Opinion
Status: Draft. Live in the sandbox campaign. Every number on this page is TEMP: they are first guesses that are still being tuned.
Opinion is what one person thinks of another, on a scale from −100 to +100. It's always one person about one person: your capo about your boss, a rival boss about your boss. It decides whether your own men stay happy, whether a rival boss sits down with you and how likely he is to say yes. The number is never hidden: hover it and you see every line that makes it up.
How you use it
- Open anyone's character card. It shows what he thinks of your boss as a word and a number, coloured red, grey or green.
- Hover the number for the breakdown: one line per reason, with its value. A pair with nothing between them reads "No history between them."
- Move it with what you do. Sending a gift, letting a prisoner walk and keeping a deal all help. Taking a man's town, hiring his men away and breaking your word all hurt.
- Watch your own people. A crowded roster sours everyone in it, and capos who dislike you start talking among themselves.
How it works
The words
| Opinion | Word | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Below −60 | Hostile | Red |
| −60 to below −20 | Cold | Red |
| −20 to below +20 | Neutral | Grey |
| +20 to below +60 | Warm | Green |
| +60 and up | Loyal | Green |
What adds up
Opinion isn't stored as one number. It's worked out fresh each time from these parts, then held to −100…+100.
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| His nature | Some traits make a man more or less loyal to anyone he serves |
| Boss standing | Toward a boss: where the boss's own standing puts him, plus extra loyalty from his own men |
| Crowded roster | Every member of an outfit that's over its roster thinks less of the boss, for each head over |
| Too many vassals | A vassal boss thinks less of his protector for each vassal held over the protector's limit |
| Your face | A disfigured man is thought less of by everyone |
| Personality | Two people who share a trait like each other more; opposite traits like each other less |
| Things done | Lines added by events and deeds. Most fade to nothing over their time; some never fade |
Personality, the crowded roster and the vassal limit are always read from how things stand right now. Fix the roster and the penalty is gone at once.
Memories
The biggest "things done" lines are memories: a named line that one person keeps about another, like "Took town from him" or "Let name walk". Memories come in five kinds: blood, money, honour, family and betrayal. A pair keeps one line per kind. A second memory of the same kind adds its value to that line, and the strongest memory names it.
Bosses remember for their whole outfit. When your outfit wrongs his, the boss of his outfit remembers it against your boss.
| Memory (examples) | Opinion | Fades over |
|---|---|---|
| Shook hands on a deal | +10 | 365 days |
| Let his man walk | +15 | 365 days |
| Squared things with him | +15 | 540 days |
| Came when he called | +20 | 730 days |
| Moved in next door | −5 | 180 days |
| Jumped his crew | −10 | 240 days |
| Took his man off his payroll | −15 | 365 days |
| Turned down his demand | −15 | 365 days |
| Took his town | −25 | 540 days |
| Broke a deal with him | −40 | 1,095 days |
| Broke an alliance with him | −60 | 1,460 days |
| Stayed home when he called | −70 | 1,460 days |
| Had his man killed | −40 | Never |
Some memories are wrongs (taking his town, jumping his crew, refusing his demand). Wrongs are what beef is made of: a boss who holds enough wrongs against you has a reason to go to war with you. See Diplomacy & gifts.
Who he is changes how he remembers
| Trait | Effect on memories |
|---|---|
| Wrath | Wrongs weigh more and fade slower |
| Patience | Wrongs fade faster |
| Kindness | Kind deeds count double |
Where opinion matters
| Where | What it does |
|---|---|
| A deal at the sit-down | Half of what their boss thinks of yours goes straight into the yes |
| An invite to sit down | A boss who is hostile, has bad blood with you or is at war with you won't come |
| Your own capos | Below −15 they start talking about breaking off as their own outfit under you; at −40 or worse they want out |
Numbers (all TEMP)
| Number | Value | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Opinion range | −100 to +100 | opinion system |
| Word bands | −60 / −20 / +20 / +60 | opinion system |
| Crowded roster | −15 per head over | settlement_economy.roster_over_opinion |
| Vassals over the limit | −10 per vassal over | diplomacy_m2.over_cap_opinion |
| Shared / opposite trait | +10 / −10 | personality_same_trait_opinion, personality_opposite_trait_opinion |
| Memory values and fade times | See the table above | memories data |
| Capos start talking (vassal) | −15 | diplomacy_m2.faction_join_opinion |
| Capos want out | −40 | diplomacy_m2.faction_leave_opinion |
See also
- Characters: traits and the character card
- Succession: how a new boss is received
- Diplomacy & gifts: beef, gifts and deals
- Outfit & seats: the roster limit
- Mechanics
Locked vs leftover
| Locked (document this) | Leftover / do not claim |
|---|---|
| Opinion is worked out from parts, with a full breakdown on hover | One stored loyalty number |
| Memories: one line per kind per pair, wrongs make beef | Separate grudge and favour meters |
| Crowded roster and vassal limit are read live | A penalty that lingers after the roster is fixed |
| Five words: hostile, cold, neutral, warm, loyal | Older ±25 bands |
| Friend and rival ties are paused in the sandbox | Ties forming from opinion as a live sandbox feature |
Sources
src/systems/opinion.gd, src/systems/diplomacy.gd, data/memories.json, data/traits.json, data/config.json (settlement_economy, diplomacy_m2, opinion keys), data/campaigns/sandbox.json