Here's an idea for how to make things fun for a player based in China:
Initially, China is split into several states, none of which is called China.
However, suppose one of them gets reasonably large and powerful. They then get the option of triggering the 'Mandate of Heaven' event series, which is a bold gamble for the resurrection of China. Basically, the ruler declares himself Emperor, and demands that all others in China submit to him. This gives the country a lot of BB (as it's a HUGE provocation to other states), a CB on every other Chinese state, and leads to the next events. It also creates great internal problems unless the country was already very 'imperial' in outlook (eg the country's merchants probably would get very annoyed). For convenience we could give the country a 'China-to-be' tag, which would then be used in the later 'Mandate of Heaven' events.
Each Chinese state now has a choice: submit to the 'Emperor' and get vassalised, or refuse and break vassalage in disgust. Foreign states with land in China have the choice of ceding this land to the Emperor or not. The reasons for choosing yay or nea could vary, but suffice to say it should be virtually impossible to get everyone to submit, even vassals who might not like the implications of further submission.
If any Chinese state refuses, the Emperor is obliged to 'crush the rebels' to establish his authority. He can either DOW or give up on the whole idea of really taking over China.
If non-Chinese states refuse, the Emperor can wait until he is ready, and just get cores on the offending provinces. But if the provinces are in the heart of China (and not just minor outlying regions), he will have to take them provinces eventually to show he really has the Mandate of Heaven.
So China-to-be is now at war with several states. They can't make peace with any of them unless it is to vassalise or annex them. (This condition would only apply to human players.) If they do, the sequence terminates. There's also a time limit in which to defeat the rebel states, and the internal rebels (linked to the Emperor's lifespan, though again we can be much more lenient with the AI).
If the China-to-be succeeds in gaining mastery over the Chinese states and drives out the foreigners, only then does it become China, getting a pan-Chinese set of events and leaders, and a big dollop of prestige. The Emperor's mandate is now confirmed in the eyes of the world. If however he fails, his country reverts back to its old tag.
China can now choose with each vassal whether to allow them to continue as 'regional governors' or somesuch (repairs relations), or to incorporate them fully (adds cores over their territory, inherits, modest BB).
To make things simpler, this event chain can only be started by certain countries at fixed dates, basically whenever an exceptionally talented and ambitious monarch rises to the throne. Some countries may even get a few chances over the course of the game. But whenever it happens, it should be a real challenge for the player, requiring a lot of preparation, and cost at least 20BB so that it isn't just a prelude to conquering half the world on the cheap.
Of course there's also the slow way of gradually DAing everyone until the imperial throne is a fait accompli; that would also leave the option of becoming China peacefully if there really are no rivals left. But the way given above is far more impressive, and should be rewarded somehow. One possible reward is that this way gives you a lot of cores at once, whereas DAing all the little states first wouldn't necessarily gives cores on them, and might not actually be much better BB-wise (though the BB would be more manageable, given it could be spread out).
But equally there should be alternative ways to do well without reunifying China. These might depend on which state you play, but could include better colonising potential, better trade, better tech, a different area of cores and so on relative to a unified China. And it would be no bad thing balance-wise if in the absence of human involvement, there's a less than 50/50 chance of China forming over the course of the game, with very little prospect of it for the first few decades at least.
What do people think?
Initially, China is split into several states, none of which is called China.
However, suppose one of them gets reasonably large and powerful. They then get the option of triggering the 'Mandate of Heaven' event series, which is a bold gamble for the resurrection of China. Basically, the ruler declares himself Emperor, and demands that all others in China submit to him. This gives the country a lot of BB (as it's a HUGE provocation to other states), a CB on every other Chinese state, and leads to the next events. It also creates great internal problems unless the country was already very 'imperial' in outlook (eg the country's merchants probably would get very annoyed). For convenience we could give the country a 'China-to-be' tag, which would then be used in the later 'Mandate of Heaven' events.
Each Chinese state now has a choice: submit to the 'Emperor' and get vassalised, or refuse and break vassalage in disgust. Foreign states with land in China have the choice of ceding this land to the Emperor or not. The reasons for choosing yay or nea could vary, but suffice to say it should be virtually impossible to get everyone to submit, even vassals who might not like the implications of further submission.
If any Chinese state refuses, the Emperor is obliged to 'crush the rebels' to establish his authority. He can either DOW or give up on the whole idea of really taking over China.
If non-Chinese states refuse, the Emperor can wait until he is ready, and just get cores on the offending provinces. But if the provinces are in the heart of China (and not just minor outlying regions), he will have to take them provinces eventually to show he really has the Mandate of Heaven.
So China-to-be is now at war with several states. They can't make peace with any of them unless it is to vassalise or annex them. (This condition would only apply to human players.) If they do, the sequence terminates. There's also a time limit in which to defeat the rebel states, and the internal rebels (linked to the Emperor's lifespan, though again we can be much more lenient with the AI).
If the China-to-be succeeds in gaining mastery over the Chinese states and drives out the foreigners, only then does it become China, getting a pan-Chinese set of events and leaders, and a big dollop of prestige. The Emperor's mandate is now confirmed in the eyes of the world. If however he fails, his country reverts back to its old tag.
China can now choose with each vassal whether to allow them to continue as 'regional governors' or somesuch (repairs relations), or to incorporate them fully (adds cores over their territory, inherits, modest BB).
To make things simpler, this event chain can only be started by certain countries at fixed dates, basically whenever an exceptionally talented and ambitious monarch rises to the throne. Some countries may even get a few chances over the course of the game. But whenever it happens, it should be a real challenge for the player, requiring a lot of preparation, and cost at least 20BB so that it isn't just a prelude to conquering half the world on the cheap.
Of course there's also the slow way of gradually DAing everyone until the imperial throne is a fait accompli; that would also leave the option of becoming China peacefully if there really are no rivals left. But the way given above is far more impressive, and should be rewarded somehow. One possible reward is that this way gives you a lot of cores at once, whereas DAing all the little states first wouldn't necessarily gives cores on them, and might not actually be much better BB-wise (though the BB would be more manageable, given it could be spread out).
But equally there should be alternative ways to do well without reunifying China. These might depend on which state you play, but could include better colonising potential, better trade, better tech, a different area of cores and so on relative to a unified China. And it would be no bad thing balance-wise if in the absence of human involvement, there's a less than 50/50 chance of China forming over the course of the game, with very little prospect of it for the first few decades at least.
What do people think?
