The number of charges, the type of location needed, and the effect activated will vary based on the individual. +5 combat strength for units within 2 tiles of a General), however certain other Great People also have passive effects.Īn Action Effect must be activated by the Great Person by using a "charge" at a certain location. These are mostly used for Generals and Admirals (ex. The effects fall into two broad categories:Ī Birth Effect happens as soon as the Great Person is spawned on the map and do not need to be activated, acting instead as a passive bonus. Most effects are strongly linked to a particular era of play and are not optimal for use outside of that time. the Stonehenge wonder creates a Great Prophet).Įach individual Great Person has a different effect inspired by history. Great People can also be generated by certain wonders ( e.g. This cannot be done if someone already has enough points to recruit that Great Person, or if the player has previously passed over that Great Person. Players can also "rush" a Great Person with Patronage by spending an amount of Gold or Faith proportional to the amount of points still needed to recruit the given person. You still accumulate additional Points while waiting for a new Great Person to become available. Passing on recruitment costs a fixed number of Points, and you will not be able to recruit a different Great Person of the same type until the great person you passed on is recruited by another civilization at a discounted rate (the original cost less the number of points you gave up to pass on them). You can also choose to pass over a currently available great person in hopes of getting access to a better one.
Each time a great person is recruited, the point cost for the next person of that type is increased for all civilizations.