The Order is an organization within the Church of Rome. Among its members there is a solid brotherhood relationship.
The most important organ of the Order is the Council. The Grand Master and six councillors belong to it. The Grand Master is the most important office: he indicates the salary of the councillors, decides the attitude towards the Pope and modifies the internal laws. The office is for life and is appointed by both the members of the Order and the Council (the votes of the councillors are worth more).
The councillor is appointed directly by the Grand Master. Only one can be elected for each Papal state. Again the charge is for life.
The Pope can take action regarding the Order: he chooses the budget to be allocated each year and decides whether its members can hold office in Rome.
Trailer Release
Hi guys,
Finally, we released the game trailer. You can find it in Storepage.
We hope you'll appreciate it.
Update Game Development #05: Families & Schools
Families
Families are a central aspect of the game. Members of the same family help each other and, of course, like each other. This ensures that a relative will be privileged when it comes to holding an important office, appointing a Bishop or a Cardinal. In Just Power: The Papal States there are about 25 families that are divided into two factions: Nobles and Commoners. Every family has a prestige score that can be asserted to gain more power. Prestige depends on the following variables:
Cardinal member
Pope member
Bishop member
Wealth
Holy Office President member
Nuncio member
Graduated member
Each family has its own opinion of the Pope. This opinion influences the opinions of individual members towards the Pope. The more the concessions and favours of the Pope, the greater will be the opinion.
TOPIC LAW Law on the appointment of relatives: If active it will not be possible for a Bishop or for the Pope to appoint a relative in any office.
Schools
If your family doesn’t guarantee good prospects, going to university could be very rewarding. Going to university increases the level of learning. Although it is not the only parameter taken into consideration, erudition is important when it comes to appointing a Cardinal or an important position. There are three universities and a high school:
University of Bologna
University of Padua
University of Paris
School for priests (it just increases your learning score; doesn't give you any degree)
TOPIC LAW Law on the minimum degree for Cardinalate: if active, to access the College of cardinals will require a degree.
Update Game Development #04: Foreign Countries
Every king needs to deal with the relationships with other countries at his best. Especially the Pope, who is admired by so many faithful people abroad. In addition to Papal States, in the game there are also the following states:
Holy Roman Empire
Kingdom of Spain
Kingdom of France
Kingdom of Portugal
Kingdom of England
Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Naples
Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Savoy
Republic of Venice
Republic of Florence
Republic of Genoa
Republic of Siena
Swiss Republic
BISHOPS AND CARDINALS The jurisdiction over investiture has been a battleground between the Pope and foreign rulers for a long time. In the game you will be called to stand up for the Pope's right to appoint foreign bishops. On the other hand, it will always be up to the Pope to appoint cardinals. But be careful: every foreign country wants to be equally represented in the College of cardinals. Breaking this tradition could limit the influence of the Roman Church.
NUNCIATURES The Pope has eyes and ears even in the farthest court. The apostolic nuncio is the direct representative of the Papacy. He takes on two fundamental tasks: managing foreign affairs and persecuting heretics. The outcome of their job will depend on the budget allocated to the nunciature.
PAPAL AUTHORITY The influence of the Roman Church in a certain foreign country is rappresented by the Papal Authority in that country. This indicator depends on the number of heretics in the state and the level of corruption of the Church. The lower the authority, the higher the probability that the king will provoke a schism, reducing the papal influence. However, the Pope can bribe kings, making a deal with them. When a deal is made, the increment in Papal Authority is fixed, but the amount of money agreed upon is not. The amount the Papacy has to give to the sovereign is decided by the negotiations between the ruler and the nuncio. So: the Pope starts the negotiations, the nuncio carries them on. The lower the authority of the Pope, the higher will be the sum to be given to the king. The deal is negotiated in up to three moves per side. If the nuncio's offers are too low, the sovreign could get angry and give the "donation" up. Vice versa, if the offer is very high, the king can accept immediately, avoiding to use the remaining moves. Once the negotiation is over, the nuncio has to let the Pope know the amount agreed upon. He doesn't have to report the exact sum of money. Indeed the nuncio can declare an higher one: the difference will accrue to the nuncio, who will be committing the crime of embezzlement.
Update Game Development #03: Justice & Trials
Hi guys, finally we have completed Trials & Justice Management section.
Blackmail and infamy are your best weapon. There are several ways to eliminate those who stand in your way: Reporting is the safest method.
Erring is human, in the corrupt world you're about to plunge into, it's going to be easy to break a law and commit a crime. The crimes you can commit to accomplish your objectives are:
Murder
Attemped Murder
Bribery
Embezzlement
Simony
Extortion
Treason
Bankruptcy [SOON]
Abuse of office [SOON]
The lenght of the sentence is set out in law.
To report someone, you need proof. The difficulty with which you will find them will depend on your position in the state hierarchy. The higher your rank, the easier it will be to frame your enemies. You will be able to discover the crimes committed by others through:
Congregation for the Religous Rectitude [Inquisition]
Private investigator
Papal Embassy (Just in the relative host country)
The trial to be faced by the inquisitor will depend on the type of crime he has committed. There are two types of processes that are triggered as a result of the type of crime:
Normal Trial: Judgment is in the hands of the Tribunal. With the action "Report", one person deposits evidence against another. A trial is organized and will begin in 12 months. In this time frame, any person who has evidence against the defendant will be able to file it. The more evidence is deposited, the more likely it is to get at least one conviction.
Heresy Trial: If evidence of heresy is found, the members of the Congregation for the Religous Rectitude will judge the inquisition, putting it to a vote. The probability that the Congregation will find evidence increases as the budget for the Congregation increases.
If you are convicted you go to prison for the time of sentencing and you can not do any kind of action. The Pope can forgive a condemned man, but it will bring him an malus.
ADD TO WISHLIST and let us know what you think!
NORMAL TRIAL
HERESY TRIAL
Update Game Development #02: State Management
Hi guys, finally we have completed State Management section.
Each person lives in a Bishopric (State) and can hold any office or position available. Each Bishopric has the following characteristics:
Offices: give a wage and a learning bonus to the holder
Institutions: have budget that is distributed among councillors. The are some Special Institutions, as Holy Office, that, through councillors, carry out actions.
Social and economic indicators: Bishops can invest in Welfare, Security and Infrastructures. These parameters affect happiness and economy.
Laws:
Regional Law: affects just some aspects of the state
National Law: affect every person in Papal States. This type of law is proposed by the Pope and adopted by College of Cardinals.
Bishops manage every of this characteristics as they want. The player can be a Bishop. Pope, in a certain way, manage the other Bishoprics too. (es. Appoint Bishops, Nationa Income Tax, Subsidies,...)
ADD TO WISHLIST and let us know what you think!
Update Game Development #01
The game development is going on! We have finally completed an important part of the game: the Conclave.
What's Papal Conclave?
A papal conclave is convened when the Pope dies. Conclave is a gathering of the College of cardinals with the function of electing the next bishop of Rome. Ubi Periculum Law defines the rules that cardinals have to follow during the election in order to choose the new Pope: - 2/3 majority - only attending cardinals can vote and be elected - the vote is secret
Ballot is repeated until a cardinal outweighs the quorum.
How Conclave works in Just Power: The Papal States
In Just Power: The Papal States, the Conclave works this way: Before the ballot, cardinals can corrupt, blackmail and make promises to other electors in order to ensure their vote. After the ballot, two things can happen: 1) a cardinal has reached the quorum and becomes the new Pope 2) nobody has outweighted 2/3 majority, so there is gonna be a new ballot. At every round of voting, the cardinals who get the fewer votes withdraw from the race, letting the top cardinals try to get the throne.
At some point, it can happen that nobody is able to become Pope and the remaining voters have obtained the same amount of votes. In this case remaining cardinals choose a compromise Pope. In return, the new Pope will guarantee top positions to his electors. The human player can be either a decision-maker cardinal or the compromise candidate.
Here some images from the game:
STORE PAGE RELEASED
Hi guys,
the store page has been finally released. Just Power: The Papal States is a turn-based political simulator set in Renaissance. The goal is climb the hierarchies of the Papal States by any means necessary and ensure that your family will control the Church and his institutions over the centuries. When your character die, you will go on in the game with a family member; and so on until you get tired. There is no a specific ending. The game will be released on 30th September 2022.
I hope you find the game interesting. If it's so, ADD THE GAME TO YOUR WISHLIST!
If you want to ask anything about the game or make any suggestions, feel free to leave it on the Discussion steamcommunity page.
