Ruler speculation

[Occasional Sage]

So, we've been told the effects of a Chief Warlord, but what does the King/Tool/Whatever do to bolster the side? How do they level? What special abilities can be brought into play by having an unusual unit inherit the title, like a Caster King?

I'd expect units and city upgrades to be cheaper, though probably not faster as that's done through Turnamancy. Perhaps food and/or Schmucker production increases?

I'm really surprised this hasn't been addressed.

[the_tick_rules]

It'd still be a caster so it's probably a sure bet that they would retain any caster related bonuses they had going on before. You have a point, we don't know what/if bonuses the ruler imparts by being the ruler. The only thing that comes to mind is Jillian said Tool gave the dwagons an artifact and leadership bonus at the mountain pass battle. So the rulers probably give a leadership bonus in some way, even if it's only a stack thing. Unless the leadership was specific to the dwagons and coming from the hammer. Not likely since the hammer was already giving an artifact bonus and the ruler should at least be considered a commander.

[Occasional Sage]

Yeah, I read that as being a general Leadership bonus. He's not providing a bonus ro the units left at GK, for instance.

[Atomic]

Uh... I wanna say it was canonically stated, but Stanley has at least been (heavily) implied to have been a high level Warlord. Since Leadership is based off of level in every example we've seen, there's no reason that Stanley wouldn't have that same (quasi)large Leadership Bonus from when he was a Piker/ (Chief) Warlord.

If Rulers have a separate bonus, it has no foundation in canon.

[the_tick_rules]

Yeah, I read that as being a general Leadership bonus. He's not providing a bonus ro the units left at GK, for instance.

Nope, not that we've heard. He was an infantry unit who became warlord, chief warlord, heir designate, then overlord. I get the feeling every ruler/overlord is considered a commander unit with the leadership special ability and gives a leadership style bonus to their stack at least. If they are considered a warlord or anything else like that we don't know. We know warlords get xp by fighting and casters by fighting and doing magic, maybe rulers get xp and level by making ruler decisions? Maybe, but unverified.

[Sojiko]

Maybe the only thing that makes a ruler good or bad is its ability to take decisions, since their will is pretty much absolute.

[Swodaems]

I would just like to say that nothing we've seen so far makes it impossible for a ruler to name himself Chief Warlord or Chief Caster and grant their side the relevent bonuses. Naming a unit other than yourself may just allow you to be less of a target and allows for you to maximize your side's bonus.

[the_tick_rules]

Is chief caster even an actual formal position or is that just a honorary thing? Yeah we have no idea if a ruler can also be Chief warlord. Given we haven't seen it yet it might be against erf rules, but that's just a maybe.

[Saladman]

Chief caster is a formal position in that Erfworlders seem to take it seriously for rank and chain of command, but it differs from Chief Warlord in being definitional -just the highest level caster on a side- rather than appointed, and doesn't confer any bonus like Chief Warlord does. That indirectly supports the idea that Rulers are similar - the benefit of being a ruler is you're the booping ruler, and we haven't seen any hint of global bonuses because there aren't any global bonuses.

And to the original post, I don't think you can have an unusual unit become King. An unusual unit can become Overlord (such as Charlie for one, who is probably a caster if not an actual intelligent free-willed Arkentool), but Erfworlders themselves are very conscious of the difference, presumably by reason of experience. The only known way to get a Royal ruler is by succession or spinning off of a royal, heir warlord. I'm guessing a caster Overlord has no special bonus either, but still, being an Overlord and also say a Thinkamancer or Mathamancer or several others is probably its own reward.

Slately and Don aren't very impressive, but some number of other Royals must have come to the throne after leveling. Imagine pre-Decrypted Ansom or Ossomer as ruler, they'd be much more formidable personally than Slately, more comparable to Jillian even if they did play it safe and traditional by staying home thereafter. Even without a global bonus, there's still a benefit to being a royal side in that your royals start with better stats and level faster, making them harder to take out. And possibly a high level ruler could appoint himself Chief Warlord for the global bonus, though it sounds like traditional Erfworlders just wouldn't.

[Swodaems]

Is chief caster even an actual formal position or is that just a honorary thing? Yeah we have no idea if a ruler can also be Chief warlord. Given we haven't seen it yet it might be against erf rules, but that's just a maybe.

I'm pretty sure Chief caster is a formal position that gives bonuses to the side based on who holds it, but their is some confusion on the matter. The confusion seems to stem from the fact that Erfworlders will refer to their Chief caster as their Chief <disipline based title>.

Here is a description of Wanda's bonuses to decrypted units. Her bonus is shown to apply to all decrypted units on her side. (However, I feel it that her side wide bonus should be a +2 instead of a +1. That would make the both the Chief Warlord and Chief Caster bonuses describable as x to applicable units in stack, x/2 to units in hex, and x/4 to units in side. (Rounded to nearest whole number of course.))

While the bonus could still be an aspect of her status as a caster, I feel that her title of Chief caster plays a role in the matter. Feel free to disagree with me on the matter however.

[the_tick_rules]

I can't disagree. I think you're both probably right. But with no canon verification I guess what I'm trying to say is it's just probably true. Only thing I see I don't quite agree with is the unusual unit thing. An overlord is just a nonroyal ruler, otherwise they are the same thing. Though I do agree in the sense I doubt very much a dwagon, gwiffon, etc. could ever be a ruler of either kind no matter what you do. If a CW can't keep his full bonuses if they become a ruler I guess it depends on what you're looking for if you'd want an uber warlord as a ruler, his possibly smarter policy or overwhelming power. Personally I think a ruler can't also be a CW. the CW listed bonuses are position based, not unit based. Like when ansom was just a level 10 warlord just after being decrypted he lost the CW bonus set, if a CW becomes ruler he gets what they got going on, whatever that is.