Crusader Kings III - The Sequel You Have Been Waiting For

[jztemple2]

Oh dear! Can you ransom yourself?

[Baroquen]

Oh dear! Can you ransom yourself?

I don't think that was an option. And even if it was, he probably wouldn't accept. But since the war score was at -100%, I wanted to see what happened after surrendering. Honestly, it looks like things weren't too awful - I lost my claim & prestige and such. But I could probably get rolling again. Not sure I want to though. It was a relatively new game, the characters / story were very plain. Honestly, the most entertaining thing thus far was the hunt they went on. I'm thinking I might just start again.

[jztemple2]

Things have been very busy in Ireland. First, my first character died after establishing the Kingdom of Ireland. His only son inherited everything, so that's a relief. I'm now High King Brian II.


Things didn't go well. That smuck Duncan II of Scotland, who was an ally of my father, declares war on me! After getting trampled in a couple of battles, I surrender a county to him.


And things get weirder as I hear a strange noise:


But it's a surprise party!


And I get invited to go on someone's hunt, which is a relief since I don't have to pay for it.


And I'm busy arranging marriages, including my son and heir to the daughter of the King of Castile, who has a big army. So now it's time to repay Duncan for his treachery.


But even in war, there are issues to resolve in the Royal Court. Stupid issues


And I have a new son:


And the Pope wants me to either go on a Crusader for him or pony up some gold. I can't leave Ireland right now and I'm running low on funds, but I scrape together some gold.


Finally I win the war against Duncan and get that county back. A lot of blood and treasure expended to end up at the same status quo we had before. But I now have five years to build up my war chest before starting round two

[Baroquen]

Good lord... you're playthrough sounds like an action movie, where my last king sat around watching the mortar crumble! I definitely need to reboot and try again.

[jztemple2]

Good lord... you're playthrough sounds like an action movie, where my last king sat around watching the mortar crumble! I definitely need to reboot and try again.

Oh, things have been really exciting since I last posted! After I beat King Duncan I expected to wait the five years while the post war truce was in effect. I needed to build up my war chest anyway. Then I'm told that the King of Castile died and so the alliance I had with him was canceled, that was an army significantly larger than mine I could no longer call upon

Anyway, cash flow was a bit better than I thought and so I went on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Again, with the new T&T expansion there's a lot more going on; a caravan master to select, whether to spend money for escort ships or a forest guide (among a number of other options), the route can be altered, etc. And some events that happen on the way there, then at the site, and then on the way back. It was a lot of fun and definitely made these optional activities worthwhile, especially since my piety was pretty low.

And then things picked up! King Duncan died and his very young son King John took the throne and his army was down to about half of what it was. And who is his regent? Why, my half-sister . And with a new king the truce was canceled and suddenly I had an army which with one ally was twice his size. So I declared war and in not too many months I seized another county from him

And so another truce goes into effect. I get asked to go on a hunt and since it costs little when someone else is sponsoring it, I agree. I lose some stress, gain some hunting experience and manage not to get killed. And then the Pope tells me that for some piety he can give me a legitimate claim to a duchy in Scotland; apparently because the ruler is very young the Pope feels he isn't up to the task of ruling it . Going on that pilgrimage gave me enough piety to spend to get that duchy claim.

And soon, things are happening again. Somehow (I don't know the details), little King John is replaced on the throne by someone (his aunt?) and the truce I had with John is canceled. I launch yet another war and seize the last but one of the counties of the island of Ireland. And the Pope offers me a claim to another duchy in Scotland. And that was where I had to stop for the night, but things will no doubt heat up tomorrow as I got for that last county.

[Baroquen]

The Tale of Chieftain Ruigi - A Tragedy

I'm putting this in spoiler tags as it got pretty long.

Spoiler:

I decided to try something new and I created a ruler - Ruigi, a promising young lad from the northlands, leader of Rounala.



No crazy advantages (achievements still available) but he's got some good attributes. But he doesn't have a wife or heir. So - step one is to find a match. The given options aren't particularly varied. So I decide to arrange a betrothal with 15 year old Buohtta.



She's the daughter of Chieftain Riimba in nearby Kitka. I'm not sure how that alliance will work, if I want to conquer his territory down the line. But that's a worry for another day. After a few years, hopefully I'll have her to thank for my heir.

Next - the conquering begins. I take half of Inari, and then a botched move by a neighbor's steward grants me a claim to half of Lofotr.



I'm thankful for the claim, because I'm running low on piety. Because of the culture (?) I need piety to declare wars rather than prestige, and I only have enough for one more expansion war. That won't do. So it's time for ... a pilgrimage!



Like jztemple2 mentions, the events are MUCH more interesting. I did not hire a caravan master, but did hire an experienced captain because that drastically reduced my travel danger, as a large part of the journey was overseas. Lots of things happened on the trip: We rescued some stranded sea-goers, I was challenged to a duel by a -very- competent swordsman. My chances would have been a 50-50 toss up, but I let my traveling companion handle it and he won the duel. The Swordsman joined my court (and my journey's entourage) and I picked up a strong new champion for my future wars! The actual pilgrimage went well and we even uncovered a shipwreck to explore on the way back.

One thing that I found interesting, that I hadn't encountered before was the Regency/Power Sharing options.



While it wasn't a problem for me, (power was handed back over to me upon my return), it sounds like things can get dicey in some situations.

Anyway, things got a little uncomfortable on the trip when my new uber-champion Kugis started talking smack about me, questioning my ability to lead. He even harassed me over my handling of a pesky seagull.



But since I valued his military prowess, and wanted to keep him on my side, I bit my tongue (and kept my sword sheathed). But it cost me somewhere around 50-75 prestige in the process. However, salvation was at hand. Not only did the pilgrimage grant me over 1000 piety to wage upcoming wars, I now had enough gold to establish the Duchy of Duortnoseatnu. (Say that 3x fast!).



My northern realm is starting to look more impressive! The good news with this move is that I become a High Chieftain and I get 300 prestige! So now, flush with piety, prestige and enough gold to build some scattered holdings (or hold events), I'm ready to get back to work.

I'm going to stop it here, for the moment, and leave the tragedy for the next post. (And everything was lining up so well too!)

[jztemple2]

The Tale of Chieftain Ruigi - A Tragedy

Very interesting! I never tried a starting point that far north. The new T&T expansion does make pilgrimages a lot more interesting and I've only gone to Canterbury, I thinking going all the way to Rome would really be an adventure. I just wish I wasn't always so short of gold, I've yet to try a grand tournament because it would bankrupt me.

[Baroquen]

Very interesting! I never tried a starting point that far north. The new T&T expansion does make pilgrimages a lot more interesting and I've only gone to Canterbury, I thinking going all the way to Rome would really be an adventure. I just wish I wasn't always so short of gold, I've yet to try a grand tournament because it would bankrupt me.

I deliberately took that northern border of the map. I wanted somewhere new, but didn't want to be surrounded. I liked the area. Will probably play there again sometime. Regarding the pilgrimage, I deliberately took one that was an "appropriate" distance away (which was like the third tier of distances, I think). Wasn't super expensive, but gave me 150% piety bonus. Did you really have Rome available to you, all the way from Ireland?

And I'm with you - I haven't had the money to splurge on any of the real events. Just like, I haven't had much time with the royal court because my early, small-scale starts don't line up with it. I should start off with some rich king just to play with those DLC more.

I think I'll write up the rest of Ruigi's tale. I have the itch to play some more.

[Baroquen]

The Tale of Chieftain Ruigi - Part II

Back from his pilgrimage, and flush with prestige, piety and gold, Ruigi turned his attention back to expanding his empire.



He drove south and conquered Kittila, which was ruled by Chieftain Riimba. Did I just conquer the land of my future father-in-law? I thought Riimba rules Kitka, not Kittila. These names are confusing. Either way - Riimba exits stage right with his parting words - "May your years be short and miserable". Did he already see this script? Because less than a year later ....



Cancer. Ugh. Well, let's turn to our Court Physician to see wha-- what's that? We don't have a Court Physician yet as we were saving money and Ruigi's young and healthy? Um, ok. Let's hire one really quickly. Neither candidate was particularly impressive but Marppa watched a lot of medieval doctors on TV, so we went with her. That turned out to be a bad choice...



Disasterous Mistreatment? That doesn't sound good. And in fact, it wasn't. Ruigi was critically ill, somehow lost his leg and to make matters dire, he was now a eunuch. No heir for me now! My reign (and game) is/are about to crash to a definitive end!

But wait... what's this development?



I'm at "Death's Door", but my wife is pregnant with my child? Can I hang on until my heir is born? Will the game continue into the next generation?

Well...



Time to spin the wheel and start again.

[jztemple2]

Did you really have Rome available to you, all the way from Ireland?

Yes, I think it's the farthest away and costs a mint to get there.

[jztemple2]

The Tale of Chieftain Ruigi - Part II

Well...



Time to spin the wheel and start again.

Wow, that's some really bad luck. But kudos for giving a tough starting location a try.

[Baroquen]

Wow, that's some really bad luck. But kudos for giving a tough starting location a try.

Nah, the starting location wasn't bad. That territory starts with decent troops and you can amass more domains quickly, building up your troops even more.

The bad luck (dumb play) was illness/quack combination that ground his story to a screeching halt. The tease of heir at the last second was just brutal!


Tried a pre-made run up in this north: Magnus in the Maere (?) area? He did not start with many troops. I took over one neighbor. Then a heavy hitter declared war on me and wiped the floor with sad army.

Might try a third run of the day later tonight. We'll see.

[jztemple2]

Nah, the starting location wasn't bad. That territory starts with decent troops and you can amass more domains quickly, building up your troops even more.

Is that one of the given starting locations or did you pick it yourself? I really haven't looked much at that section of the map.

Meanwhile, I've united all of Ireland. The last county was easy to take since a long war in Scotland fractured the country and that one county on my island had become independent, but not for long.

[Baroquen]

Nah, the starting location wasn't bad. That territory starts with decent troops and you can amass more domains quickly, building up your troops even more.

Is that one of the given starting locations or did you pick it yourself? I really haven't looked much at that section of the map.

Meanwhile, I've united all of Ireland. The last county was easy to take since a long war in Scotland fractured the country and that one county on my island had become independent, but not for long.

That county never knew what hit it!

Yeah, I picked that spot up north; not a suggested starting spot. It look similar in scope to the Irish starting place, and like I mentioned before, it wasn't bad. I may try it again sometime. I think I might start somewhere on the European continent next.

[jztemple2]

I really like that Royal Court expansion on how it integrates with what's going on in the main game. I had a faction of three vassals gaining strength, they wanted me to lower my crown authority. And then it was royal court audience time and one of the petitioners was a vassal who was being harassed and threatened by someone. Turns out that someone was one of the three faction members. I was given the option to declare that faction member a criminal for threatening another vassal.


So I confronted the rascal and tried to imprison him, although there was no chance of that succeeding.


Instead he and his two co-factioneers rose up in rebellion.


This was a really, really bad decision for them. I called up my allies who included the King of England and the King of Castile and soon their 4500 men were faced by my almost twenty thousand.


The war was over even quicker than I anticipated since I captured one of the ringleaders in the very first battle. Now all three are in my prison.

[jztemple2]

Crap, I died! Without a bit of warning or being sick or anything. And in the middle of a war.

[jztemple2]

Hah, never had this opportunity before. I have a daughter with no betrothal yet, and my first and best option is someone in a mercenary company . This betrothal will result in an alliance with the company, which right now might not be a bad thing. OK, I'm game.

[jztemple2]

Hah, never had this opportunity before. I have a daughter with no betrothal yet, and my first and best option is someone in a mercenary company . This betrothal will result in an alliance with the company, which right now might not be a bad thing. OK, I'm game.

Sadly this didn't work out. The head of the mercenary company died and since the alliance was with him, the alliance was cancelled, even though the betrothal is still on. So my daughter is going to marry a nobody , or I have to piss everyone off by canceling the betrothal.

Meanwhile, Ireland grows even larger. While I can form the Kingdom of Scotland, I remember when I did something like this in an earlier playthrough it backfired because my character could only hold one kingship. So I'll pass on that.

[jztemple2]

This is the first grand tour I've done in CK3 using the newly released Tours & Tournaments expansion. There is no narration in the video, but I did hover the cursor at times so things can be read and I tried to do it slowly enough that every decision can be seen.

My biggest take away is the actual cost of the tour. To keep down costs I made only two stops, intending to visit the two closest vassals who were less than stellar in their opinion of me. And I chose the option of a taxation tour, as opposed to a majesty or intimidation tour. I also went with options for the tour that minimized the outlay of money. Whenever possible I tried to pick up some extra gold as well.

In the end, the result are very interesting. At the start of the video I have 812 gold. The options I selected when setting up the tour (only two stops, minimum entourage, etc) made the tour starting cost only 215 gold. So when I left home I had 596 gold in the treasury (rounding). When I got back home I had 1107 gold! So a net profit of almost 300 gold.

So don't let that high estimated cost of a Grand Tour put you off. It is possible to make money on the tour if you plan it right.

[jztemple2]

I just had an interesting series of events. My house ended up in a feud with the head of another house, house Crovan. He became my nemesis. I hadn't seen this before. I thought it was like rivals, but it turns out that it means that all the members of that house can try to scheme or even worse against members of my house. I figured this out when two of my young nephews were assassinated . And this caused me to start falling behind in the feud score; falling too far behind would result in me getting some bad consequences. There were also quite a number of assassination attempts against me. I couldn't retaliate against the head of the enemy's house, he was too well protected. But the daughter of my nemesis wasn't that well guarded.



Apparently an assassination against that close of a member of my nemesis's family was enough to end the feud in my favor. However, that wasn't the end. My ex-nemesis threatened to expose my secret if I didn't give him a weak hook on me; I declined. So he exposed my secret, but who's going to try to put the cuffs on me?

[jztemple2]

This is a video (twenty-four minutes) of my first Grand Tournament. I did not hold the tournament, rather I was invited to join one being held by the King of England, although the tournament was in northern France. There was a lot going on and I didn't quite understand parts of it at first, but I was able to understand more as it went along. I started at first with the goal of doing well in the tournament, but switched my objective to recruiting knights. I had only one area of expertise, archery, and I did win that part of the tournament, but lost the other three. However, there are a lot of other things going on in the area, like at the tavern, the village, etc. I'd recommend running at speed one and pausing a lot to read everything that has a mouse-over. I went away with a new artifact, a prize bow, relieved my stress and made some money.

[Max Peck]

"Relieved my stress" sounds like a euphemism... Was there an English princess involved?

[jztemple2]

"Relieved my stress" sounds like a euphemism... Was there an English princess involved?

No, but there was wrestling with half-naked men

[jztemple2]

I held my first Grand Wedding, the groom was my son and player heir and the bride one of my vassals. As can be seen at about the one minute mark, I changed the Grand Wedding intent from Recreation to Murder! Invited to the wedding was my former nemesis and still number one enemy Harald the One-Eyed. Seems odd that he would attend the wedding of the daughter of his ex-nemesis, seeing as I killed his daughter. But medieval politics are funny.

Weirdly, the intent of the wedding returns to recreation at the next screens, but later on old Harald does meet his end. There seems to be something amiss with the game in this as I am not told how he died or who did him in. Otherwise the wedding proceeded as planned. At the 15:37 mark there is a nice summary of all the effects of the wedding.

Again, things don't cost as much as shown in the menus if you are frugal and get a bit of gold given to you. I had 1005 gold before I started the wedding process and at the end I show 908. Subtract 50 which was given me by a vassal outside of the wedding event and I still only spent about 147 gold. Not bad for all the good results I saw.

[jztemple2]

My current character, Murchad II of Ireland, is 57 and in good health and enjoying the benefits of a long rule, where everyone likes him and even the four powerful vassals who have not been given council seats still have 100% opinions of him:


With things quiet I can now think about the crowning achievement of my career, the defeat of England and the creation of the Empire of Britannia.


King Robert III stands in my way, but while his army was at one point over fourteen thousand, it now stands at just over eight thousand. My army is just over six thousand but with allies I can expect to have twice his army.


But there is also another way... murder him . His only child is a five year old daughter. Killing him might unleash a battle for this kingdom among his vassals and relatives and I can pick up the pieces. I'll try this.

[jztemple2]

But there is also another way... murder him . His only child is a five year old daughter. Killing him might unleash a battle for this kingdom among his vassals and relatives and I can pick up the pieces. I'll try this.

Sheesh, I propose a scheme and eleven agents rush in to join. Tells you how unpopular he is

[Zarathud]

Why not force his daughter into your bloodline, THEN murder him?

[jztemple2]

Why not force his daughter into your bloodline, THEN murder him?

Sadly, no available marriageable males . But that wouldn't help anyway, the last thing I want is some relative of mine inheriting England. By the way, did I mention that this king I'm going to murder is my nephew? But then gold is heavier than blood or something like that

And I don't know what non-Catholics do without cash outlays like I get from the Pope

[jztemple2]

Oh damn! My murder plot is thwarted by "Family Connections" which has a one time use. So I'll try again.

[jztemple2]

One thing that is so great about playing CK3 is that there are times when you want to sit back and appreciate what has been happening with your character. My current character, High King Murchad II, was born in 1085 and it is now 1161, he is 76 years old! He rules over the Kingdom of Ireland that stretches from Iceland to northern Wales. He has been ruling since 1112, or for almost fifty years.


He is beloved by his vassals, well at least most of them. Even the others mostly like him. There was an ugly uprising when a newly added vassal decided to rebel and convinced two others to join him. It didn't go well. I ended up stripping the count and the duke of their titles and threw them into the dungeon, although later I exiled the ex-duke and he's now somewhere near China. The duchess I let keep her titles but I have my eye on her.


In the course of my reign I've had three people killed, but they deserved it. Unfortunately the killing of the countess later exposed me as a murderer which hasn't been that much of a burden.


I seem to be facing a constant stream of murder attempt against me, my family or my court. So far none have succeeded.


Like my father before me, I have only a single male heir, so there will no partition of the realm when I die. My player heir has four sons (so far) and that will spell trouble for him.

I've been on a number of hunts, participated in a number of feasts, went on pilgrimages, attended a Grand Tournament and even held a Grand Wedding. In the spoiler tags below is the exported memories of the king, sorts with the oldest on the top and the newest on the bottom. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Updated to 28 September 1162; fifty years on the throne and as of a month before, now also King of Alba (Scotland)

Spoiler:

Memories in the life of High King Murchad II, born ~1085

27 July, 1090
My grandfather Murchad died of old age.

28 September, 1104
I became friends with Princess Finneacht of Ireland.

28 September, 1104
Þorsteinn Sælingr and I became rivals.

21 March, 1106
I married High Queen Sancha.

28 March, 1107
My first child Caillech-Fhinnéin, a beautiful girl, was born.

28 September, 1109
I became friends with Prince Somhairle of Ireland.

2 February, 1112
My father Brian died of old age.

2 February, 1112
I became the ruler of the Kingdom of Ireland.

24 July, 1112
My friends Somhairle and Finneacht threw me a surprise birthday party.

17 October, 1113
I pressed my claim to the Duchy of Lothian, held by Earl David.

23 March, 1114
I came to King Rodrigo's defense against Pelayu's war of liberation.

1 April, 1115
My claim war against Earl David ended in victory.

21 February, 1116
I pressed my claim to the Duchy of Circinn, held by John.

5 October, 1117
My claim war against John ended in victory.

5 November, 1119
I began the de jure war of the Mormaerdom of Sutherland, held by Sörkvir Yngling.

17 January, 1120
Me and Þorsteinn let go of our grudges and stopped being rivals.

2 November, 1120
My mother Echrad drank herself to death.

25 February, 1122
I defeated King Hrólfr's war.

18 June, 1122
I came to King Alfonso VII's defense against Duchess Ainès I's attempted de jure war of County of Labourd.

11 July, 1122
My son Murchad was born.

27 October, 1124
I pressed my claim to the Isles, held by Duke Harald.

5 May, 1128
My sister Tómnat died in her sleep.

26 December, 1128
My claim war against Duke Harald ended in victory.

3 November, 1129
My daughter Derbáil was born.

15 November, 1129
I became friends with Wilbert von Andernach.

15 March, 1130
I became friends with Duke Sölvi of Leinster.

15 March, 1130
I became friends with Fergus Burke.

16 March, 1130
Duke Harald of Mön and I became rivals.

8 April, 1130
I held a majestic Grand Tour.

14 October, 1130
I traveled to Canterbury for my very first pilgrimage.

11 March, 1131
Duke Harald of Mön and I became nemeses.

11 March, 1131
I started feuding with Duke Harald of House Crovan after I retaliated against Harald's mindless vendetta.

3 October, 1131
I began the de jure war of the Duchy of Moray, held by King Hrólfr of Norway.

22 February, 1133
My friend Duke Sölvi of Leinster was slain in battle.

13 December, 1133
My de jure war against King Hrólfr ended in victory.

21 January, 1134
I began the de jure war of the Duchy of Galloway, held by Duke Harald of Mön.

20 December, 1134
My friend Wilbert died of old age.

19 May, 1135
I became friends with Duchess Forbflaith of Connacht.

6 June, 1135
My de jure war against Duke Harald ended in victory.

1 September, 1135
Duke Harald of Mön and I became rivals.

1 September, 1135
I ended my family's feud with House Crovan.

21 December, 1135
My friend Fergus died in his sleep.

11 September, 1137
I won the Archery contest at King Robert's Grand Tournament.

10 August, 1139
My rival Duke Harald died of old age.

11 August, 1139
I became friends with King Alfonso VII of Castille.

6 October, 1139
I became friends with Archbishop Malsnectan of Ireland.

13 October, 1139
I became friends with Murchad ua Cheinnselaig.

13 October, 1139
I became friends with Infante Sebastián of Castille.

30 October, 1139
I organized a magnificent Grand Wedding for Prince Murchad and Duchess Innes.

2 November, 1139
I pressed my claim to the Duchy of Mön, held by Earl Gudrød.

1 May, 1140
My claim war against Earl Gudrød ended in victory.

5 April, 1141
I murdered Earl Gudrød.

1 December, 1142
I became friends with Baroness Muadhnait of Nenagh.

31 December, 1143
I joined Countess Ben-Laigen's claim war of Earldom of Worcestershire, held by Eustace.

15 June, 1144
Donndubán mac Aillein and I became rivals.

14 January, 1145
My friend Infante Sebastián of Band of the Brigand Emperor died in his sleep.

21 July, 1145
I pressed Duchess Clarisant of Gwynedd's claim to the Duchy of Gwynedd, held by Lord Cadwgan.

1 October, 1146
My claim war against Lord Cadwgan ended in victory.

2 October, 1146
I came to King Nicholas' defense against Philip's attempted claim war of Duchy of Normandy.

12 November, 1147
I journeyed to Santiago on a worldly pilgrimage.

31 January, 1148
My brother Somhairle died from his wounds.

1 July, 1148
I came to King Nicholas' defense against Countess Ermyntrude's war of liberation.

24 July, 1148
My friends Forbflaith and Finneacht threw me a surprise birthday party.

25 July, 1148
My sister Máirgred drank herself to death.

17 October, 1149
Me and Baroness Muadhnait of Nenagh grew apart.

17 October, 1149
Baroness Muadhnait of Nenagh and I became rivals.

29 October, 1151
I pressed my claim to the Northern Isles, held by King Magnus.

5 December, 1152
Me and Baroness Muadhnait of Nenagh let go of our grudges and stopped being rivals.

5 December, 1152
I let go of my rivalry with Muadhnait.

28 March, 1153
My friend Murchad died of old age.

23 December, 1153
My sister Finneacht died from her wounds.

29 June, 1154
My claim war against King Magnus ended in victory.

26 July, 1155
I became friends with Provost Suaibsech of Corcaigh.

9 August, 1155
I became friends with Eadgyth of Bamburgh.

15 May, 1156
I became friends with Princess Caillech-Fhinnéin of Ireland.

4 December, 1157
I murdered Queen Adele.

1 January, 1158
I pressed Duchess Innes of Circinn's claim to the Duchy of Iceland, held by Countess Yrsa.

3 November, 1158
My rival Donndubán died of old age.

25 November, 1159
Hörðr af Orkneyjar and I became rivals.

25 November, 1159
Hörðr af Orkneyjar began a dethronement war against me.

19 February, 1160
My claim war against Countess Yrsa ended in victory.

22 May, 1161
I imprisoned Duchess Forbflaith of Connacht.

22 May, 1161
I defeated Hörðr's dethronement war.

27 July, 1161
Morcar de Ros and I became rivals.

28 August, 1162
I became the ruler of the Kingdom of Alba.

28 September, 1162
I became friends with Duke Lugáed of Mön.

[jztemple2]

Well, bummer. One of the perks of my learning lifestyle is that I get a year's warning of my impending death (except for things like assassinations). And I just got that notification. Eighty years old and I won't see eighty-two .



I have been resisting starting a war against the King of England because while I might get a duchy out of it, the cost and mayhem would dig into the legacy I'm leaving my only son. If I did use the claim of one of my court members to seize the kingdom of England, the title would go to that claimant who would become independent, so basically trading one opponent for another. And I can't get the crown for myself since I don't have a claim on it. No, the only way to really expand is to keep acquiring new counties, thirty-six more, so the Empire of Britannia can be created. I'll leave that task to my son.

[Isgrimnur]

Good luck on Rule Brittania

[jztemple2]

Well, second bummer. My character's wife just died. Although oddly the memories display doesn't record the marriage, there was a fifty-nine year old daughter so they were married at least sixty years

[jztemple2]

With only months to live, one last opportunity to ask the Pope for gold. When you are a Religious Icon (serious, that's my piety rank) the Pope likes to send me cash.



And my Prestige Rank is Exalted Among Men, and not too far from The Living Legend. Sadly, just too far away to be reached...

[Baroquen]

jztemple2 - Question for you, as one of the other frequent players of this game atm:

I've been playing a round down on the African continent. Lots of tribal conquest and consolidation. I have a young, talented ruler who has worked his way up the chain from Chieftan/county to High Chieftan/duchy and yesterday, I achieved my goal of founding a kingdom (so now I have a royal court. Hooray!).

But the reason I was striving to establish the kingdom is because I'm worried about succession. When my ruler Manu kicks the bucket, the titles get split evenly amongst the kids (I believe). The problem is this - my player heir is my eldest daughter. She's also a talented character and would make a fine ruler to continue, but females can't holds the titles. So my second oldest (a son) is set to inherit almost everything. (I think the younger kids are two more daughters and another son? With grandchildren in the picture now, I'm losing track of the offspring!).

With my ability to change anything about succession laws hamstrung by the passing of time, do you see any way for me to keep this kingdom generally together? Or if my king dies, my player heir has nothing? I'm not sure what's exactly going to happen there, but it doesn't look good. What would happen if my eldest daughter/player heir met an unfortunate demise? Would my new player heir be the son who is set to inherit most of the kingdom?

[jztemple2]

jztemple2 - Question for you, as one of the other frequent players of this game atm:

I've been playing a round down on the African continent. Lots of tribal conquest and consolidation. I have a young, talented ruler who has worked his way up the chain from Chieftan/county to High Chieftan/duchy and yesterday, I achieved my goal of founding a kingdom (so now I have a royal court. Hooray!).

But the reason I was striving to establish the kingdom is because I'm worried about succession. When my ruler Manu kicks the bucket, the titles get split evenly amongst the kids (I believe). The problem is this - my player heir is my eldest daughter. She's also a talented character and would make a fine ruler to continue, but females can't holds the titles. So my second oldest (a son) is set to inherit almost everything. (I think the younger kids are two more daughters and another son? With grandchildren in the picture now, I'm losing track of the offspring!).

With my ability to change anything about succession laws hamstrung by the passing of time, do you see any way for me to keep this kingdom generally together? Or if my king dies, my player heir has nothing? I'm not sure what's exactly going to happen there, but it doesn't look good. What would happen if my eldest daughter/player heir met an unfortunate demise? Would my new player heir be the son who is set to inherit most of the kingdom?

I've never been in that kind of situation, with a female heir who can't hold titles. Sounds like you need to remove that heir

[Baroquen]

I've never been in that kind of situation, with a female heir how can't hold titles. Sounds like you need to remove that heir

Yeah, I think that's my next thing to try. A shame because she's a good person. The "Disinherit" choice was grayed out too. I'll have to see what options I can come up with.

[jztemple2]

I've never been in that kind of situation, with a female heir how can't hold titles. Sounds like you need to remove that heir

Yeah, I think that's my next thing to try. A shame because she's a good person. The "Disinherit" choice was grayed out too. I'll have to see what options I can come up with.

In all my successions I never had an heir that had no titles. It would be an interesting challenge!

[Baroquen]

Well, that problem ended up being pretty much a non-issue. When my king passed, almost everything ended up with the daughter. All the vassals hated her. I've pretty much navigated those waters and outlasted the anti-honeymoon period and things are mostly stable. Not it's just a lot of empire managing which has been kind of a hassle. We'll see if things get interesting next session.

[jztemple2]

Dev Diary #130: Wards and Wardens

It's been a few weeks since we spoke but it feels like longer, what with all of you having been busy traveling, touring, tournamenting and the rest! It is time for us, nonetheless, to leave behind that world for now and take a look ahead at what we have coming up next.

It's a long article that discusses the upcoming DLC. Besides the titular content, there will also be hostages, midwifes and mature students (education as an adult).