Avatar: The Four Nations 1.05 news

It's finally time. Due to popular demand, today, there will be an immediate update bringing new features and content to the mod. For the first time, the mod is available in one place on the Steam Workshop instead of being divided in various parts. Since a lot has been confirmed in advance, there's only a few points to cover.

Firstly, is one feature that I showed off in the trailer yesterday, but haven't quite talked about, that being the Royal Authority overhaul. Previous versions were confusing and near impossible for the player to influence, and probably worst of all, eventually punished anyone playing as the Earth King no matter what direction Royal Authority leaned towards. I'll admit, it was a rather terrible design. The overhaul fixes this completely.

Now, you simply gain Royal Authority every five years via event, based on the number of Tributaries and Vassals you hold, and can gain extra Royal Authority via random events. Royal Authority is now a currency that can be spent towards certain actions, such as being exchanged for gold, used to improve relations or even annex tributaries into your realm. A Puppet King is capped at 75% Royal Authority until they can regain power, but at 100%, an Earth King can choose to make a reform to the Earth Kingdom, unlocking new actions and eventually, the Earth Monarchism belief, which you can use Royal Authority to convert characters and provinces.

Overall, Royal Authority is basically a positive benefit for anyone playing the Earth King now, rather than before, when it was a nebulous effect that usually only promised negative outcomes.

In addition, there have been a few more bug fixes, quashing little, but hard to find issues, such as Temples being inherited by province holders rather than a new holder being automatically generated. Due to issues rolling back a few unfinished features from 1.1, events that model canon occurrences are still rather shaky, and it's something I'll be addressing soon. The amount of new content is vast, and if there are any bugs you find, please report them here.

I know sometimes even big issues can slip by me, so I'll be looking to deliver a hot fix in a week or two to solve any issues you may find that I've overlooked. Until then, please enjoy the mod. It has been quite a while since the last update, and this release is long overdue.

Change Log

# General
- Updated to Crusader Kings 2.8
- On Steam Workshop, the mod is now avaliable as one download instead of many parts. The mod has been uploaded for download from the Paradox Forum, ModDB and Steam Workshop.

# Features
- Completely overhauled the disease system. All vanilla diseases have been replaced by new ones, which have their own symptoms, events and traits.
- Added a new RPG style duel system, allowing two characters to clash using the full extent of their abilities.
- Added several new types of tributaries to model certain relations, such as Earth Kingdom Territories, Earth Kingdom States, Protectorates, Military Allies and more.
- Sun Warriors have a range of unique features added, including the unique ability to field Warriors who ride mighty Dragons into battle. Sun Warrior rulers can spend prestige to gain the loyalty of these mighty warriors, as well as powerful artefacts and reforms that may bring them closer to rebuilding their grand civilisation of old.
- Introduced numerous artefacts, from crowns to space swords. Added the Animal Companion category to the inventory to track pets such as Sky Bison and Ostrich Horses.
- Sandbender rulers who control the entirety of the Si Wong Desert can now take a decision to form their own empire.
- Added several new societies: Art of Agni Kai, The Elder Council, Five-Seven-Fiver, The Enlightened, the Kemurikage Sisterhood and the White Lotus.
- Added 'Customs of the Air Nomads' law to independent Air Nomad rulers. This law determines what bonuses a ruler receives and if they can use any special CB's. This law cannot be changed by rulers themselves, but by decision by the Air Nomad's society, the Elder Council.
- Added a decision to host a grand market, bringing merchants from far and wide. Using your skills, from martial to learning, gain an economic boost for your capital or go searching for merchants selling rare artifacts.
- Re-added Royal Law for the Earth Kingdom, now representing the obligations between the Earth King and Earth Kingdom territories.
- Added events revolving around the Six Hundred Day Siege of Ba Sing Se, and a bookmark, Dragon of the West, to focus on this era.
- Complete rework of Earth Kingdom mechanics, including Royal Authority. Royal Authority is now gained every five years from the number of Tributaries and Vassals the Earth King possesses, and can be spent on special interactions with Tributaries and changing Earth Kingdom laws.

# Balance
- Changes to Landed Titles, such as Players can now create any kingdom-tier title, regardless of culture. All empire titles can now be created only by the correct culture group. The AI is still restricted in creating kingdom-tier titles in another culture's de-jure territory, but can do so in certain situations.
- By popular demand, re-added the ability to convert provinces using the Court Spiritual, though this action is still limited by certain circumstances.
- If lacking an heir or children, Air Nomad rulers can now have a decision to search for a successor.
- Added several Merchant Republics to the map throughout the timeline.
- Slight changes made to Trade Routes.
- Made further changes to units. Armour is now less powerful, and also less expensive. A new unit exclusive to the Sun Warriors: Dragon Warriors, has also been introduced.
- Added new government type for Earth Kingdom cultured rulers, Earth Feudalism, taking features from vanilla's Chinese Imperialism government type, such as removing religious penalties between lieges and vassals.
- Dramatically reduced the amount of time it takes for the Avatar to complete training.
- Adventurer’s can no longer seek to conquer lands belonging to a foreign culture group, stopping a common occurrence in which Air Nomad and Water Tribe territory would often be conquered by Earth Kingdom adventurers.
- Air Nomads have received several buffs to make them stronger in earlier start dates, such as starting with a higher level of technology. The Water Tribe similarly starts with a better technology level.
- Rulers of the Northern Water Tribe now all start with a small stack of free troops, to boost early-game realm stability and allow expansion in earlier start dates.
- The Fire Nation is no longer founded by event, it can now be founded by anyone via decision who meets the conditions after a set date.
- Considerably reduced cost of Restoration of the Earth Kingdom decisions, making it cheaper and quicker for a Puppet Earth King to retake power.

# Fixes
- Fixed issues with Earth Kingdom Royal Authority resetting or becoming lost upon loading a save game.
- Added the ability for the Firelord to convert to Imperialism again if they become Spiritualist again later.
- Fixed issues with using Water Tribe decisions and CB's.
- Fixed remaining portrait issues with Religious and Merchant Republic portraits.
- Kyoshi now correctly starts with the Avatar's Court as her primary title, rather that Kyoshi Island.
- Fixed issue with certain realms starting with the wrong government type.
- Fixed incorrect condition statement which made certain mercenary groups impossible to hire.
- Deleted obsolete and unused content from vanilla for better performance and more stable experience.
- Fixed issue in the northern section of the map where strait crossings would link the wrong provinces.
- Fixed issue in which duplicates of certain characters could appear if they already existed in the current bookmark.
- Fixed issue when landed characters will inherit temples they cannot hold instead of automatically generating a new holder.

# Quality
- Added an introduction/tutorial to the mod's unique features that can be accessed through the era introduction event. The version of the mod you're currently running is also displayed here.
- Made further changes to Coat of Arms. Dynasties belonging to the Earth group will now use Chinese CoA's. New unique CoA's have been added for certain dynasties.
- In addition to the existing event that fires when an Avatar dies, another event has been added to trigger when a new Avatar is born.
- Brought 'Government Flavour' up to date, in addition to adding more variety and titles.
- Made numerous Localisation improvements.
- Added several new icons for new government types.
- Fixed certain inconsistencies in the history files.
- Add two new soundtracks.
- Added additional missing characters.