Pick a leader who isn't in the game yet and give them an ability!

[Kurtbob]

Ability: Corpus Juris Civilis

• The effects of all Traditions, Policy cards, and Crisis cards in your government are doubled.
• +1 policy slot for each Wonder in the Capital.
• Re-conquered cities do not count against your settlement cap.

I feel like the first Abilty will allow the player to snowball way too easily. Even with the crisis card portion, the player will be in an amazing position to deal with whatever crisis unfolds. Maybe tone it down to 50% or have it only affect either traditions or policies?

I like the second ability, but maybe reword to to say "Recieve a new policy spot when you build a wonder in your capital." Otherwise, the number of policy spots could stack across eras and you end up with 10+ policies at all times just from the ability (assuming you are a wonder fiend).

 

[alireza1354]

Caliph al-Ma'mun

Some sciency stuff.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

You want an unconventional choice? I'll give you an unconventional choice.

Ivan Meštrović

Traits: Cultural, Diplomatic

Sculptor of stone and nations alike, Ivan Meštrović's life coincided with Yugoslavia's tumultuous entry into the 20th century. An artist by trade, this influential Croatian sculptor was a founding member of the Yugoslav Committee, a group of Croatian, Slovene, and Bosnian Serb intellectuals who wove the Kingdom of Yugoslavia into being. Under the Kingdom's rule, he created sculptures that captured Yugoslav history, and readily accepted commissions from the royal dynasty. Even when the Kingdom fell to fascism, his influence and his principles never faltered. Both the Ustaše and the Communist Partisans tried to keep Meštrović in the country for propaganda purposes, but neither held him for long. He belonged where his art was- in museums, exhibitions, and cities around the world.

Ability: Yugoslav Committee

• Great Works generate + 2 Influence per Age.
• +20% Celebration effects for each Great Work you possess, rounded up (in the case of Authoritarianism's Combat Strength).
• Receive a Great Work when a Migrant uses their Resettle action.

This ability refrences the diplomatic and ceremonial role that many of Meštrović's works fill, the fact that many were created in foreign countries, and that Meštrović emigrated from his home not once but twice.



Agenda: Yugoslavism

• Increases relationship substantially with players who have absorbed a City-state. Decreases relationship for players who have captured former City-states.

Mementos

• Monument of Gratitude to France: Great Works generate +1 Influence per Age while in an Alliance.
• Pobednik, a Serb-commissioned victory statue: Receive a Great Work for each Settlement received during a peace deal.
• Memories of Political People and Events, a memoir written for a Croatian emigrant journal: Receive a Migrant when selecting a new government, and when entering a Celebration.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

Oh, and like my signature says, I would like for Stefan Dušan to be in the game, probably filling the role of Matthias Corvinus from Civ VI- a military leader who excels with levied units.

 

[Lord Lakely]

@Mods, can we have this topic pinned? thank you~

 

[Renouf]

Margaret I of Denmark

Attributes: Diplomatic, Economic

Ability: Kalmar Union

• While in an Alliance, you can buy your allies unique buildings, improvements and units in your own settlements. Gold spent this way is granted to your ally.
• Gain access to a unique victory type upon winning a war - Treaty of Kalmar. Instead of exchanging cities, permanently gain a copy of that leader's currently unlocked traditions.

Agenda: Øresundstolden
Likes players who form trade routes to her settlements.
Dislikes players who ask her for open borders.

 

[Renouf]

Wu Zetian

Attributes: Diplomatic, Cultural

A king may conquer with an army of a thousand swords, but an Empress can ascend with secrets and a single well-placed blade. While others wage war in the open, Wu Zetian pulls at threads unseen. Unfurl your schemes Huangdi, until all under heaven dances into the palm of your hand.

Ability: Court of Zhou

• +1 Influence per era on Great Works and Wonders in the Capital.
• Gain a unique effect when rejecting Endeavours sent by other Leaders.
  Scientific Endeavour: Gain a random available technology.
  Cultural Endeavour: Gain a random available civic.
  Economic Endeavour: +1 Trade Route capacity with all Leaders.
  Diplomatic Endeavour: Begin a Celebration.
  Expansionist Endeavour: Gain a Migrant in every city.
  Militaristic Endeavour: +1 War Support in all wars this era.

Agenda: Court Intrigue
Loves players who form alliances.
Hates the player with the most Unfriendly or Hostile relationships.

Mementos:
Eunuch's Robe: Gain 20 Influence whenever another player starts an Endeavour without you.
Manual of Entrapment: Scouts who did not move this turn gain Stealth.
Phoenix Crown: +100% Influence towards starting Sanctions and rejecting Sanctions sent by other Leaders.

 

[Renouf]

Kublai Khan

Attributes: Economic, Diplomatic

Kublai Khan, heir to the Great Khan, you forged more than dominion. You took the spirit of the wild steppe and clothed it in fine Chinese silk, binding traditions together into a dynasty that endures. To your stately pleasure-domes ride merchants and missionaries, envoys and explorers. Your court is a crossroads where all the world's tongues are heard, where gold flows as freely as ideas. Khagan, Emperor: let your new realm become the melting pot of the world, where every road leads to prosperity.

Ability: Great Yuan

• +2 Sight on Trade Caravans and Trade Ships.
• Starting a Trade Route with another Civilization grants you one of their unique Traditions.
• Starting a Trade Route with a City-State grants you +1 Policy slot.
• When involved in a War, gain +1 War Support for every Trade Route between you and your enemy.

Agenda: Pax Mongolica
Increased relationship gains with players that are trading with him.
Decreased relationship with players that aren't trading with him.

Mementos:
Bronze Caravan Bell: Gentle chimes proving the safety of the Silk Road. +1 Influence per era for every Trade Route.
The Travels of Marco Polo: Signed copy. +2 Sight on Merchants.
Jianchao: Yuan paper currency, hyperinflated to fund the Emperor's conquests. When a war ends, gain +100 Gold for every positive War Support.

Playstyle:
Increased vision on Trade Routes makes an extensive trade network a powerful source of information for Kublai. Use The Travels of Marco Polo memento during war to send Merchant units into enemy cities and give you intel on their reinforcements - your own little Marco Polo!
Spread your trade network wide to gain access to a library of powerful traditions from other civilizations. Mix and match these with your own to create the ultimate hybrid culture. Trading with city states to expand your deck and field more tradition cards.
When war breaks out, remind your enemies of the meaning of Khan with a scaling war support boost depending on how dependent you've made them on you economically, and from how much you've learned of your enemies culture - and their weaknesses.
Kublai's realm is the ultimate melting pot, the strengths of many peoples coming together to bring prosperity - or to crush their foes.

 

[Kurtbob]

Kublai Khan

Ability: Great Yuan

• +2 Sight on Trade Caravans and Trade Ships.
• Starting a Trade Route with another Civilization grants you one of their unique Traditions.
• Starting a Trade Route with a City-State grants you +1 Policy slot.
• When involved in a War, gain +1 War Support for every Trade Route between you and your enemy.

Both of these abilities seem rather powerful and exploitable since its pretty easy to send a trade route, an action the other player cannot prevent. Maybe add some limitations? I do like the synergy of adding policy slots to fill with your enemies traditions.

• Starting a Trade Route with another Civilization grants you one of their unique Traditions.

Which traditions are available? Traditions of the current civ or the current civ and any prior age civs that player played? Does this ability allow you to choose traditions the other player hasn't unlocked yet? Do you keep Traditions when entering a new age?

• Starting a Trade Route with a City-State grants you +1 Policy slot.

On Pangea maps and larger maps, this ability seem likely to get pretty out of hand very quickly, but I suppose it really depends on the playthrough and how many city-states actually emerge each age.

Really like the first and fourth abilities!

 

[Renouf]

Both of these abilities seem rather powerful and exploitable since its pretty easy to send a trade route, an action the other player cannot prevent. Maybe add some limitations? I do like the synergy of adding policy slots to fill with your enemies traditions.

• Starting a Trade Route with another Civilization grants you one of their unique Traditions.

Which traditions are available? Traditions of the current civ or the current civ and any prior age civs that player played? Does this ability allow you to choose traditions the other player hasn't unlocked yet? Do you keep Traditions when entering a new age?

• Starting a Trade Route with a City-State grants you +1 Policy slot.

On Pangea maps and larger maps, this ability seem likely to get pretty out of hand very quickly, but I suppose it really depends on the playthrough and how many city-states actually emerge each age.

Really like the first and fourth abilities!

In my mind it would be a completely random Tradition belonging to whichever Civ they were currently playing, doesn't matter if they've unlocked it yet. So if you sent 3-4 Trade Routes to the same player you could guarantee you'd get whichever one you wanted if you had a specific strategy in mind. Considering you'd need to pay the influence cost of extra trade routes + the production cost of the merchants I think this is fine, considering traditions are not really that game-breaking anyway. I expect the gameplay loop would be opportunistic early game - get some cards from your neighbours to see if they're better than yours - then mid game it'd transition to be extending your trade network to get the standout traditions you want, like Shell-Tempered Pottery + Xenia. I imagine he'd be quite a proficient military character too since a lot of civs have combat strength cards and you could easily turn terrain-dependent ones against their owners (like Khmer's CS on floodplains). I imagine they'd reset on age transition else you'd have a deck of like 40-50 cards to scroll through by the end of the game.

I think it's just a cool flavour idea for Kublai Khan, the Mongol Khan who ''became'' Chinese and founded his own Yuan Dynasty. The idea of adoption / integration of multiple civs under your one banner.

Re city-states, yeah I didn't consider larger map sizes. It could probably be removed completely imo. I just wanted an external incentive to trade with city-states since he would have no reason to otherwise since they don't have traditions

 

[Kurtbob]

In my mind it would be a completely random Tradition belonging to whichever Civ they were currently playing, doesn't matter if they've unlocked it yet. So if you sent 3-4 Trade Routes to the same player you could guarantee you'd get whichever one you wanted if you had a specific strategy in mind. Considering you'd need to pay the influence cost of extra trade routes + the production cost of the merchants I think this is fine, considering traditions are not really that game-breaking anyway. I expect the gameplay loop would be opportunistic early game - get some cards from your neighbours to see if they're better than yours - then mid game it'd transition to be extending your trade network to get the standout traditions you want, like Shell-Tempered Pottery + Xenia. I imagine he'd be quite a proficient military character too since a lot of civs have combat strength cards and you could easily turn terrain-dependent ones against their owners (like Khmer's CS on floodplains). I imagine they'd reset on age transition else you'd have a deck of like 40-50 cards to scroll through by the end of the game.

I think it's just a cool flavour idea for Kublai Khan, the Mongol Khan who ''became'' Chinese and founded his own Yuan Dynasty. The idea of adoption / integration of multiple civs under your one banner.

Re city-states, yeah I didn't consider larger map sizes. It could probably be removed completely imo. I just wanted an external incentive to trade with city-states since he would have no reason to otherwise since they don't have traditions

While its true you need to spend influence to send additional trade routes to a single civ, you dont need to spend influence to send at least one merchant to every civ. On a large map, you could hypothetically have access to a unique tradition for every merchant you build due to the large number of civs you can send a merchant to. Assuming you recieve a random tradition from each you really couldn't plan a strategy around the ability, but it would open up some very interesting and unique bonuses, making for some fun gameplay.

I actually like the synergy you created with Traditions from civ trade routes and policy slots to put the Traditions in from city state trade routes.

Also, the ability "When involved in a War, gain +1 War Support for every Trade Route between you and your enemy" could be used offensively. Kublai could send multiple trade routes to a civ and then declare war to reap the war support.

Overall, I think the abilities you came up with are unique and fun. I'd play Kublai