I've been trying out the AGOT mod and probably clocked up about fifteen hours of playtime so far. I find that outside of the canonical conflicts, the Iron Throne very rarely descends into civil war, even when the Throne itself is weak and disliked.
For example, I was in a game where I had manoeuvred Renly Baratheon onto the Iron Throne after helping to restore the Targaryens. They promptly murdered all the Baratheons bar Renly himself and the children of Robert and Stannis, until they were overthrown, and two minor houses ascended until I seized the throne for Renly. After twenty years, he died and his son - Loras Baratheon - inherited and then died a couple of years later in a jousting accident, leaving his two-year old heir - Lyle Baratheon - to ascend to the throne.
So now I was facing the prospect of a long regency. Unfortunately, Loras' wife became regent and despised Lyle for being a legitimised bastard. She wouldn't let me do anything - not even marry her. Meanwhile, Lyle was deeply unpopular as a new ruler; the majority of vassals were at best indifferent to him, and I couldn't even bribe them into liking me as the regent wouldn't approve sending gifts. There were a gaggle of strong claimants to the throne, including the Lords Paramount of the Stormlands and the Westerlands, the wife and the heir (who was also my regent) of the Lord Paramount of the Reach, the nephew of the Lord Paramount of the North, the wife of the heir to the North, the Lord of Dragonstone and even some landed claimants from the houses that the Baratheons had displaced. And little Lyle was so constantly under the threat of assassination that he remained in hiding pretty much from the get go and eventually caught pneumonia.
But nothing happened. Some factions formed for the claimants and plots were made against Lyle, but nothing ever came of them. After fourteen years of the regency, I never faced a single rebellion, palace coup or other challenge for the throne. Even though the majority of the Lords Paramount had claims to push and held negative opinions of me, they never got together to give me the push. Lyle somehow managed to make it to majority. In fact, across three reigns spanning about 40-50 years, I've not once been on the receiving end of a rebellion.
Basically, it seems that unless I purposefully inflame tensions in the realm - by being tyrannical, or castrating some important family members, or just revoking ducal titles for no good reason - I'm never seriously challenged for the throne, even when unpopular or confronted by multiple claimants. The factions never seem to manage to gather sufficient strength to issue an ultimatum or fire.
Am I perhaps simply not being assertive enough, or just been lucky to have a string of well-liked and capable rulers, or am I playing too safe?
For example, I was in a game where I had manoeuvred Renly Baratheon onto the Iron Throne after helping to restore the Targaryens. They promptly murdered all the Baratheons bar Renly himself and the children of Robert and Stannis, until they were overthrown, and two minor houses ascended until I seized the throne for Renly. After twenty years, he died and his son - Loras Baratheon - inherited and then died a couple of years later in a jousting accident, leaving his two-year old heir - Lyle Baratheon - to ascend to the throne.
So now I was facing the prospect of a long regency. Unfortunately, Loras' wife became regent and despised Lyle for being a legitimised bastard. She wouldn't let me do anything - not even marry her. Meanwhile, Lyle was deeply unpopular as a new ruler; the majority of vassals were at best indifferent to him, and I couldn't even bribe them into liking me as the regent wouldn't approve sending gifts. There were a gaggle of strong claimants to the throne, including the Lords Paramount of the Stormlands and the Westerlands, the wife and the heir (who was also my regent) of the Lord Paramount of the Reach, the nephew of the Lord Paramount of the North, the wife of the heir to the North, the Lord of Dragonstone and even some landed claimants from the houses that the Baratheons had displaced. And little Lyle was so constantly under the threat of assassination that he remained in hiding pretty much from the get go and eventually caught pneumonia.
But nothing happened. Some factions formed for the claimants and plots were made against Lyle, but nothing ever came of them. After fourteen years of the regency, I never faced a single rebellion, palace coup or other challenge for the throne. Even though the majority of the Lords Paramount had claims to push and held negative opinions of me, they never got together to give me the push. Lyle somehow managed to make it to majority. In fact, across three reigns spanning about 40-50 years, I've not once been on the receiving end of a rebellion.
Basically, it seems that unless I purposefully inflame tensions in the realm - by being tyrannical, or castrating some important family members, or just revoking ducal titles for no good reason - I'm never seriously challenged for the throne, even when unpopular or confronted by multiple claimants. The factions never seem to manage to gather sufficient strength to issue an ultimatum or fire.
Am I perhaps simply not being assertive enough, or just been lucky to have a string of well-liked and capable rulers, or am I playing too safe?
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