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Deus Vult! - Casus Belli Rules

The Cause for War

Casus Belli translates as: 'The Cause for War.' In many LOTE games, players are free to pick their alliances and enemies at their whim with no tie to actual historical or game events. Deus Vult! seeks to attach more importance on actual game events for conflicts arising during play. At its base, the Casus Belli House Rule imposes a penalty on taking direct military actions against nations with which you have no history of conflict.

Nations will naturally come to conflict with each other. As borders expand, as trade networks grow, as intelligence and assassin groups are cultivated national tensions will rise. Each time another nation aggresses against you in some way (Raiding, Spying, Diplomatic and Military Conflicts over Uncontrolled regions, direct Military Actions) they accrue points. When they accrue enough, you may use a leader action to declare Casus Belli. As long as Casus Belli remains in effect, you do not suffer penalties for taking direct action against your enemy.

Without an official declaration of War, all Leaders attempting Combat Actions in locations fully controlled by other Nations act as if they are Wounded. Wounded effects are twofold:

1) Leader Combat Value is halved.
2) Any leader fate result of wounded instead counts as killed. This means that not only are your leaders far less effective, but they are also far likelier to be killed in action.

Every full turn that you retain Tenuous Control over a location, a check is made against the Resistance Value on a D10. If the number rolled is over the Resistance Value, then the location reverts to Full Control. Note that there are many modifiers to the die roll itself.

Positive Modifiers:
Location is Friendly to the Nation.
Successful Crush Revolt operation targeting the Location.

Negative Modifiers:
Location is a Different Language.
Location is a Different Religion.
Location is Pacified Tributary.
Location is outside the CCR.
Unsuccessful Crush Revolt operation targeting the Location.
Region Contains an Uncontrolled City or Fortress
Region is of a Hostile Terrain
City is in an Uncontrolled Region.

Special Modifiers:
Pacified Locations are always Tenuous.
Secretly Controlled Locations are always Tenuous.
Friendly Regions are always Fully Controlled.

New Actions

Declare Casus Belli
Type: Leader Action
Stat: Diplomacy
Code: WAR
Cost: 5 APs
Requirement: At least 1 Casus Belli point accrued by target nation against your own. Must be taken in the capital. (Or with K leader, if no capital.)

The leader attempts to generate a case for war against one of the nations who has currently accrued Casus Belli points. The more points accrued against your nation, the easier the action is to undertake. Only an impressive diplomat would be able to make the case for a full-scale war with only a point or two of accrual. If successful, the nation has a full Casus Belli against the target starting on the following turn.

When War is declared, this locks the current Casus Points accrued by the target of the War action. If these points are reduced to zero through appeasement, the war status is lost. This means that not only is declaring war with a small number of Casus Points harder to do, but also that such wars are much easier to buy off and end through appeasement.

Revoke Casus Belli
Type: Leader Action
Stat: Diplomacy
Code: REV
Cost: 5 APs
Requirement: Must have an active Casus Belli. Must be taken in the capital. (Or with K leader, if no capital.)

Sometimes war is not the best option. A Nation which finds itself on the losing end of a war, or a war they no longer wish to continue, may wish to revoke the Casus Belli themselves without receiving appeasement. This damages the King's reputation, however, and subjects do not like to follow those who call wars but cannot win or complete them. As such, when this action is successfully used, there is an increased chance of Dynastic Failure when the King dies. Other Royal Lines and Powermongers sense the weakness of the King and their efforts to gain power are emboldened. The better the success level of this action actually, the less strife is increased.

Pay Appeasement
Type: Leader Action
Stat: Diplomacy
Code: PAY
Cost: 5 APs
Requirement: You must have accrued at least one Casus Belli point against another nation through aggressive actions (Or being blamed for such actions.) or be at war.

The leader attempts to undo any national damage your nation has done to another. Included with this action must be some amount of Bribery in the form of the following:

Gold
Agro
Slave NFP
Royal Children as Hostages
Royal Children for Marriage
Control of a City
Control of a Region
Trade Route MSP
Seazone Maps (Rutters)
Relics
Troops

The more that is offered and the better the diplomat, the more the reduction in Casus Belli points against the target nation. If the nation is not actively at war with you, any success will reduce the number of Casus Belli points by some number. If the nation has actively declared Casus Belli via the WAR action on your nation you must reduce the Casus Points to zero before the War status will be removed. A bribe in time saves nine. Note that your actions will be recorded, and appeasement effects will be based on the effect of your original action. Don't expect Seazone Maps to appease an enemy whose capital you sacked and burned.

New Operations

Enhance Casus Belli
Code: ECB
Target: Another Nation
Type: Intelligence
Odds: Medium
Results: This action is used to enhance Casus Points received from another nation. If successful, any actions which produce Casus Points during the turn are likely to produce more than normal, as your agents are quick to condemn, slander and generally run the rumor mill against the offender. A critical failure on the operation actually has a chance of lessening the Casus Points, as people are more likely to believe you made the entire confrontation out of nothing.

Forge Casus Belli
Code: FCB
Target: Another Nation
Type: Intelligence
Odds: Low
Results: This action is used to create a conflict where none existed. You should include some sort of appropriate lie that makes your opponent look bad. Success will indicate your lies are believed, and it will be as if the target undertook nefarious action against you, generating Casus Points that can later be used to declare War. A critical failure may have the opposite affect, as your lies are revealed and your nation ends up generating Casus Points toward the target instead.

Generating Casus Points

Casus Points can be generated in a target nation for undertaking the following actions:

Minor:
Assassination of Lieutenant, Ally and Bishop leaders
Kidnapping of Lieutenant, Ally and Bishop leaders
Diplomacy actions in the same AP against the same uncontrolled location
Stolen Technology
Stolen Gold
Unwanted Missionary work
Trade Embargos

Average:
Raiding controlled regions and cities
Slave Raiding controlled regions and cities
Piracy against controlled cities
Stolen Relics
Combat actions in the same AP against the same uncontrolled location
Assassination of Prince and Heir leaders and Royal Family members
Kidnapping of Prince and Heir leaders and Royal Family members
Military Conversion of occupied regions and cities

Major:
Military Pacification of controlled regions or cities.
Looting occupied regions or cities.
Sacking occupied cities
Burning occupied cities
Regional Genocide against occupied regions or cities
Population Enslavement against occupied regions or cities
Assassination of King or Queen leaders
Kidnapping of King or Queen leaders

Note: A successful CF action that conceals your responsibility will also avoid generating Casus Points unless the Fact is later Revealed. A very successful CF action that blames someone else for the action will accrue the points against the scapegoat instead (Again, until a Reveal Fact proves otherwise).

Major 13th Century Conflicts

Major 12th Century Conflicts