There's so much cool stuff coming to Crusader Kings 3 this year that I'm not sure what to be most excited for

GamesStrategyCrusader Kings 3There’s so much cool stuff coming to Crusader Kings 3 this year that I’m not sure what to be most excited forWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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About 10 years ago, I sat down in a San Francisco coffee shop across from Henrik “Doomdark” Fåhraeus, then game director for Crusader Kings 2, and asked him about the possibility of playing landless characters in Paradox’s rich medieval sandbox. Normally, you take the role of a count, duke, king, or emperor permanently tied to their estates and collecting taxes, and I’ve often dreamed about how cool it would be to wander that big map as an adventurer or a mercenary.

Fåhraeus seemed skeptical about the idea at the time, but a decade later, I’m finally getting my wish. Crusader Kings 3: Chapter 3, announced today, isa slate of DLCscoming over the course of 2024 that all feel like pure wish fulfillment for me as a longtime fan of the series.

The banner feature, though it’s hard to pick, is the landless adventurer playstyle, coming in Q3’s beefy Roads to Power expansion. This will at last allow us to wander the world, completing quests for established rulers and building a legacy that isn’t tied to a particular stretch of turnip fields. This builds on the travel mechanics introduced in last year’s Tours and Tournaments expansion, and is a major step forward in making Crusader Kings less of a map-painting grand strategy game and more of a truestrategy RPG, fulfilling what I see as its ultimate destiny.

CK3’s version of the Eastern Roman state was so disappointing at launch that I simply avoided it. We don’t go to Greece. ‘Tis a silly place. The refinements to Clan realms in last year’s Legacy of Persia made me optimistic though, as their system of tax collectors and viziers seemed to be building toward more interesting non-feudal mechanics.

In Road to Power, we’ll be able to own a family estate, earn influence, and scheme against other powerful families to be granted governorships and even be elected Emperor. This will also, I hope, add a compelling endgame goal for other realms. The arc of Crusader Kings 2 I found most enjoyable was starting as a tribal lord, slowly adopting feudalism, and then transitioning into an Imperial government once I became sufficiently powerful. I hope that option is also open to CK3’s feudal and clan realms with this DLC.

The other huge win coming even earlier in the year is the Legends of the Dead expansion bringing back a dynamic Black Death that spreads across the map and takes no prisoners. I mean, it’s a little weird to call a plague that killed a third of Europe a “win,” but as I detailed inmy love letter to the Bubonic menace, too many strategy games overlook the role disease has had on shaping human history. CK2 eventually rectified this with the Reaper’s Due expansion. But when CK3 released, it was back to a rather unimpressive and intermittent version of the disease that didn’t strike fear into my heart. Frankly, a major step backwards.

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This also contributed to CK3’s late game feeling a bit anemic. I see the story of the European Middle Ages as having two, if you will, “final bosses”: the Mongol Invasion in the 1200s, and the Black Death in the 1300s. These should be the apocalyptic closing chapters that keep things interesting once you’ve done a lot of conquering and think you’re pretty hot stuff. Without them, the last couple centuries just feel like you’re waiting around and watching your giant pile of gold get bigger.

I think we’re right on the cusp of Crusader Kings 3 letting its hair down and showing us what kind of game it really is.

That certainly doesn’t cover everything coming in Chapter 3. We’re also getting a Legitimacy mechanic that might make you think twice about revoking titles, a new Travel lifestyle—the first time Crusader Kings 3 has added a full new lifestyle in four years, and tied to one of my favorite new gameplay features—a bunch of new travel events, and the ability to spread legends of your dynasty using court propaganda.

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