Education (Conclave)

For the vanilla education system, see Education.

If the Conclave DLC is active, the education system occurs in three stages:

1. From ages 6 to 11, the child's education is determined by a childhood focus, which cannot be changed once set. The chosen focus determines which childhood traits the child is likely to receive;
2. From the age of 12 to 15, the child becomes an adolescent and may be given an education focus, which also cannot be changed once set. This focus determines which class of education trait the adolescent will be able to receive upon reaching adulthood. During this period, childhood traits will also evolve into "adult" traits;
3. At age 16, an education level is earned, based on compatibility between their childhood traits and the chosen education focus type, the child's diligence, and the child's intelligence.

Children of all ages have an educator. If no guardian has been assigned, the child's educator will be their parent (if in the same court), regent (if playable), captor (if a prisoner), or employer. A player may appoint a standard Court Tutor who teaches every child in court, unless a specific guardian is chosen for a child.

The player will receive an alert when a young child is without a childhood focus and when an adolescent is without an education focus.

Base attributes

With the Conclave DLC, children grow their base attributes with genetic influences from their parents. Only the base stats of the parents are considered.

Childhood focus

Setting a childhood focus determines which childhood traits a child is most likely to earn. In turn, these childhood traits evolve into adult traits during adolescence (or when becoming an adult). Childhood traits can also help or hinder an education focused on certain attributes, encouraging respectively higher or lower levels of the associated education trait. Achieving the highest levels of education traits therefore requires paying close attention to which childhood traits a character has when determining their education focus.

A childhood focus can be assigned at any time before the child turns 12, but has no effect until age 6. Once assigned, it cannot be changed, except through special interactions that change the child's focus to Heritage or Faith.

	Focus	Likely childhood traits	Notes
	Etiquette	Playful , Indolent	Not the best choice, as Indolent can hinder any education by turning into Slothful
	Humility	Timid , Affectionate	A fair choice for a Diplomatic education focus, although Timid can become Shy
	Pride	Haughty , Brooding	Generally a bad choice, as Haughty hinders the education focus that Brooding helps toward Stewardship education
	Struggle	Rowdy , Willful	A decent choice but perhaps too risky for a non-elective heir. Should be chosen if child is to receive a Martial education
	Duty	Conscientious	Generally a good choice with only positive personality traits and a high chance of Diligent . Should be chosen if child is to receive Stewardship education focus
	Thrift	Curious , Fussy	Generally a good choice with multiple ways to improve any education outcome. Should be chosen if child is to receive Diplomacy or Intrigue education focus (if both likely childhood traits are attained).
	Faith	Idolizer	Child may adopt the educator's religion. Should be chosen if child is to receive a Learning education
	Heritage	None	Child may adopt the educator's culture and/or religion

Culture and religion

A child with the Faith focus will adopt their educator's religion, while a child with the Heritage focus (or under house arrest) will adopt both their educator's culture and religion. Children get up to three chances to convert: 50% after age 6, 66% after age 8, and 100% after age 10.

Generally, switching a child to Heritage at age 9 is sufficient to convert both religion and culture. However, it may be worth using Heritage earlier because:

• Educator death (or change of educator) can make the child miss a conversion chance
• Nomads' children and siblings can slip through (except with Faith)
• The child might become an indirect vassal ruler, preventing your from changing their focus
• You might forget to change the child's focus at age 9
• You need only culture to be converted, after the conversion you can switch to the Faith focus and change an educator of your target religion

If the child or educator is a player, they may decide against the conversion.

It is possible to change a child's focus to or via a targeted decision. This action is available for your prisoners, direct vassals, and all non-rulers educated in your court. The child must be younger than 10, and their educator must have a different culture or religion.

Childhood traits

Childhood traits evolve semi-randomly into adult traits during adolescence. In most cases, the new traits are personality traits. A childhood trait will never naturally evolve into a personality trait the child already has, nor into a personality trait that's the opposite of one which the child already has.

Each childhood trait has two to five traits it can mature into naturally, and one additional trait that it can only mature into with educator intervention.

Two notable non-personality outcomes are increased intelligence (from becoming Curious ) or decreased intelligence (from becoming Rowdy ). These events normally add non-congenital traits (such as Shrewd or Dull ). However, an opposite trait, such as Slow , can be reduced or removed, despite being genetic.

		Focus	Helps	Hinders	Natural Adult Traits	Educator Intervention Trait	Notes
	Indolent	Etiquette			Charitable , Slothful , Gluttonous , Sturdy , Groomed	Gregarious	May be acquired by Imprisoned children
	Playful	Etiquette			Gregarious , Deceitful , Lunatic	Cruel
	Affectionate	Humility			Kind , Content , Trusting	Charitable	May be acquired by Imprisoned children
	Timid	Humility			Humble , Shy , Craven	Content	Opposite to Rowdy . May be acquired by Imprisoned children
	Brooding	Pride			Just , Wroth , Envious , Uncouth	Temperate	May be acquired by Imprisoned children
	Haughty	Pride			Proud , Cruel , Arbitrary , Groomed	Ambitious
	Rowdy	Struggle			Brawny , Honest , Dull . Uncouth	Brave	May reduce Genius to Quick or remove Quick . Opposite to Timid
	Willful	Struggle			Ambitious , Brave , Stubborn	Proud
	Conscientious	Duty			Diligent , Temperate	Just	20% chance child also becomes Stressed upon trait evolution (unless a Just educator attempts to intervene)
	Curious	Thrift			Cynical , Shrewd	Patient	May reduce Imbecile to Slow or remove Slow . May instead evolve into sympathy for guardian's, friend's, sibling's or local religious groups if the child is not already sympathetic or Cynical . Cannot be obtained by children who are Genius
	Fussy	Thrift			Patient , Greedy , Paranoid	Diligent
	Idolizer	Faith			Zealous , Erudite , Frail	Kind	Cannot be obtained by children who are Genius

Educator influence on natural trait evolution

An educator with a matching personality trait makes that natural outcome more likely. For example, Conscientious normally has an equal chance of becoming Diligent or Temperate , but with a Diligent educator, the outcome is more likely to be Diligent.

For non-personality outcomes, the educator influences are as follows:

• When Groomed is possible, a Proud educator increases the chance
• When Uncouth is possible, a Shy educator increases the chance
• When Sturdy is possible, an educator who is Gluttonous , Sturdy or Fat increases the chance
• When the child might become less intelligent, an educator who is Slow or Imbecile increases the chance

Educators cannot influence whether Curious becomes Cynical or Shrewd .

Educator override to intervention trait

Educators possessing the matching intervention trait can attempt to guide the child a copy of their trait instead. For example, the intervention trait for Fussy is Diligent , so Diligent educators may cause Fussy children to become Diligent (instead of Patient, Greedy, or Paranoid). Interventions can even override the opposite personality trait.

If both the child and the educator are AI-controlled, there's a 25% chance of the child getting a copy of the educator's trait instead of one of the natural adult traits. If the player is the educator (or child), the natural evolution will be shown, and the chance is bumped to 50% if the player chooses to intervene (or accept).

Education focus

At the age of 12, the child becomes an adolescent, loses their childhood focus, and may be assigned a specific attribute on which to focus their education. This gives the child a +1 bonus to that attribute and ensures that the education trait acquired at adulthood is one associated with that attribute.

The likelihood of a high-level education trait is increased by:

• Compatible childhood traits (including childhood traits that have already evolved)
• Child is Diligent
• Child is Smart

And decreased by:

• Incompatible childhood traits
• Child is Slothful
• Child is Incapable , Imbecile , or Inbred (always level 1)
• Child became imprisoned during adolescence

	Focus	Good Childhood Traits	Bad Childhood Traits
	Diplomacy	Affectionate or Curious	Willful or Fussy
	Martial	Rowdy or Willful	Idolizer or Timid
	Stewardship	Brooding or Conscientious	Indolent or Haughty
	Intrigue	Playful or Fussy	Affectionate or Rowdy
	Learning	Timid or Idolizer	Brooding or Playful

The following table shows probability of different outcomes depending on number of compatible and incompatible childhood traits. First number shows base chance, second one shows chance while being Diligent or Smart , third shows chance while having both Diligent and being Smart . It should be noted that chances are rounded to nearest integer and may not add up to 100% (also, 0% actually means "less than 0.5%").

Number of Traits	Chance of level 1 Education	Chance of level 2 Education	Chance of level 3 Education	Chance of level 4 Education
0 good, 0 bad	18% / 7% / 2%	36% / 28% / 17%	27% / 31% / 28%	18% / 34% / 53%
0 good, 1 bad	30% / 13% / 5%	40% / 36% / 25%	21% / 28% / 30%	10% / 22% / 40%
0 good, 2 bad	58% / 39% / 21%	35% / 46% / 50%	6% / 13% / 21%	1% / 3% / 8%
1 good, 0 bad	7% / 2% / 1%	27% / 17% / 9%	40% / 38% / 32%	27% / 43% / 58%
1 good, 1 bad	13% / 9% / 3%	34% / 24% / 15%	36% / 38% / 35%	17% / 30% / 47%
1 good, 2 bad	37% / 33% / 16%	44% / 40% / 39%	16% / 22% / 32%	2% / 5% / 12%
2 good, 0 bad	0% / 0% / 0%	9% / 5% / 3%	54% / 45% / 34%	36% / 50% / 63%
2 good, 1 bad	1% / 0% / 0%	14% / 8% / 4%	58% / 51% / 41%	28% / 41% / 54%
2 good, 2 bad	3% / 1% / 0%	36% / 27% / 18%	53% / 59% / 59%	7% / 13% / 22%

Educator skill influence

Skilled educators have an opportunity to guide the child in a way related to their area of expertise. This event always fires when a child is about 14.5 years old. (This is separate from the events to intervene in childhood trait evolution based on educator's traits.)

Each option has a cost that must be paid by the educator, and a effect for the child. Doing nothing is also an option.

AI educators are more likely to choose an influence option if they have a strong interest in the child: If the child is their heir or offspring, or to a lesser extent if the educator is either Kind , Charitable , or Diligent . AI educators are also more likely to choose an influence option that would give the child a trait they share.

	Educator Skill	Trait for Child	Cost Paid by Educator	Notes
	12+ diplomacy only	Honest	Educator: 5 years Too Honest (-10 general opinion)	Special requirement: Educator cannot be Trusting
		Gregarious	Educator: 5 years Chattermouth (-3 diplomacy, -10 vassal opinion)
	12+ martial only	Brave	Educator becomes Stressed
		Wroth	Educator loses Kind or gains Cruel
	12+ stewardship only	Just	Educator will owe child a favor
		Temperate	Minor opinion penalty from child
	12+ intrigue only	Deceitful	Educator loses Trusting or gains Paranoid	Paranoid may be good for your spymaster; the hit to ai_honor is minor. Paranoid is good for players; just ignore all plot rumors
		Cynical	Educator: 5 years Impious Teachings (-15 church opinion)	May be useful for ensuring that Curious evolves to Shrewd
	12+ learning only	Erudite	Educator gains Stubborn
		Chaste	Minor opinion penalty from child
	Two or more 12+ skills	Ambitious	Educator and child become rivals	Safe for child if educator is Honest , Kind , or Just (see AI murder plots)
		Diligent	Educator becomes Stressed
		Patient	Educator: 5 years Out of Patience (-2 all skills except martial)

Strategies

These are some strategies for stimulating good educational tutoring:

• Delay picking an education focus until age 15. At that age, the the child's got their full mix of base stats and adult traits; check their childhood traits for compatibility, and do not forget to pick an education before age 16!
• Prevent bad finisher traits. Be aware of potential adult traits from each childhood trait, especially those which can spawn negative adult traits.

Choosing a childhood focus

• Choose the Thrift focus usually. The Curious trait can lead to improved intelligence, while Fussy can lead to Patient and with the educator's intervention, Diligent . Both increase intelligence and Diligent improves all stats and increases the chance of a successful education. Furthermore, none of the other potential adult traits are bad, that is, Curious gives Cynical child, while Fussy turns into Greedy or Paranoid )
  • However, the Thrift focus presents some weaknesses:
    • First, it has little draw for diplomatic training, especially since Fussy hinders diplomacy education. If the child becomes Curious first, consider moving them to Heritage focus so they are less likely to become Fussy .
    • Secondly, Genius characters cannot obtain Curious ; consider picking the Duty focus for these characters.
• Choose Humility focus for vassals. Affectionate and Timid can both lead to Content ; It should be noted that turning Timid into Content requires guardian's intervention
• Avoid Pride focus . The potential adult traits from this focus are almost always bad; furthermore, Haughty does not help in any education, and hinders stewardship education, which clashes with Brooding - the other childhood trait from Pride focus
• Avoid Etiquette focus as well. If Indolent evolves to Slothful , the child's education will be badly affected; Indolent also does not help in any education, and hinders stewardship education
• Conscientious is a double-edged sword. The potential adult traits are all desirable, and this trait helps with stewardship education; on the other hand, there is a chance of getting Stressed
• Aim for traits the player can intervene on. Educating a child directly can be very powerful, particularly if the player is able to intervene (or chooses not to) to give them better traits; even the Pride focus is a palatable choice if the player character is both Ambitious and Temperate .

Choosing a guardian

• Assign guardians who can intervene positively in trait evolution. (Child's Trait -> Guardian's Trait (= Teen's Intended Trait))
  • The following evolutions are almost always better than the natural paths:
    • Fussy -> Diligent
    • Haughty -> Ambitious
    • Idolizer -> Kind
    • Indolent -> Gregarious
    • Rowdy -> Brave .
  • The following interventions are better in limited situations:
    • Affectionate -> Charitable : A good intervention for future chancellors
    • Brooding -> Temperate : An option for future vassals or stewards
    • Conscientious -> Just : Another good intervention for future vassals or stewards
    • Curious -> Patient : An option for future commanders, or for children who are already Quick
    • Timid -> Content : An intervention for future vassals, especially junior heirs under Gavelkind succession.
• Whenever possible, switch guardians for their positive intervention traits. If the guardian does not have all the positive intervention traits which match the ward's childhood traits, the player should look for another guardian if trait intervention does not occur; on the other hand, beware the "Lost ward" penalty opinion
• Choose skilled guardians. This strategy is important for their influence in late adolescence. As for an heir's education to a large realm, possible choices are probably:
  • Guardian possessing multiple 12+ attribute skills, for there is a 25% chance the adolescent getting either Ambitious , Diligent , or Patient
    • If guardian and ward become rivals to each other, the player should ensure they will not try to murder each other or at least will not succeed.
  • Guardian possessing 12+ martial skill who is also Cruel , thus cannot intervene by choosing the inferior Wroth option (50% Brave ).
• Consider tutoring teenagers. If the player would have a chance to intervene positively:
  • For intervention in trait maturation, you can see the child's natural direction before choosing whether to intervene. For example, if you're Brave , educate Rowdy children, so you can choose to intervene if a child is becoming Dull but not intervene if the child is becoming Brawny . This is much better than letting the AI decide.
  • For skill influence, you can choose which trait the child gets, but you must pay the associated cost. Depending on which skill(s) you are 12+, there can be good options available.

Matching childhood focus to education

• For a character whom the player intends to have Martial education, choose the Struggle focus
• For a character whom the player intends to have Learning education, choose the Faith focus . This strategy is more important if the player character's religion requires a court chaplain (or equivalent) to have a Learning education trait.

Harming intentionally a rival guardian

• Depending on an adult's skills and traits, sending them a few 14-year-old wards may harm them significantly.

Lifelong learning with Way of Life

Upon reaching adulthood, a player character's learning does not stop there! If the Way of Life DLC is active, the player will be able to focus on areas which their character is lacking in, or attempt to earn traits which cancel the undesirable ones acquired from childhood.

Further reading

• Visual summary of how Conclave's Education system works
• Comprehensive guide to education in Conclave (Aaronomous)
• Strategy
• Game files:
  • events/ze_childhood_events.txt - gaining childhood traits and changing culture/religion
  • events/ze_adolescence_events.txt - trait evolution, educator intervention, educator skill influence
  • events/ze_education_trait_events.txt - education trait outcome

Characters

Personal attributes

Attributes • Traits • Piety • Prestige • Culture • Religion • Dynasty • Nicknames • Opinion

Actions

Diplomacy • Decisions • Education • Marriage/Breeding • Regency • Favors

Objectives

Factions • Ambition • Plot • Focus

Infamy

Assassination • Tyranny • Banishment • Execution • Imprisonment • Title revocation • Bribes

Other

Council • Courtiers • Disease • Succession • Alliances