Renaissance Mod fixes and adjusts a few problems the base game had with unrest — notably, the fact that your unrest meter would fill and there would often appear to be no discernible consequences.

In addition, higher difficulty levels have been adjusted to produce greater unrest, increasing the game's challenge.

While the mod is active, should your unrest meter surpass 100, it will readjust to 25 on your next turn and trigger a random consequence. There's an equal chance that one of three negative events will occur:

1) A random city will get the 'Riots in the city' debuff, which causes +2 unrest and cuts its production of gold, mana, food, and research by 50% for 10 turns. This can sometimes trigger in a 'free city' (a town, fort, or religious city). If it does, it has zero effect since free cities never produce unrest. This is the best case scenario.

NOTE: If you run up your unrest meter again while a city has the 'Riots in the city' debuff, there is a modest chance you will lose that city completely (it becomes neutral). If this was your capital, this *can* end your game.

2) A random city will spawn 2-3 "rebel" units of that city's faction. Their level will be appropriate to the game's current timetable, with tougher units spawning in the mid and late game.

As long as you have a nearby defender or two, this consequence is fairly easy to manage. The city can defend itself and you'll usually have a few turns to stave off the attacks before the city falls.

3) Your empire will be affected by an "Intellectual Foment" for 10 turns. This halves your research output and significantly slows down your game as a result. (As an experienced player that prioritizes research, I find this outcome is usually the worst of the lot. It's the one I dread the most.)

Because unrest provides a much greater challenge than in the base game, Renaissance Mod also adds some new options to help mitigate it:

1) There are a couple of new starter perks ('Personal Chronist' and 'High Priest') that reduce your overall unrest by 1 each turn. These are available when you customize your mage before starting the game.

2) There are two new spells you can research ('Song of Serenity' and 'Prosperous Tidings') which will reduce your empire's overall unrest by 2 each turn for 5 turns. These spells do stack together.

Unrest can be a major thorn in your side, particularly when playing on 'Challenging' and 'Impossible'. Your game will definitely suffer if you ignore it, so be sure to research at least one spell to help keep it under control.

Best of luck!