I will say I can't help but feel like Feudalistic and Theocratic are a bit close to "Mwahaha we're so evil!" for their Scholarly and Godless respectively
I can't speak for the others as I haven't seem them, but I feel like Theocratic should have its lower class be, instead of "Godless", but "The Flock" or something of that sort; people who need to be lead by the clergy into holiness rather than just "They are unholy, end of story, abandoned by God;" while Feudalism has a similar tone to its Scholarly class, saying "Oh shall they one day break the chains??" Many scientists of the Age of Vanity were explicitly looking through the lens that science was an extension of divinity, even if the Victorian age was of course a point of rising skepticism.

Just doesn't feel quite right to me, and that it should be a bit more neutral like the rest of the descriptions rather than "The peasants are loathed by a theocracy and the scholars are inevitably going to rebel against one of the other pillars of a feudal state". Perhaps a bit more "Some view science through a godly lens, others are far more skeptic" a tone.

Another suggestion I'd have is perhaps Feudalism be activated by "Monarchy + (Serfdom or Tenet Farmers)" rather than economic and suffrage laws. Would be odd for a Council Republic of Homesteaders be considered Feudal just because it's autocratic in power structure and decentralized in economics. Though I suppose that would clash with Technocratic and Stalinistic, as then Feudalism's triggers could co-exist with their triggers... Hm... Something for someone more knowledgeable than I to think on. It's just odd that it would cause Russia, famously an example of feudalism in severe decay and corruption until its communist revolution, to start as a standard heirarchy.

My last suggestion: Perhaps a Classical Bureaucracy that elevates Bureaucrats and Scholars to Upper Class alongside Nobility and Officers, a la traditional Chinese Bureaucrats, possibly activated via Monarchy + Chinese Culture? Though it would be neat if more countries could adopt it than just Chinese ones... Again, for someone actually working on the mod to think on. This is merely suggestion~

I believe in you, Pflegi~!

Thank you for the suggestions.

Originally posted by GodwinMarcelle:

Just doesn't feel quite right to me, and that it should be a bit more neutral like the rest of the descriptions rather than "The peasants are loathed by a theocracy and the scholars are inevitably going to rebel against one of the other pillars of a feudal state". Perhaps a bit more "Some view science through a godly lens, others are far more skeptic" a tone.

The Godless were initially planned as the layer that does not follow the state religion. But unfortunately I had to realise that it was much more difficult to get the state religion than I had thought, which is why I postponed this until later and added them in a slightly different way instead. But yes, the texts will be revised again. Especially after all the hierarchies really have effects and offer a bit more of a game experience than a representation of the current active laws.

Originally posted by GodwinMarcelle:

Another suggestion I'd have is perhaps Feudalism be activated by "Monarchy + (Serfdom or Tenet Farmers)" rather than economic and suffrage laws.

I'm thinking about this at the moment because I see the feudalism hierarchy as being more controlled by aristocrats + church and not necessarily by a king. E.g. through an aristocratic council, which doesn't necessarily have to have a king as a representative. But, it is true that a Council Republic of Aristocratic Councillors sounds a bit weird.. (or quite realistic?) I like governing forms because you can make almost any combination plausible somehow. But yes, there is definitely room for improvement.

Originally posted by GodwinMarcelle:

My last suggestion: Perhaps a Classical Bureaucracy that elevates Bureaucrats and Scholars to Upper Class alongside Nobility and Officers, a la traditional Chinese Bureaucrats, possibly activated via Monarchy + Chinese Culture? Though it would be neat if more countries could adopt it than just Chinese ones...

A good idea for later. I'm currently revising/adding the mechanics for feudalism and there's the theoretical possibility to add such new types relatively easily. Although you could also say that this is a completely new form, or at least I want to add more hierarchy forms later which are orientated towards the democratic forms of government and are not necessarily autocratic. So e.g. a kind of trade republic as an oligarchy, a bureaucratic oligarchy led by eunuchs could also fit in.

Mm, I can understand the logic behind the Feudal conception, but as someone with a bit of a hyperfixation on the medieval period, I feel confident saying that Feudalism, for the most part, was essentially a ladder of social contracts, with lesser lords swearing fealty to greater lords, giving them final authority over the land in theory and taxes in money, resources, and manpower, in exchange for things like protection and a good degree of autonomy.

And in the same sense of things, the contract between a serf and his direct lord is the same: Taxes and Labour for Protection and other benefits; In times of societal order these benefits took the form of a house, free basic meals, and pay on top for their labours. In times of decay and wickedness it was certainly less... Charitable in practice.

So in a sense, Serfdom and Tenet Farming (which I always viewed as just the idealized form of Serfdom where Serfdom is more a system in decay and in need of reform) are kind of a necessity for it to be Feudalism in the classical sense, as simple contracts between the various classes are a major part of it. Then explicit power granted to the aristocracy via the more autocratic forms of Suffrage (Autocracy, Oligarchy, Landed Voting, maybe Technocracy) would also be a necessity.

That's my thought at least, after some thought. Serfdom or Tenet Farming + One of the four Autocratic Distribution of Power Laws. Sort of splitting the difference between your first thought and my first suggestion >w<

This may be a more radical of a change from how you laid out your idea but I think as an improvement you should make two law groups for Cultural and Political Hierarchies.

Cultural Hierarchies would be the ones to decide who gets to be what kind of pop type and would be covered by Laws such as Egalitarianism, Supremacy or Evangelist

Political Hierarchies would decided which pop types are favored over others and would be covered under Authoritarian, Theocratic, Technocratic, Militaristic, Absolutist etc...

The general idea being that the social hierarchies funnily enough shouldn't be a rigid system. Instead of having overly specific hierarchies such as Stalinist and Communism you should have a pick and choose system that allows the Players to exert meaning onto the politics of their country.

You could have a Militaristic Supremacy for a Fascist State or a Egalitarian Military for a Republic and everything in between with the choice of enacting laws over forcing them. The multitude of laws a player can enact allows for a bevy of choices that can better align with a players choice of play through and allows for a more fluid and dynamic way of playing their part in the Theater of The World.

A second suggestion would be to link these laws in the political movements or even make them their own separate movements. The Absolutist Movement, the movement to preserve or enact Absolute Monarchies, would have a the Absolutist Hierarchy as a law to protect or enact and a new Peasant Hierarchy Movement would want to make it so an Agrarianism Hierarchy is enacted, a hierarchy that would make farmers the dominate social class, as a threat.