So one of the more unique features of Axioms is the way that the game revolves primarily around character to character interactions and secondarily around character to population interactions. Nations, or factions as they are called in some games, don’t really exist in a very meaningful sense. Charters are perhaps the only mechanic that really involves them. There are Titles that are created emergently and then Charters are more complex versions of those.
I’ve been spending the last few days, as somewhat detailed in the development blog post linked above, getting the basic character interaction framework working. I’ve already got quite a few things to do interaction wise. Both between individual characters and province wide and transterritorially. Hunts, Feasts, Celebrations, Festivals and so forth. Flattery, Bribes, Commitments, Fostering, Marriage, etc.
If you have an idea for a character interaction you’d like to see feel free to comment here or post in the suggestions thread.
There is also a Reddit and a Discord:
Axioms Reddit Discussion Thread
Pacts
Pacts are the name for the specific Agreement type where you have a vassal and a liege. You can propose a list of obligations for the vassal to the liege as well as what the liege promises to do for the vassal. A non-aggression pact is assumed.
Other additions have Opinion penalties or bonuses and additionally the potential vassal is less likely to accept your Request or Demand the more obligations will be placed on them.
The distinction between Demand and Request is that the former allows you to threaten things, including war or blackmail, and causes an extra opinion penalty based on that. Threats can be private or public. Characters with higher Fear values gain more value from a given threat.
Celebrations
Festivals are usually dedicated to a Deity and occur at a specific time of year. You gain both general Opinion and Respect from other Characters and Populations as well as a bonus to the specific Deity being celebrated at a Festival. Feasts and Hunts can be part of Festivals and you can also have a variety of other celebratory rites. Sacrifices, tournaments, and so forth.
General Celebrations to apply to characters or events and contain a variety of activities. Pure Feasts or Hunts are also possible.
Special Obligations
Fostering is one thing that can bring families together. It can be an individual Agreement or part of a Pact or other Treaty. When picking Fostering as a thing to do in whatever form you have various benefits. First children Fostered together gain large Opinion boosts if they get along. This is modified quite a bit by Personality as well as circumstance. Secondly you can have positive or negative effects between those Fostered and those Fostering. Like any Agreement it gains Legitimacy over time.
Marriages are similar to Fostering as a method of binding groups of characters. You can have both individual marriages as well as a tradition of intermarriage. For Vassals or Retainers perhaps a second or third son always marries a daughter of the other party.
You can also create a Tradition of Oaths, perhaps with Bloodbonding. These sorts of things are part of creating long term and solid bonds between characters. This is key both in having loyal Vassals and also as part of keeping unity among characters participating in long term Conspiracies.
You can also create Oaths/Pledges like the children of landholders engaging in military service and other such things. This could also apply to citizenship stuff. Axioms aims to enable both Roman and Greek style citizenship and the connections of those statuses to military service like serving in a legion. Similarly standing in society and the connection to the military that resulted in the Roman Socii and Auxilia systems. Statuses like holding “Latin Rights” and being a “Metic” are something that I want to enable.
Again feel free to discuss or suggest various interactions for the game in the comments here or elsewhere. I’m always looking to expand the DIP possibility space. [D]iplomacy, [I]ntrigue, and [P]olitics. Those correspond to foreign, shadowy, and domestic affairs respectively. I’m also open, if you’ve read the relevant post, to adding more different kinds of Secrets and Desires and Intrigue actions.