Deus Vult – A Brief Overview

Written by Chris King and Johan Andersson

1 – Interface

1.1 SystemFor the advanced users, Deus Vult can be run in a window mode. To use this, use the “WINDOW” as an argument to the program.

Deus Vult supports whatever resolution you would like, but outside the map-screen, it will have black borders if not at 1024x768. This is read from the settings.txt file where you can define resolution.

1.2 HelpersWe have made a number of small improvements to the streamline the game play experience. We have added a number of alerts (as in Victoria Revolutions or Europa Universalis 3) to draw your attention to things. For example if you can claim a title or have a vassal below 50% loyalty then an alert will appear at the top of the screen. At scenario start the game will try to assign the best courtier to each court position to save you a little time (especially when you start with a big court).

Also the game will remember who you were playing when you saved and automatically select that title when you load a saved game.

We have extended that amount of time you have to answer diplomatic options to two months, to give you more thinking time.

To reduce popups we have added a system where events do not popup in the game screen but rather appear as text in the log or the map. This is default option for technology spreads and discoveries and this has reduced the popup spam that large realms can receive.

Finally we have added a graphical marker, looking like a small drop of blood, to all characters that are of the same dynasty as you, so that they can be identified much quicker.

1.3 LedgerFor Deus Vult we have added a ledger as a reference tool to aid in your game play. You are not obliged to use the ledger it is simply there as a tool. We have also added the ability to double click on a character in the ledger and it will open the character screen in the main game. The ledger is especially useful for keeping track of characters. Here you can find brides and you can see what titles members of your dynasty could inherit and thus who could really do with having an accident.

1.4 ChangesWe have done a lot of work to overhaul and streamline the game interfaces. A number of them have been redesigned and their location has been changed. Back buttons have been added to several and additional information has been added to others. For example when you can select a character for a courtier job you also have the relevant stat displayed next to the character. All this has greatly improved the interfaces, making them easier to use and navigate.

1.5 ArtworkThe game has received a major graphical overhaul, to brighten the look, and make it more pleasing to the eye. We have also added a lot of new pictures for various events.

2 – Character Relations

2.1 Relations Between Countries.Now each court has a relation value (ranging between -200 to +200) on how it views you. The relation value effects a number of events in the game, good relations with a neighbour will see you more likely to become friends, while low relations with Vassals will make them more likely to leave your empire or start a civil war. Relations shift on a monthly basis according to how the two rulers view each other. However a number of one off actions will also swing the relation value. Offering marriages or sending gifts will improve relations on the other hand claiming a title or having an assassin discovered, unsurprisingly, has a negative effect on relations.

2.2 LoyaltyAll court members have a loyalty to their liege like vassals, with the same factors influencing loyalty. Courtiers with low loyalty will move court, but if they have a position in the court first they may ask for money from the liege (which will improve their loyalty). A disloyal courtier in a court position is as much of danger as a rival.

2.3 Friends and Rivals

As a character goes through life he or she will accumulate friends and rivals. On the most basic level friends and rivals drive the relationships between characters so Vassals that are friends are more loyal than rivals, and it is much cheaper to claim the titles of your rivals making warfare between rivals much more possible. In addition the AI acts differently to rivals. It will actively consider assassinating its rivals and

may also seek to backstab them if they are war, a powerful rival as a neighbour is never the most ideal situation.

The creation of friends and rivals is driven entirely via the event system and like real life friends may be lost or a rivalry may be ended. It starts with childhood were characters make friendships or rivals with other children in the court, and with their mentors for their education, and then continues into adult life, sharing a campaign can build a friendship, but a dispute with a neighbour could spark of a rivalry. Also your current set of friends and rivals has a strong effect on the new ones made. You can find yourself transferring a rivalry to the heir of your current rival or following the enemy of my enemy is my friend's mantra to expand your circle of friends.

Friendship and rivalry also affects a number of events in the game. Court members who are friends are more likely to request a court position and may even do that little bit extra for their friends, and an advisor who is also your rival is more likely to act against your interests. Friends who hold titles will consider sending you help during wartime, which can be very useful. However the biggest thing to watch is the effect on the Pope for a catholic ruler. A bishop who is your friend may just seek your help in securing the papal election, and it can be well worth it. A friendly Pope might just look at revoking that pesky Excommunication while the Pope's rivals are much more likely to find themselves excommunicated by his holiness.

3 – Diplomacy

3.1 ClaimsThere are additional events now added to remove claims from people. The older the claim is the more likely it is to be lost. Also if you change the succession laws, anyone who has lost the right of inheritance will now pick up a claim against your title.

3.2 Pledging AllegianceDukes and Counts will no longer just pledge allegiance to whoever their demesne was part of historically, but will now consider a wider range of possible lieges. The factors which determines if and who they will pledge to includes culture, stability, religion, power, distance & relations.

3.3 FosterlingsBeginning at the age of 5 you can send a child of you dynasty out to another court as a fosterling. Firstly this will give a boost to relations between the two courts. Sending a child out as a fosterling automatically means you loose control over the child's development. However at the same time there are additional events for a child who is a fosterling, which can be positive. There are also other effects that if your children are separated then they are less likely to develop a rivalry with each other, preventingcivil wars later (although they also probably wont be friends either). Rather the members of the court will influence the children's friendships and rivals. You also have the chance of becoming a friend or a rival with the father of a fostering child. Please remember that taking the opportunity to murder a fosterling is consider a horrendous act and will earn you the train kinslayer if you are discovered

3.4 Religious WarsReligious warfare has received two minor but far-reaching changes. Firstly it is no longer possible to march through the lands of a neutral religious enemy. Secondly you no longer conquer a province on capture; rather the ruler of the commander controlling the siege picks up a claim on it. This should prevent the unrealistic conquests that have been seen in the past. One word of warning, the Mongols still use the old rules so do not be surprised to see the Mongol hoards sweep all before them.

3.5 Peace NegotiationsPeace negotiations have been reworked. With the new rules for religious wars you no longer suffer the loss of piety to make peace with a religious enemy nor are you required to have piety make peace with them. In addition if a liege signs a peace (or is forced into peace by an event) then all his vassals will also be at peace. Finally we have added a new peace option that allows you to become the vassal of the country or force them to become your vassal.

3.6 MobilisationThere has been a minor tweak to the mobilisation rules. If a King asks a Duke to mobilise, he is not just asking for the Duke's person troops but also all the troops of his vassals as well.

4 – Characters

4.1 Child DevelopmentA number of changes have been made to the character system. Firstly there are now limits on which culture a child can get from the province (as opposed to the parents), so two German parents will not longer give birth to an Arabic child just because they happen to be ruling a province in the Holy Land.

We have also removed the link between parent stats and child stats. Now health and fertility are determined at birth, while other stats develop as the child grows. Every year on the child's birthday it will gain a stat. At least one stat will always increase by 1 point, however there is a chance that a stat might increase by 2 or that all the stats will increase by 1. The biggest effect is that a child ruling as a minor will probably be not as effective as an adult, so the realm of a ruler that dies young and leaves an infant son behind may well be a few interesting years ahead.

4.2 New TraitsWe have added 18 new traits to characters, these include status traits such as Fosterling, Emperor, Shiite & Sunni. The Loyalist, Rebellious and Realm Duress traits give more intricacies to realm diplomacy. Characters can also become celibate and blind. A few more personality traits such as Shy, Gregarious, Amiable, Hostile, Stubborn, Weak-willed, Romantic and Pragmatic are now also available. Children can also get the prodigy trait, which has some very nice benefits in the long run.

5 - Warfare

5.1 Combat changesThe combat engine has been rebalanced to make for a more medieval feeling to combat. Now the morale losses are higher and the actual losses in men lower which will make your armies last longer than a single battle.

5.2 SiegesIn the original Crusader Kings, rank was everything when it came to who was given the occupation after winning a siege. In Deus Vult this has changed, so that to be able to steal control of a siege from the commander already sieging, you need to have a claim on the Count-title of the province.

5.3 AttritionGoing through neutral provinces when fighting a war, will now cause severe attrition. This is due to the fact that you can neither loot the local populace as they are not your enemies, nor can you get their full support.

6 – Realm Development

6.1 StabilityWe have introduces stability into Deus Vult. Similar to the Europa Universalis series stability can have a value between + or - 3. However unlike Europa Universalis stability has no direct effect on your realm and you cannot invest in it. Instead Stability is changed via event and it influences other events. A number of factors affect it. A wealthy, pious ruler, who is at peace, with a small demise, a small number of vassals and good traits will be more likely to see stability rise. If the opposite is true then the stability is more likely to fall.

Stability affects the realm itself and the provinces of the realm. In both cases you are more likely to see positive events at high stability and negative events at low stability. So a province will recover from looting quicker, loose crime building faster (and be less likely to gain them in the first place), and become prosperous if stability is high, while the reverse is true at low stability. Although perhaps the most important stability effect is the discovery and spread of technologies. The affect is similar for realms, you are much likely to see your vassals demanding elective law if you have low stability (and thus are weak) than if you have a nice stable realm.

6.2 RevoltsRevolts are no longer something to ignore. Now if a province has been controlled by rebels for over a year, they will elect a local noble that will take the title of Count over that province. The previous ruler will of course get a claim on that title.

7 – Scenario SetupThere has been a major change in setup for creatable titles, mostly based on the popular user-modification for it. A large amount of Coat of Arms have been updated to more historically accurate representations.

The scenarios have been overhauled, with adding in support for the new features, and correcting the setup to be more accurate where new information had been found.

8 – Events

We have added a number of new events into Deus Vult, some of which have been mentioned in other sections. Although it is impossible to mention them all perhaps the most interesting one is the new Emperor series. A powerful Catholic King can now receive an imperial crown from the pope gaining a lot prestige for both him and his dynasty. Although Emperors can very quickly become embroiled in conflicts with the Pope as the most power secular ruler and spiritual ruler in Western Christendom struggle for supremacy. In addition we have tweaked a number of the old events in Crusader Kings to take advantage of the new scripting tools and traits we have added.