luck is always a issue .
with tien chi you are most luck dependant .
but because of luck 3 you have at least some control .
there are many factors though for which no nation has control . i list some :
-starting location (center,edges...)
-neighbors
-indep province guards
-population of neighbors
-site search ( expect accashic )
-resources of neighbors
-landscape of neighbor provinces ( strat movement for nonflying )
if e.g. ermor starts in the center it is bad for ermor and his neighbors .
ermor will spread his dominion to a larger area than starting in an edgeposition and have more neighbors to deal with .
so more provinces will be corrupted but ermor will have to deal with more attackers early .
if you are dependant on blood randomness can be a pain and a bless .
scenario 1 :
abysia has 5 neighbors :
2 rich 20k+ farmlands
3 poor mountains 5-10k population
so 2 incomegenerating + 3 blood hunt provinces . ideal
scenario 2 :
1 rich farmland but guarded by knights + xbows or special monsters like gargoyles ...
1 5-10k rich mountain
3 0-4k swamps / forests .
1 hard to take province , only 1 adept for blood hunting and 3 rather worthless sites .
so very punishing starting conditions for abysia .
so the only difference is that you have to rely on luck even a bit more with tien chi but you have at least some control by taking luck 3 .
you are only 20-30% more luck dependant than everyone else .
if you look at the opposing scenario : you take or are forced to take misfortune 1-3 .
often you are lucky and get no too bad events in the first 10-15 turns where they harm you most .
but if you get blown up your temple / lab on turn 2 via misfortune event or the plague event which kills 50% population in your capitol you are really handicapped .
edit : lol caine you were faster with the same thoughts although i guess i started writing mine earlier lol
[ July 29, 2004, 13:08: Message edited by: Boron ]