For this part we’re going to talk about diplomacy in SI. There are 5 diplomacy states that a player can be at: Neutral, vendetta, blood feud excommunicated and the pair of Blood Lord and Blood Vassel, with of course neutral meaning no one is fighting yet. Vendetta can happen if a player making a demand or insult is refused by the targeted player or if a player has their demand met 3 times by the same player. After that the player who made the insult or demand is allowed to claim vendetta. Vendetta is like a mini war lasting for several turns, the player can choose one of three ways to win the vendetta, by capturing enough cantons, defeating enough legions or winning in single praetor combat. The player can choose how many turns he wants the vendetta to go on for with less turns earning more prestige if won. The other player cannot see the objectives of the vendetta and must either defeat the player or hold out until the turn limit is over.
Blood feud is what happens if a player has completed 3 vendettas against another player, when this happens we have a full on war. In normal circumstances blood feuds go on until one of the players is defeated from the game, which is done by taking over their stronghold. Of course during blood feuds both sides can capture each other cantons as long as they are connected to their respective territories.
Last and certainty the most dangerous is excommunicated. This state can happen either by event or if a player makes an attack on the conclave that are situated at the Pandemonium. When either events happen that player becomes excommunicated which has 3 powerful affects. First the bazaar is closed for that player meaning no more buying troops or items. Second any player may attack the excommunicated player’s territory. This also means that the excommunicated player can basically wage war on every player as they are no longer bound to the rules of diplomacy. Third it gives the excommunicated player a chance to win the game another way. Once the Pandemonium is held captive by a player, if that player holds on to it and their stronghold for 5 turns they will win the game by default. Normally the game ends when the conclave draws a certain # of tokens, this event can happen at random at the start of the turn. However once the Pandemonium is taken this event will not occur giving the invading player a filibuster like affect at stopping the game from ending.
Besides death and destruction there are a few ways of being peaceful with your neighbors. First is sending gifts to your fellow archfiends, depending on the size of the gift and the rank difference between the two, the receiving player cannot make any demands or insults at you for a certain # of turns. Next when all hope of winning is lost you can swallow your pride and become the blood vassal to another player’s blood lord. When this happens you lose half your prestige and are now completely out of the running of winning the game. From this point it is your job to help your blood lord win. Before you think that you can double cross your lord at the end, your prestige is automatically added to your lord’s stockpile when the game is over.
The important parts to get out of the diplomacy in SI is that in order to do any real damage to your fellow players you need to get into a vendetta or blood feud with them, but as you can see there is a lot that goes into it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into a vendetta with the AI so that I can show off single praetor combat.
Josh
