An alternative to "Great Leaders"

[FNBrown]

Someone's suggestion for a peaceful means for acquiring a "Great Leader" got me thinking about what sort of alternative CivIII could have...

How about this: Any time a worker completes a project (builds a road, digs a mine, irrigates a square, etc), there is a small chance that he or she produces a "celebrity." This can be any historical figure of significance that did not achieve popularity via wartime heroics.

This could lead to a broad range of cultural figures, and enrich the game significantly. Imagine all the great scientists, writers, entertainers, and political leaders that could emerge under such a system.

The frequency of their occurance could be dependent upon how much power they have in the game. Perhaps they can complete regular city improvements in a single turn, and cut wonder production time in half. I don't see much point in making them able to "stack" workers (a la armies), but that might be an option, too. I don't think they should be quite as powerful as military leaders, as the cost for generating them is obviously not as steep.

Suggestions? Comments?

[Peter Triggs]

What about having the discovery of certain advances trigger the sort of leader units you're after. We could have Super Scientists, Entertainers, and Entrepreneurs. For example, the first player to discover Gravity would get a special Newton unit. This Newton, when placed in a city, could increase the city's science output. Likewise super entertainers (Elvis could be really in the game) would affect happiness, and entrepreneurs would increase the city's prosperity. Hmm, I suppose Computers could give us ... Bill Gates.

I'd appreciate comments, because this idea is actually do-able.

[FNBrown]

Well, Newton's university already increases the research rate of a city...

Besides, you can "buy" technologies...

I'd kind of prefer a "celebrity" that is unique to each Civ, and that each Civ has to generate on its own (just like the great leaders).

[Immortal Wombat]

I think all three ideas could be combined quite easily. Having the leaders unique to each Civ wouldn't be hard, they can trigger on completion of a tile improvement (engineer), discovery of an advance (scientist), a city in celebration (entertainer) or a city with huge culture (novelist/poet).

[Kassiopeia]

I like this idea. How exactly is it do-able?