Developer Diary 17

This developer diary was first posted in the M&T forum here, and team members answered some questions in the thread. It was further posted on the M&T subreddit here, and team members also commented there.

Dev Diary #17 - Politics
Welcome back from another dev diary drought, to a new diary covering a long awaited part of the 3.0 experience. My dev handle is FireKahuna, and I’ll be introducing you to the realisation of my submod from 2017, Path to Modernity in the form of 3.0’s political systems. While the content of these systems are still subject to change, the systems themselves will be my final iteration of politics in 3.0.

Politics in 3.0 finds its roots in a core idea that’s central to its tagline, the path from the old order to modernity, the progression of society as it transitions to something new across the early modern era. The system is designed as such to represent two ends of a wide spectrum, two alternate visions of how society should run. In the old order, society is run by elites directly, governing large tracts of land, ruling urban centres, dominating the realm. In the new order, society revolves around an administration, around government and the state, and elites instead attempt to influence and control this entity that has no theoretical end to the domain it can encompass. It is a duality between the elites and the state, and the power to realise their vision for the realm. All realms in 3.0 start somewhere along this spectrum, leaving the player the chance to lead the realm in their own desired direction.

As for what’s changed, the answer yet again is almost everything. Politics in 2.5 was synonymous with the Privilege system and the Estates, national political actors that shaped your nation based on their power and ability to influence the realm. 3.0 doesn’t abandon these core ideas, instead evolving them into a larger and more systemic design. It is worth noting that the systems here have been written from scratch as have all systems in 3.0. No 2.5 code has been used to create these systems. For this diary, we’ll start with familiar concepts first and foremost.

The Elites
While 2.5 introduced the Estates, 3.0 now replaces them with a new iteration, the Elites.The Elites are the backbone of all societies, inherently extractive, the extent of which is determined by the constraints placed upon them by society. While at worst they can bleed society dry and hold back the progress of humanity, even in their worst incarnation they still uphold society as is, investing in and protecting the core infrastructure that keeps society at float. The most significant change is that Elites are provincially based, and their national representation is a composite of the provinces. As such, in every province Elites have wealth, power and loyalty, all of which can shift independently to other provinces, affecting the national average accordingly.



The most important resource Elites have is Power, replacing Influence in 2.5. Power is not mutually exclusive, existing without competition, each elite is able to achieve 100% simultaneously (excluding Clan power, but more on that later). 3.0 includes the return of familiar estates once more as Elites, including a single combined Nobles class in the countryside, the Burghers in urban centers, the Clergy across the temporal domain and the Clans across the entirety of society. Power represents their ability to realise their own agenda in their given domain, including their own taxation and the levying of their subjects into their own armed forces, linearly multiplying the effects of any and all abilities including the dues they charge subjects within their domain, their willingness to invest in infrastructure and armed forces, their impact on corruption and more.



The sources of Power for an Elite are the laws of the realm, and their wealth in a given province, with the impact of wealth itself shaped by laws. While these sources represent the resting gravity that Power will drift towards, at times their actual Power level may well exceed their gravity. When this difference remains for an extended period of time, they will build ‘floating’ resting gravity, essentially a pool of Power that will with time be equivalent to that prolonged difference between gravity and the current power. This pool is called Entrenched Power, and is often the final source of gravity when the laws shift from under an Elite and their traditional power fades away. While this Entrenched pool of resting gravity will decline with time, the realm will likely have to take action to truly break the power of an Elite for good. In addition, Loyalty returns as a variable for each Elite in 3.0, with a new system for resting loyalty and the speed of change.

Clans
The Tribal estate of 2.5 returns in a new form in 3.0, in the form of Clans. Before a realm has stratification into Nobles, Burghers and the Clergy, there are the Clans, representing a pre-stratified society where loyalty lies first and foremost with one’s clan. Clan Power as such is functionally an override for all other forms of power, a cap. While Elite power is not mutually exclusive, if Clan power is say, 40%, then the power of any given Elite cannot exceed 60%. Clans collect a simple tribute from the entire population scaled by their Power, and pay from that a tribute to the realm.



It is important to note that Clans are not Nomads, but instead are a concept applying to the population at large. A society without clans can still have nomads, as Nomads in 3.0 are an economic class. Aside from simple tribute, a society with clans can mobilise en-masse in a scale only matched by a truly bureaucratic, modern military, and can tap into Nomadic manpower in a scale Genghis would approve of. The clans have their benefits, yet fundamentally they hold society back, with major penalties for the realm in comparison to their more stratified and progressive neighbors.



Property and Tax
Every Elite exists as both a political actor, and an economic Class within the 3.0 model, and as such simply use their Class wealth pool for all political activity. There is no floating national wealth pool akin to 2.5, with the value shown in an Elite’s national UI simply a composite of their provincial wealth across the realm. Elites utilise this pool for traditional economic behaviour, such as investing and maintaining infrastructure and property, as well as consumption of life, comfort and luxury goods. The only Elite without their own independent wealth pool are the Clans, who share the Nobles as their economic Class, representing the transition from Chief to Aristocrat/Noble without a major shift in wealth.



As such, Elites can gain wealth in three primary ways. The first is through work, best exemplified in the merchant activity of Burghers as the sole class that can work the Commerce slot in a given province or the role of the Clergy in education. The second as an economic class is Property, with Elites more often than not owning the lion's share of Districts and Resources across the realm, providing significant income and a notable power base. The third is through their own taxes and dues they are allowed to levy from the population, often based on their property share but primarily determined by Power.



The influence of the Elites over taxation and dues is a powerful means for them to maintain power and standing. Yet the needs of the Elites are often at a detriment to the common folk, leaving them more destitute and unable to spend for the need of paying excessive dues to their local overlords or serving in their obligated armies. The end of Elite power will mean an end to these common obligations, yet it is imperative that the state build an alternative to fund infrastructure, uphold order, prevent banditry and build a military that can protect the realm.

Manpower
3.0 includes a fully fledged manpower system introduced by KJH that integrates into both the economy and politics. Manpower draws population from the fields and onto the battlefield, increasing mobilisation at an economic cost. Manpower draws from the population of the realm, with any change in the national manpower level reflected directly in a realm’s population. Elites use their power, wealth and the laws of the realm to recruit a population under their banner, equip them through purchases in the economy of supplies and military products, and then continuously pay their goods-based upkeep and maintenance. They provide these levies to the realm in the form of manpower, with the composite skill based on their training leaving the state with either a bonus or penalty to their military’s effectiveness.



Army Professionalism in 3.0 has innate inertia, with training providing a counter to this inherent decay.

A realm can rely on multiple forms of manpower at one time, either utilising feudal and urban levies or transitioning to a fully bureaucratic military paid entirely by the state. While these armies can result in a more professional and effective military core, the cost of maintaining such an army will require significant reform to ensure sufficient taxation and provision of goods.



Privileges
Returning from 2.5 in design if not implementation, every Elite enjoys a set of Privileges according to their historical setup. Every Elite has a traditional role in society, maintaining infrastructure and buildings, serving in the military or supporting the economy through trade and charity. This role cannot be maintained in purity forever, and a corruption of their place in society's natural order is inevitable. Privileges as such are the corruption of an Elite’s expected role, granting them the power to ignore their responsibilities and abuse their given domain for their own benefit.



Privileges are often the means to enter the good graces of an Elite in a time of reform and change, exchanging shifts in rights for assurances in the form of guarantees of the old order. These Privileges are not always strictly negative affairs, with subjective benefits in the right context and situation. Great care is required however when granting Privileges, as time normalises their existence and revocation becomes a risky endeavor.



Rights
For one to progress society, the fundamental rules and laws of the realm that govern society will need to change. If Privileges are the leaves, then Rights are the branches, the various paths a society can progress along the road to modernity. Rights shape society, determining the abilities of Elites and the State, enabling and disabling taxes and dues, changing the nature of the military or shaping the economy itself. As the fundamental structure of the realm, the act of reforming, of changing Rights is a costly affair, both in terms of the stability of the realm, and the political resources required to realise change.



Elites can be both the beneficiary and target of reform, as every right exists along a linear scale, one end representing a more feudal and elite driven society, and the other representing a more administrative, centralised, and commoner-led realm. To change a realm’s Rights, the realm will first have to be conditioned for its enactment, with certain requirements that must be met before change can be realised. Rights more often than not also require certain privileges to be revoked in order to progress forward, some corruptions of the old order being too great to ignore.



If one can meet these requirements, there are no restrictions on the scale and direction of reform. With the right resources, significant leaps can be made for those willing to bear the consequences of great change, and this change can be for a more modern, commoner-centric society, or for a truly Elite-driven realm that realises the old order in a way never seen before.



Interactions
Change requires cooperation across the realm, from a complacent populace to loyal and supportive Elites. Returning in 3.0 are Interactions, this time with the provincial Elites instead of a single national entity. Interactions have been significantly expanded upon, with more varied and consequential interactions for each Elite, drawing upon the realm or the state for support and change. Interactions are the primary means for the realm to support or weaken the Elites, and a central method of leveraging the Elites for the subjective benefit of the realm.



Multiple interactions can be enacted provided a realm has the stability and political resources necessary to enact change, allowing significant shifts in relations and power to occur in a short period of time. Risk is subjective, and it will be your call when deciding how much change the realm can endure in a given period. These interactions can include attempts to grant or strip away the Power of a class, provide them with arrangements, gifts and resources to placate them or efforts to use their loyalty as a resource to gain favours, such as increased levies, legitimacy or other forms of payment.



A prominent interaction introduced as well in 3.0 are Property Grants and Expropriation. The realm can grant land to those they favour (including the Peasantry and Residents) and expropriate land from whomever they please. Even if an Elite has their Privileges revoked and their Rights shifted in an unfavourable direction, Property remains a powerful means to uphold their wealth (and as such their Power), and can be a point of pain when attempting to truly remove an Elite from society at large. Time lends favour to accumulation and enrichment, and fighting time itself is no easy endeavour.



The Elites as shown enjoy a comprehensive system of power and wealth, taxing whom they please, building power and using it to oppose unfavourable reform and gain new privileges to uphold their standing. Yet there is one actor who can fundamentally shift the entire balance of the realm, if not its very essence.

The State
New to 3.0 is an alternative actor uniquely attuned to the needs and desires of the realm, the Bureaucrats, an alternative Elite with their own unique form of power, loyalty, property ownership and wealth. While not synonymous with the state itself, the Bureaucrats provide the realm with a greater capacity to realise all-encompassing change, and an alternative to the traditional order of the Elites. Through taxation, influence and the support of the commoners, a realm can forge a loyal and effective government. Concepts that follow the state include Administration, Bureaucratisation and the dynamics of Centralisation and Decentralisation.



State Reach
Power for the state finds its own unique form in State Reach. This is not the bureaucratisation of the realm, or the strength of the administration. State Reach is the degree that a province is dependent on the idea of an administration, the degree that provincial politics revolve around government. With no State Reach, domains are ruled by the Elites, and the state has no real ability to shape local politics. This often means the absence of developed forms of taxation, extreme variations of Elite dues and taxes on the populace, and minimal state investment. High levels of State Reach will co-opt the various domains of the Elites, constraining the impact of their worst impulses while empowering the state to enact their own laws, taxes and vision of the realm. In response, the Elites will attempt to co-opt the realm, using this new, central political body to their advantage.



Taxation
The value of the realm is literally measured in wealth, with development equivalent to the total economic value of the province. As such, there is a new means for the state to tap that wealth and gain revenue from their subjects. The most common form of taxation is an Obligation, in the form of Clan Tribute or Feudal Dues and Levies in a more stratified society. This includes cheaper management of Crown Property, providing feudal realms with revenue even without an administrative apparatus.



As discussed in a previous dev diary, Taxes cost variable amounts of mana, based on the population, land size and other factors in a province. These taxes can be manually set, partially delegated or fully automated across the realm, with variable input mana depending on the state’s desire, with upsides to both micromanagement and macro delegation depending on a realm’s size and player ability to allocate resources. Delegating is no compromise, and is a highly valid option commonly used already in 3.0 testing.



With the right amount of State Reach, and reforms that grant new Rights enabling more expansive taxation, significant state revenue can be earned from the realm. This includes a shift away from Obligations and Dues towards real, administrative taxation. While this shifts the cost of taxation away from tax farming and towards higher levels of real wages, the gains from bureaucratisation can be highly lucrative depending on a players corruption and tax efficiency determined by Rights and Privileges.



Local Corruption
The realisation of a loyal administration is contrary to the desires of the Elites, leaving them vulnerable to taxation and waning influence. Elites will attempt to counter this through corruption, co-opting the state by translating their local power into per-province local corruption. Corruption is essentially inverse loyalty for the Bureaucrats, and its level acts as a multiplier on state revenue from taxes, subtracting that amount from state revenue and leaving it as a pool of wealth siphoned by the Elites, distributed based on their comparative power. The ability for an Elite to turn Power into Corruption can be influenced by local factors, including their level of Autonomy or various provincial modifiers.



New laws and edicts will be required to reduce the role of the Elites in local administration. In the form of Meritocratic reform, replacing Elites with loyal commoners and introducing new systems of administration that reduce the scope for corrupt activity. A simpler alternative is to curb the worst impulses of the Elites and win their favour, maintaining high loyalty and as such reducing their willingness to convert their local power into local corruption.



State Corruption
If local corruption is the perversion of local administration via the Elites, State Corruption is the perversion of the central administration itself. This corruption will increase the amount of resources needed to effect change, and will trickle down into the provinces over time, corrupting the realm as a whole. One major source of corruption are advisors, able to translate their influence into power to enrich themselves and their friends. The other most significant form of corruption is an absence of Executive Authority.

Executive Authority
The ruler is not the realm, a lesson EU4 has as of yet failed to learn. New and central to 3.0, Executive Authority is an alternative system for ruler stats and mana generation, creating a new backbone for the skills of a ruler based on the dichotomy of institutionalist and absolutist rule. Every realm will need to make a fundamental choice, a choice between enabling the likes of the Sun King of France or Hammurabi of Babylon, or avoiding the worst excesses of their potentially incapable and negligent offspring. Absolutism is a compromise, accepting the highs with the lows, risking the state to empower the executive at all costs. The alternative is to invest not in individuals with institutional roles, but in institutions composed of individuals. When power is invested in institutions themselves, a realm builds a bedrock to stand on, a reliable and consistent form of rule that curbs the power and potential brilliance of individuals to protect the realm from those who could lead it astray.



In terms of the in-game realisation of this dichotomy, 3.0 introduces Executive Authority, a system of power balanced between Ruler Authority and Institutional Authority, each pulling the realm towards their own extremes. High Ruler Authority more directly translates the ruler’s stats to the final Executive Power output, distributed according to a ruler’s abilities, as is tradition in EU4. High Institutional Authority however normalises a rulers skills to a more even distribution amongst the types, while pulling a ruler’s skill towards a 4/4/4 ruler. Institutional Authority as such provides a more consistent and reliable Executive Power output more distributed amongst essential types, at the cost of tempering powerful rulers ability to lead the realm to new highs.



The absence of Executive Authority, or a level of Executive Power that is not equivalent to the maximum of 18 is considered a vacuum of power at the executive level, represented as a massive surge in state corruption exponential to the proximity of Executive Power to 0. Avoiding this vacuum is paramount to the health and stability of the realm, as this corruption will increase the political cost of action and trickle down into the provinces, as well as creating space for key political actors to fill this void.

Factions
While the Elites represent the provincial distribution of power amongst a realm’s powerbrokers, Factions are their governmental representation, their incarnation in the central governing body of the realm. Elites and Factions are functionally independent, yet correlated in their influence and impact. While Elites use concepts of Loyalty and Power within their domains, Factions enjoy relations between each other and the realm itself, while competing for a share of influence within the central government. This influence is primarily built upon their standing within the realm according to their power, but can shift and enjoy new resting points based on state action, advisors and various country modifiers.



The role of Factions as such is to promote an Elite’s interest in the central government, as well as supporting the legitimacy of the executive, provided they hold the realm in high standing. Legitimacy in 3.0 as such is now dependent on the support of the various Factions of the realm, filtered through their relations, their influence and the power they hold as Elites in the provinces. A Faction without provincial backing, will provide minimal legitimacy gain, while a balance of power amongst Factions with powerful Elites can provide significant support for the executive. This can be summarised as Legitimacy gain per Faction = ‘Faction relations’ * ‘Faction influence’ * ‘Elite Power’. Aside from supporting the executive, Factions also use their influence to either block or enable various Rights that either subvert or support their interests. The realm can empower new Factions through interactions and the promotion of various advisors, risking their own legitimacy to create a supportive power base for new, unconventional Rights, while using their own political influence to break the influence of Factions that oppose the realm’s interests.



Advisors
The realm often cannot support its interests with the political resources of their executive alone, leaning instead on advisors to fill the void and advance their interests. In 3.0, hiring multiple advisors is the norm, with cheaper maintenance costs in exchange for an end to individual bonuses for each advisor. Advisors are more strictly a matter of gaining additional mana for taxation and reform, enabling the realm at the cost of dependence on increasingly influential individuals (with influence replacing skill). Every advisor has their own loyalties, sometimes themselves but always to a corresponding Faction. Advisors as such are a primary means to promote new factions, or to entrench existing power structures. Every new monarch has the opportunity to refresh their cabinet, hiring a full sweep of discounted advisors belonging to a corresponding faction with a reduced stability cost.



An alternative is to hire and fire advisors throughout a monarch’s lifetime, enabling new factions at the cost of an immediate partial hit to stability progress. Aside from the risks involved in empowering new individuals with great power, this increased dependence has a State Corruption cost that scales with their influence, representing their increased influence within the executive and ability to create their own, self-enriching power base. In addition to providing the realm with increased mana generation, Advisors often are a requirement for passing various Rights, and with the right pact with the right Elite, can offer a means to bypass Faction influence requirements and pass new sweeping reforms.



In the new political system of 3.0, the path to modernity will encompass the entire timeframe, representing the feudal realm of France, the bureaucratic Imperial State of China, and the freeholding French Republic within the same framework. There is still more to come, more content to show and more systems to be revealed, but I hope for now this comprehensive view of politics provides a window into the future of 3.0.