Pirates, bandits and other outlaws

So I was wondering if there could be some criminals/outlaws in the society stage. The way I could see it work is that they would attack commercial routes, pillaging cities, etc. and that would have an impact on the economy of whatever city-state/kingdom/nation they attacked and they could also induce fear on the population which could make them react with a fight-or-flight response . Just brainstorming some ideas here.

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Of course, there could be criminals though pillaging entire cities is quite excessive for regular bandits. However, attacking commercial routes and pillaging small towns seem way more realistic. If the word spreads to the leaders, it would surely force them to react.

Yeah that’s what I meant.

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This thread reminds me of this video. Check it out! We might actually use something like that for criminal activity.

Huh, that’s pretty thought-provoking. We want the AI in games to be more and more convincing but at the same time we don’t want it to be “too smart” because it will make the game unplayable.

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Exactly, it’s really interesting. However, this behavior would fit someone like scavengers. Perhaps there could also be a “responsibility” stat and those with a very low one would be outlawed and would live outside the big cities and such.

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What about being the criminals? You could play as an organized crime syndicate that has supplanted the state. You’d have all the perks of mundane AI criminals, making you good at creating intrigue within other nations. Over time you’d bring both authorities and rival mobs to heel, culminating in a united criminal underworld with immense political sway on the surface.

Just make sure some random thug doesn’t go and kill a retired assassin’s pet. Then you’re really in for it.

EDIT: Probably strayed off topic there, but I’m guessing playing as a clan of marauders would work the same way, especially after some form of calamity (be it apocalyptic, failed state scenario, or otherwise) where force is the only method of getting a semblance of society back together. Come to think of it, political revolutions could even be argued to be this sort of thing.

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i like that john wick reference.

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I feel like an interesting way of doing bandits, pirates, raiders ect. could be like treating them somewhat similar to spore. That is a popup shows up that either “this route/city has been raided by (some adjective) people. - (this much of) (this resource)”. Or, if it should be a major part of that stage of the game it could be “this route is being raided” and the player can fight back. I personally like the first option better as it solves the problem of Spore Space Stage where your constantly distracted by pirates when you just want to explore the galaxy.

I think it would be cool if Thrive had those cryptic names you hear throughout ancient and classical history like “the Sea People” or “Mountain people”.

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Expanding on this, maybe, depending on how developed you are, you might not even get the message. Because, when we think about it, until the invention of the telegraph, we had to send things by letters with messengers, which could take a very long time. Plus, sometimes, something would happen to the messenger, and the message would never arrive. I think it would be an interesting mechanic to have, that, even with unit presence on the map, you don’t have immediate vision on the area at all times, since you remain in the main city.

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I think, if you on awakening stage will have very good reputation(with other tribes and in your tribe too) , you will be mayor of first city. If you don’t have that reputation, but you have some supporters, you can play like criminal groups.

I initially thought of that but I thought it would be too complex.

What if there were assassins or thugs included?

If criminals will be, I will fear, that they can kill me :scream:

Does this count as necropost? Can I necropost my own threads?

Anyway, about assasins, I guess you could hire them to assasinate an enemy leader and getting rid of potential rivals. But first you would have to train those assasins I guess. And maybe they could also betray you if you mess up one way or another.