You’re not alone in the world of Anno 117: Pax Romana! In additional to neutral traders and (not so neutral) raiders, other governors are also settling islands in the name of the Empire!
As is tradition in Anno, multiple different characters make up the ensemble of rivals and it’s up to you while setting up your game which ones you want to play with (or none at all).
And even if you plan to ultimately subjugate or conquer them, it never hurts to know the rules and possibilities of Diplomacy! In the following paragraphs, we’ll take a closer look at the diplomacy system of Anno 117: Pax Romana: who are you interacting with, what information can be found on the diplomacy screen, what are your diplomatic options and… what about the Emperor?
If you prefer a more audio-visual overview, check out our past livestream (click here) with Lead Game Designer Andrea, Game Designer Dominik and Gameplay Programmer Jannik on the topic.
Meet your rivals!
Rivals in general
When setting up your game, you can choose up to three rival governors to settle the world alongside you. These other governors come in different “flavours”, as in: some are more peaceful or overall easier to handle, others are aggressive expansionists and yet again others may even prefer to just settle in only one of the provinces.
A quick look at the overview screen can tell you a lot about their character and their playstyle: even a advanced-difficulty rival might not be a warmonger but excel in economic and diplomatic matters.
Today, we’re taking a look at three of them to use them as examples.
Some characters from Latium
Dorian is an athlete, a popular one at that, with statues made after his likeness. He appreciates governors who – like him – emphasize health and cleanliness for their people and construct places of art and competitions, like the theatre or (even better) the giant amphitheater.
He’s not the biggest fan of war and would much rather be friends. Importantly, Dorian will only settle in Latium and not expand to the province of Albion. Accordingly, he also isn’t interested in which choices you take on the topic of Romanization.
Tarragon is a military veteran of many campaigns, even if now – aged – he really only wants a peaceful retirement: tending fields, taking naps below olive trees and maybe teaching a young governor a thing or two. This makes also one of the easier rivals.
While generally a friendly neighbour, if you get on Tarragon’s bad side, he’ll show you that his years in the Praetorian Guard very much still count for something.
Concordia is a former vestal virgin, devoted to the Roman gods and therefore places a heavy emphasis on religion and Roman virtues. She’s keen on expanding her already not insignificant influence further while championing her ideals which she would prefer other governors to adapt as well. Excess and luxury as well foreign traditions like those practised by the locals in Albion are a thorn in Concordia’s side.
One other character we have already introduced a few weeks ago: Athr, an ambitious Celtic ruler in Albion. Check out this blog to learn more about him.
Generally, you can find out much more about each rival by interacting with them, listening to their comments and following each of their story lines.
The Diplomacy Screen
Alright, you have found Concordia’s or Dorian’s island, time to open the Diplomacy Menu. Here all governors (and raiders, if present) are listed, as is their current diplomatic status (at war, peace, defensive treaty, …) with you. Upon clicking on one of them, the panel on the right offers you additional information:
Currently signed treaties
Your power balance (military, economic, prestige, …)
The character’s lore
The character’s difficulty and traits
The effects you gain when allying or subjugating the rival
Interactions
We don’t just want to learn about Dorian’s upbringing, of course, but enter negotiations. This leads us to a new screen that gives you an overview of all available diplomatic actions.
The screen is separate into available actions at the top and potential but not (yet) available actions at the bottom. These range from treaties over asking for a loan or offering a loan to declaring war.
Hovering over each action gives you a clear breakdown of which reasons influence the character to accept the action, or why it’s not available yet. These reasons are a mix of:
Personal preferences (e.g. high hygiene for Dorian, high belief points for Concordia)
Recent events (e.g. a recent war or you having declined an offered treaty)
Already signed treaties (e.g. a trade treaty)
Character traits
Prestige, which is used for most calculations related to diplomacy
Your military power
Here we wanted to provide you with more transparency than in the past to better understand why some actions are possible and others aren’t. The reasons also give a good indication of what to do to improve the relations with a specific rival.
If you want to go deeper into their reasons, click the button of the actions (the non-greyed-out ones) to get a more detailed list before committing to a treaty, for example.
Treaties are a way to not only improve relations but also secure yourself and ultimately even come out on top the diplomatic way. Trade treaties to buy or sell goods at their harbours, defensive pacts to assure the peace of protect yourself against another governor and alliances to confirm your friendship and assure each other of long-lasting support no matter what.
Some diplomatic options first have to be researched (e.g. Large Gifts or Alliances) or are tied to other systems, like your standing with the Emperor. One such option is appointing a rival governor as specialist.
Appointing rivals as specialists
You have proven to be not just a competent, but the strongest, most able and certainly also most beautiful governor – so much so, that other governors would bend their knee to you. Let’s take a look at subjugating rivals.
To subjugate a rival governor and make them become your vassal you will need to either:
Have an alliance with the rival in question (finishing their personal quest chain does help a lot) and be stronger than them, or
Hold the title of (pro-)consul, bestowed by the Emperor (more on that later), be stronger than the rival and have a significant sum of money ready.
If you fulfil the requirements, subjugating a rival will turn them in your vassal: all their islands become vassal cities, you can then either take over or demolish, their ships become yours and the respective rival joins your entourage as a unique powerful specialist who you can slot into your villa.
War – the continuation of policy with other means
You want to not just subjugate your opponents but remove them from the map? Take over their islands? – Well, there is always war, of course.
While the details of waging war are a topic for a different DevBlog (check out this article on land combat), the declaration of it is very much a diplomatic topic.
Upon entering the “war declaration” screen for poor Dorian here, we’re not only presented with a comparison of our military might and potential allies that would join each side, we can also choose between two types of war.
All-Out War is exactly that: everything from ships over civilian buildings and of course entire islands is free game. If your goal is to remove an opponent from the map or at least greatly reduce their influence, this is the way to go.
The Emperor, however, doesn’t look too favourably on large scale warfare within his domain and may at some point intervene.
A Limited War is useful when it’s just about taking an island that your opponent has settled before you had a chance or if its location is just too strategically vital. Civilian buildings and ships can’t be attacked (meaning your trade routes should be safe) when this option is selected.
Whichever option you choose, it comes with a cost: depending on a few factors like the number of islands you already own, your reputation with the emperor and your overall prestige, declaring war will cost reputation with the Emperor. The lower your reputation following this war declaration, the more likely the Emperor will intervene on your opponent’s behalf and order you to put an end to hostilities.
The Emperor?
You are, after all, a governor as are the likes of Dorian or Concordia – and above you, the Emperor is watching your actions. He’s therefore also always visible in the Diplomacy menu, as is your reputation with him.
Of course, he doesn’t care about minor things like the production chains you set up, or individual houses placed and ships built. He cares about governors keeping the imperial peace and adhering to Roman traditions.
Emperor Calidus was born and made in the military camp. Hell-bent on change, he is a champion of ordinary Romans everywhere.
Although ruthless, tough and pragmatic, he is also gregarious, down-to-earth, honest and good-humoured.
Break treaties and wage war (see previous chapter) and he might feel the need to send a stern remark. Stray too far from Roman traditions in Albion and your reputation with him will also suffer. On the other hand, fulfil one of his occasional demands and he’ll look more favourable on you.
Your overall reputation with him brings bonuses or disadvantages, e.g. lower costs when settling new islands – or trade embargoes with neutral imperial traders.
Get on his bad side, be branded a rebel and deal with the consequences which involve the might of the imperial fleet and army. If you manage to stand your ground, he’ll begrudgingly name you pro-consul (note: it’s not possible to usurp the Emperor or “leave” the Empire).
Alternatively, become his most trusted advisor and be given the title of consul. Each title comes with additional bonuses that make your life as a governor significantly easier – for example, the Emperor himself will send his army to your aid should anyone dare declare war on the (pro-)consul of Rome!
One last thing...
And what if you launched a new game without any NPC (or pirates) – or defeated all of them already – and start feeling a bit lonely in the world of Anno 117: Pax Romana? Well, don’t worry, at any time in the game you can invite any NPC of your choice to your game assuming you have open slots left. Yes, we saw you using the “AI Shipyard” mod for Anno 1800 😉
Any questions left unanswered? Let us know in the comments or reach out to us on any of the other channels.