u/smokenjoe6pack

This is going to be all about setting up religions. This is also pretty subjective as I do have a fair bit of experience in the game, but have not played every combination and only remember a portion that I have played.

In general terms, I like to split each religious group and have a wide range of options. So for Christianity, there are 14 separate religions. There are 6 different Nature options, so I lean towards having each of Nature options represented at least twice and then having a couple being represented by 3 different religions.

Cosmopolitan - Usually with religions with the largest footprint. Keeps them from overrunning everyone else.

Unyielding - Usually the Religions with the smallest footprint. Keeps them from getting overrun by everyone else.

Peaceful - Can be a little overpowered when playing depending on underlying tenants and doctrines. Low revolt risk and large demesnes can go a long way when building tall.

Warmongering - Generally on frontier areas with hostile religions. Example Christian vs Islam.

Dogmatic - I generally use this on mid tier religions as far as size.

Proselytizing - I use this on mid tier religions. Can be pretty fun with the right set of Doctrines and getting rulers to flip religion.

Doctrines are more of a mixed bag. Some are really good and some are kind of awful. I still try to mix it up as much as possible.

Agnatic or Enatic Clans - Both pretty good since you get Open Succession right from the start. Obviously, there is a lot of roleplay with either and being able to choose your heir and then they get everything with no real opinion penalty is a bit busted. Enatic is a bit weaker since it doesn't work with concubines and the father still has to legitimize children along with marriage defaulting to the males dynasty. I usually try to have one of the religions represented by each of these in each religious group.

Equality - I try to fit one of these into the larger religions groups. What makes it strong from the beginning is having twice as large a pool of candidates to choose from as far as advisors and commanders right from the start. You can attain equality, but it does take a fair bit of time.

Divine Marriage - I don't find it particularly useful, but there are a lot of role play aspects. I mean it wouldn't be CK2 if you couldn't marry your sister, niece, aunt.

Meritocracy - Can be good. However, with Agnatic or Enatic Clans, it becomes a bit pointless.

Stability - It's okay. I tend to use it in religions with larger footprints and so I often pair it with Cosmopolitan.

Polygamy - I think it's more roleplay flavor than useful. Given that you can have Concubines for most of the tribal governments, having 3 wives on top of that is a bit overwhelming. Being able to flip wives to boost stats has its uses though. It really loses it for female rulers in my experience.

Religious Tax - I just find it pointless to the point of never taking it.

Syncretism - Another more flavor than useful. Usually take it with a few religions across the whole map.

Haruspicy - It sounds cooler than it actually is. Spending Gold early in the game and then getting a moral penalty because of RNG is just a kick in the nuts. I take it on a few religions just for some flavor.

Astrology - It's decent enough to take on a fair number of religions. Having access to the Hermetic Society and getting a Zodiac sign are both worth taking.

Monasticism - Good to take on a number of Religions. +2 Learning and being able to force "Take Vows" are both good. Obviously plays well with Proselytizing for a good role play combination.

Daring - Having access to Prepared Invasions can be useful for starting out. I think it is more useful for the AI to keep things interesting. Usually have a number of religions with this doctrine. I am a bit on the fence with this one

Unrelenting - Pretty good for any aggressive religion. Maybe more true for extreme climates as attrition can be diabolical.

Sea Bound - It's probably a bit over powered. I tend to use it in smaller religions that are somewhat isolated other than having access to the sea. Sea Raiders are easily the most annoying thing in this game for me. I try to keep them to a minimum without totally removing them.

Animistic - Interesting roleplay and useful. I will have a number of Religions with this doctrine.

Ancestor Veneration - Good roleplay and somewhat useful. Will have a number of Religions with this doctrine.

Bloodthirsty Gods - It's pretty good. Great roleplay and being somewhat useful. Generally have a number of religions with this across the map.

I have become really addicted to making and playing Randomized World and here are my preferred settings.

Start: 769

Max # of Counties: 1

Number of Dukes: Many (Insures several merchant republics at the start)

Number of Kings : None.

Number of Empires: None(Will still have Byzantine)

HRE: Not usually as they really seem to be unusually stable and strong and usually just blob out across the map.

Byzantine: Yes

Merchant Republics: Yes

More Pagans: Usually not as they can easily dominate the map.

Female Rulers, Age Span, are usually left to default or tweaked slightly.

Cultures: Random but can go any way.

Religions: Full Random to include placement of heresies and special religions.

Religious Features: Random

Culture and Religious Names: Historical (More for my sanity and tracking).

Holding Slots: 7(Should not effect performance until late late game.)

Holding Type: Tribal Heavy

Technology: Flat

Title Names: Random (no Duchies)

De Jure Kingdoms and Empires: Random

De Jure Kingdom Size: 7-12

De Jure Empire Size: 5-6

Results in world with 7 De Jure Empires typically. Byzantine Empire implodes pretty quickly and will hang around, but only at a fraction of the size they start with.

Most Empires will have 150 to 300 titles. I have a de jure Empire in my current game with 320, but also is comprised of 7 Kingdoms. Not sure how that works since the cap was supposed to be 6 or maybe I just counted wrong.

I also disable the Horselords along with the Aztecs. They are just way too strong in an early mostly tribal world.

This makes starting anywhere viable. Dukes start with only one demense, so they are not overly powerful compared to their vassal counts. The end game is getting to the point of creating one of the De Jure Empires or when I get bored or just want to jump to another spot on the map. I don't use the Custom Kingdoms or Empires, because that would take a lot of the challenge out of the game.

I make it as a non Ironman game so that I can save the base 769 map and reload it to start a new game anywhere.

Part 2 will be more on my thoughts of setting up and customizing Religions.

Should I be scared?

She is 4 years old and has currently 46% of my military strength and she has a weak claim on my Kingdom.

There was some really weird shit with her father. Like the first 7 kids all had different mothers and most of them vanished or died under mysterious circumstances. Like getting pecked to death by crows is a little bit out there. The only somewhat normal death was dysentery.

I am probably leaning towards RPing and see what happens.

Here is a quick rundown on what classes get what.

Heavy Gunner = Expanded Mags 100%

Rangers = Expanded Mags 100% (I do 100% Ever Vigilant+Rapid Reaction.)

Assault = Expanded Mags 100%

Grenadiers = Auto Loaders 100%

Technicals = Auto Loaders 100%

Specialist = Auto Loaders 90% (Exception is OW Specialist which I rarely use)

Shinobi = Auto Loaders 100%

Sharpshooters = Auto Loaders 70% (Exception is Double Tap and longer missions where they are likely to shoot 20+ times)

Reapers = Auto Loaders 100%

Skirmishers = Auto Loaders 80% (Exception would be late game with multiple shot per turn capability Skirmishers.)

Sparks = I really don't build Sparks that often. Sorry.

My general rule of thumb is that for late game soldiers with access to Elite weapon mods, soldiers that are likely to use 20+ ammo get Expanded Mags and those that are 15 or less get Auto Loaders. In between are a gray zone. Assaults can get away with using Expanded Mags because they will often have dead turns when they can reload manually.

Thoughts?

Assuming that there are 31-34 aliens and you are keeping up with technology as well having a decent squad(A team or maybe a good B team); what is the least number of soldiers that you would feel uncomfortable in taking and still go anyway? That would be an 80-90% success rate with this size squad.

Extra credit is the composition of the squad as well as necessary skills.

Extra extra credit is at what point do you pull the pin and evac out?

Extra extra extra credit is how many soldiers is the minimum for taking Commander pod and what is the composition of the remaining squad as well as what consumables do you think are necessary for the final pod?

....never make important decisions after a hard day at work and I am tired. I have had more XCOM campaigns go belly up late in the evening when I am tired than I care to admit. Get a good night's sleep, have a cup of coffee, and then play XCOM. Things go swimmingly with a clear head in the morning.

So, now I never sign important documents, make promises, or do anything that requires 100% of my mental faculties until I am fully awake the next morning.

.... right before the Aliens dust one of my soldiers.

Maybe it's because my rig is 7 years old, but every time that Advent takes one of my soldiers hp to zero, there is a pause in their animation. I just know right then that something bad is going to happen. I just hold my breath and my heart skips a beat until I see the damage.

There is a little company in Swindon called Mongoose Publishing that owns the Traveller IP. There is another company in Swindon called Evil Twin Artworks that makes video games although more like WW2 naval RTS games.

Supposedly, Twin Artworks is working on a Traveller crpg thing. Not sure how this is going to go, but if it doesn't give me venereal disease or drain my bank account, I am good with it.

Those who don't know, Traveller TTRPG is the second oldest in existence today and is hitting 50 years in 2027. There are exactly 2 Traveller crpgs published and they were made before most of you were a twinkle in your dad's eye.

I played both of them back in the day into the game ground on my 386 PC. Tried playing Mega-Traveller 2 again a few years ago off an abandoned software site. It was tough, but the memories are there.

I did a short search on Reddit and only found a few mentions of the game although it has been out for some time now. I think about 7-8 years here in the west.

I'll be honest, I got about 60 hours into the game and got distracted and never got back into it again. I think that I was maybe halfway through because it is probably about 100 hours give or take for a complete playthrough.

I will list the 3 negatives for Western gamers.

1. Single player with always online drm. I think most people shy away from willingly putting Chinese spyware on their computer. Don't know that it is. Can not prove that it isn't.

2. It's in Chinese with English subtitles. According to others, the translation isn't very good. My problem is the subtitles go at the rate of the speaker and not the reader. There are times where I can't read as fast as they are speaking or can't read because I am in the middle of a fight or action sequence.

3. A good portion of the game deals with base building. I think a large part is skippable. I tend to try to do everything even if I don't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy it. I did it anyways.

On to the positives. For an ARPG of the time, the combat is better than average.

The story is based on Chinese mythology of which I know next to nothing. It did make me interested in learning more and that is about as far as I got. I would probably watch someone's YouTube playthrough if they did a good job explaining stuff. (Hint hint)

So the reason I got it was that I have a few Chinese gamer friends on my Steam friends list. I saw some of their screenshots and it perked my interest. A lot of the reviews compare it to the Witcher and Final Fantasy and the overall review scores are pretty positive even for the ones in English.

I know it's not going to be a game for everyone, but I do think that there are probably 10% of avid RPG gamers who would at least take a look or even give it a go around. Given how infrequently it comes up in discussion or is mentioned, it just leaves me to believe that the vast of people don't even know that this game exists.