Crisis of the Confederation offers many new features and game mechanics, and it can be a struggle to understand them. This article will cover some of the more frequently encountered new gameplay concepts.
Appointment Succession
Crisis of the Confederation features the Appointment Succession Law as a viable option, even for vassals. Many of the existing playable titles still use the Appointment Succession Law in the 2998 scenario.
Under Appointment, when a title holder dies, that title will normally default back to the title holder's liege. However, if any of that title holder's courtiers or vassals have the "Expected Successor" minor title, the appointed title will pass to them instead. You cannot give the Expected Successor minor title to your own vassals - it must be granted to them by your liege.
You can attempt to become the Expected Successor yourself (if your liege has the Appointment succession law) or nominate one of your relatives (if their liege does) by using the new Nominate diplomacy options on the character you wish to nominate.
Appointment also has a benefit - once per year, you can request additional funds from your liege!
The Senate
If your nation has the correct crown law, you will have to deal with that most pernicious of forces, democracy.
The Senate is an abstract organization that consists of one representative from each system that is both your de jure and de facto vassal. Senators are not actual characters, but rather represent the strength specific regional governors can give to their factions. It is assumed that the senators representing your worlds will vote however you tell them to.
As long as there is a Senate, a faction can attempt to pass their demands as a bill, so long as they hold a majority in the Senate. A successfully passed bill will take effect immediately, and the liege has no power to prevent it.
Should the Senate get on your nerves, the Decree Menu on the Intrigue Panel allows you to unilaterally dissolve it. Note that this is an unpopular action that will trigger a constitutional crisis, and very likely provoke an attempted coup or even civil war.
Constitutional Crises
Should the ruler of a nation and the rest of its government have an irreconcilable disagreement, this will trigger a Constitutional Crisis.
In a Constitutional Crisis, every local governor will have the ability to take sides, either for or against the ruler. If the Anti-Ruler faction is eliminated, then the ruler is victorious and whatever they were trying to do is accomplished. Otherwise, the crisis will last until the ruler backs down or loses power.
During a Constitutional Crisis, the organs of state are paralyzed. It is impossible to enact new laws, and revolt risk will steadily rise throughout the state. It is imperative that the situation be resolved as quickly as possible.
Coups and Civil Wars
The coup is a new plot that allows you to attempt to seize power over your liege's state without going through that messy "war" bit first. Coups allow you to conspire with various power figures in the state. When the coup is initiated, your followers will take action. Should they manage to capture the ruler, your coup will automatically succeed. Otherwise, you will be forced to choose between surrendering or starting a Civil War.
There are two kinds of coups - justified and unjustified. Justified coups require one of the following conditions to be met:
- The ruler is a space pirate
- The ruler's ideology has less than 80% moral authority, and there is an ongoing Constitutional Crisis.
- The ruler's ideology has less than 50% moral authority, the ruler has usurped at least one title from you, and you have a strong claim to the state.
- The ruler's ideology has less than 35% moral authority, and you have a strong claim to the state.
- The ruler's ideology has less than 25% moral authority, and you have a weak claim to the state.
- The ruler's ideology has less than 10% moral authority.
An unjustified coup is more difficult to gather support for, and will reduce moral authority if it is successful. A justified coup gathers support more easily, and may actually improve moral authority.
Military Campaigns
Military officers in the Confederate Space Command are expected to fight in the name of the state, not simply their own personal ambitions. To this end, if you are a military officer and the vassal of another character, you may use the Military Campaign CB on their enemies.
A successful military campaign means that the enemy you were campaigning against will be captured and handed directly to your liege. Since capturing the enemy warleader grants 100% war score, this will win the war (or at least significantly neutralize a threat). Successfully completing a military campaign also wins you greater prestige and the favor of your liege.
If you have military vassals of your own, you can order them to take part in military campaigns against your enemy by opening the Military Command Menu on the Intrigue Panel.
