next flavor pack – Lesbos: Island of Poets! RICE 1.13.0 "Anna Kommene" includes:

• Official update to patch 1.13/Roads to Power
• Flavor for Lesbos island
• Revamped pirate mechanics for the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean
• Many more historical playable landless characters across all start dates
• New bookmarks for landless characters and for 1178
• And much more!

As always, remember you may need to unsubscribe and resubscribe for mods to update properly (multiple times if necessary). Please start a new game with this version of RICE, as it comes after a major vanilla patch. The focus of this update was basic compatibility to the new patch/DLC, so a hotfix or small patch may be out in a week or so. Following that, as I'll be very busy IRL for the next few weeks, the next major update, the Zhangzhung Flavor Pack, is planned for December of this year.

I am also announcing that the official deadline for the VIET/RICE 2024 Survey will be in a week on the evening of October 14 (PST)! This is your chance to give feedback and to vote in a non-binding poll for your pick of a future Celtic flavor pack for RICE.

Thanks all for your patience and support, and thanks to my secret cabal of playtesters who provided feedback to assist me with updating.



Changelog

Spoiler: Changelog

• Added new flavor pack – Lesbos: Island of Poets
• Added 5 Mediterranean themed songs
• Added many new historical landless characters in all start dates (see bottom for full list)
• Added 4 RICE bookmarks in 1178, 3 for landed and 1 for landless
• Added new RICE Landless bookmarks for 867 and 1066
• Moved a few now adventurer characters from 867 and 1066’s old bookmarks to the new landless bookmarks
• Modified some decisions, activities, interactions, etc. to be available to landless characters, sometimes if they are in the relevant geographical vicinity
• A few RICE decisions are now available when traveling
• Added Nabati culture to the Syriac heritage in southern Iraq in 867
• Added Contentious Colonists tradition to the Siculo-Arabic culture, replacing Religion Blending and Culture Blending
• Added Image of China tradition for Khitan culture
• Added several new regional innovations: Almadraba, Monsoon Trade Routes, and Dragoman innovations
• Added a decision to Finance Almadraba fishing, unlocked by the Almadraba innovation
• Horse sacrifice activity now unlocked via a special Sacred Horses doctrine that's inherited, for easier compatibility with mods seeking to add it to their faiths
• Added Ibn Jubayr as a character in the court of the Emir of Granada in 1178
• Added Wo Daochong, a Confucian scholar-official in Xixia, as a playable character in 1178
• Added some changes to RICE’s Sicily code to make it run more smoothly with Muslim Enhancements (credits to iFrunx from the ME team for assistance with this)
• Added a few new catalysts for the Sicily struggle
• Kara-Khitai, Xia, and Guiyi now start off with Admin government if you have Roads to Power
• Various Guiyi vassals no longer hold land but are instead noble families in Guiyi if you have Roads to Power
• Removed fictitious ruler of Damot as a RICE bookmarked character in 1066 (superseded by the legendary Motolomi in the 1178 bookmark)
• Decision to Collaborate with Indian Ocean pirates now gives legitimacy loss
• Tweaked renown gain for the decision to Collaborate with Indian Ocean Pirates
• Pirate Den and Bawarji Den buildings now give a malus to control
• Decision to Commission a Work from Nasir Khusraw no longer requires for him to be in your court, but is now only available to Ali ibn Asad
• Han culture now has Cultivated Sophistication instead of Water Rituals
• Changed Khitan ethos to bureaucratic instead of communal
• Thabit ibn Qurra’s education level buffed to level 5
• Yarsani appearance event is more likely to happen after the Yazidi appearance event, though this is not guaranteed
• Caucasian heritage now counts towards the Greek world of Sicily
• Syriac heritage now counts towards the Arab-Berber world of Sicily
• Rollo game rule and event chain has been modified slightly to account for if the player has Roads to Power (i.e. making Rollo an adventurer)
• Added legitimacy malus to the Uncrowned by Ooni modifier, but reduced its piety and prestige malus to compensate
• Reduced Aghlabid event troops since vanilla buffed them
• Makhazen and Siba, Seasonal Migrators, and Bantu Migrators traditions now allow voluntary landless adventuring and increased chances of becoming landless adventurers
• Karaism is now automatically involved in the Persian struggle
• Rabbinism and Karaism are now automatically involved in the Iberian struggle
• Halved control malus of the Between Three Worlds tradition
• Tweaked vassals to be more likely to refuse demands with the Between Three Worlds and Contentious Colonizers traditions
• Tweaked Adventurers and Aristocrats and Legacy of the Northmen traditions to have less overlap with the Audacious Cadets tradition
• Tweaked the starting traits of Genghis Khan, his wife Borte, and his mother Hoelun
• Removed duplicate song in Tuareg and Sus flavor packs
• Removed Norman MAA as it was superceded by Roads to Power’s Norman MAA
• Zhang Qiu now is friends with Zhang Huaishen in the 867 start date
• Liberator of Dunhuang modifier now gives a Influence and Legitimacy bonus
• Fixed old decisions to Pray for a Good Nile Flood being available (since it was replaced with the Activity version)
• Fixed AI being able to reinforce relations with Silk Road communities it shouldn’t have access to if it doesn’t meet the geographical requirements
• Fixed wrong loc for the decision to Recruit Soldiers from Sicily saying Palatini MAA instead of Arimanni and Picchieri MAAs when taking the Latin option in earlier and later eras respectively
• Fixed Sicily language event triggering outside of Sicily
• Fixed traveling for activity and hunt catalysts not triggering in the Sicily struggle
• Fixed code for adding a university to Salerno
• Fixed guests getting Baia-related modifiers when doing the hot springs activity outside of Baia
• Miscellaneous bugfixes and tweaks

40 New Landless Adventurers

Made existing RICE characters landless adventurers:

• Thabit ibn Qurra (867)
• Hiwi al-Balkhi (867)
• al-Kashgari (1066)
• Ibn Nabhan (1066)
• Nasir Khusraw (1066)
• Longibardopoulos (1066)

Made existing vanilla characters landless adventurers:

• Ali Kalbid (867)
• Fu Murong (867)
• Ottar (Ohthere) av Hålogaland (867)

Added new landless adventurers:

• Plausible fictitious Korean in Dunhuang (867)
• Ibn Wahshiyya (867)
• Cynewulf (867)
• Al-Balkhi (867)
• Eldad ha-Dani (867)
• Wulfstan of Hedeby (867)
• Manikkavacakar (867)
• Tughj ibn Juff (867)
• Azjur al-Turki (867)
• Bartholomew Leslie (1066)
• Chakrapani Datta (1066)
• al-Wuhsha al-Dallala (1066)
• Japheth ibn Bundar (1066)
• Ibn al-Qatta’ al-Siqilli (1066)
• Solomon ibn Ghabirol (1066)
• Trapelicino (1178)
• Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya (1178)
• Michael Scot (1178)
• Oranmiyan (1178)
• Hugo von Hildesheim (1178)
• Guglielmo Grasso (1178)
• Li Shichang (1178)
• Plausible fictitious Malays in the Indian Ocean (all dates)
• Plausible fictitious Swahili in the Indian Ocean (all dates)
• Plausible fictitious Soninke Wangara merchant (all dates)

 

[Davisx3m]

Hell yeaaah!

 

[Alratan]

Great work, thank you as always. Took far less time than I expected - hope you didn't work too hard!

 

[tribnia]

Another possible historical chracter who could be added is Wang Dayuan (汪大渊) born in Quanzhou, China. According to his book, Daoyi Zhilue (岛夷志略, Description of the Barbarians of the Isles), he visited Calicut, Basra, Mecca, Egypt and Swahili coast from 1337 to 1339. Could spawn in Sri Lanka if anyone really play until that year.

 

[KAOLAWANSUI]

Tayangu
He was the commander of the Karakitans, who invaded Khorasan in 1198, allied with the Hualazmor in 1203 to inflict heavy damage on Gul Wangchao, and was defeated and captured by Khwarazmor in 1210. (He is too famous)
Mahmud Bayi,
the Chancellor of Yelvzhilugu.(The man has only a few words, from Bartold's collected works.)
Sanjar,
who launched the Bukhara Uprising in 1206, which brought down the Bukhara mercantile dynasty.

The system of Karakhitan cannot directly govern the tribes, and the regime is wrong

 

[Davisx3m]

Too bad we don't have a start date for Marco Polo. Imagine that.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Thanks all for the kind words!

I'll look into the suggested characters for those who mentioned that

 

[Bobwoodword]

Are duchy building locations hard codes? Realized the Syracuse flavor text said that it was going to be the capital of Sicily but it doesn’t have the duchy building moved to it.