Crusader Kings 2

[grandad1982]

Picture makes me think of Settlers of Catan.

 

[calad]

I highly recommend to buy CK2 from steam. It is not uncommon to find it -75% discount.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

PI is finally teasing their new DLC, giving us this vague imageon facebook:

Crusader Kings II: Donner Party

 

[Ailedhoo]

This will be interesting!

If it is a religious DLC then it would be interesting to have a chance to play a theocracy, although it would have to play around the family mechanics. Still... it could lead to the possibility of setting policies as a religious head (such as founding holy orders or laying down the law on temple lands) and give a possibility to further expand on the faiths.

If it is about migration then it would be a interesting mechanic.

Colonisation? Let us have a see what occurs.

What ever the case: lovely picture.

 

[Double A]

Crusader Kings 2: Oregon Trail.

 

[madviking]

clearly penguin dlc

 

[mechaerik]

The denizens of the PI forums are guessing this is either something to do with pilgrimages or Jews traveling, hence a religious DLC of some sort (assuming the next DLC is called Sons of Abraham, which was listed in the steam database a week or so ago but subsequently removed), or some sort of settlement/colonization which would work with land trade/landed republics DLC.

It wasn't removed, just renamed.

 

[cybrxkhan]

It wasn't removed, just renamed.

Well, yes, renamed technically since the id or whatever is still the same. But it's possible - though I think it unlikely - that the devs originally had the Sons of Abraham as a decoy to tease the fans, then change it to underworld invasion to tease us more, all the while when the real name is actually something else.

But eh, I think Sons of Abraham fits as a religious DLC.

 

[sophie]

clearly penguin dlc

Not now, Gunter!

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Posted by Paradox on Facebook:

"Tomorrow, October 22, at 7 p.m CEST (6 p.m BST, 5 p.m. GMT, 10 a.m. PDT) we're hosting a live streaming event of something Crusader Kings 2-related. A tip: you might not want to be late, because something might be happening at 7.05 p.m.
http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive"

 

[cybrxkhan]

Repost from PI forums:

Very clever, PI. I'm convinced it is a picture depicting one of the attacks on Rome during the CKII timeframe, not an extension of the game further into the Dark Ages as most people think. 867 was way too far back, look what they had to do for the Magayars, for instance. If this is representing what I think it represents, that means we will finally be getting some good Papacy action - in depth antipopes, maybe a Guelph vs, Ghibelline system, etc.

 

[NBAfan]

Repost from PI forums:

Very clever, PI. I'm convinced it is a picture depicting one of the attacks on Rome during the CKII timeframe, not an extension of the game further into the Dark Ages as most people think. 867 was way too far back, look what they had to do for the Magayars, for instance. If this is representing what I think it represents, that means we will finally be getting some good Papacy action - in depth antipopes, maybe a Guelph vs, Ghibelline system, etc.

There was a DLC name leak called "Sons of Abraham."

 

[cybrxkhan]

There was a DLC name leak called "Sons of Abraham."

Yeah, that was mentioned on the last page I think, and it's what's making me think it's probably a religious DLC at this point.

So the evidence:

- Devs have said for a while that this next, upcoming DLC is something that has been requested often by fans. (Which would reduce the possibilities to a Catholic or religious overhaul (i.e. theocracies, Cardinals, Papacy, etc.), Land Republics, Jews, and pretty much that)
- Devs have also said in contrast to last year's "cycle" of DLCs, this upcoming yearly "cycle" of CKII DLCs will focus on adding depth to the existing game, rather than adding completely new things. A Catholic or religion overhaul would fit under that very well.
- First pic released appears to be some sort of pilgrimage or possibly the Hussites. Either way, it fits under the umbrella of a religious/Catholic DLC.
- Second pic released definitely depicts Rome being sacked, leading some to quickly think it's a Dark Ages DLC, but I think that's highly unlikely (almost impossible) for several reasons, and it doesn't fit with the other evidence. In my opinion it probably has something to do with conflicts with the Pope, which, again, lends well to a religious/Catholic DLC.
- There was a DLC called "Sons of Abraham" on the steam DB a while back; while it has been renamed, its ID # (or whatever) is still there meaning it's probably the same thing. "Sons of Abraham" would only work for a religious DLC.


A religious DLC is probably the strongest possibility, the question is whether it only deals with Catholics, or whether it also enhances heresies and the Abrahamic religions in general (with the possible addition of Jews).

 

[_random_]

I would be very surprised if a DLC called "Sons of Abraham" didn't feature Judaism in anyway.

 

[cybrxkhan]

New dev diary about the Cardinals. So Papcy/Catholic/Religion DLC confirmed! Seems like there could be Jews and other religious features for heresies and so on. Dev diary: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...-Abraham-Dev-Diary-1-The-College-of-Cardinals

For those who can't see:

It's finally time to announce the next expansion for Crusader Kings II! You might already know the name: "Sons of Abraham". Some of you were very close in your guesses on what it might be. No, it's not a Zombie DLC! Sons of Abraham focuses on the three Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The idea was to go back to the roots after all the attention given to the heathens, and to flesh out the religious side of the game for the monotheists; Christians in particular.

First and foremost, we wanted to do more with the Pope; how he gets elected, what powers he has and how you can gain his favor. Thus, we added the Cardinal title and the College of Cardinals. For simplicity's sake, there are only nine cardinals, and the Pope is always elected from among their number. Cardinals, however, are not elected; they are picked by the Pope from among his courtiers and the bishops of Europe. The selection is based on many factors; age, piety, opinion, culture (the Pope really likes Italians!), etc.

View attachment 93691

So, how exactly do you get your man onto the chair of Saint Peter? Well, the Holy See is not a democracy, so this is not a direct process. First, you need at least one of your bishops to get appointed Cardinal by the Holy Father. Fortunately, you do not have to rely entirely on the character of the bishop himself, you can grease the machinery with a bit of lucre by putting money in the campaign fund (similar to how Doges are elected in Merchant Republics). Of course, it is also possible to carefully groom a candidate for a career in the Catholic church before you even make him a bishop.

When the Pope dies, the cardinals in turn elect his successor. This process cannot be directly influenced by the player, but the cardinals will reason much like the Pope does when he picks new cardinals, so it's better to have old, pious men made cardinals than incompetent wastrels whose election you paid for.

View attachment 93690

Ok, so let us say one of your bishops is eventually made Pope. How does that serve you? Well, Popes that come from your realm will like you - a lot. Of course, that means they will be likely to grant your requests. Want to get divorced? No problem. Want to invade someone? Ok. To make this even more useful, we've given the Pope some new powers as well: he can give you money, plain and simple. He can also approve your candidate for a bishopric under Papal Investiture, or even declare a Crusade on the infidel of your choice. However, each time he does you a favor, he will like you less, so your influence will not last forever. Incidentally, having your antipope installed in Rome will have a similar effect. Oh, and if the Pope should happen to be of your very own dynasty, that will give you a lot of monthly Piety and Prestige.

View attachment 93692

There are some direct benefits to controlling cardinals as well. You cannot ask to have someone excommunicated or invaded if they control more cardinals than you do.

That's that about the College of Cardinals. Next week I'll talk about holy orders, heresies, and other things...

EDIT:

Other confirmed features from the stream:

• Holy Orders are more in-depth - people can join them (courtiers, heirs, etc.), all religions have at least one, holy order heads are elected
• Jews - Khazars are Jews, Jews will have special features like restoring Israel, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews can spawn in places
• Heresies - heresies are more distinct (Cathars can have female priests, Fraticelli have Popes, etc.) and can become a major branch of the religion if there's enough followers
• Muslims - Sunni Muslims can choose to support (I think) two different schools of theological thought, one that gives bonuses to tech and more practical stuff, the other which is more religious (?)
• Pilgrimages - sort of like Hajj

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

November 18 release date according to live stream.

 

[Double A]

I really want to play as the Papal States.

 

[scheva007]

I still havent got old gods cause im waiting for it to go on sale (GMG/steam version)

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Stealing a list of announced features from the live stream off of Reddit

Sons of Abraham

Launching November 18 (and a "bigger" expansion coming later)

Papal Mechanics

• College of Cardinals to elect Popes
• Pope that you supported can give you money, free invasions/excommunications/divorces
• You can request Crusades!
• Opinion maluses for each request to Pope
• Exclusive to Catholics and Fraticelli

Holy orders

• Two new Catholic orders (Calatrava and Santiago)
• Everybody gets holy order (Immortals confirmed for Zoroastrians)
• Characters from court will join (like Varangians)
• You can borrow from them (like historical Templars were bankers)

Pilgrimages

• Like Hajj

More events

• 300+ new ones
• Some are patch, some are DLC
• Patch: events that start Crusades/Jihads/etc
• Flavor events for Abrahamic faiths

Patch:

• "Phase 2" of expansions/DLC
• Less SoI, more LoR
• Will be slightly cheaper
• Upping to version 2.00
• Achievements, ironman, cloud saves
• Bottlenecks: battles based on terrain will have additional (bigger advantage for good generals with smaller defensive forces)
• Combat rebalance: being outflanked much more serious, especially if center falls
• No playing as Pope
• Popes will tend to be older due to College of Cardinals
• New traits like Pilgrim

Changes to Islam

• Requires SoI
• Traits related to two opposing schools: Mutazili and Ashari
• Only for Sunni

Heresies

• Heresies have heads of religion
• Fraticelli have their own Pope
• Cathars have female Bishops
• Ibadi have a Caliphate
• "Centers of heresy" where they spread from
• Heresy can become main religion
• Holy orders will switch when that happens
• Opposing religions and heretic members of your court can prosleytize
• Religious rebellions if different than

JEWS!

• Full religion
• Start off in Khazar ruler's capital only
• Ambition to restore Israel and rebuild First Temple
• Head of religion (historical high priest)
• Ashkenazi and Sephardi as random courtiers
• Roughly as difficult as Zoroastrians in Karen Satrapy
• New ambitions

Achievements

• 50 total

 

[cybrxkhan]

List above misses the part that Crusades will happen dynamically, in response to events in the Holy Land, rather than at 1090.