Thorns in Your Side – More Dangerous Rivals
A script mod to empower long-time rivals of powerful characters, so that the player can no longer safely ignore their rivals during the late game.
Rivalry is one of the key ways the game generates drama. Unfortunately, by the late game player characters often become so powerful that their rivals are unable to harm or hinder them in any meaningful way. The goal of this mod is to counter this issue by gradually empowering rivals of powerful figures (e.g., the player) by introducing the Determined Rival lifestyle trait. This trait is available to AI characters who are willing to dedicate years of their life to challenge their overwhelmingly powerful enemy. Trait experience represents the years of preparations and training these "underdog" characters have already dedicated to their cause.
The initial effect of the trait is relatively minor, as time passes the rivals become progressively more powerful (maximum level reached in 20/10 years for rival/nemesis), while also becoming bolder and more vengeful. At the highest level this trait allows almost any character to pose a danger to their powerful rival.
Note that this trait is only given to characters who are much weaker than their powerful rival (e.g., a duke rivaling an emperor). Rivalry between equals is not affected by the mod. Also, to keep the game challenging, the rivals of conquerors and great khans are not affected.
Compatible with essentially all mods, it can be put anywhere in the load order.
It is safe to add this mod to an existing game, but I recommend making a backup save. To remove the mod enact the decision to disable it (see screenshot). The mod can be re-enabled at any time with the same decision, but note that doing so will reset trait XP.
This mod is part of my More Late Game Drama & Challenge collection.
The mod is in English, but Chinese translation is available here .
I have tested this with my mod list and without mods, but there might still be bugs. If you encounter any, please post a comment.
