Yep, so here is another thread to add to the heap about sovereign deaths and failsafes.  I mentioned it in the recent journal thread, but was curious what other people might think of it.

But before I mention the idea, let me predicate this post on my interpretations of Frogboy's divine decree that sovereign death = game over.  I think the essence of that statement is that the game can end not just when an empire is ground to dust, but when the sovereign is thoroughly defeated and his failsafes penetrated--- not simply when his hitpoints are reduced to 0 on the battlefield (after all, with the new escape machanisms proposed, the sovereign can in theory be defeated thousands of times in such a manner, but the game doesn't end). 

So with this in mind, I believe that resurrection mechanisms should be on the table as an option, because it is almost 100 percent mechanically identical to a sovereign escaping back to a city once they lose a battle (the difference is that it is easier to apply penalties to say, a ressurection than it is to an escape).

So, on to the idea.  I say there should be a ritual building that can be built in specific city before hand and ideally only 1 can be easily built.  When the sovereign dies, the priests/wizards of this ritual building (call it what you may) spend a certain number of resources corresponding to the strength of the sovereign and they begin a lengthy ritual to recombobulate the sovereign.  During the time the sovereign is gone, his empire may suffer stiff penalties and the inability to do spell research.  If someone marches on the ritual center and kill those that are conducting it, the sovereign is gone for good.  However, if the mechanism is destroyed before the sovereign--- and the sovereign is subsequently killed--- then the sovereign is also toast, because there is no-one around to reattune his essence.  In addition, if both sovereigns are locked into battle with one another, they may have a chance to prevent the other's essence from escaping from the field (depending on how lopsided the victory is or whether you sunk level points into the sovereign specifically for the purpose of "sovereign slaying") This would kill the sovereign as well, and possibly even steal some of the defeated sovereign's essence even if it does escape. 

So the net effect of this method is that it allows the sovereign greater autonomy for things like adventuring and questing in distant wildlands without legions of soldiers at his back (because there are no enemy sovereigns to hunt them) but makes careless use of sovereigns against other players risky.  In other words, you won't have to worry so much about losing the game if your sovereign gets killed by a troll in the woods because that troll won't be marching on your ritual city, but you will have to take great care during player vs player warfare. 

Perhaps additional rituals can be built at very high costs, and each civilization might have their own spin on the recombobulation process.  For instance, scholarly races might be able to spend extra resources to speed the process along and prevent penalties, or fallen civs might sacrifice their offspring to expediate the ritual as well.

Ultimately, there is a lot more strategy involved in this mechanism than an evasion score or get-out-of-jail free cards for your sovereigns, and it couldn't be too difficult to program either.

Any takers?