some success with CB experiment

[takedown47]

i've had some success with a little tweak over the religious war casus belli. one of the common complaints i've read here is that "france needs to gtfo of iberia" and "something needs to be done to cripple the byzantine empire from expanding". both are valid points and i experimented with different ways to achieve this. my conclusion is that the byzantine empire does not need to be "crippled", the muslims dont need to have their strength increased or decreased and france should not be unnaturally restricted from declaring holy wars. essentially i focused on finding a way to make the casus belli system make sense. what i did was design a system that meant only good sons of the church can fight holy wars/crusades. you must now be zealous and have at least 500 piety. the high piety requirement sounds like alot but i've seen games where kings reguarly get to that level 8-10 years into their rule. crusades have the same zealous requirement but cost half the piety (only 250 piety) mainly because it has been officially sanctioned.

using this code:

religious = {
	name = CB_NAME_RELIGIOUS
	war_name = WAR_NAME_RELIGIOUS
	sprite = 9
	truce_days = 3650
	is_permanent = yes
	check_dejure_duchies = yes # this scans all dejure duchies for the counties which are held by or vassals(or below) of selected character. Only valid if is_permanent = yes

	can_use = {
		ROOT = {
			trait = zealous
			piety = 500
			NOT = { religion_group = pagan_group }
			NOT = { same_realm = FROM }
			OR = {
				NOT = { religion_group = FROM }
				is_heresy_of = FROM
				is_parent_religion = FROM
			}
			top_liege = {
				religion = PREV
			}
		}
	}

	is_valid = {
		ROOT = {
			NOT = { religion_group = pagan_group }
			NOT = { same_realm = FROM }
			OR = {
				NOT = { religion_group = FROM }
				is_heresy_of = FROM
				is_parent_religion = FROM
			}
		}
	}
	
	on_success = {
		ROOT = {
			prestige = 50
		}
	}

	on_success_title = {
		ROOT = {
			gain_settlements_under_title = {
				title = PREV
				enemy = FROM
			}
		}
	}

	on_fail = {
		ROOT = {
			piety = -50
			prestige = -100
		}
	}

	on_reverse_demand = {
		ROOT = {
			piety = -150
			prestige = -200
			transfer_scaled_wealth = {
				to = FROM
				value = 4.0
			}
		}
		FROM = {
			prestige = 200
		}
	}

	attacker_ai_victory_worth = {
		factor = -1 # always accept
	}
	
	attacker_ai_defeat_worth = {
		factor = 100
	}

	defender_ai_victory_worth = {
		factor = -1 # always accept
	}
	
	defender_ai_defeat_worth = {
		factor = 100
	}
}

i've played several games with this mod now and what happens is
- the byzantine empire stays roughly its historical size for the period
- kings are the primary crusaders (i once witnessed an impressive and successful campaign by King Serlo I of the England against Alexandria in 1140).
- spain no longer gets steam rolled by either muslims or christians within 20 years of the game starting

it also leads to interesting outcomes where nothing happens for decades or even several generations, and then suddenly a realm gets a zealous ruler that character conquers vast swaths of territory from the infidels. i find this more historically accurate.

there's still a few tweaks to be made and i'll try to release a mod when its ready. i plan to impose restrictions like this on other casus bellis. for example the press all claims CB might require you to have 500 prestige and the ambitious trait. plots to acquire a kingdom could also be restriced to ambitious characters. ideas welcome.

 

[Maestro Ugo]

This is already in the "Bella Gerant Alii" mod.