[Diplomacy / Mod Idea] Diplomatic Asylum: Sheltering an Allied Settler to Rebuild Later

[Alber 0A.D]

Hello Wildfire Games team and community,

I would like to suggest a new diplomatic feature (or mod idea) for 0 A.D.: Diplomatic Asylum / Sheltering an Allied Citizen.

The Problem:
In games against the AI (such as 1v1v2 or free-for-all with shifting alliances), when an allied AI is overwhelmed by stronger enemies, it gets completely wiped out before we can help. Currently, players have to use creative workarounds (like trapping an allied citizen-soldier inside walled enclosures) just to keep that faction alive until the main threat is defeated.

The Idea:
Add a new diplomatic option next to Alliance and Tribute called "Offer Asylum / Shelter a Citizen":

1. Trigger: When an allied player is losing badly (e.g., loses their last Civic Center or drops below 10% strength), you can offer them asylum.
2. Protection: One of their surviving women or citizen-soldiers can garrison inside your Civic Center or Fortress for safety. As long as this citizen is sheltered inside your building, that faction is not officially defeated.
3. Restoration: Once you push back the enemy, you can click a "Release & Restore" button to let the sheltered citizen exit with a small resource tribute so the AI can rebuild a Civic Center and re-enter the game as your loyal ally.
4. Balance: To keep competitive multiplayer fast-paced, this feature could be an optional toggle in the pre-game lobby settings, and if the building sheltering the refugee is destroyed, the faction is eliminated as usual.

This fits the historical theme of ancient diplomacy (exiled rulers and allied colonies) and would add awesome emergent storytelling to single-player and team games!

Thank you for making such a great game!

Idée Diplomatie / Mod : Asile diplomatique (sauvegarder un colon allié pour rebâtir sa cité)

Bonjour à l'équipe et à la communauté,

Je propose une nouvelle option diplomatique dans 0 A.D. : l'Asile diplomatique. Lorsqu'un allié est sur le point d'être anéanti, on pourrait lui proposer d'abriter l'un de ses citoyens-soldats ou ouvrières en garnison dans notre Centre Civique ou notre Forteresse. Tant que ce colon est protégé chez nous, la faction alliée n'est pas éliminée. Une fois l'ennemi repoussé, on pourrait libérer ce colon avec un envoi de ressources pour qu'il reconstruise un Centre Civique et revienne dans la partie. Option activable avant la partie pour préserver l'équilibrage multijoueur.

---

---

[Asher]

2 hours ago, Alber 0A.D said:

Hello Wildfire Games team and community,

I would like to suggest a new diplomatic feature (or mod idea) for 0 A.D.: Diplomatic Asylum / Sheltering an Allied Citizen.

The Problem:
In games against the AI (such as 1v1v2 or free-for-all with shifting alliances), when an allied AI is overwhelmed by stronger enemies, it gets completely wiped out before we can help. Currently, players have to use creative workarounds (like trapping an allied citizen-soldier inside walled enclosures) just to keep that faction alive until the main threat is defeated.

The Idea:
Add a new diplomatic option next to Alliance and Tribute called "Offer Asylum / Shelter a Citizen":

1. Trigger: When an allied player is losing badly (e.g., loses their last Civic Center or drops below 10% strength), you can offer them asylum.
2. Protection: One of their surviving women or citizen-soldiers can garrison inside your Civic Center or Fortress for safety. As long as this citizen is sheltered inside your building, that faction is not officially defeated.
3. Restoration: Once you push back the enemy, you can click a "Release & Restore" button to let the sheltered citizen exit with a small resource tribute so the AI can rebuild a Civic Center and re-enter the game as your loyal ally.
4. Balance: To keep competitive multiplayer fast-paced, this feature could be an optional toggle in the pre-game lobby settings, and if the building sheltering the refugee is destroyed, the faction is eliminated as usual.

This fits the historical theme of ancient diplomacy (exiled rulers and allied colonies) and would add awesome emergent storytelling to single-player and team games!

Thank you for making such a great game!

 

Idée Diplomatie / Mod : Asile diplomatique (sauvegarder un colon allié pour rebâtir sa cité)

Bonjour à l'équipe et à la communauté,

Je propose une nouvelle option diplomatique dans 0 A.D. : l'Asile diplomatique. Lorsqu'un allié est sur le point d'être anéanti, on pourrait lui proposer d'abriter l'un de ses citoyens-soldats ou ouvrières en garnison dans notre Centre Civique ou notre Forteresse. Tant que ce colon est protégé chez nous, la faction alliée n'est pas éliminée. Une fois l'ennemi repoussé, on pourrait libérer ce colon avec un envoi de ressources pour qu'il reconstruise un Centre Civique et revienne dans la partie. Option activable avant la partie pour préserver l'équilibrage multijoueur.

Good idea @Alber 0A.D! I think that would enhance the game some, and allyship would have another benefit. What would happen if you become enemies with an ally when they have a unit in your civic center? do they get a free walk back?

 

I wonder, if you had an ally that was completely taken out, could you revive them with some of your resources, and they get like 5 units at one of your civic centers?

Edited 6 hours ago by Asher

[Alber 0A.D]

56 minutes ago, Asher said:

Good idea @Alber 0A.D! I think that would enhance the game some, and allyship would have another benefit. What would happen if you become enemies with an ally when they have a unit in your civic center? do they get a free walk back?

 

I wonder, if you had an ally that was completely taken out, could you revive them with some of your resources, and they get like 5 units at one of your civic centers?

Thanks for the great feedback and questions, @Asher! Those are two awesome points to consider:

1. Dedicated Diplomatic Building (Town Phase):
   To keep it balanced and prevent early-game stalling, both sheltering and restoring an ally could require a special building (like an Embassy or Consulate) unlocked only in the Town Phase:

• Requirement: You can only build an Embassy if you currently have at least one active ally.
• Capacity & Fortification Upgrades: Each Embassy can shelter up to 5 refugees by default, and you can pay resources to research upgrades that increase both its shelter capacity and the building's durability (health/armor) to help protect the refugees under siege.
• Strategic target: Having a dedicated building gives enemies a clear target to destroy if they want to stop the rescue!

2. Betrayal / Breaking the Alliance:
   If the alliance is broken by either side, the Embassy is immediately destroyed:

• If the sheltered ally betrays you: Their garrisoned units perish in the collapse (self-destruct), preventing them from acting as a Trojan Horse inside your base.
• If you (the host) break the alliance: Their sheltered units escape from the ruins (perhaps with a short speed boost or brief truce timer), so you can't just lure an ally in for a cheap execution.
   
   

3. Reviving an Eliminated Ally ("Sponsor a Colony"):
   I really love your idea! Having a "Restore Fallen Ally" option at the Embassy (for a hefty resource cost, e.g., 500 wood, 500 stone, 500 metal + food) that spawns 4–5 citizens to rebuild would be amazing:

• Sheltering a survivor = Cheaper/safer way to keep them in the game if you have an Embassy ready and act fast enough.
• Reviving a defeated ally = A more expensive late-game comeback mechanic if you couldn't save them in time.

Thanks again for adding to the idea!

[Alber 0A.D]

1 hour ago, Alber 0A.D said:

Thanks for the great feedback and questions, @Asher! Those are two awesome points to consider:

1. Dedicated Diplomatic Building (Town Phase):
   To keep it balanced and prevent early-game stalling, both sheltering and restoring an ally could require a special building (like an Embassy or Consulate) unlocked only in the Town Phase:

• Requirement: You can only build an Embassy if you currently have at least one active ally.
• Capacity & Fortification Upgrades: Each Embassy can shelter up to 5 refugees by default, and you can pay resources to research upgrades that increase both its shelter capacity and the building's durability (health/armor) to help protect the refugees under siege.
• Strategic target: Having a dedicated building gives enemies a clear target to destroy if they want to stop the rescue!

2. Betrayal / Breaking the Alliance:
   If the alliance is broken by either side, the Embassy is immediately destroyed:

• If the sheltered ally betrays you: Their garrisoned units perish in the collapse (self-destruct), preventing them from acting as a Trojan Horse inside your base.
• If you (the host) break the alliance: Their sheltered units escape from the ruins (perhaps with a short speed boost or brief truce timer), so you can't just lure an ally in for a cheap execution.
   
   

3. Reviving an Eliminated Ally ("Sponsor a Colony"):
   I really love your idea! Having a "Restore Fallen Ally" option at the Embassy (for a hefty resource cost, e.g., 500 wood, 500 stone, 500 metal + food) that spawns 4–5 citizens to rebuild would be amazing:

• Sheltering a survivor = Cheaper/safer way to keep them in the game if you have an Embassy ready and act fast enough.
• Reviving a defeated ally = A more expensive late-game comeback mechanic if you couldn't save them in time.

Thanks again for adding to the idea!

That is a really cool idea, @Asher! Building on your question about reviving an eliminated ally, I put together a complete and balanced overview of how both Diplomatic Asylum and Reviving a Fallen Ally could work together in 0 A.D.:

1. The Embassy (Town Phase Diplomatic Building)

• Requirement: Unlocked in the Town Phase, and can only be constructed while you have at least one active ally.
• Capacity & Upgrades: Shelters up to 5 allied units by default. You can pay resources to research upgrades that expand its shelter capacity and reinforce its structural durability (health and armor).
• Strategic Target: Gives enemies a clear, high-value structure to attack if they want to prevent a rescue.

2. Emergency Asylum Rules (Sheltering Survivors)

• Critical Population Threshold: You can build the Embassy ahead of time, but its doors only open to refugees once your ally drops below roughly 15% of the max population limit (e.g., fewer than 30 units in a 200-pop match, 50 in a 300-pop match, or 75 in a 500-pop match).
• Faction Survival: As long as at least one allied citizen remains sheltered inside your Embassy, that faction is not officially defeated.
• Upkeep Cost: Sheltering units requires a continuous, significant resource upkeep (food and metal) so players cannot stall a lost match indefinitely for free.
• Advanced Mode (Healer Requirement): Under advanced settings, keeping refugees alive requires at least one Healer/Priest garrisoned inside. If the Healer is killed or pulled out, the sheltered units slowly lose health over time, creating a tense race against the clock to train a replacement.
• Risk vs. Reward (Slow Experience Gain): While sheltered and maintained, refugees gradually gain experience (rank up). When finally released to rebuild, they emerge as a battle-hardened elite guard!

3. Betrayal & Breaking the Alliance

• If the alliance is broken by either side, the Embassy is immediately destroyed:
• If the sheltered ally betrays you: Their garrisoned units instantly self-destruct (perish in the collapse) so they cannot act as a Trojan Horse inside your base.
• If you (the host) break the alliance: Their sheltered units are expelled from the ruins and attempt to flee (with a brief speed boost or truce timer), preventing cheap executions.

4. Reviving a Defeated Ally ("Sponsor a Colony")
To answer your question directly: if your ally was completely wiped out after you built an Embassy, you could revive them in two complementary ways instead of spawning 5 free units at a Civic Center:

• Option A – Training New Colonists (High Cost): You can use the Embassy to manually train citizens and basic units for them so they can rebuild from scratch. You can train as many as needed, but each unit costs more than triple (3x+) the normal resource price and takes up a population slot from your own population limit until they successfully construct a new Civic Center.
• Option B – Converting Your Own Units (Naturalization): You can garrison your own basic units (women or citizen-soldiers) inside the Embassy and pay a resource fee to convert them directly into citizens belonging to your defeated ally's faction (restricted to basic citizens so you can't transfer unique siege units or heroes).

(Of course, this entire system would be an optional toggle in the pre-game lobby settings to preserve standard competitive multiplayer balance.)

[Asher]

5 hours ago, Alber 0A.D said:

3. Reviving an Eliminated Ally ("Sponsor a Colony"):
   I really love your idea! Having a "Restore Fallen Ally" option at the Embassy (for a hefty resource cost, e.g., 500 wood, 500 stone, 500 metal + food) that spawns 4–5 citizens to rebuild would be amazing:

• Sheltering a survivor = Cheaper/safer way to keep them in the game if you have an Embassy ready and act fast enough.
• Reviving a defeated ally = A more expensive late-game comeback mechanic if you couldn't save them in time.

Maybe what would be better is that a play is only defeated if all their critical units/structures (or whatever mode you are playing) and all embassies are destroyed. If an embassy survives for a mostly fallen ally, you can send them stuff to revive them. You could still garrison refugees, but with this, you could loose all your units, and not be dead, yet... Maybe also civilians could flee to the nearest embassy or civic center or fortress (yours or ally) when a civic center/fortress/embassy is taken

There also is an existing mod, maybe related, survivors-mod that when an ally is defeated, all units and resources go to ally(s) maybe? (iirc)