I mentioned this earlier responding to Brad's most recent post, but I thought it worth repeating here because this is the right place for it.
I would like to see the minor factions be able to raise unique units which other factions, including the player's, could buy if the diplomatic relations were sufficiently close.
I would also suggest that the minors have special spells of their own, which similarly could be purchased by others.
Finally, the minors could have NPC's available for hire in a sort of a labor market. These too could be perused in one place - the diplomacy screen. They would be NPC's unique to the minor faction, with special abilities.
