Crusader Kings 2

[cybrxkhan]

For those who haven't noticed it yet, it seems like the beta patch thingymajig was just a beta patch like the series of beta patches they've had since the release of CM. Feels a bit anticlimatic to me after they sorta hyped it up, but whatever. Ignoring whether the beta patch is stable or not, it does seem to include a number of nice things, particularly for modders.

In the thread for the beta patch, the devs did mention just a bit of information about WoL:

Before the speculations run rampant I need to tell you all that Way of Life is a fairly small and very "focused" expansion, it will consist mostly of events ( lots of them though ) and only one significant mechanics change. Its effect on Role-playing and immersion should not be understated however.

I'm fine with that, anyways, WoL sounds good to me overall; now that I don't need to speculate/worry about what they meant with their new beta patching system, I can focus more on hoping WoL turns out well.

Maybe I messed up the order of things there... but I don't think so. I am about 70% sure that she died and her husband (King of poland - me) remained being King of the country, the heir staying as their son as well. So basically I was king of the country before she died, and after.

I didn't realize there was such a thing as a main title. That could very well be it. If someone is King of two countries though, how do you figure out which the main title is? And countries ever merge when having the same king? And if so, under which conditions?

One title will always be the primary title, I think it's the title that shows up on your character's name. You can change primary titles if you select the title's COAs on the character screen. You can also change the law for each separate title in the laws screen.

It's impossible to have two countries "merge", but it is possible for kingdoms to assimilate into another kingdom, or empires to assimilate into another empire. That is, let's say you rule the Kingdom of England, and conquer some parts of the de jure Kingdom of Poland. If no exchange of territories happen, after 100 years, the de jure parts of Poland you rule now become de jure part of England.

 

[warpus]

So basically if I want to marry my kids into other families, the main reason to do so is not to gain new territories, but to have helpful allies? For the most part?

I am going to load an older game, before people started dying, and try to change the primary title. Thanks! If I can't get these 2 kingdoms merged, maybe I can at least have my son inherit some Hungarian provinces that can be added to his kingdom of Poland.

You know, each time I load up this game, I think to myself: "I should try playing as someone who isn't Polish".. but then I've never really had a satisfactory game with my people. So the cycle repeats.. I guess with EUIV I broke out of the cycle by having that one successful game, so if I play CKII enough, it should happen as well..

 

[SouthernKing]

You could try starting in Ireland

 

[warpus]

I think I figured out what happened.. it's kind of silly really, I'm not sure how I didn't see it. When I died, my heir wasn't the guy with the most votes.. that or I forgot to nominate him. Whoops. I cheated and killed off the guy everybody wanted to vote for (I guess all my vassals hated me, not sure why, they loved my dad), then I killed myself, and my heir became king of poland, then killed queen of hungary, and I inherited all her titles and merged hungary into Poland.

Well, that was fun. Now I know how titles work a bit better. Instead of Ireland it seems like the HRE would be more fun with all the inter-germaninizing and family affairs and conflicts

 

[plarq]

You could try starting in Ireland

I really like to start as a Patrician from Amalfi. Also a 867 start in Ireland is not that easy, be aware of Vikings!

 

[Double A]

So basically if I want to marry my kids into other families, the main reason to do so is not to gain new territories, but to have helpful allies? For the most part?

I am going to load an older game, before people started dying, and try to change the primary title. Thanks! If I can't get these 2 kingdoms merged, maybe I can at least have my son inherit some Hungarian provinces that can be added to his kingdom of Poland.

You know, each time I load up this game, I think to myself: "I should try playing as someone who isn't Polish".. but then I've never really had a satisfactory game with my people. So the cycle repeats.. I guess with EUIV I broke out of the cycle by having that one successful game, so if I play CKII enough, it should happen as well..

Orrrr, you can marry your sons with other king's daughters (and matrimarry your daughters to men who are high in the line of succession but not enough to reject matrimarriage) so that you get a new courtier who you can either press the claims of, or murder the older relatives of so they inherit and your dynasty begins ruling the other country once their child inherits the throne.

 

[cybrxkhan]

So some players have looked into the beta patch's files and noticed some new code and stuff hinting at possible new features coming with WoL.

For instance according to this thread on the PI forums, there are a number of new lifestyle traits:

• Master Seducer/Seductress: intrigue +2, diplomacy +1, attraction opinion +50
• Administrator: stewardship +3
• Architect: stewardship +2, martial +1, same trait +20
• Strategist: martial +2, stewardship +1, same trait +20
• Socializer: diplomacy +3, same trait +20, attraction opinion +10
• Master Schemer: intrigue +3, same trait -10
• Theologian: learning +2, intrigue +1
• Games Master: diplomacy +2, martial +1, same trait +20

A user on reddit also apaprently came across some new feature called "Focus" which seems to be similar to Ambitions, except they are 'open-ended'. And his original post:

Those of us playing with the latest beta patch will have noticed the "Focus" icon next to "Ambition" and "Plot" on the character screen. Sure enough, in the common/objectives folder of your game folder, there is a file "00_focuses.txt" alongside the files for ambitions, plots and factions. I suggest you read it if you're interested in finding out what Focuses are about. But if you want to avoid spoilers, then, uh, don't, and don't read this either.

From my reading of it, here's what I can gather:

• You take a Focus like taking an Ambition. You can probably have both.
• A Focus doesn't have a "completion condition" the way an Ambition does. Presumably, then, you can abandon one and take a new one, possibly after the usual 3 year period.
• A Focus grants certain bonuses while active. These can be to your primary skills, health and/or fertility. For example, the "Family" focus grants +2 Diplomacy, +1 Health and +25% Fertility. The "Seduction" focus grants +2 Intrigue and +25% Fertility. There may be effects other than bonuses, which would be granted by other sections of code (similar to how the "unlimited subjugation wars" benefit of the "Become King" ambition is coded into the casus belli file).
• AI characters will choose focus based purely on their traits, not their circumstances and the advantages they give. Happily married characters won't choose "Seduction", falconers and hunters will choose "Hunting", aggressive characters will choose "Warfare", etc.

I'm pretty excited about this! It really looks like an extra, open-ended Ambition. Here's the full list of focuses and the bonuses according to the file:

• Rulership: +3 Stewardship
• Business: +2 Stewardship
• Seduction: +2 Intrigue, +25% Fertility
• Intrigue: +3 Intrigue
• Hunting: +2 Martial
• War: +3 Martial
• Carousing: +3 Diplomacy
• Family: +2 Diplomacy, +1 Health, +25% Fertility
• Scholarship: +3 Learning
• Theology: +2 Learning

(Interestingly, female NPCs are much more likely to choose Family than the other focuses. I think India is going to see an influx of Jain Maharanis who live into their nineties surrounded by children.)

Not sure whether any of this is beta patch or WoL DLC material per se, but it looks pretty interesting. The Focus stuff could prove quite helpful in giving the game more RPG options.

So basically if I want to marry my kids into other families, the main reason to do so is not to gain new territories, but to have helpful allies? For the most part?

Getting allies would probably be the most immediately relevant bonus in my opinion, yes. However, in the long run, your grandkids could get weak or even strong claims on other titles, and eventually using those you might be able to install your relatives as ruelrs of other realms, which will give you a permanent ally (since they are family) and maybe even let you get claims on those territories too.

 

[Double A]

I really hope some of the focuses aren't just a choice between 2 and 3 in a stat.

 

[madviking]

yea the foci should be open to those who x conditions satisfied

 

[cybrxkhan]

My guess is that the focuses (foci?) have events associated with them (given that the devs have emphasized WoL will be very event-heavy), and possible bonuses - a bit similarly to how the improve stat ambitions work. For instance, let's say, the seduce focus allows you events and decisions to get new lovers or something, and enough success will get you the Master Seducer lifestyle trait.

That's just speculation, of course, but I'm assuming that's how they'll work, i.e. not just a stat boost, at least for some of them. Otherwise there would be a rather limited amount.

 

[cardgame]

well, you wouldn't be able to focus on war if you're at peace, I imagine. You might not be able to focus on rulership if you're only a count. Or perhaps business is a Merchant-Republic exclusive. A theology focus might also get better relations with the pope, or be like your council assignments to randomly generate an event which grants better/worse relations with religious vassals and/or pope. Scholarship might get extra tech research. Maybe you need to have a baseline skill level to consider being a scholar.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I've come across some more information on the forums by other users who have been digging into the files, and looked at them myself. There seems to be a lot of new events coded and others have been changed and other miscellany. For instance:

• Cannibal trait (?!?!?!?!?)
• New minor decisions like throwing a small party for selected people, focuses on familly deeds, study, building towers etc.
• Provincial modifiers called "trade route" and "stone quarry" (some sort of economic events?)
• Traits now have a combat_rating, and some users have speculated based on some of the new events that this may be some sort of proper duel system in place
• Decision to build an astronomical tower and decide whether you support the idea of a geocentric or heliocentric universe (I'm guessing only for scholarly characters or those with one of the new lifestyle traits or focuses)
• Some sort of hangover event chain related to the Carouser/Socializer trait/focus or something
• Decadence Usurption CB - Muslims can usurp the titles of other decadence Muslims? (unless this was already in the previous patch)
• Seems like there will be a new way to gain the lifestyle traits, as the old events will not trigger if you have WoL
• Lovers' events also seems to be replaced if you have WoL

There's also a bunch of new modifiers which can give you a good idea of what to expect:

New modifiers:

Spoiler :

incestuous_adulterer = {
general_opinion = -10
church_opinion = -10
icon = 40
}
incestuous_adulteress = {
general_opinion = -20
church_opinion = -20
icon = 40
}
adulterer = {
general_opinion = -5
church_opinion = -5
icon = 40
}
adulteress = {
general_opinion = -10
church_opinion = -10
icon = 40
}
known_sodomite = {
general_opinion = -10
church_opinion = -10
icon = 40
}
cradle_robber = {
general_opinion = -5
icon = 40
}
adulterous_priest = {
general_opinion = -5
church_opinion = -10
icon = 35
}

wol_patriarch_1 = {
fertility = 0.1
icon = 18
}

wol_patriarch_2 = {
diplomacy = 1
fertility = 0.2
church_opinion = 5
icon = 18
}

wol_matriarch_1 = {
fertility = 0.1
icon = 18
}

wol_matriarch_2 = {
diplomacy = 1
fertility = 0.2
church_opinion = 5
icon = 18
}

wol_schemer_1 = {
intrigue = 1
icon = 5
}
wol_schemer_2 = {
intrigue = 2
icon = 5
}

wol_seducer_1 = {
sex_appeal_opinion = 15
icon = 39
}
wol_seducer_2 = {
sex_appeal_opinion = 30
intrigue = 1
icon = 39
}
wol_court_tomcat = {
intrigue = 1
sex_appeal_opinion = 10
icon = 5
}
wol_court_vixen = {
intrigue = 1
sex_appeal_opinion = 10
icon = 5
}
wol_refused_duel = {
general_opinion = -10
icon = 19
}
wol_steward_1 = {
stewardship = 1
icon = 4
}
wol_steward_2 = {
stewardship = 2
icon = 4
}
wol_raja_dharma = {
stewardship = 2
icon = 4
}
wol_respected_ruler = {
vassal_opinion = 10
icon = 7
}
wol_legendary_wisdom = {
monthly_character_prestige = 1
icon = 4
}
hunting_white_stag = {
martial = 1
icon = 1
}
hunting_white_bear = {
martial = 1
icon = 1
}
hunting_white_tiger = {
martial = 1
icon = 1
}
hunting_white_lion = {
martial = 1
icon = 1
}

hidden_seduced_bodyguard = {
icon = 39
}

hidden_seduced_maid = {
icon = 39
}

hidden_seduced_prisoner = {
icon = 39
}

hidden_seduced_tree = {
icon = 39
}

hidden_seduced_gaoler = {
icon = 39
}

seduced_loyal_bodyguard = {
martial = 1
plot_discovery_chance = 0.1
icon = 39
}

seduced_loyal_spy_maid = {
intrigue = 1
plot_discovery_chance = 0.1
icon = 39
}

minor_disease_herpes = {
sex_appeal_opinion = -5
health = -0.05
icon = 40
}

pet_hunting_dog = {
health = 1
diplomacy = 1
icon = 39
}

organizing_party = {
monthly_character_prestige = 0.1
icon = 18
}
party_timer = {
icon = 18
}
party_carousing = {
monthly_character_prestige = 0.1
icon = 18
}
carouser = {
diplomacy = 1
icon = 18
}
dedicated_carouser = {
diplomacy = 2
icon = 18
}
cannibal = {
martial = 3
general_opinion = -10
icon = 18
}

great_tower = {
monthly_character_prestige = 0.2
general_opinion = 5
icon = 4
}

beaten_up = {
sex_appeal_opinion = -5
monthly_character_prestige = -0.5
icon = 40
}
epic_hangover = {
diplomacy = -2
icon = 25
}
vicious_rumors = {
general_opinion = -10
icon = 34
}
known_murderer = {
general_opinion = -10
icon = 34
}
studying_the_stars = {
learning = 1
icon = 2
}
heliocentrist_scholar = {
learning = 2
icon = 2
}
weird_scholar = {
learning = 1
stewardship = 1
icon = 2
}
the_necronomicon = {
learning = 2
diplomacy = -1
monthly_character_piety = -2
icon = 2
}
failed_escape = {
icon = 38
diplomacy = -1
}
ancient_wisdom = {
icon = 2
learning = 1
}
merciless = {
icon = 31
general_opinion = -10
}
apprentice_boardgamer = {
icon = 18
diplomacy = 1
}
religious_studies = {
icon = 2
learning = 1
}
religious_philosopher = {
icon = 2
learning = 2
}

I suppose if you are using the beta patch you can look these things up yourself. Regardless, they all seem very interesting, and indeed as the devs hinted at WoL may be a very event-heavy DLC, which is good.

 

[madviking]

incestuous adultery YEA

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Necronomicon will give the power to summon the old ones?

Imagine an incestuous adulterer sodomite cannibal bastard who can summon abyss monsters.

 

[Arakhor]

Imagine an incestuous adulterer sodomite cannibal bastard who can summon abyss monsters.

Sounds like the average YouTube troll.

 

[Double A]

I'd still rather talk to the cannibal.

 

[gay_Aleks]

"so I am a Pope Urbanus X, son of Satan, the homosexual adulterous incestuous cannibal bastard of my father"

=A potential OP for a thread in the Paradox CKII forum.

 

[Civ'ed]

"so I am a Pope Urbanus X, son of Satan, the homosexual adulterous incestuous cannibal bastard of my father"

=A potential OP for a thread in the Paradox CKII forum.

>implying paradox is going to make playable theocracies

 

[filli_noctus]

"Seduced tree"

 

[gay_Aleks]

>implying paradox is going to make playable theocracies

You still can make a homosexual Pope. Pity that the Spawn of Satan event chain triggers only for player.