Event scripting for HRE - Questions

[jwalrus]

I'm trying to write some events that affect the Holy Roman Empire, in particular to set its succession law to elective and keep it there, since, by my understanding, the Emperor was traditionally an elected position. I've done some looking around, but either there aren't any mods that do this, or I just missed them.

Now, I can script the event itself: Just look for the three kingdom tags in the same ruler and give him the option to either change to elective law or suffer harsh consequences. However, I've got some questions, some of which relate to historical plausibility, some to the AI, and others which relate more directly to event scripting:

1) Will the AI stay elective on its own, or do I need to have this event fire frequently to keep it from just switching back as soon as it is able? I believe you normally have to keep a succession law for 20 years, but does this apply to laws changed by event as well? Essentially, I'm curious what MTTH would be necessary to keep the succession law for the Empire as elective.

2) What would be an appropriate penalty for refusing to change to elective law? I had considered making the most powerful vassal (or multiple vassals) rebellious and/or giving the Emperor the realm duress trait, and possibly some religious penalties as well, since you would presumably be bypassing the Pope's sanction. I suppose it is possible that an Emperor contending to make the crown hereditary would attempt to be crowned by the Pope, but I don't know if, historically, the Pope would be inclined to simply assent to crown him--assuming he can keep his vassals from overthrowing him--or whether he would also be unwilling to go against the will of the electors. Since some of the electors were traditionally clergy, I would assume the latter. Basically, I don't want to make it an easy choice for a player to simply claim a hereditary crown, but one that poses a challenge and gives the player a goal to aim for. Thoughts?

3) How to get around the problem of a ruler just passing off titles to his first-born (or other chosen successor) and bypassing the elective problem that way? A player would think of this solution, but this might also be a problem with the AI; is it smart enough to do that? Perhaps a second event that checks to see if the Emperor's successor is a family member would work--although I would imagine that presents a problem if the bloodline has managed to marry its way into multiple dynasties, or if the player has the habit of giving titles only to members of his own bloodline, as I know some do. You'd be in a pretty pickle if every possible successor were somehow related to you.

4) I have occasionally seen the three HRE titles split up--usually into Germany/Burgundy and Italy, although I think I saw the French king once claim Burgundy separately. I'm wondering what the ramifications of this should be in terms of the event; would the King of Germany still be HRE, or would the possessors of all three crowns have a claim to the title? I'm considering a separate event to make the individual rulers rivals, or give them claims on each other's crowns, to represent imperial ambitions, but would it be just as plausible for the German king to be considered the HRE?

If anyone has done something like this before, I'd appreciate your input. This is my first stab at event scripting, so I'm looking for any advice I can get. Also, anyone with more insight into how the Empire functioned historically would be helpful; my knowledge is limited to what I've picked up from Wikipedia, Magna Mundi (whose HRE mods inspired this quixotic quest of mine--thanks, guys), and posters on various gaming forums. Thanks very much in advance.

-jwalrus

 

[Varning]

Hey jwalrus, I did something very similar in a game of mine. I'm not very experienced with modding, but I'll answer where I can.

1) I'm fairly certain that a law changed by event must still stay for 20 years. If you put the trigger as whenever the law is not elective, then you can use a fairly short MTTH. I used 15 days, but for some reason it seems to take a year or two to fire. I don't know if that's cause the number is too small or what.

2) I gave the ruler realm duress plus his best vassal (and 9 others) the rebelliousness trait along with a hit in loyalty. I also raised his badboy (makes sense as other vassals would be suspicious, if not all out rebellious). As for religious penalties, you could go either way. In theory a strong emperor would be able to get a weak pope to crown him as hereditary. However, a weaker emperor and a strong pope could probably result in a ban or excommunication. Heinrich von Franken (the king in 1066) got into the investiture controversy with the pope which basically resulted in civil war. The most realistic way to do this would be to trigger an event for the pope which is altered by his stats (coward, just) and the kings stats (maybe diplomacy skill, if he's papal controller, etc.) which would determine whether the pope supports the king or excommunicates him.

3) I'm pretty sure the AI is not smart enough to do that consistently. I'm not sure how you'd code such an event. A player might keep their dynasty on the throne, but this does have some historical precedent. The Habsburgs were emperors from basically 1452 to 1740, though this is obviously an extreme example.

4) I would keep the event tied to King of Germany. Though they also held Burgundy and Italy, those titles can easily fall into French hands (in the case of burgundy) or a separate, ahistorical but unified Italy's hands. To give them Holy Roman Emperor events would be a little silly.

If you want my event for reference, here it is:

Holy Roman Empire Simulation

character_event = {
id = 10001

picture = "event_claim"

trigger = {
condition = { type = title value = GERM }
condition = { type = not value = { type = has_law value = { elective_law = yes }
}
}
}

mean_time_to_happen = {
days = 15
}

action_a = { #Switch to elective
ai_chance = 95
effect = { type = set_law value = elective_law }
effect = { type = add_trait value = just }
}

action_b = { #Don't switch
ai_chance = 5
effect = { type = add_trait value = stutter}
effect = { type = badboy value = 5 }
effect = { type = trigger for = best_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
effect = { type = trigger for = any_vassal value = 10002 }
}
}

character_event = {
id = 10002

picture = "event_claim"

action_a = { #This violates the HRE
ai_chance = 95
effect = { type = add_trait value = intestinal_worm }
effect = { type = loyalty value = -0.5 }
effect = { type = add_title_claim value = liege }
}

action_b = { #Okey dokey
ai_chance = 5
effect = { type = loyalty value = 0.5}
}
}

Note that this makes it basically impossible for the character to achieve a hereditary title. The event will keep firing, making more and more vassals rebellious. It could definitely use some tweaking. Also, I don't have DV, if that affects anything.