Characters
In addition to and separate from pops, Imperator: Rome defines individual characters. The characters in Imperator are deeply detailed, and together with the pops and the politics are part of what makes a vibrant living world. They have portraits that age gradually, with lots of different ethnicities covering the world. Characters occupy positions and serve as the rulers, advisors, governors, generals, and more who run the country and its administration, but also have fickle
loyalty and must be kept either loyal or in check lest they become discontent and use their considerable resources to start a
civil war.
Contents
Name[edit]
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Every character has a name by which they are normally identified, partly assigned at birth, partly inherited from the character's parents, and partly given over the course of a character's life. A character's name can be divided into 4 distinct parts, usually arranged in the following structure:
[Given name] [Regnal Number] [Nickname] [Family name]
Italic characters have a special naming system that reflects Roman naming conventions, with the cognomen (nickname) coming last and simplified names for females. Male Italic characters then use following naming structure:
[Given name] [Regnal Number] [Family name] [Nickname]
Female Italic characters use following naming structure:
[Family name] [Given name (Number)] [Regnal Number] [Nickname]
Given name[edit]
A character's primary name is their given name, or praenomen, which is assigned at birth (or when created) and is usually randomly chosen from a list of names determined by the character's culture group, but can also be manually set or changed for children born to the current ruler. This is the main name that characters are usually referred to by.
Italic female characters are not assigned a usual praenomen. Instead, they are given a Latin number based on their order of birth, with the first daughter being "Prima", the second being "Secunda", the third being "Tertia", and so forth. Their given name is also placed after the family name, unlike with Italic male characters.
Family name[edit]
When a character is born, he or she will typically take on the family name of his or her father, identifying the family that the character comes from. Depending on the culture, the family name may differ slightly between male and female forms. Children of minor characters will not receive a family name, and are known only by their given names.
Randomly generated minor characters will instead take a random name from the family name list of their culture group. Due to the relatively small number of possible family names for many culture groups, it is common to see unrelated characters with the same family name.
Nickname[edit]
- Main article: Cognomen
Characters may gain a nickname or cognomen (for Italic-cultured characters) that references one of the characteristics or accomplishments, typically given to victorious generals after a triumph or granted to a
governor, as well as through certain events. Characters of the Italic culture group have a more sophisticated system where cognomen can be gained when reaching adulthood and inherited from father to son, as well as being placed at the end of the name.
A character can only have one nickname at a time; if a character acquires a new nickname, the old one will be removed.
Regnal Number[edit]
Rulers of monarchies have a regnal number that distinguishes them from previous (and future) monarchs with the same name. Regnal numbers are in Roman numerals and usually counted starting from the beginning of the game, with the starting ruler receiving the regnal number I, though certain countries start with with a list of already used regnal names and numbers to ensure a historical naming scheme.
Stats[edit]
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Every character has a large range of stats that determine their skills and standing across all sorts of different fields, each with a different effect.
Primary[edit]
- Main article: Attributes
The 4 main stats, or attributes, represent the character's skills and ability in some of the most important facets of serving an office and ruling a country. Attributes are mostly fixed and generally will not vary much over the course of the game after a character reaches adulthood, unless they are seriously injured.
Martial represents a character's ability to fight and lead troops. Characters with high martial skills make excellent generals.
Finesse represents a character's skill in disciplines requiring a high attention to detail. High finesse characters make excellent governors.
Charisma is a character’s ability to charm and persuade others.
Zeal is a character's ability to inspire faith in other characters, and also in calling upon the favour of the gods.
Secondary[edit]
Secondary stats are more diverse and represent everything about a character from how well known or liked they are to their current health or loyalty to the state. Most of these are generally less important than a character's primary attributes, but should still be taken into consideration when appointing a character to an office or deciding whether or not they might become a threat.
Age is a requirement for many parts of public life, from education to taking office. A character reaches adulthood at 16, though many types of republic have age requirements significantly above that for their rulerships, and older characters will become increasingly susceptible to terminal illnesses.
The Health stat of a character ranges from 0 to 100, and is increased or decreased by various traits. If the health of a character reaches 0, that character will die. Using the Seek Treatment character interaction will increase the health of the character with a chance of permanently injuring the character.
Statesmanship represents how experienced the character is in the matters of government. It is accumulated over time by holding jobs and offices as well as the
finesse attribute and some traits, and determines how effectively attributes are applied towards
government offices.
Prominence represents the fame of the character. Jobs and titles help bring characters to public attention, and make it more likely that they will be elected in republics.
Popularity is a measure of how the people see the character. In republics high popularity characters are more likely to be elected leader of the republic and will have higher
senate influence. However even monarchies cannot ignore popular people - and monarchs must be mindful of their own popularity.
Loyalty is a measure of a character's loyalty to the state. Disloyal characters are more likely to cause problems to a ruler than loyal ones, will refuse to listen to orders, and can even drive a realm towards
civil war. However even the most loyal of characters has their limit.
Corruption is a measurement of this character’s willingness to engage in underhanded practices. Greed, bribery and the bending of rules come hand-in-hand with high corruption. Corrupt characters will take more than their
wage would normally be and are likely to anger provinces under their control.
Holdings provide
income and
power base to a character, and are usually concentrated among the family heads. However characters may also invest in territories they have a personal connection to.
Wealth: Every character can accumulate money based on their jobs and holdings, which can be used to further their personal ambitions.
Power Base represents how much influence a character has in a country, and is accumulated from many different sources, such as
jobs and offices,
holdings,
commanded and loyal cohorts, governorships,
family prestige (applied to family heads only), and more.
Succession Support determines who will become ruler when the current ruler dies or finishes their term. How this is calculated depends on the ruler type: monarchies determine this entirely by familial relationships, republics by popularity, prominence, family prestige, and faction support, and tribes by the value of the character's attributes.
Faction Conviction: In a republic, every adult character has a predilection for each of the 3 senatorial factions, with the current value the sum of the total accumulated predilection so far. The amount gained (or lost) per month depends largely on the character's traits, attributes, and other characteristics, and they will join whichever faction they have the highest conviction for.
Senatorial Influence: The number of seats that a faction controls is determined by the total senatorial influence of its members. Senatorial influence is largely determined by a character's
power base, but can also be increased by
popularity and a number of traits, while governors and generals will find it hard to effectively exert their influence far away from the capital.
Relationships[edit]
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Most characters will have different relationships with various other characters, whether inherited through blood and marriage or developed through interactions. These relationships are important in determining how characters interact with each other, and the ruler's relationships are particularly important for loyalty and the functioning of the realm.
Spouse[edit]
- See also: Consort
Every adult character can have one spouse of the opposite gender. Characters will generally only marry within their own country, although it is possible for a marriage to be arranged between the ruling families of two different monarchies. A character will usually only have children with their spouse and will not reproduce if unmarried, although there are some events where bastards can appear, mostly firing for the ruler. Marriage of the ruling character and close relatives in a player-controlled realm is handled through the Arrange Marriage interaction. Incestuous marriages between close family members (parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) are forbidden unless the Familial Marriage monarchy law is enabled.
In monarchies, the choice of spouse is particularly important as the consort is an official position that can contribute their attributes over that of the ruler if they are higher.
Relatives[edit]
Characters have relatives as determined by their familial relations, with the parents, siblings, and children displayed directly in the interface. The main importance of relatives are in monarchies, where succession is determined by family relations with the exact rules depending on the Succession Law. Close family members of the ruler - parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren, even if not of the ruler's family - can be married off with the Arrange Marriage interaction. Bloodline traits can also only be passed down from parent to child, with the exact rules depending on the trait. If they are currently minor characters, it is also significantly cheaper to adopt certain close relatives - children and siblings - into the ruling family.
Friends[edit]
Every character can have a certain number of friends, controlled by the max friends modifier. Friends tend to be loyal and supportive of each other, such as supporting the government if friendly with the ruler and moving to support the other side in a civil war if one of their friends goes into rebellion.
Friends of the ruler get the following modifiers:
+15 Loyalty
+0.01 Monthly Family Prestige
+50 Primary Heir Attraction
Monthly Optimates Conviction: +0.01
Monthly Oligarchic Conviction: +0.01
- Monthly Conviction for Ruler Faction: +0.10
It is generally useful for the ruler to make friends with other powerful characters in the realm, such as family heads and strong generals and governors, especially those with a somewhat lower loyalty who could use the buffer. In particular, making friends with family heads may give you opportunities to revoke their most populous holdings, reducing their income and power base.
Friendships between the rulers of two different countries will increase mutual relations by 25 opinion, making it useful for increasing opinion a little higher for diplomatic action approval if relations have already been fully improved and gifts sent. Foreign characters can also be recruited to join a country's court if they are friends with the ruler, at the cost of
aggressive expansion.
The ruler can make friends using the Make Friends character interaction, as long as they have friend slots remaining. When you start befriending someone, you will be presented with several events, where each option provides different amounts of progress. You need to choose either:
- 2 large options
- 3 moderate
- 1 large, 1 moderate, 1 small
This process might cost you up to 100 gold or 5000 manpower or increase tyranny by 5.
Friendships can be ended at any time with the Remove Friend character interaction.
Rivals[edit]
Every character can have a certain number of rivals, controlled by the max rivals modifier. Rivals dislike each other and will tend to take aggressive actions and schemes against each other, up to and including assassinations.
Rivals of the ruler get the following modifiers:
-10 Loyalty
-0.10 Monthly Family Prestige
-25 Primary Heir Attraction
-10% Monthly Wage
- Monthly Conviction for Ruler Faction: -0.10
Rivalry does not have as strong a loyalty impact as friendship does, but it is nonetheless recommended to generally avoid rivalries with powerful characters.
If two country rulers are rivals, each country will get -50 opinion of each other, significantly impairing relations.
In addition to as an effect of various events, rivalries can be started at any time with the Make Rival interaction as long as there are rivalry spots remaining. Making a domestic rival costs 5 popularity, while making a rival of a foreign ruler requires the
relations be below 0. A domestic rival can be removed at any time with the Remove Rival interaction at the cost of
30 political influence, and a foreign rival if
relations are above 0.
Family[edit]
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Most characters in a country are part of a major family. Members of a family are usually related to each other and children will inherit the family of their primary parent (usually the father), but it is also possible for characters to join a major family through adoption.
Characters in a major family will automatically marry shortly after they reach adulthood, with the main exception of the ruling family of a player-controlled country. Members of the ruling family will never marry except through the Arrange Marriage interaction; as only close relatives of the ruler can marry using this interaction, this means that more distantly related family members will generally not marry. This is generally most problematic in monarchies as the ruling family rotates in republics and tribes, and means that without intervention, the ruling family will typically shrink to become much smaller than the other families, limiting the talent pool that can be drawn from when giving out positions to appease the ruling family. This can be dealt with either by constantly adopting promising minor characters or marrying close relatives, particularly sisters, daughters, or granddaughters to more distantly related members of the family to ensure they reproduce.
Characters that are part of the ruling family get +0.01 monthly prominence and
+10 primary heir attraction.
Expected number of positions[edit]
- Main article: Position#Mechanics
Major families expect to have their members hold a certain proportion of all currently held assignable positions in order to be content. Any family that does not hold its expected number of positions is considered scorned, which gives a significant loyalty malus, while a family that instead holds at least double the number of expected positions is
grateful, which gives a number of bonuses. Ensuring that all families are content, even if this requires appointing less-skilled but more politically connected characters to important positions, is an important part of character and family management.
Family prestige[edit]
Every family has an associated prestige value, which represents how prominent the family has been throughout the country's history. Prestige is accumulated passively from all the positions, wealth and cohorts controlled by the family's members; prestige can also be increased from various events. Family prestige gives bonuses to
power base,
prominence,
senate influence,
statesmanship, and more to the head of the family, with the effects scaled according to how large a family's prestige is compared to the total prestige of all the families in the country.
Apotheosis with the
Magna Graecia DLC also requires the family of the deified ruler to have at least
800 prestige.
Head of family[edit]
Each major family has a head, usually the oldest member of the family; the main exception is the ruling family of monarchies, which is always helmed by the ruler. The head of each major family gets the following modifiers for each percentage of the total family prestige in the country that the family has:
+0.25 Prominence
+1.2 Power Base
+0.001% Monthly Statesmanship
+0.005% Loyalty Gain Chance
-0.75% Senate Influence
Monthly Optimates Conviction: +0.0015
Monthly Oligarchic Conviction: +0.0015
Clan chiefs in tribal nations have a somewhat different set of modifiers.
Additionally, all holdings pass to the head of the family when a character dies, which means that heads of families tend to have the highest wealth and
power base in the country, even before considering positions. It is therefore dangerous to appoint them as governors or generals, as the
loyalty impact of their very high power base means that it will be difficult to keep them consistently loyal. Appointing them as a researcher or to a government office is recommended if they need to be given a position, as those do not increase power base and matter less if they become disloyal.
When a country is conquered or annexed, three family heads from the conquered state can be invited to join the conqueror's court as minor characters, along with a few of their family members. All other characters will be executed or disappear into obscurity.
Number of families[edit]
The maximum number of major families in a country depends on its rank, ranging from 3 for City States and
Local Powers to 5 for
Great Powers. In tribes, the number of families is instead the number of
clan chiefs, which is generally the same as the number of families for other government forms, except for
Major Powers.
If the number of major families is less than the maximum - usually after rising in rank - then an event will trigger creating a new family from one of the 3 most powerful minor characters in the country. Similarly, if the number of major families is higher than the maximum, then one of them will fall from grace and all of its members will be demoted to minor characters.
Minor characters[edit]
Characters that are not part of a major family are considered minor characters. Minor characters do not have a family head and do not benefit from the effects of family prestige, which generally means that they are unlikely to accumulate a large
power base unless granted a particularly large army or region to govern. They will also not marry automatically and usually do not have a family, although it is possible to manually marry relatives of the ruler to them like with any other unmarried adult character.
Minor characters will automatically appear in the court from time to time and might be of any existing culture or religion in the country, though they will still generally be of the primary culture and religion. In tribes and monarchies they can be adopted into the ruling family at any time with a base cost of 10% of the family's current prestige and
10 legitimacy (more if the character has a high
power base); other families may also adopt minor characters if their size becomes too small.
Positions[edit]
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- Main article: Position
One of the main roles of characters are to be assigned to various positions in a country. Besides being the ruler of a country, they could be assigned to govern a province, command an army, handle research, or be given a role in the government, providing various bonuses depending on their traits and attributes and the position they are assigned to in exchange for
pay,
prominence, and
increased power base. Major families will always expect to hold a certain percentage of all positions in the realm, and can become grateful if they are given much more than expected. Managing the family composition, loyalty, and competence of position holders is an important part of internal management and ensuring a stable, prosperous realm.
Positions in the government include:
- Ruler
- Co-Ruler and Consort
- Government Offices
- Researcher
- Governor
- General
- Admiral
Power Base[edit]
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A character's power base represents the weight of influence a character has, though his/her wealth, connections, commanded and loyal soldiers, and level of authority. Every unit of
power base decreases a character's
loyalty by 0.5, making power base one of the most important factors decreasing
character loyalty, and if the proportion of
disloyal power base is higher than the
civil war threshold, the country will progress towards a
civil war. In republics, a character's
power base is also the base from which
senatorial influence is calculated. Generally, a close eye should always be kept on characters with a high
power base, keeping them as
loyal as is feasible (or at least above the disloyalty threshold with some buffer to spare) while being sure not to give them any positions that would result in even higher
power base (as that can bring the
loyalty penalty from high
power base up to unmanageable levels).
The main sources of power base are:
- +2 from all
positions (including
rulers, co-rulers, consorts, primary heirs, offices, researchers, governors, generals, admirals, and party leaders)
- +1.2 to heads of family for each percentage of the total
family prestige in the country their family has
- +0.2 to the
ruler for each percentage of the country's
population in the
capital region
- +1 to
governors for each percentage of the country's
population in their governorship
- +1 to
generals for each percentage of the country's
army under their command, not including any
cohorts loyal to the commander, up to a maximum of +4 per commanded cohort
- +1 to for each percentage of the country's
army that are
cohorts loyal to the character, even if under the command of another character (does not apply for the cohorts loyal to the
ruler), up to a maximum of +4 per loyal cohort
- +1 for the character's number of
loyal veteran cohorts as a percentage of the country's
army size, up to a maximum of +4 per loyal veteran cohort
- +0.1 for each percentage of the country's
ships commanded by an admiral, up to a maximum of +1 per commanded ship
- +0.5 for each percentage of the country's
territories held as
holdings, up to a maximum of +10 per holding
Traits[edit]
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Traits represent different facets of a character's personality, lifestyle, abilities, conditions, and more, and have a significant effect on a character's attributes and ability to perform in positions, as well as affecting how they respond to events (particularly for the AI).
Most traits have base effects on character attributes and stats that are always active, but some also give modifiers that are only active when the character holds a position like being the ruler or a
general. These position-specific modifiers affect the target of the position - the army or navy for
generals and
admirals, the region for
governors, and the entire country for
rulers.
Traits can be categorized into one of four categories:
- Personality
- Military
- Health
- Status
Some traits, particularly personality traits, have opposites that they are mutually exclusive with. A character will never have two traits that are opposite with each other at the same time; if a character gets a new trait whose opposite it currently has, the opposite trait will be immediately removed.
Personality traits[edit]
The most general type of trait that describes the character's personality, such as being Brave or Coward(ly), or Cruel or Merciful. Personality traits typically have the widest variety of effects, and almost all characters have at least one or two of these.
Military traits[edit]
Typically given to generals and admirals during battle events and give often give various combat modifiers. Usually a character has a maximum of one of those, that may give a bonus or penalty.
Health traits[edit]
Represents a medical condition that a character has, such as Stressed, Maimed, Lunatic, etc. Not beneficial to the character in most cases, usually reduces a character's attributes and often has an impact on health as well, sometimes being fatal. Many of these traits can be treated (except for congenital traits), but as characters get older it will be increasingly difficult to avoid.
Status traits[edit]
Status traits represent a character's current activities, lifestyle, reputation, or heritage. They include bloodline traits as well as those given for more personal military or oratory successes.
Trait | Personal | Ruler | General | Description & Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Blood of Aiakos | Aiakos was the grandfather of the greatest Greek hero, Achilles, and king of the island of Aifina in the Saronic Gulf. Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, came to be king of the Molossian Epirotes after he returned from the Trojan War, and his descendants have ruled every since, untiling Epirus and contributing to the legacy of Alexander the Great through his mother Olympias.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Blood of Antigonos | Antigonos Monopthalmus was a loyal Satrap of Alexander, who rose to power after defeating Perdikkas, soon after Alexander's death. The very first of the Diadochi to proclaim himself King, he was supported by his loyal family, and established a good reputation amongst smaller, less capable Greek nations.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Blood of Antipatros | A great friend of Alexander, Antipatros was responsible for safeguarding Macedonia during Alexander's great campaigns. His loyalty to Alexander, and domineering attitude towards the lesser Greek states was tempered by his son, Kassandros, whose contempt of Alexander was no secret, and whose legacy included the founding and restoration of many great cities.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Blood of the Argeads | Alexander wept when he heard from Anaxarchus that there was an infinite number of worlds; and when his friends asked him if any accident had befallen him, returned this answer: "Do you not think it a matter worthy of lamentation that when there is such a vast multitude of them, we have not yet conquered one?"
This trait can be passed on matrilineally or patrilineally. Given to all descendants of Phillippos II Argead, including Thessalonike Argead (wife of Basileus Kassandros of | ||||
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Blood of the Lagidae | Having grown up alongside Alexander, Ptolemaios Soter of the Lagidae, was amongst the first of the seven Somatophylakes. After the partition of Babylon, he settled in Egypt, ruling with a fair hand; despite the vast population of differing cultures. His long-standing dynasty was regarded as highly influential in the patronage of art, philosophy, and science.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Blood of Lysimachus | Once a close friend of Alexander, and one of the legendary Somatophylakes; Lysimachos was a brutal yet cunning general, whose grasp of the tense diplomatic situation between the Diadochi was second to none.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Blood of Seleukos | Unlike the other Diadochi, Seleukos was a person of only mediocre importance during Alexander's campaigns. After a string of victories and defeats, Seleukos finally established his domain with the help of Ptolemaios Soter, and embarked on a campaign to regain control of the eastern parts of Alexander's empire. Surrounded on every side by titanic powers, Seleucus was, by necessity, a ruthless and cunning leader.
This trait can be passed on patrilineally. Given to members of the | ||||
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Conqueror | Like so many before [CHARACTER.GetHerHim], [CHARACTER.GetName] bears the title of Conqueror - and the responsibility that lies with it.
Random chance to be granted to a general after victory in battle. | ||||
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Orator | The mere timbre of the silken words that [CHARACTER.GetName] speaks, can stop others in their tracks. | ||||
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Olympic Competitor | [CHARACTER.GetName] is here to compete in the Olympics, and is focusing all his energy on sporting events.
Given to all characters who are chosen to participate in the Olympics and are temporarily in the host country. | ||||
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Poet | The mere timbre of the silken words that [CHARACTER.GetName] speaks, can stop others in their tracks. | ||||
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Victorious | [CHARACTER.GetPraenomen] has become a byword for glory - long may [CHARACTER.GetSheHe] vanquish [CHARACTER.GetHerHis] foes!
Random chance to be granted to a general after victory in battle. |
Schemes[edit]
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Every character has an ongoing scheme, or ambition, at any time that represents their current objectives and activities apart from any currently held positions. These schemes vary widely, from learning and growing up or investing in existing holdings to increasing
political influence and plotting against other characters. Schemes are generally the main mechanic by which non-ruler characters have agency and interact with other characters and their holdings. While the schemes of most characters are fairly unimportant and can for the most part be ignored, some, particularly those of powerful characters or those otherwise important to the ruler, can matter significantly, whether positively or negatively. Most schemes can be stopped by using the
Persuade to Drop Scheme interaction, which costs
10 political influence.
Basic schemes[edit]
These schemes have no effect and characters will generally default to this if they are ineligible for any other scheme or simply have nothing better to do. Cannot be dropped.
- Grow Up! - Used by all children under 12, small chance to increase one of the child's attributes (up to 8) each month
- Content In Life - Default scheme for adults
Ruler schemes[edit]
These schemes are available only to the ruler and usually involve spending a personal attribute to gain a countrywide bonus.
- Scheme: Influence - Gain
political power generation in exchange for ruler
popularity, can be started using the associated interaction on the ruler
- Researching Lineage - Gain
legitimacy in exchange for ruler
wealth with a small chance of gaining bloodline trait if the ruler is in the Hellenistic culture group and does not already have one, can be started using the associated interaction on the ruler
- Siphon Funds - Gain
ruler wealth and
corruption
Education schemes[edit]
Every child selects one of these when they turn 12, and the education that is chosen will determine the attributes they gain (and lose) during their adolesence and gives a trait and faction conviction when they reach adulthood. The education of the ruler's child can be changed using the Tutor Heir interaction on the
Royal Tutor in monarchies.
- Become Great Warrior - Focuses on
martial at the expense of other attributes, gain a
military trait and
democrats or
populares conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Tyrant - Focuses on
martial and
finesse at the expense of other attributes while gaining
corruption, gain a
sociopathic trait and
oligarchs or
optimates conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Bureaucrat - Focuses on
finesse at the expense of other attributes, gain a
rulership trait and
traditionalists or
boni conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Rich - Focuses on
finesse at the expense of other attributes while gaining
corruption, gain a
greed-related trait and
oligarchs or
optimates conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Politician - Focuses on
charisma at the expense of other attributes while gaining
corruption, gain a
oratory trait and
oligarchs or
optimates conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Demagogue - Focuses on
charisma at the expense of other attributes while losing
loyalty, gain a modifier to
corruption and
democrats or
populares conviction on reaching adulthood
- Become Zealous - Focuses on
zeal at the expense of other attributes while losing
loyalty, gain a
religion-focused trait and
traditionalists or
boni conviction conviction on reaching adulthood
Plot schemes[edit]
These schemes target another character, possibly even the ruler. Many of these schemes can assisted or
interfered with to either increase (at the cost of ruler
popularity) or decrease (at the cost of
) the scheme's probability of success, in addition to being persuading to drop the plot altogether.
- Assassinate! - Attempts to kill a rival
- Theft! - Attempts to steal from a wealthy rival
- Claim Holding - Attempts to take a
holding from another character, costs
popularity
Relationship schemes[edit]
These schemes involve trying to create a new relationship with another character, whether friendly or hostile.
- Provoke - Attempts to make another character into a rival
- Befriend - Attempts to make another character into a friend
- A Royal Proposal - Spends
gold to try to arrange a marriage with the
ruler, used only in monarchies if the ruler is adult and unmarried
- Seeking Spouse - Spends
gold to try to arrange a marriage with a member of another major family, used only by unmarried adult characters that are notable in some way and can be triggered for the
ruler with the associated character interaction (Scheme: Political Marriage)
Investment schemes[edit]
These schemes usually involve the character either enriching themselves or spending their personal wealth to improve their position in some way.
- Sponsoring Games - Spends personal
wealth to gain
popularity
- Prepare a Grand Festival - Spend a large amount of
gold to give
+5% Integrated Culture Happiness, used only by the
High Priest
- Investing in Opportunities - Gain personal
wealth
- Seek Patron - Attempts to convince another character to help gain
prominence
- Buy Holding - Spend
wealth and
popularity to gain a new
holding in a territory with an empty slot, used only by heads of family and will prefer to target territories neighbouring existing holdings
- Expand Estate - Spend
wealth to increase the
population output of held
holdings but make them unrevokable, used only by heads of family
- Latifundia - Spend a large amount of
gold and gain
corruption to build a
farming settlement in an owned
holding, used only by heads of family
- Expanding Mines - Spend a large amount of
gold and gain
corruption to build a
mine in an owned
holding, used only by heads of family
- Extort Territory - Increases
wealth and
corruption while decreasing region
output and
loyalty, used only by governors
Political schemes[edit]
These schemes involve trying to increase the character's power and potting against the ruler.
- Buying Troop Loyalty - Spends
gold to gain the
loyalty of commanded cohorts, can be used by
generals
- Demand Office - Increases
prominence and when finished fires an event for the ruler to demand an
office, potentially displacing the current holder; only used by characters with high
prominence and
popularity
- Hire Private Army - Spends a large amount of
gold to gain the
loyal veteran cohorts, costs
gold to abort
- Plotting Quietly - Spends
gold and lowers character
loyalty by 10, cannot be forced to abort
- Inspiring Disloyalty - Spends a large amount of
gold to reduce the
loyalty of a more powerful character by 10, costs
gold to abort
Vice schemes[edit]
These schemes do not do anything particularly productive, but represent characters getting involved in more questionable or problematic behaviours that can be rather costly.
- Gambling - Costs
gold, and has a chance of gaining it back with some return or losing even more once the scheme finishes
- Fighting in the Arena - Decreases
health and
popularity, with a chance of gaining
prominence and
popularity if successful or losing more
health if not
Other schemes[edit]
These schemes are used only in certain specific situations.
- Seeking Treatment - Increases
health and attempts to heal an healable illness or injury. Can be selected for any eligible character in the country's court through the Seek Treatment interaction at the cost of
200 gold, which comes of personal wealth if selected for the
ruler or the
treasury for all other characters
- Escape Prison! - Attempts to escape imprisonment, costing
health if unsuccessful, and will be frequently taken by prisoners
Interactions[edit]
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Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 1.5. |
Most actions on characters can be performed through character interactions, available either on the right of the character screen or by right clicking the character's portrait. In a republic, many of these interactions will require
Senate approval.
General interactions[edit]
These interactions are generally available on most characters within the country.
Interaction | Description |
---|---|
Adopt | Adopt a minor character into the ruling family, at a base cost of ![]() ![]() |
Make Friends | Begins an event chain to try the befriend the character, with various ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Bribe | Increases the character's ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Persuade | Replaces the Bribe interaction if the ruler has the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Force Conversion | Force a character to convert to the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grant Citizenship Status | Removes the Foreign Citizenship modifier from a character, allowing them to hold ![]() ![]() |
Impose Corruption Sanctions | Removes up to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Imprison | Imprisons a character at the cost of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ostracize | Replaces the Banish interaction for ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Make Rival | Makes another character into a rival of the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Remove Rival | Stops the ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Scheme: Seek Treatment | Starts treatment for a healable illness or injury, increasing the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Smear Reputation | Reduces ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Demand Support for Heir | Gives ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ruler interactions[edit]
The following interactions are available only on the ruler, or in some cases close relatives of the ruler.
Interaction | Description |
---|---|
Arrange Adoption | Finds a minor character to adopt into the ruling family, analogous to the Adopt interaction. Available only to monarchies and tribes. |
Appoint Dictator | Extends the ruler's term and gives a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Return Dictatorship | Forces a ruling dictator to stand down, can be used if their ![]() ![]() |
Arrange Marriage | Arranges a marriage between the current character and an eligible spouse in the same country. The other party may ask for gifts in order for the marriage to proceed. Can be used on unmarried adults that are close relatives of the ![]() ![]() |
Assassinate | Kills an unwanted dictator, costs ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Plan Assassination! | Starts the Assassinate! scheme to kill a rival within the country. Costs ![]() ![]() |
Scheme: Hold Games | Starts the Sponsoring Games scheme, spending personal ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
End Inspiring Foreign Disloyalty | Stops inspiring loyalty on foreign characters, analogous to the Stop Inspiring Disloyalty interaction. |
Scheme: Influence | Starts the Influence scheme, spending personal ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Scheme: Prove Legitimacy | Starts the Researching Lineage scheme, spending personal ![]() ![]() |
Scheme: Siphon Funds | Starts the Siphon Funds scheme, gaining personal ![]() ![]() |
Scheme: Political Marriage | Seeks a marriage between the character and a member of a particular major family. Costs ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Position holder interactions[edit]
These interactions are generally available only to characters with a certain position or status, such as generals, office holders, or heads of family.
Interaction | Description |
---|---|
Send Adventuring | Send a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Exalt Clan Chief | Increases a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Give Free Hands | Increases ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Revoke Free Hands | Revokes the free hands privileges given by the Give Free Hands interaction. Decreases ![]() ![]() |
Grant Regional Cognomen | Gives a regional nickname and ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grant Clan Autonomy | Releases a disloyal ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grant Holding | Grants a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grant Capitulatory Honors | Gives ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grant Stipends | Gives ![]() ![]() |
Hold Triumph | Holds a triumph for a character that won a battle as a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Bring to Trial | Attempts to imprison a character that holds an office or otherwise has high status, replaces the Imprison interaction. The chances of success is increased by the character's ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Reward Veterans | Spends ![]() ![]() |
Revoke Holding | Revokes a ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tutor Heir | Changes the education scheme of one of the ruler's children that is at least 12, but not yet an adult. Can only be used on the ![]() ![]() |
Prisoner interactions[edit]
The following interactions are available only on imprisoned characters.
Interaction | Description |
---|---|
Banish | Force an imprisoned character to leave the country, with a base cost of ![]() |
Execute | Kills an imprisoned character with a base cost of ![]() |
Arrange Gladiatorial Debut | Forces an imprisoned character to fight another imprisoned character in the arena, with the loser dying and the winner going free. Costs ![]() ![]() |
Flog | Reduces the ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ransom Prisoner | Attempt to ransom a character imprisoned in another country. The price needed depends largely on relations between the two countries and the ![]() |
Release Prisoner | Releases a character from imprisonment, returning them to their home country if imprisoned from abroad. If the character was imprisoned using the Imprison interaction, reduces ![]() |
Sacrifice | Kills a prisoner to increase ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Proscribe | Kills the character, seizes all ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sell into Slavery | Sells a character into slavery, either eventually moving to another country or disappearing into obscurity (and effectively dying), for ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Foreign interactions[edit]
These interactions are available only on characters outside the country.
Interaction | Description |
---|---|
Plan Assassination! | Attempt to kill a character in another country. Costs ![]() |
Inspire Disloyalty | Reduces the ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Stop Inspiring Disloyalty | Stops inspiring loyalty on a foreign character, removes both the ![]() ![]() |
Attempt to Buy Off Mercenary | Attempts to buy the loyalty of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Elect New Leader | Appoints the ruler of a subject ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Arrange Marriage | Arrange a marriage with a royal marriage with a foreign character, improving relations between the two countries. The female will always move to the male partner's country, even if she is currently the ![]() ![]() |
Recruit | Gets a foreign character to leave their nation and join the current country, possibly bringing their spouse and children along. Costs ![]() ![]() |
Recruit General | Gets a foreign ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entice Governor | Convinces a foreign governor to join the current country, taking neighbouring provinces in their governorship with them and significantly angering their former owner. Costs ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Successsion crisis interactions[edit]
These interactions are available only on disloyal pretenders that have raised their armies during a succession crisis.
How to recruit foreign characters[edit]
- Open the diplomacy view of another country and click View Characters on the right.
- If the character's loyalty is above 70, use Inspire Disloyalty to lower it.
- Befriend them using the Make Friend interaction.
- Recruit them and Grant Citizenship so you can assign them to a job.
You can only recruit a character who is:
- below 70 loyalty
- your friend
- not a ruler or the primary heir
- not a governor, general or admiral
Recruit General is a separate interaction, which requires their loyalty to be below 25.
There is also a Character Finder mod that does all the searching for you. Not compatible with ironman.
Domestic policy | State • Attributes • Characters • Civil war • Culture • Government • Heritages • Laws • National ideas • Position • Rebellion • Religion • Technology |
Economic policy | Buildings and Infrastructure • Economy • Food • Great wonders • Population • Trade • Trade goods |
Provinces | Region • Province • Territories • Colonization • Holding |
Military | Military traditions • Army • Siege • Assault • Land units • Land warfare • Naval warfare |
Foreign policy | Treaties • Warfare • Casus belli • Claim • Diplomacy • Subject nations • Barbarians |
Script | Events • Decisions • Missions |
Other | Achievements • Antagonist • Difficulty |