The real problem is that religious people should not be military leaders and town leaders. They shouldn’t be heroes.
Why change drastically? Maybe we should apply the same mechanics to something as possible.
No. This is the own characteristic of African heroes.
Wonders should not be tightly bound to the hero. In most occasions, Wonders should only provide abilities or resources, as they do now.
Not to mention that Wonders themselves are the products of stereotypes, and if you want to change heroes for cultural significance, you have to totally change the wonder mechanics too.
He’s fit to be a hero, but shouldn’t have been there at the beginning of the game.
He should still be the reward that can be obtained after choosing the Shogunate.
Bad design. Once dead, the Japanese early economy would immediately slump.
It is not necessary to insist that shrines have to be built by Shinto stuffs, they can be built by non-religious people too.
In my design, I would like to replace Sohei Archer with Cartographers.
Cartographers are based on the samurai explorers like Mogami Tokunai (最上徳内), Mamiya Rinzō (間宮林蔵) and Inō Tadataka (伊能忠敬) who had explored the north lands like modern Hokkaido and Sakhalin. They will be very much in line with the theme the hero uses to scout.
Cartographers are weak samurai heroes and explorers who use bows or muskets and can also build shrines. There are 2 when the game started, just like original Sohei Archer. I believe they will continue the Japanese gameplay in this way.
Also, Japanese healers can be replaced by Monks. They are just normal healer units like European Priests, trainable at Monastery with lower HP and cheaper cost. No fancy design is needed here.
Most appropriate? I’m afraid you don’t understand Chinese culture.
Iron-cap Princes are hereditary nobles of the feudal system, but they do not necessarily have military power or know how to fight.
In my opinion, we can introduce Armed Caravan Leader and Armed Caravan Member to continue as a Master-Disciple-like relationship.
The Leader is equivalent melee hero to Shaolin Master but not such strong. He is unable to convert treasure guardians into Disciple or Armed Caravan Member, however he can unpack the crates to gather resources, and trickles coin or export thinly while moving. The Member is not hero, the equivalent hand shock infantry to Disciple, and can be trained by Armed Caravan Leader.
In the Qing Dynasty, the caravan like Mabang (馬幫) was an important economic artery of the empire. Merchants organized into guilds, did business back and forth across the vast territory, and even traded with European and Southeast Asian countries along the Siberian Route and the Ancient Tea Horse Road. The trade route was quite dangerous, so the caravan had to be armed, and even hired private guards from escort bureau.
We can reuse the modules of original Master and Disciple to make Chinese healers at Monastery and name them Abbot and Disciple respectively. They will not be heroes, but will have the decent combat ability for emergency use.
The design will foster stereotypes.
We can just introduce Monks as ordinary healer like Japanese I stated above but with Indian looks instead of Japanese looks. Then, reuse the module of original Brahmin to introduce a kind of elite healer.
My designs for Asian rework. Welcome to check.