Hi guys,
quite a mouthful, isn't it? Let me briefly discuss the HRE rule.
It being:
The Holy Roman Emperor may build in any SC within the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) he controls. Following SCs (marked by a burgundy red circle border) belong to the HRE (hereafter HRESCs): [list:df6f45fdc8] [*:df6f45fdc8]
Bavaria [*:df6f45fdc8]
Brandenburg [*:df6f45fdc8]
Flanders [*:df6f45fdc8]
Holstein [*:df6f45fdc8]
Lorraine [*:df6f45fdc8]
Lower Saxony [*:df6f45fdc8]
Mecklenburg [*:df6f45fdc8]
Prague [*:df6f45fdc8]
Rhineland-Westphalia [*:df6f45fdc8]
Stettin [*:df6f45fdc8]
Saxony [*:df6f45fdc8]
Swabia [*:df6f45fdc8]
Trieste [*:df6f45fdc8]
Vienna [/list:u:df6f45fdc8]
The Great Power owning the most HRESCs is considered the Holy Roman Emperor and enjoys the described building privileges. The title only is transferred whenever one single Great Power other than the present office-holder (initially Austria) has the most HRESCs.
Note there is no true vote, so players may not make their HRESCs count for another power. I considered such an approach, yet ultimately decided that whoever is strongest within the HRE would have been elected by the eight electors and any voting scheme would see the Imperial Crown changing hands way too frequently to make sense in historical terms.
Since actual control (perhaps I should better speak of ownership?) only changes hands in winter adjustment phases, the Imperial Crown can only switch hands during winter.
I might also add that were the incumbent emperor have fewer HRESCs than two or more powers who both match each others HRESC count, the Imperial Crown remains in the hands of the incumbent emperor, hence:
"The title only is transferred whenever one single Great Power other than the present office-holder (initially Austria) has the most HRESCs."
I hope you understood the written rules just as I explained it. Though perhaps I should add these clarifications to the rules so as not to rely overly on people carefully reading the rules and grasping their implications. I trust me being the designer makes me think a rule is clear and obvious, when it might not be so for others.
In any case, should you want to try your hand at a perfect phrasing of this whole rule, I'd appreciate it since I myself am not that good at such things.
I've attached a cropped map of the HRC. As you can see, its SCs have burgundy red borders. Also, you might note that the borders of the HRC are slightly thicker than other "country" borders. Tried out starker ways of highlighting these, but didn't like the overall look and ultimately didn't consider it necessary beyond the pretty subtle visual cue.
Cheers,
Charles
