History VideoGame / AnnoDomini1257

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** The starting ruler of the Holy Roman Empire is a certain Richard of Cornwall. As surprising as it may seem, Richard of Cornwall is a real person and in real life this Germanic Empire was really led by an English noble at the time.
** French and German players may be baffled to notice a town named "Straßburg" belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, located halfway between Vienna and Venice[[note]]a few players wondered if it was supposed to be a mispelled Salzburg (though said town isn't located in this area at all)[[/note]]. It's the historical, original name of Strasbourg, a city nowaday located in France next to the German border, and which was German for a very long time; though the town in the mod is actually a real, yet much more obscure, ''Austrian'' town located in the Alps.

** For some reason, culture of Latin Empire is set as Italian. Latin Empire, while founded with help of Italian Venice, were much more Frankish and all Latin Empire rulers were members of French aristocracy (Brienne, Flanders and Courtenay).

** In real life, while nominally under French rule, at the time the Duchy of Britanny was so autonomous it was ''de facto'' independant. In the mod, Britanny is entirely part of Kingdom of France.[[note]]Though the only settlements in the area are two villages, so creating a proper Breton faction would be useless because, ingame, there are no city and no castle in Britanny[[/note]]

* NonIndicativeName: "Western Europe" culture doesn't include every factions from Eastern Europe (Welsh, Iberian, Italian, etc. have their own cultures). It's also the culture of Bohemia and Hungary.

** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_states Crusader States]] are represented ingame as a single, united faction. In real life, the territory occupied by this faction should be divided in four independant factions (Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli, Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Kingdom of Cyprus), and also includes territories which belonged to the unrelated Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The faction's unit roster contains regional troops based on the various historical Crusader states, though.[[note]]The faction's unification could be justified by balance reasons, as historically accurate Crusader states would be too weak to be durable ingame[[/note]]

* NonIndicativeName: "Western Europe" culture doesn't include every factions from Eastern Europe (Welsh, Iberian, Italian, etc. have their own cultures). It's also the culture of Hungary, of all factions.

Other important gameplay changes include the possibility to cross the sea by boats and to fight on sea when two antagonist parties (enemy faction or brigands) meet on the sea, the possibility to start as a lord (or even a king) right at character's creation, the Freelancer minimod, a reworking of the recruitment system ("lance recruitment system"), and an optional permadeath feature for lords and kings.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: You can create a female player character. While there are some female named [=NPCs=] (female relatives of kings and rulers, as well as commoners in villages and towns), she will be the only female lord in the game.

** In real life, while nominally under French rule, at the time the Duchy of Britanny was so autonomous it was 'de facto' independant. In the mod, Britanny is entirely part of Kingdom of France.[[note]]Though the only settlements in the area are two villages, so creating a proper Breton faction would be useless because, ingame, there are no city and no castle in Britanny[[/note]]

** At the start of the mod, the Roman Empire of Nicaea ('i.e.' the Byzantine Empire) only controls a small territory around Thessalonica and the Western part of Turkey; they lost Constantinople (their former capital) and most of Greece during the [[UsefulNotes/TheFallOfConstantinople Fourth Crusade]] (said territory is now controlled by another faction, the Latin Empire).

* PaletteSwap: Due to belonging to the same culture, some factions employ the same exact units, and the only difference is the banner displayed on the worldmap (and on the troops' heraldic shields). For instance, France and the Holy Roman Empire faction don't have unique troops but make the bulk of their army from a common troop tree of Western Europe troops (their names start with "Euro"). England and Scotland also employ them to a lesser extent: English troops are mainly made of Euro units with some Welsh natives among them, while Scottish troops are made of Scottish natives with some Euro units. Also, Navarra employs a mix of Euro and Latin units. There's also Iberian troops (used in Spain and Portugal), Scandinavian troops, muslim troops, etc.

* ShownTheirWork: The optional lance recruitment system aims to recreate how army recruitment worked for medieval kings and feudal lords (non-lords are only able to use mercenaries). In settlements you own, you can raise a "lance", which grants a random number of troops from each tier of the troop tree[[note]]The number of available lances depends on the settlement's population, and the type of units depends on your culture[[/note]]. You can even disband lances and hire them again later.

** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_states Crusader States]] are represented ingame as a single, united faction. In real life, the territory occupied by this faction should be divided in four independant factions (Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli, Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Kingdom of Cyprus). The faction's unit roster contains regional troops based on the various historical Crusader states, though.[[note]]The faction's unification could be justified by balance reasons, as historically accurate Crusader states would be too weak to be durable ingame[[/note]]
* BadassPreacher: Being technically a lord, the Pope ''will'' lead his troops on the battlefield and fight among them. There's also some bishops and archbishops as lords of a few other catholic factions, notably the Teutonic Order.

* KilledOffForReal: An optional option adds a small chance lords (including kings, with an even smaller chance) can be killed on the battlefield; it also allows to start assassination plots against them.

* SupportPartyMember: Initially available companions (recruited in towns) are divided between five classes, each of them starting with points in party skills: pathfinder, trader, monk (medic), engineer, and trainer. You can only hire one of each class.
* TheTheocracy : The Papal States faction, which rules a few territories in central Italy (around Roma and Ancona). The faction ruler is the Pope.

** In 1257, the Latin States have lost many of the territories they owned when they were founded. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded around, well, Jerusalem, which has been definitively lost to the muslims a few decades earlier.

** French and German players may be baffled to notice a town named "Straßburg" belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, located halfway between Vienna and Venice[[note]]a few players wondered if it was supposed to be a mispelled Salzburg (though said town isn't located in this area at all)[[/note]]. It's the historical, original name of Strasbourg, a city nowaday located in French next to the German border, and which was German for a very long time; though the town in the mod is actually a real, yet much more obscure, ''Austrian'' town located in the Alps.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The starting ruler of the Holy Roman Empire is a certain Richard of Cornwall. As surprising as it may seem, Richard of Cornwall is a real person and in real life this Germanic Empire was really led by an English noble at the time.
* ArtisticLicenseGeography: For some reason, "Straßburg"[[note]]Strasbourg. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time[[/note]] is in what is nowaday North-Eastern Italy (next to the Alps), instead of its normal location (in the border area between France and Germany).

* BadassPreacher: Being technically a lord, the Pope ''will'' lead his troops on the battlefield and fight among them.

** The Latin States faction is a single, united faction corresponding to the historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_states Crusader States]]. In real life, the territory occupied by this faction should be divided in four independant factions (Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli, Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Kingdom of Cyprus). The faction's unit roster contains regional troops based on the various historical Crusader states, though.[[note]]The faction's unification could be justified by balance reasons, as historically accurate Crusader states would be too weak to be durable ingame[[/note]]

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Every starting faction ruler and lords, though they can die in ahistorical circumstances and be replaced by randomly generated characters. Players may recognize a few famous names, like [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Louis IX]], Film/AlexanderNevsky, or UsefulNotes/HenryTheThird.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Every starting faction ruler and lords, though they can die in ahistorical circumstances and be replaced by randomly generated characters.