The concept is not new for Amplitude, which already used heroes in its previous games. The heroes could be dedicated to action or to the administration of cities. In the Civilization games, there is also this kind of concept. With specialists, or illustrious characters.

What I propose here is not only to introduce a new feature, but also to solve a balancing problem in the game. It is the deficit between the exploitation of the population and the exploitation by the quarters.

I talked about it here:

https://www.games2gether.com/amplitude-studios/humankind/forums/168-general/threads/46409-humankind-is-a-mad-scientist-experiment-with-unpredictable-consequences?page=1#post-343414

The idea is to use historical figures in a way that they produce a similar effect to the emblematic quarters. A culture can be given 3 historical figures per Era.

The player can use them to be put in a city, just like the other populations.

In this screen:

I add an historical figure:

The emblematic character exploits the resource, like the other populations. But be careful, he blocks a slot! So there can't be more than 5 iconic characters in a slot (although this is absurd). In addition to exploiting the resource, it offers synergy advantages, such as emblematic quarters.

An example:

Otherwise, the iconic character can go outside the city, and become an army leader. Be careful, this means that they can die, like any other unit. By default, all units in his army gain +50% experience. An ability shared by all historical figures.

In army form, this iconic character looks like this:

I do and do not like it.

It add more content. Which is nice.

It focus history on "emblematic figures", which I do not like, if their is no counterbalance to this with wider respiration of society and proper context for the specific "emblematic figures". Their are emblematic, okay, but it mean they do not come out of nowhere, so please put some words to remind people that "King XXXXXX and the workers he ordered built XXXXXX palace." Context. History is not a comic book with super heroes. (When I think back on the Civilization games, it pain me a bit. As if a great artist can exist in a void. A great work of art to come out of nowhere without prior iterations from the author, and all those he read or was influenced by, even through the wider culture in which they lived...

The final thing that make me worried :

Enchanteur wrote:
A culture can be given 3 historical figures per Era.

70*3 = 210

It's roughly the current number of events in the game, isn't it ? Damn. Amplitude will have to hire some writers and researchers to do the leg work. May be I should send my CV in. ^^

Again, I do and do not like it. I would prefer for some historical figures of your game, your iteration of history to be inspired by real ones, or to be stand in for multiples in order to represent : "The occident renaissance thinker." and shape it with the nuance of what it implies. It could be a fun way to introduce heroes (as in, those of Endless games) in Humankind, and shape their hidden skill threes with narrative events that also they a lot about the society they come out of, and how they try to influence it.

But it's even more work. Another problem for my approach, it's that these individuals would not die over centuries. But then, your persona do not too. I suppose that the heroes could be "families" or hell, even institutions, bureaucracies, with ever changing faces and slowly morphing traits.