Dignitaries

Introduction

Dignitaries are experts in administration and masters of manipulation, recruited via the recruit agents button when a settlement is selected and civic technologies have been researched. They are vulnerable to spies and especially effective against champions.

Military Administration

A dignitary embedded in a friendly army can improve its general’s authority attribute and reduce upkeep costs. Authority represents the influence of the general over his army and their attack and defence capabilities, making it more resistant to subterfuge on the campaign map and potentially increasing its zone of control. The effectiveness of this action depends on your dignitary’s own authority, which can be increased with skills, character traits, and household members or objects.

Civil Administration

A dignitary can improve security and reduce administration costs when sent to a friendly province. Strong civil administration influences a population’s satisfaction with its ruling faction, can reduce construction costs and increase vigilance towards subterfuge. The success of civil administration is dependent on your dignitary’s authority, which varies depending on the skills and character traits they have acquired, in addition to the presence of any household members or objects.

Undermine Authority

Use of this action disrupts the target army, temporarily reducing its general’s authority, whilst reducing its ability to attack and defend in the field. Undermining authority has the added benefit of increasing vulnerability to further acts of subterfuge and reducing zone of control on the campaign map. The effectiveness of this action is dependent on your dignitary’s own authority, which can be increased by skills, character traits, and household members or objects.

Mislead Command

This action disrupts the target army, temporarily reducing its general’s cunning by hindering his movements in battle and increasing the cooling down time before his own special abilities can be used again. Misleading command also reduces line of sight on the campaign map, making the army more vulnerable to further subterfuge. The success of this action depends on your dignitary’s zeal, which can be improved by skills, character traits, and the presence of household members or objects.

Threats of Destruction

A dignitary can disrupt his target army by temporarily reducing its zeal with threats that a more powerful army is poised to destroy it. This dents the morale of its general and his bodyguard, whilst also diminishing the impact of their charge and both their melee and missile attack capabilities. On the campaign map, the army as a whole becomes more vulnerable to subterfuge. The chances of this action’s success depend on your dignitary’s zeal, which is affected by their skills, character traits, and household members or objects.

Corruption

By deploying a dignitary in a foreign province, security can be reduced, which also increases faction-wide corruption. This reduces satisfaction amongst the population and increases construction costs. Regions within the target province also become more vulnerable to further subterfuge. The effectiveness of this action is dependent on your dignitary’s authority, which can be increased by skills, character traits, and household members or objects.

Incite Unrest

Your dignitary can use his authority to incite unrest against a province’s ruling faction, creating a level of disaffection that reduces the happiness of the populace whilst he is present within its capital. Once this process has started public order declines, which eventually leads to rebellion, unless countered. The chances of this action succeeding depend on your dignitary’s own authority, which can be increased via skills, character traits, and any household members and objects they may have.

Buy-off Merchants

The buying-off of local merchants to prevent trade reduces trade income generated in the target settlement, thus affecting the entire province. The effectiveness of this action is dependent on your dignitary’s cunning, which in turn varies due to skills, character traits, and any household members or objects that may accompany them.

Cultural Propaganda

Spreading propaganda works against the ruling culture of a region, enabling your dignitary to increase the rate of its population’s conversion to your own culture. The success of this action is dependent on your agent’s zeal, which can be increased through the acquisition of skills, character traits, and the household members or objects that he may have with them.

Hire Assassins

Dignitaries never get their hands dirty if they can avoid it, instead hiring professional killers to remove their targets from the campaign. This action’s chances of success depend on your dignitary’s level of authority, along with the zeal of the target character. Authority can be increased through the acquisition of skills, character traits, and household members or objects.

Betrayal

Exploiting their duplicitous talents, your dignitary will first befriend and win the trust of a target, before revealing his deadly intent. Their cunning, along with the authority of the target character, will also influence this action’s chances of success. Cunning can be increased through the acquisition of skills, character traits, and the presence of any household members or objects.

Provocation

Using zeal to provoke the target into an attack against his person, your dignitary will then try to kill them in self-defence. In addition to zeal, the target character’s own cunning or the strategic abilities of the target general also affect this action’s chances of success. Zeal can be increased via the acquisition of skills, character traits, and any household members or objects your agent may have with them.

Persuasion

Ever manipulative, your dignitary will attempt to use his strength of character to influence his target in a battle of wills. Their level of authority, along with the zeal of the target character, will influence the outcome of this action. Authority can be increased through skills, character traits, and the presence of household members or objects.

Temptation

An attempt to manipulate a foreign agent through underhand trickery can work very well against an unsuspecting target. Your dignitary’s cunning, along with the target’s zeal, determines its chances of success. Cunning can be increased via skills, character traits, and the presence of any household members or objects.

Coercion

The threat of violence can be very persuasive when attempting to coerce a target onto a course of action decided by you. Your dignitary’s zeal, along with the cunning of the target character or the strategic abilities of the target general, will determine the success of this action. Zeal can be increased through the acquisition of skills, character traits, and household members or objects.