I imagine the duchy lines are being shaped by the land features, more mountainous areas probably culminate in land that is separated. Rather than have duchies with land that would be inaccessible to it the algorithm probably focused on it be cohesive.

I actually like the fact that some of these are so varied.

The same way some of the Counties are going to be heavily populated and others are going to be almost void of population.

And some will also be higher in resources than others.

I see it as a way to pick and chose which one you like vs. all of them being approximately the same.

Variety vs. Homogeneity.

It can also be used as a way to drive the story in various ways.

A comparison would be in the way the various shapes, sizes and populations of the U.S. states effect the nations voting, economics, and such things.

For a simple example, I would look at Montana and Delaware.

Both are States, but they are also very different in size.

So will all these Duchies get the same representation in the Kingdoms government...like in the Senate?

Or will the representation be based on population...like in the House of Reps?

That's just the first thing I could think of, but I'm sure that there are a lot more conflicts/opportunities you could develop based on the disparities.

Start state, not best state. So much change will happen!

At this point as a double county I have set my sights on a tiny two square kilometers - if just avoid all chances of "am disappoint".

Consolation: Luna still has 'A' as a solid backup plan.

Posted By KleinVonKrauler at 09:12 AM - Wed Nov 07 2018

I imagine the duchy lines are being shaped by the land features, more mountainous areas probably culminate in land that is separated. Rather than have duchies with land that would be inaccessible to it the algorithm probably focused on it be cohesive.

That also brings up another good point, that size isn't everything. Sure you may have the largest Duchy in the kingdom but you may have the most unusable space for development or agriculture in the kingdom as well.

Duchy lines in A are even worse in many places.

Frankly, some duchies are going to be better picks than others. Some might have some topology of landscape that makes them that way that we simply can't see.

Bottom line, I don't expect, or want, some "super fair formula" ran to make sure every duchy has equivalent square footage or whatever.

Maybe there are Dukes that want concentrated communities, and having a smaller duchy allows for that? The average duchy is freaking huge. Nothing wrong with wanting to have one that allows for easier collaboration and shorter travel time within...

We also don't know which resources are where. Those small duchies in the mountains may have large underground settlements and rich ore deposits in them. Square kilometer measurements aren't everything.

moved to Luna general as now that we are in R2 map N is only applicable to Luna.

There’s always the sedicim (or wars) you can use to reshape duchy and kingdom lines.

Besides, not all dukes need to be equal.
On top of that, given PCs pick before NPCs and NPCs get the leftovers, the “bad” duchies will be NPC controlled anyway, leaving more real estate for the PCs (however the smallest duchies may not always be the worst)

Also, isn't the king able to "redraw" lines within his own kingdom eventually via "ways", or is that only during Sedecim as well?

wouldn't it be really boring if everything was more or less the same size on every single map?

People keep speculating that something 'good' will balance out tiny Dutchies, such as higher population density or resources.

This is stone-cold wrong, Caspian confirmed that nothing balances small areas, they just have less of everything.

It's quite clear that map generation is being done 'top-down' not bottom-up. They generate the continents first, then subdivide for duchies, then subdivide for counties, then generate the actual vegetation and the like. And lastly settlements get generated based on the available resources in the area. So a tiny county is just going to have fewer settlements of smaller size.

Keep in mind that some of the duchy boundaries are land features such as mountain ranges (these are the biome lines). If you think a duchy is very big there is most likely a break in it with natural features. Also, Snipehunter pointed out the other day that a couple of the maps I believe including N had a line missing for a few of the duchies.

Though at the end of the day not all duchies will be exactly the same and you will have a chance to potentially remedy this during KoE.

I'm sure SBS have this planned for a reason

Posted By Marovec at 11:35 AM - Wed Nov 07 2018

Also, isn't the king able to "redraw" lines within his own kingdom eventually via "ways", or is that only during Sedecim as well?

During sedicim, and not without permission of the dukes involved I think