For diplomacy system in other games, see Diplomacy.
The Diplomacy System is one of the highlighted features for Total War: Three Kingdoms, which The Creative Assembly claims to be one of the biggest update in the history of the series. The player can switch to diplomacy view anytime when on the campaign map.
Overview[]
The new Diplomacy system allows for much more realistic diplomatic interactions between factions and provides a wider tool box for players to engage in relationship building.
The revamped Negotiation system in the Total War: Three Kingdoms is a key change for diplomacy that introduces a more granular negotiation. Diplomatic dealings now take the form of haggling, and with more tradeable items, resources and pacts in player warlord's diplomatic arsenal than ever before, the player is less reliant on pure cash deals.
When the player approaches a Warlord and proposes a deal, the player will get a positive or negative evaluation figure, indicating how much cost he attaches to it. The idea is to balance the scales with different offers until the player reach a positive figure of at least +0.0, which ensures the other part will sign.
Conducting negotiation[]
Conducting a negotiation is the process of presenting another faction leader with a request or offer, scrutinising their reaction, and fine tuning the deal to find a mutually acceptable set of terms. To do this, simply select a warlord from the faction list in the diplomacy screen, click negotiate, select the category of deal offers on the left, then select the diplomatic option to request. Any offers which are not possible are greyed out; player can hover the cursor over greyed-out options to reveal the reasons why.
When player present a faction leader with an offer, it is placed in the offer box at the bottom of the screen, along with a number which indicates how much the other faction leader values player's offer. The number may be a red, negative number (undesirable or costly to the other faction leader) or a green, positive number (desirable or beneficial to the faction leader). The art of diplomacy is finding mutually acceptable terms to get the deal signed if they don’t like it, or seeing how much more player can get out of the other guy if they do like it.
The desirability of any deal player propose is influenced by their diplomatic attitude towards player, player's faction leader has respect rating, and whether the deal player offer aligns with their faction leader’s strategy at the time.
If the number is negative, this doesn’t mean that the faction leader is ruling out the offer, but that player must add positive, desirable offers in order to cancel out the negative value, and sweeten the deal to a point where he’ll accept it. This may involve adding a cash payment, food, a valuable ancillary, a diplomatic treaty, or any combination of desirable offers in the diplomatic menu. When the negative number rises to zero, the faction leader will be willing to agree. It’s possible that a negative value is so large, indicating a deep unwillingness to deal, that the cost of balancing the number up to zero will be prohibitively expensive. Only by experimentation, through adding or altering offers, can player find terms acceptable for both parties – or conclude that the cost may be too great, and write it off altogether.
If player suggest an offer and the result is a positive number, the other faction leader finds it desirable. The higher the number goes above zero, the greater the bargaining power, as player may be able to pack in further requests, provided the number doesn’t go below zero. Experimenting with different offers might net the deal more than player had originally bargained for.
Make this work button[]
If player don’t wish to manually negotiate, one can click the ‘make this work’ button. This will reveal a baseline requirement from the other party in order to accept player's offer. This can often be a useful point from which player can begin modifying the offer.
Quick Deals[]
The quick deal menu shows a list of many common diplomatic options available at any given time, and with who. It’s a time-saving way of sorting which faction leaders which will definitely do particular deals, which faction leaders might, and which faction leaders won’t even entertain the idea. Multiple deals can be secured with multiple factions in a very short time via the quick deal menu.
To arrange a deal with a faction leader marked ‘maybe’, it often means rhe deal is reachable within player faction's diplomatic capabilities. Some addtional effort is required, so the player will have to negotiate.
Diplomacy modifiers[]
Attitude factors[]
There are dozens of positive/negative factors affecting player faction's diplomatic standings on the campaign map and bargining weight at the negotiation table.
Diplomatic attitude is the measure of another faction leader’s opinion of the player faction, and is key to achieving beneficial deals via diplomacy. Player can view a faction leader’s attitude towards player by hovering the cursor over the colour-coded masks in the factions list in the diplomacy panel. This shows a breakdown of the reasons for each warlord’s attitude, ranging from hostile (deep red) to trusted friend (deep green).
The more a faction leader approves of the player, the more likely they’ll be to agree to player's deals. The more deals player do with him that he likes, the more they’ll like player's leader and faction.
There are many factors which improve or reduce diplomatic attitude. Generosity through gifts of money, long-term peace, and being part of the same alliance all boost diplomatic attitude for example. Being at war, doing deals with a faction’s enemies, and trespassing on another faction’s territory without first seeking a military access agreement with them are some actions that will reduce attitude.
- Now, AI Warlords also take into account any spy actions the player has against them.
- AI Warlord's will consider the trade agreements, non-aggression pact and other treties between them, the player and third parties.
- AI Warlord's will considdr vassel status of theirs and player's
- AI Warlord's will take info account coalition and alliances.
- AI Warlord's will consider how player treats their or their enemies' soldiers.
- AI Warlord’s family linage, marriage, past loyalites, grudes, friendship or rivalry status with the player's Warlord affects the relationship modifiers between two factions.
- AI Warlord will consider how much of a strategic threat the player poses and how much faction influencd player has.
It should be noted, a warlord’s diplomatic attitude towards another is influenced not only by actions, but by the consequences of those actions on related third parties. For example, if player have a trade agreement with Warlord A, who is friends with warlord B, and player go to war with warlord B, Warlord A’s diplomatic attitude towards the player will fall, potentially risking the trade agreement player have with them.[1]
Trustworthy and respect[]
Player's Warlord now has a Trustworthy rating which can rise and fall in line with the player behaviour, and this affects how much a Warlord respects player. Certain actions can impact how much other faction leaders respect and trust the player's Warlord. Treacherous acts, such as promising never to annex a vassal and then annexing them, or breaking a timed loan agreement, or attacking a coalition partner for example, constitute acts of treachery, and will reduce the trust that other leaders place in the warlord. Player's trustworthiness rating is noted below player faction leader’s name and faction rank in the diplomacy screen, and can be moused over for further information.
Trustworthy is a player only penalty. If player break diplomatic deal with AI under certain circumstance such as breaking peace deal right after sign it, the Trustworthy meter of player's faction will become Treacherous. Treacherous comes with heavy diplomacy penalty like -10 evaluation figure.
- Cancelling a ten-turn loan repayment or breaking another major commitment is seen as treacherous.
- Some AI personalities openly oppose treacherous behaviour, and will feel duty-bound to declare war on the player.
- Since interpersonal respect plays a part in diplomacy, a faction changing hands between one Warlord and another can be a major catalyst for change in relationship between two factions.
Trustworthiness does not affect diplomatic attitude, but is taken into account alongside diplomatic attitude during negotiations. For example, it’s perfectly plausible for a faction leader to have a very high diplomatic attitude towards the player, but, due to player's treacherous actions in the past, they will be reluctant to sign a deal with the player. "They likes you - they just doesn’t trust you!"
When player Warlord's trustworthiness rating has been reduced, it will automatically recover over time, provided no more treacherous actions are taken.
Personality[]
- Main article: Personality (Total War: Three Kingdoms)
Personality are defined by traits the character have. Legendary characters often have unique personality. Personality is important because it decides how AI behave in diplomacy.
Player character's own personality is unviewable (this is also true for other characters in player's faction), but player can check other faction leader's personality in Diplomacy panel.
AI behavior[]
Diplomatic attitude[]
The player's diplomatic standing with another faction is still the key factor in determining AI leader's attitude. However, another faction's attitude towards player's faction is colored by more than just military and diplomatic capability in previous titles. While AI factions in past games took note of player's military strength, they now take into account how aggressive the players are, the personal relationship and like/dislike between two faction leaders. AI will response with contemporary measures.
- AI Warlords will assess the Attitude factors before making diplomatic decisions
- AI Warlords will behave according to their personality.
- AI will take into account the grand situations on the campaign map.
- AI may make their faction vassalized by player's friendly factions to preserve themselves
To see how much the other faction leader's opinion on player's diplomatic standing, hover cursor to the face icon in the negotiation screen. Green smilely face indicates positive attitude, whileas red angry face indicates negative attidue;
Deal evaluation[]
When the player proposes a deal to an AI Warlord, he’ll consider what it’s going to cost the player, and that cost can vary enormously depending on a host of factors. Diplomatic standing plays a big role, as well as the player's relative military strength. But a bunch of concepts new to Three Kingdoms play into the AI’s evaluation of a proposal’s cost.
- AI Warlords will take into account the real value and utility value based on how useful player's offer is to them. If player has something they desperately need, a deal will much easier to go through, vice versa.
- AI Warlords will consider how much they actually respect and trust the player.
- Each AI Warlord can also identify a main threat to its existence. If the player is that main threat, certain deals will become easier, while others become harder.
- If the player and AI Warlords share a common threat in the world, deals will be achieved on more affordable terms.
- Distance plays a part too; the further away a faction is geographically, the less relevant and valuable it becomes to an AI negotiator.
- AI will assess the diplomatic consequences of the deal players place before him/her. How will the rest of the world react to the deal? If a deal with the player impacts his/her diplomatic standing with other factions, the player can expect the cost to rise in line with the severity.
- AI will take into account player's relationship with their friends and allies. They will be reluctant to sign if the deal boost player's capabilities and efforts agasint their friends or future themselves.
To see how much the other faction leader values player's offer, check the offer box offer at the bottom of the screen during the negotiation stage.
Diplomatic Deals[]
The player can arrange deals through diplomacy are many and varied. Deals fall into six distinct categories: War, Peace, Trade and Marriage, Vassals, Alliances, and Diplomatic Treaties. Mouse over an option to get an explanation of it.
Many options will be greyed out. This is simply because they are not applicable in the current circumstances. For example, if the player have no vassals owned, and have met other factions who are vassals of another masters, vassal options will be unavailable.
If player are unable to achieve a specific deal with a faction leader, player can always come back on a later turn and try again. If it’s something player have the heart set on, perhaps it’s worth some efforts on player's part to improve their diplomatic attitude towards player's faction, by securing lower-level deals, offering them cash gifts, or joining in their wars for instance.
War and Peace[]
War and Peace does what it says on the tin: all formal declarations of war and peace reside here, including support actions, such as requests and offers of military support. And there are plenty of new options in the mix, not least those regarding vassals. These are broadly covered in the Vassals section above.
Player can now sabre-rattle a Warlord, by issuing a war ultimatum. It’s a useful tool for getting a favorable deal by intimidation, but should only be employed with due forethought. Threatening a faction that is twice as powerful as the player's faction militarily, for example, is going to get the player into hot water tout-suite. And unlike more civil negotiations, the other Warlord will keep his cards close to his chest. Threaten a faction with war, and the AI Warlord’s evaluation numbers will be hidden. Unlike other forms of negotiation, player have to make the best guess as to the outcome, blind to the true numbers. If AI rejects player's demands, war it is.
Trade and marriage[]
Alongside the usual cash requests and offers, player can now request regular payments by turns, or offer regular payments in return for something. These are fixed-term deals that expire after 10 turns, which broaden player's options considerably. In the past titles, how many times have players desperately needed a truce with another faction, but can't persuade them without a wad of cash? Now player can pay them in instalments… assuming AI trust the player to stick to the agreement, of course. It also means that player can lend money, with payments returned in instalments.
Food, which is critical to public order and military supplies, is also tradeable in Three Kingdoms. And provided the storage infrastructure to cope, player can actually stockpile it. It’s a vital resource for all factions, and some factions have little or no farmland of their own – which implies new forms of leverage.
Trade agreements can be arranged via the Trade and Marriage menu, which grants both parties steady financial income. Individual regions can also be traded, which is one of the most effective ways of gaining long-term access to specific mined resources, agricultural lands, or towns, though region trading requires a lot of negotiation effots, and the targeted region needs to be adjacent to player's own territory.
And player can now use Ancillaries as bargaining chips to swing deals, or as trade items in their own right. Many of these are practical – such as weapons, armour and mounts; some are merely ornamental but valuable, and some grant unique abilities or skills when given to a character. Some are legendary in nature – such as the unique weapons and armour of the legendary Warlords of the Three Kingdoms period.
Aside from regular trading, player can also arrange marriages between characters in two factions. When a marriage proposal is made, player can decide where the couple will reside – with your faction or with the spouse’s. This can be a useful way of acquiring a specific character for your faction, which can benefit you in a number of ways. Two factions can also be confederated by the marriage of two faction leaders.
Trade influence[]
Certain commerce (blue) buildings, resources, and character traits contribute towards player's trade influence value, which is displayed below player's warlord’s portrait in the diplomacy panel. The higher player's trade influence, the more player will profit from any trade agreement with another faction.
When a trade agreement is arranged, the share of the overall profit is split according to the two warlords’ trade influences value. For example, if warlord with a trade influence value of 100 strikes an agreement with a warlord whose trade influence value is 200, the second warlord will make twice the profit from the agreement each turn than the first warlord. Everybody profits, but the more influential trader gets the better deal!
Trade agreements between factions provide mutual access to the trade resources owned by both factions. Such resources are key to constructing certain buildings.
Trade influence does not affect diplomatic attitude and deal evaluation process.
Vassals[]
- Main article: Vassal (Total War: Three Kingdoms)
Vassal mechanics have expanded significantly. The relationship between a Vassal State and its Lord is now multidimensional, offering many new benefits for both owning vassals and becoming one. There;s also a burden of responsibility, and a healthy dose of relationship management for a vassal lord to attend to.[2]
Coalition and Military Alliances[]
- Main article: Coalition
In Three Kingdoms, a new type of alliance agreement, Coalition, is added into the game.
Both Coalitions and Military Alliances of past games share many common features, however they offer different levels of choice, control and commitment. Major benefits are increased diplomatic standing with other members, and decision by consensus. Any major action which affects the alliance – such as taking it as a whole to war with another alliance, or inviting another faction to join for example – requires a vote. Player will see this represented onscreen as a yes/no prediction for how each member Warlord is likely to vote, and naturally a majority is always required for success.[3][4]
Empire[]
Empire diplomatic options
List of Diplomatic Deals[]
The game offers a significant range of new diplomatic actions. The diplomatic actions are divided into three categories: War and Peace, Trade and Marriage, Alliances, and Diplomatic Treaties.