Comments - Runegorn

Along the same lines as the criminal expansion suggestion I made, perhaps consider adding Mercenary Companies(MCs) in as a sort of alternate goal to conquering Calradia. Each kingdom could have its own company with its own unique mercenary unit. Enlisting in an MC would be like Freelancer's enlistment, and would put you into the army of a random lord, with you upgrading through the Mercenary troop trees. With enough renown, you could eventually hire your party on as a troupe for the MC, allowing you to recruit mercenary troops and acquire the MC's unique units. Eventually you might become Head Condottierro of the MC, allowing you to expand your MC outside of the Kingdom, and engage in corporate warfare with rival MCs.

One way the criminal recruitment could work is to turn the existing bandit groups into a sort of alternate version of the kingdom they inhabit. If your honour sinks below a certain threshold or you choose to start as a bandit captain, you get the option to recruit criminals from villages. You could recruit forest bandits from all the villages in Swadia, or go into the Rhodok mountains and enlist rogue clansmen. Looters would have their own separate line, and would be something of a mercenary alternative, being recruited from towns rather than villages. Additionally, certain lords could use these criminal units instead of their faction's troops, hinting at their personality.

Seeing as how you can start as a bandit captain, perhaps consider expanding the criminal troop trees and implement a criminal recruitment function.

I think doing that would be something of a mistake. This mod is meant to cover the past and the speculative future of humanity. Adding specific stuff from the present may detract from that focus, dating features to our current present and not the overall era which can be considered the present(1980s onward). Albeit, Tong Shaoping is a good idea for a leader. Perhaps his contemporaries could be included, such as Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan for the US, Mikhail Gorbachev for Russia, and Indira Gandhi for India.

Should probably put the new resources in this, for those upgrading from 3.9/3.9.1.

I think that when I get to work on a 3.9.1 or 3.9.2 version, it will likely be distinct enough that I'll release it under a different name. I'll probably head in a different direction, perhaps more Napoleonic-era in technology, or with "magic spells" instead of firearms. Age of Firepower is distinctly renaissance, but I'd like to see what else I could do with the excellent world of Pendor.

Edit: As to why it's incompatible with 3.9.X: incompetence on my part.

How would one make an endorsed sub mod?

I would think so, as it doesn't change anything in regards to items or stats. As of posting this though, I'm nearing the completion of a full-fledged submod. So stay tuned.