I think it would be good if the vassal system was improved in Crusader Kings, as I find the current version flawed and limited. Suppose, for instance, that you make peace with a country which then turns on one of your vassals. The temporary CB means nothing then, because you can't go to war without breaking a peace treaty and becoming the bad boy of Europe (and losing a lot of stability) just because you wanted to defend your vassal. It is also odd that vassals being attacked only give a temporary casus belli, while they are supposed to be as "close" to your country as they could possibly get.
To sum it all up, these are the changes to vassals that I'd like to see:
* Vassals have no foreign relations whatsoever; they are a self-governing part of your kingdom (or possibly a region that has given up its independence to gain your protection), and should not be treated like an independent state; in essence, they would not be able to send or receive diplomats. The only exceptions would be them declaring themselves independent, being released or being offered annexation (i.e. diplomacy would be allowed with the "mother country").
* Upon becoming a vassal, ALL diplomatic ties and effects are cleared (even wars).
* In order to declare war on a vassal, you must declare war on the "mother country". Vassals always automatically share all wars with said "mother country", be they alliance wars or more "direct" wars. The victory points for a vassal's provinces are counted for the "mother country", and they can be demanded as part of a peace arrangement. If all of the vassal is controlled (or covered with CB shields) you could either annex it as part of the peace resolution (with the "mother country") or you could just have the "ownership" of the vassal handed over to you (the latter should be very common with the AI when it doesn't have any CB shields on the vassal's capital).
* Vassals always have the same technology level as the "mother country", unless they already have higher. Alternatively, they could be given a rather huge bonus if they are lagging behind it.
So, what about the Holy Roman Empire? I think it could benefit from using the vassal code as well, since it would guarantee the lasting integrity of it and greatly increase the chances of historical events taking place, as well as offering an interesting way to play; it would certainly be a new and intriguing experience to play as a member "state" of the Holy Roman Empire, and not just a nation that Austria can walk through all the time and with no other in-game effects.
To sum it up, this is how I think the Holy Roman Empire should work:
* All members of the Holy Roman Empire are vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor
* They do not pay the 50% vassal tribute (or perhaps they should... I don't know enough of the HRE to make that judgement)
* The country with the best relations is the one that becomes the Holy Roman Emperor (I would prefer if the Habsburg bonus was replaced with a more "in-character" AI that focuses on doing what Austria did, namely giving the 'make love not war' expression a face (in reference to them marrying and inheriting rather than conquering).
* The Holy Roman Emperor has full access to foreign policies, and can also decide to kick out a HRE member (i.e. "release a vassal").
* The Holy Roman Empire does have "core provinces". If any non-HRE country occupies a "shield province", the HRE has a permanent CB against it.
* If you, as a HRE member, decide to leave the glorious unity and walk your own way, keep in mind that the HRE still has CB shields on all your provinces...
Any thoughts or comments?
To sum it all up, these are the changes to vassals that I'd like to see:
* Vassals have no foreign relations whatsoever; they are a self-governing part of your kingdom (or possibly a region that has given up its independence to gain your protection), and should not be treated like an independent state; in essence, they would not be able to send or receive diplomats. The only exceptions would be them declaring themselves independent, being released or being offered annexation (i.e. diplomacy would be allowed with the "mother country").
* Upon becoming a vassal, ALL diplomatic ties and effects are cleared (even wars).
* In order to declare war on a vassal, you must declare war on the "mother country". Vassals always automatically share all wars with said "mother country", be they alliance wars or more "direct" wars. The victory points for a vassal's provinces are counted for the "mother country", and they can be demanded as part of a peace arrangement. If all of the vassal is controlled (or covered with CB shields) you could either annex it as part of the peace resolution (with the "mother country") or you could just have the "ownership" of the vassal handed over to you (the latter should be very common with the AI when it doesn't have any CB shields on the vassal's capital).
* Vassals always have the same technology level as the "mother country", unless they already have higher. Alternatively, they could be given a rather huge bonus if they are lagging behind it.
So, what about the Holy Roman Empire? I think it could benefit from using the vassal code as well, since it would guarantee the lasting integrity of it and greatly increase the chances of historical events taking place, as well as offering an interesting way to play; it would certainly be a new and intriguing experience to play as a member "state" of the Holy Roman Empire, and not just a nation that Austria can walk through all the time and with no other in-game effects.
To sum it up, this is how I think the Holy Roman Empire should work:
* All members of the Holy Roman Empire are vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor
* They do not pay the 50% vassal tribute (or perhaps they should... I don't know enough of the HRE to make that judgement)
* The country with the best relations is the one that becomes the Holy Roman Emperor (I would prefer if the Habsburg bonus was replaced with a more "in-character" AI that focuses on doing what Austria did, namely giving the 'make love not war' expression a face (in reference to them marrying and inheriting rather than conquering).
* The Holy Roman Emperor has full access to foreign policies, and can also decide to kick out a HRE member (i.e. "release a vassal").
* The Holy Roman Empire does have "core provinces". If any non-HRE country occupies a "shield province", the HRE has a permanent CB against it.
* If you, as a HRE member, decide to leave the glorious unity and walk your own way, keep in mind that the HRE still has CB shields on all your provinces...
Any thoughts or comments?
