Socializing with Aristocrats and Maritime Trade Balance

Now you'll be able to host aristocratic dinners in your base, granted it's not just a shelter or a refuge. Isn't that just splendid?

I'm currently undergoing a severe case of feature creep concerning intrigue and banking and whatnot. I'm forced to tune it down because of the upcoming release, but this was simple enough to make it. Besides, players needed a way, small as it might be, to influence the success of loans and the other ways would require the covert operations framework that isn't there yet.

Of course, for now the only real benefit of these events will be to either slightly lower the interest rate of lenders or slightly lower the risk of a default from borrowers. These events will cost you 10 Arkhe plus any commitment you might want to throw in to increase your chances, and success will depend largely on your current furniture. If all your furniture is of high value and you invest a little extra something, your chances of success are almost guaranteed.

Obviously, you don't want to bring some characters anywhere near your table. Some individuals will be hard to crack and others will also increase or lower your weariness. It won't be profitable for you to bring individuals unable to lend or borrow too much money, but in the future there will be some instances in which you could get other benefits. Your renascent companions should in the future also have a chance to intervene during these events for good or, more likely, ill.

There isn't much flavour involved in these social events yet, but that's what I'll get to while waiting for bug reports once the release is out.

Another change of note is that maritime trade will become a little less powerful but more realistic and interesting, because it will require an initial investment dependent on the economy of the area from which the wares come.

That is, if you want to ferry art pieces and the economy of the city of Nivhar is 5, you'll have to pay up front 250 Arkhe to acquire the wares. Statistically, there is a good chance that you'll earn just as much as you did up to now, but if the trade is interrupted for any reason, you might even run loses.

The good news is, there are no extra reasons to stop maritime trade for now. We'll probably have them in the future, but we'll also have the means to ward them off. To better cope with these costs, and to allow them to better dabble with banking if they so chose, Merchant Venturers will start the with 300 more Arkhe.


The release should be ready sometime in between 24 and 48 hours.