Grand Strategy Crusader Kings III

[Average Manatee]

"We heard you liked making meme religions so now you can make meme cultures. $20 please"

 

[Zariusz]

I don't like religion modularity, in my opinion it turns faith into something easily exchangable and replacable that completly ignores nature of religion, a hollow shell that can be refilled with anything but that is probably how those fedora tippers at Paradox see religion. They should add life to faiths by adding events chains, mechanics and decisions that would reflect chosen religion character and traditions.

Culture modularity on the other hand, with some proper limitations, could be a really interesting mechanic. Like imagine being an european noble that with army of his fellow countrymen would conquer some counties from Muslims and those counties were inhabited by for example Assyrians. Your family rules this region for generations, local population has accepted you as their own since you protect them from muslim attacks and you allow them to achieve high positions, many men of your army also settle maybe taking with them their families, maybe making new ones with local assyrian women, probably many assyrian men would also serve in your armies, not to mention that your people and local Assyrians are both Christians in the sea of Muslims. With time your language will feel the influence of local assyrian dialect and vice versa, simillar with local and your native traditions, with every year of your dynasty rule this process will accelerate, after so many years would your native culture really be the same as culture in your homeland? Would that assyrian population would be the same as other assyrian populations? Of course as i said earlier, bordergore culture map would be terrible so AI limitation is necessary.

 

[Fedora Master]

That's already handled with culture shifting to English/Outremer etc

 

[Zariusz]

That's already handled with culture shifting to English/Outremer etc

Yes but what if your country of origin is slavic? Or german? Or maybe even irish?

 

[Fedora Master]

That's already handled with culture shifting to English/Outremer etc

Yes but what if your country of origin is slavic? Or german? Or maybe even irish?

I suppose it would be easy to create more hybrid cultures - Many are missing anyway right now, like Gaelic-Norse - in the same manner. That wouldn't sell DLC though.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Since I got it for a steal (and DirectX hates me), I decided to try my hand in yet another Paradox game that barely explains anything to you...
Is it just me, or are marriage alliances kinda sorta cheating?
I was doing the tutorial, happily conquering Ireland's potato fields, steamrolling someone with no money or troops...until 6000+ troops appeared out of nowhere and bent me over. Turned out he had spontanously pawned off his son to Tuscany, who had nothing better to do than send their entire army half across the known world.

If this is how the game works, Ima do it Austrian style next time. And by that I don't mean grow a funny mustache and kill all yews, but to marry half of the world and let them do the fighting.
My ruler's wife popped out at least 10 kids, so there was certainly no shortage of alliance resources.

 

[NJClaw]

Yes, with the alliances you can get in some ridiculous situations. But I think that the real problem isn't with the alliances themselves, but with how the game handles raising your troops and moving them around the world. You can instantly raise your entire army wherever you want with a negligible delay, and sending them across the world bears no penalty whatsoever. And when you factor in that you can materialize transport ships whenever you want for a non-existent cost everything becomes even more absurd.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Oh yes the ships. One irish potatofarmer always sent his army in a bordering neutral duchy after a lost battle, boarded magic ships and sailed counterclockwise around the island to attack my soft underbelly. Then boarded new magic ships when I went down and sailed all the way back.
Strategic placement of armies? Chokepoints? Nah, we just build enough ships for 3000 people in a day and go around.
That's just bullshit.

Here I thought the massive advantage of an island start would a relative safety against outsiders, since naval invasions in early medieval times are not something you can do nillywilly.
Guess I was wrong.

Aside from that the game seems to be a lot of sitting aroung doing nuzzink. Low income means you can barely build anything until the pope gives you an allowance again. And if you hand a duchy over to a vassal what little income it gave drops by 90%...
Probably need to watch one of those "MASSIVE EXPLOITS TO BE OP IN 5 MINS MUST WATCH" youtube videos...

 

[Zariusz]

Yes, with the alliances you can get in some ridiculous situations. But I think that the real problem isn't with the alliances themselves, but with how the game handles raising your troops and moving them around the world. You can instantly raise your entire army wherever you want with a negligible delay, and sending them across the world bears no penalty whatsoever. And when you factor in that you can materialize transport ships whenever you want for a non-existent cost everything becomes even more absurd.

Sometimes its even better to disband your army and reform it closer to the enemy, much faster than just marching. Literally teleportation.

 

[Fedora Master]

The annoying thing with alliances is that they work retroactively. You marry your third son off to someone and boom, he's your best buddy and immediately starts fighting your wars for you.

 

[Norfleet]

I don't think you know what "retroactively" means. If it worked "retroactively", it would mean they go back in time to win your wars in the past. They will only join you your CURRENT (and future) wars, and this makes sense because THIS IS THE ENTIRE POINT.

 

[Fedora Master]

It makes no sense at all that they join ongoing wars. Who would agree to that? Especially when they stand to gain absolutely nothing from it. There needs to be at least some sort of reluctance modifier.

 

[Rieser]

I don't like religion modularity, in my opinion it turns faith into something easily exchangable and replacable that completly ignores nature of religion, a hollow shell that can be refilled with anything but that is probably how those fedora tippers at Paradox see religion. They should add life to faiths by adding events chains, mechanics and decisions that would reflect chosen religion character and traditions.

That'll be 40 dollars and three DLC's, please and thank you.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Tried my hand at something yuge, the not-yet-HRE.

He has an income of... 3 gold and less levies than a Baron. As the king of 1/3 of yurop. Makes sense! Turns out it's because at least 70% of his vassals are over cap or "the wrong type", making basically no money/levies as well. Paradox not knowing their own mechanics again I guess...
On top of it, he is already ancient, basically the Crispy of medieval yurop. But other than Crispy, he is mortal, and proves it by dying 1 month in. So now I am the Bavarian I didn't pick and... oh he is dead now too. I am starting to see a pattern here.

So I go down one tier and start as the count of Angrier Angria.
Same no income vasssls as before, nothing I can do until I research plenar I guess, which thankfully only takes 40 years, because of the saxons close ties with.... Ethiopia? Okay!

But then came the vikings. Seems like the DLC changes the game to "if you want to start in central yurop but not as a viking, move along and start 200 years later".
When they just raid, all I can do is close my eyes and pray for them to leave, because having 4 headless knights afterwards is not worth th 10 gold. Kinda historically correct actually.
Problem is, the AI just compares army sizes and invades. Some 1 province frog leg eating Jarl near the Normandy decides to conquer East Frankenstein and sends his 5k+ magic army on a 1 year trip through yurop. More than the combined armies if ALL frankish kingsoms together!
And then demonstrating how retarded the AI is. No coordination, or combining of armies. Just lone 1k stacks killing themselves via vikings.
No vassal bothers to raise his army either, despite it being a game over for them when he loses? So I "ask the king to join", send my army on vacation to France, siege his little shithole province... and win the war without fighting with a 100% war contribution. This game...

And there is still the Jarl of NotDenmark. 5k+ magic army and enough prestige to raise it again. Plus mercs. I don't see much hope for me aside from hoping allies will save me.
I lucked out, got 1 son, 4 daughters and my waifu is countess of Kassel now after her dad... met a berserker... F.

If I manage to survive the Vikings, my spawn will control a massive reorganised blob, including the mines of Thuringistan.
Turned out fun despite the crappy AI.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Well TLDR version:
Eastern Franconia is almost unplayable ("difficulty: medium"), because, I assume Paradox tried to place ownership historically correct, but it does not work with the game mechanics. At best 30% of all those dukes/counts have any income/levy, and 10% of that is not much.
The whole kingdom is apparently just there to be raided or conquered by others.

And if the Jarl had conquered it, does he even have access to feudal vassals? If not, he wouldn't have gotten anything from it either...

 

[Norfleet]

It makes no sense at all that they join ongoing wars. Who would agree to that? Especially when they stand to gain absolutely nothing from it.

Well, I'm sure they gain SOMETHING from it, like, say, inroads into your title, since that's basically what people offered as enticement to alliances historically.

 

[Zariusz]

While im not interested in playing this mod in the future its very interesting how much you can modify CK3.
2:20:11

EDIT:
FINALLY, someone is making a proper economic overhaul of CK3

 

[Bliblablubb]

This game's interaction between AIs is just.... RAAAAAAGE!

Because the AI always gets their entire family killed, my son-in-law suddently inherited France, dragging me into a 6 year war to keep down unruly vassals.
During that time, my genius heir decided to grant his heir a shitty county of his own. And he, the future heir to the almost-HRE, decides to marry my superior bred legacy off to his closest neighbours, all 1 county vassals, including 2 1st cousins and a FUCKING DWARF!
I only noticed it, because he ran off to get maimed fighting the dwarf-fathers peasant uprising with his 200 levies and died from those wounds.

GAEM. Y U HAET ME. Almost 2 hours down the drain...

Well lessions learned:
Don't give your heir a duchy title to prevent him from vassaling.
Don't ally with the french. Or italy. Nobrainer. Kill your son-in-law to prevent that if needed.
Mixing in Bulgarian pixel DNA makes your kids look like muppets.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Also a question about inheritance:

One of my vassals inherited Italy. Being the son if the king's younger brother. But the king had 3 living non-bastard sons himself.
Did the game bug out, set him as heir when the king had no kids yet and forget to swap back, or is there something I missed?

 

[Harthwain]

This game's interaction between AIs is just.... RAAAAAAGE!

The game messing up your plans is part of the fun for me.

I mean, my heir became a canibalistic sodomite who got excommunicated by the Pope, while I - the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - struggled to keep Christian faith together by converting heretics and other unbelievers across the land. Strangely enough, the game was sensible enough to go for the maximum dread with him [the heir].

 

[Bliblablubb]

Yeah, the France incident was funny, because I was busy snatching Cologne from some 5yo king of Lorraine when hell broke loose putting me at war with half of yurop.
That was good AI fuckup.

My beef is that all the weighting in negotiations YOU get does apparently not happen between AIs, leading to such bullshit legacies. Good luck getting matri-- pawning off your daughters while keeping their kids to anyone above a county.
My guess is the AI simply goes for proximity, then "highest acceptance value". My grandson probably got 1000+ acceptance mating his daughter to the dwarf and was convinced it being the best deal. 20 stewardship my ass.

I only draw a line when my future player characters are involved tho, otherwise it's yuge fun. My brother only got 3 daughters, who then fought each other for years until the oldest won. Who has herpes and gave it to her entire family. And because she has 20 diplo, she is my chancellor. Happy gifts for everyone.

And Bavaria... people are fighting over the throne for at least 30 years now, it's free for all with at least 4 claimants. And when the Swabian douche finally was about to win, about to take Swabia from me as well, I used a hook to make her stop. 20 years of fighting for nothing because I had a favor on her from a feast.
Aaaah, it's good to be king.

 

[NJClaw]

Also a question about inheritance:

One of my vassals inherited Italy. Being the son if the king's younger brother. But the king had 3 living non-bastard sons himself.
Did the game bug out, set him as heir when the king had no kids yet and forget to swap back, or is there something I missed?

It's hard to give an answer without knowing the succession laws attached to the title and the exact family tree. Some possibilities:
- the title was elective or had the house seniority law;
- all three sons where ineligible for some reason (they took vows or were disinherited by the dynasty head);

 

[Bliblablubb]

Well, it's the year ~910, I don't think Italy has any special laws yet.
The king ursuped recently and only owns Tuscany and his old lands near Venice.
None of them wears a priest hat or are marked for being disinherited, if there even is a tag for that.
Gonna switch to the king later today to see if he could still disinherit/vow them and report back. For SCIENCE.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Okay, after checking the wiki I think I know why:
He has "house seniority" succession, so the oldest house member gets it all. Apparently it's a late medieval thing, so I hadn't heard about it yet. But, Czechmates and Slovien get that already in the tribal phase.
So I guess the proud king of Italy embraced Slav superiority at some point.

Case closed.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Heh, just realized I made the cuck husband of my slooty sister the duke of Bohemistan. Which should be full of czechmates. If he decides to adopt that culture and dies... I get everything back because it was matreli- my house name.
Best deal. It just works. Its good to be king.