Quote Originally Posted by Trekkin View Post
I think I just found a way to make merchant republics even more powerful. Apologies if this is known, but if it is...so many questions.

I started out as Sigurd Ring of Svipjod in the Charlemagne start and did the normal Norse blobbing thing until I was Emperor of Scandinavia. To pass the decade before the Viking Age actually fires in 793, I set about installing my dynasts into every title in the Empire, count or above. I manage all but one, then the Viking age happens so I reform into a merchant republic...and there's only two families, mine and the one count I hadn't killed and replaced.

So I reload, kill that guy off, and fire the reformation again. I'm now the only merchant family. Quick testing has shown that I remain the only merchant family through the death of the Doge/Patrician, the heir, random dynasts, random non-dynasts,and everyone in the court.

Since I can only assume people have seen this before: do we know what breaks if I keep going as the only family in the Principality of Scandinavia, or what breaks if there's fewer than five families?

EDIT: It looks like you do get more merchant families as vassals feudalize.
well in my merchant republic game members of my family somehow broke away and became a new family (different crest, same name), so maybe that's a thing.