Imperial Court Actions
Imperial Court Actions covers Imperial Influence — the currency of political power — and the handful of dramatic, high-stakes actions only the Imperial Court itself can carry out: forcing a succession, replacing an advisor, or even overthrowing your own emperor.
Imperial Influence
Imperial Influence (often shortened to IMI) represents the political power and administrative reach of the Imperial Court. It's generated automatically every cycle and spent on diplomatic actions, sending a General for training, and the Court actions described below.
Storage is capped at 100 without further modification, and can never fall below 0.
Generating Imperial Influence
Every empire generates roughly 0.2 IMI per cycle as a baseline, though the exact figure depends entirely on the faction's own empire spirit — see any individual faction page for its specific IMI Generation value. Once stored Influence passes 50, the rate of further generation begins to slowly taper off, down to a hard minimum of 0.01 IMI per cycle no matter how much is already banked.
Several conditions at the Imperial Court itself modify the generation rate further:
| Condition | Effect on Generation |
|---|---|
| Genius Emperor | +5% |
| Genius Heir | +2.5% |
| No Emperor | −50% |
| No Heir | −10% |
| Corrupt Emperor | −6% |
| Disloyal Emperor | −3% |
| Corrupt Heir or Advisor | −3% |
| Dumb as Stone Emperor | −2% |
| Disloyal Heir or Advisor | −1.5% |
| Dumb as Stone Heir or Advisor | −1% |
An empire that loses its Emperor entirely, even briefly, takes an enormous hit to its political influence — a reminder of how much the whole system depends on someone actually sitting the throne. See Leader Traits for the full detail on Genius, Corrupt, Disloyal, and Dumb as Stone.
Imperial Influence Cost Reference
Every action across the game that spends Imperial Influence, gathered in one place:
| Action | IMI Cost | Where Documented |
|---|---|---|
| Send Small Gift | 2 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Equipment Loadout change (after the first free edit) | 2 | Equipment Loadouts |
| Send Large Gift | 5 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Declare Friendship | 10 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Insult | 10 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Open Communications | 10 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Troop Trait change (after the first free selection) | 10 | Equipment Loadouts |
| Train General | 10 | Leader Age and Experience |
| Open Borders | 15 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Offer Peace | 20 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Join Wars | 25 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Gala Dinner | 25 | Below |
| Break Treaty | 25 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Propose Alliance | 30 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Return Cities | 30 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Replace Governor | 30 | Projects |
| Replace Advisor | 30 | Below |
| Declare War | 50 | Diplomatic Actions |
| Overthrow Emperor | 70 | Below |
| Assassinate Heir | 70 | Below |
| Abdicate | 90 | Below |
Costs rise roughly in line with how dramatic and irreversible the action is — a small diplomatic gesture costs a handful of points, while forcing a change of monarch costs nearly the entire storage cap.
Court Actions
These five actions are unique to the Imperial Court itself and appear nowhere else on the wiki.
Abdicate
Forces an orderly succession before the Emperor's natural death, handing the throne to the Heir on the Court's own terms rather than waiting for fate.
Requirements: An Emperor at full health; an Heir aged at least 12 years present in the Court.
Cost: 90 Imperial Influence. Time: 120 cycles (30 days).
Effect: The Emperor's status changes to "Abdicate" for the duration. When the timer completes, the Emperor steps down and the Heir immediately becomes the new Emperor. Empire loyalty falls by 5 — even a peaceful transition of power unsettles a population somewhat.
Overthrow Emperor
A genuinely drastic option: deliberately using a Disloyal advisor already seated at your own Court to seize the throne by force, rather than waiting for a natural succession. It exists as a real tool for a player stuck with a poor Emperor and no other way to change that quickly — but the cost is severe.
Requirements: An Emperor present in the Court; an Advisor carrying the Disloyal trait, at full health, not already attempting this action.
Cost: 70 Imperial Influence. Time: 56 cycles (14 days).
Effect: When the timer completes, the Emperor is eliminated and the Disloyal advisor becomes the new Emperor, restored to full health and carrying a fresh skillset — maxed out in whichever skill matched their old advisor ability (Court, Popularity, or Strategy), if any. Their trait changes to Corrupt. The Heir is eliminated and a new one generated. All remaining Advisors are eliminated and a fresh set generated to fill the Court. Empire loyalty falls by a substantial 15, and every settlement's civil war risk resets to its most volatile state — an overthrow genuinely risks tearing the empire apart in the aftermath, even if it succeeds.
Assassinate Heir
Removes an unwanted Heir without waiting for nature to take its course — useful if a poorly-suited Heir stands next in line and the Court would rather not gamble on a future succession.
Requirements: An Emperor at full health; an Heir present in the Court.
Cost: 70 Imperial Influence. Time: 28 cycles (7 days).
Effect: When the timer completes, the Heir is eliminated. A new Heir is not automatically generated — the throne's line of succession is left genuinely empty until one appears through the normal process. Empire loyalty falls by 5.
Replace Advisor
Removes an underperforming, corrupt, or simply unwanted Advisor and generates a fresh one to take their place at the same Court Slot.
Requirements: The advisor being replaced must be present and at full health.
Cost: 30 Imperial Influence. Time: 56 cycles (14 days).
Effect: The advisor's status changes to "Replace Advisor" for the duration — reducing their effectiveness in the meantime, since the ability bonus of a non-undamaged advisor is lost entirely (see Leaders). When complete, the old advisor is eliminated and a new one generated, automatically taking the final seat in the Court's advisor order. If the outgoing advisor held the Popularity ability or the Genius trait, empire loyalty falls by 5 — losing a genuinely good advisor is felt, even when the replacement might turn out better.
Gala Dinner
A direct, deliberate loyalty booster — throwing the full weight of the Court's hospitality behind a single lavish event.
Requirements: An Emperor at full health; at least one General currently present and training at the capital's military academy (not travelling to or from it).
Cost: 25 Imperial Influence. Time: 28 cycles (7 days).
Effect: The Emperor's status changes to "Gala Dinner" for the duration, returning to full health once complete. Empire loyalty rises by a full 10 — one of the most direct loyalty tools available to a player, at the cost of Imperial Influence and briefly tying up the Emperor's own availability.
