Total War: Pharaoh Royal Courts

Overview: Royal Courts

Many factions in Total War: Pharaoh can choose to participate in one of the royal courts. In the original game, there were two (Egyptian and Hittite). In Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties campaigns, there are four royal courts - Aegean, Egyptian, Hittite and Mesopotamian.

Each royal court has a supreme ruler (such as the Pharaoh of Egypt and the Great King of the Hittites) and a number of office holders. You do not need to hold an office to participate in the royal court - you can still take political actions and make requests of office holders. For example, Ramesses does not have an office in the court (at least, he doesn't start with one), but he can use the Gossip action to build Regard with office holders, allowing him to make requests. Making requests provides various advantages, for example it can enable you to recruit elite units in special recruitment, or provide resources (a 'reap the profits of the mines' request to the Viceroy of Kush provides gold).

Most factions can use one political action in a royal court per turn. However, Ramesses can use two political actions per turn, and Amenmesse can spend gold for another action. You don't have to use a political action every turn - if you don't hold a political office, you can ignore the royal court if you want to. (If you hold a political office, ignoring the court may mean that another faction successfully plots against you, which can cause you to lose your office).

If you have an office in a royal court, this provides advantages. For example you may be able to recruit units in special recruitment (Egypt's First Commander can recruit elite Royal units), you may get extra resources (Egypt's Viceroy of Kush has a gold income), or have extra abilities (Egypt's Vizier can assassinate other office holders). Some factions have offices in royal courts at the start of the campaign, such as Amenmesse, who starts as Viceroy of Kush. However, if you have an office, you aren't guaranteed to keep it - another faction might remove your character from office using a plot.

The four royal courts

How to join a royal court

After the first few turns of the campaign, most factions are invited to either join a royal court or to forge your own path. (If your faction already participates in a royal court at the start of the campaign, such as Suppiluliuma who is the Great King of the Hittites, you may not be given this choice). To join a royal court, you need to own at least one region which is a sacred land for that court (the sacred lands are shown on the Path to Power graphic on the right).

Your faction does not have to belong to a culture to participate in their court, for example a Canaanite faction leader can participate in the Egyptian royal court, if they hold an Egyptian sacred land. When you are offered the chance to join a royal court or forge your own path, you don't have to choose immediately - you can wait until you have conquered a region which is a sacred land in the court you want to join.

Intrigues, requests and plots

When your faction is involved with a royal court, you will be able to perform intrigues, make requests and initiate plots. Intrigues enable you to build up Regard with office holders, allowing you to make requests. You may want to look at the requests which are available for each office holder, before deciding who to build up Regard with.

Plots allow you to steal Legitimacy from office holders (a Discredit plot), to acquire a lot of Regard (a Blackmail plot), or even to remove them from office (a Threaten plot), but they are not guaranteed to succeed. The chance of success of a plot depends on your Legitimacy - if you have more Legitimacy than the target faction, your chance of success will be higher. After you start a plot, there will be a period of several turns before the outcome is decideed. During this period, you can take actions which have an effect on your active plo. You can Conspire with another faction - revealing your plot to them, to increase its chance of success. Iff you have Regard with the plot's target, you can select the Undermine intrigue (in the bottom part of the left-hand panel in the court screen) to strengthen your plot.

When a faction plots against you, you will not normally know which faction has done this. Using the Gossip intrigue on office holders may enable yoy to identify the faction which is plotting against you. If you identify the source of the plot, you can spend gold to counter it.

How to avoid participating in a royal court

When you are invited to join a royal court or forge your own path, select the forge your own path option. Most factions only have one forge your own path option - the Path of the Marauder. However, the Sea Peoples - the Sherden and the Peleset - can also choose the Path of the Sea Peoples, which provides benefits to resources, raiding and combat (the benefits vary, depending on your choices, for example if you recruit more horde units or settled units).

How to get an office in a royal court

• Wait for a court position to become vacant and claim it.
• Use a Threaten plot to remove the current officer holder, then claim it.
• Win a civil war, and your faction leader becomes the supreme ruler. To start a civil war, you need three-quarters of the current supreme ruler's Legitimacy. To win it, you'll need a strong military (and a plan for how to use them to win).

Claiming a court position costs gold.

Some offices have additional requirements. In the Mesopotamian royal court, the holders of court positions are kings, and you need to own specific territory to claim a position. For example, the faction leaders of Hanigalbat and Babylon are kings in the Mesopotamian court, and you need to take specific regions to claim those titles if you don't already have them.

How to keep an office in a royal court

When you have a court position, other factions may plot against you (and could remove your position if they succeed). You can counter plots against you, for example by using the gossip action on office holders to identify the plotter, and then using the 'counter intrigue' button. Countering a plot costs gold, so this is easier to manage if you have plentiful supplies of gold.

Strategies for dealing with the royal court

• You can ignore the court, if you want to. If you don't hold a court position, the only downside is that you miss out on advantages such as being able to recruit elite units in special recruitment. If you hold a court position, another faction might remove you from office with a plot, or even assassinate your character.
• You can participate in a court without holding a court position. This is usually cheaper, because you don't need to spend gold to counter plots. You can use the Gossip action to build up Regard with an office holder, so that you can make a request. For example, building up Regard with Egypt's First Commander allows you to request to recruit elite Royal units.
• You can acquire a court position. This has advantages, for example you gain Legitimacy (which is helpful if you want to participate in a civil war), and you may gain resources or be able to recruit units (in special recruitment). However, as an office holder, you are likely to become the target of plots, and countering plots can cost a lot of gold.
• You can become the supreme ruler, by building up your Legitimacy and winning a civil war. Becoming the supreme ruler has advantages, including unique ancillaries or powers. A supreme ruler can acquire vassals, and vassals occasionally provide gifts of resources and units (which can be recruited in a similar way to special recruitment). You can also appoint your generals to offices in your court - however, if there are other factions in your royal court, they can plot against your office holders and might even assassinate them.

Factions which can be particularly effective in a royal court

• Amenmesse, because he has access to plenty of gold mines (and can spend gold to buy more court actions), as well as holding the office of Viceroy of Kush at the start.
• Bay, because he can reveal all active plots, and has the ability to take over a plot begun by another faction.
• Mycenae, because Agamemnon has a royal decree at the start of the campaign which gives him +50% Legitimacy from battles, giving him a fast-track route to begin a civil war and become Wanax (supreme ruler of the Aegean).
• Ramesses, because he gets two court actions per turn.
• Tausret, because she has the ability to turn plots against the factions which started them.
• Troy, because Troy's Gossip action reveals more plots, and using Discourage on a plot can earn gold.

More guides to the royal court system

• Lord Forwind, Court Plotting Guide, this guide shows how court worked before the Dynasties update (and how it works if you play the original Total War: Pharaoh campaign).
• Vileurple, Become a Court Master, this guide shows how the court works after the Dynasties update.