Hi Everyone,
I just updated the Testing Branch with the new Clan Chief system, and I wanted to give some further details on how it works as well as future development plans that the Chiefs make possible.
The Clan Chief system also required some major improvements to the Family Tree panel, so I will describe those here as well.
Here are the details.
Note: Those who want to try this out now can join the Testing Branch under Steam/Clanfolk/Properties/Betas.
Clan Chiefs!
- The Clan Chief will be the central person through which all clan decision making flows.
- Currently players can select the Clan Chief via the Family Tree Menu.
- The Chief will remain the Chief until Death or being removed via the Clans Menu.
- Clan Chiefs have Support and Opposition values when being selected.
- The two most supported Chiefs are highlighted, but any hereditary member of the Clan who is not a baby can become Chief. (though they may not have any support)
- The Support/Opposition system will introduce a mechanism to promote some family strife as clans increase in size.
- Support tends to follow hereditary lines, but may factors are taken into consideration when picking the best replacement Chief.
- The support calculation factors in Persuasion/Intimidation Skill, Age (Adult being the best), Number of possible heirs, and hereditary lineage.
- The first born child gets the most hereditary support, but also the Sibling of the Dead/Removed Chief will also have a valid claim and this is where interesting dynamics may develop.
- If a Chief is removed, they will no longer be highly supported as they are seen as a failed Chief
- Negotiations will now be handled by the Chief as well.
- Going forward the plan is to make the Chief have a key role in decision making in the Clan. Chiefs/Story Elements will be very interconnected.
Family Tree Upgrade!
- The Chief selection takes place in the Family Tree. The Family tree needed an overhaul to make this a less frustrating experience. Here are the changes.
- The Family Tree now has a zoom function (+/-) at the top left
- The Family Tree now has a History of Chiefs on the left side panel. This is also ordered by Support when selecting the next Chief.
- There is also a Search function similar to the Ideas Panel, so it should be much easier to find people in there
- Finally connection LINES! Wow this ended up being fiddly, but there are now lines connecting family nodes in the tree. The Lines always point to the Clan member who is a blood relative
Where This All Leads: (Next Steps)
The final goal is to have the Clan Chief be a logical point from which conflict from within the Clan can develop. The Chief will make choices, and not all of the Clan members will approve of those choices. This will lead to cases where the Chief needs to appease certain sub families or risk further consequences.
Over time as Clans increase in size, faction may develop who feel that they have been left out. This would lead to more opposition towards a hereditary line. So a story develops based on the personality and family line of the Clan leader but also the decisions that have now made new allies or opposition.
This ties very well into the negotiation mechanic for dealing with disputes within the Clan and of course there is also potentially a brawling component if things get too far out of hand. The whole Clan Chief system is very fertile ground for new Story Element ideas, and most importantly, Story Elements that have long term consequences internally to the Clan itself.
Fun Ideas:
So the Clan Chief system is very much still in development, and I would love to hear ideas from the community as well here on Steam or on Discord. Here are a few ideas that I am toying with currently to add some extra flavor to the system.
- Leadership Quirks such as "Born Leader" vs. "Follower." These could complicate who gets the support for example if someone outside the accepted family line is a much better candidate.
- Chiefs selecting the partners for workers vs the current "best guess" picking. This also could have long term consequences for those who feel passed over.
- Potential for Messengers from other Clans requesting Partners, also associated dowries.
- Members leaving the Clan due to high opposition to the leadership, perhaps even entire family branches if things get too far out of hand. This could be a good way to deal with oversized Clans as well where some family branches do not feel represented.
- Chief Funerals. Special events to commemorate a Chief's passing. (probably better tombs too)
So ideas and comments are very welcome! The Clan Chief groundwork is now in place, and I want to get right to building Story Element content for the system. I am very excited to see how this develops.
Note: I may also take a few days for bug fixing as I was very much "In The Zone" while working on this and the bug list got ahead of me again. So I should take a short divert into fixing the highest priority bugs and then back into Clan Chief related story events.
Thanks very much for your support!
Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.