Current Events > Crusader kings 2 is currently free on steam.

(+) Yeah! (+)

The game rules show up after you pick your character but before the map loads. You really cant miss it.

Conclave education is a little more random and hence more difficult but also more realistic. Without conclave, education is extremely easy to pass positive traits on so much so that at a certain point all the characters you raised yourself turn out to be practically the same unless you are deliberately raising your children badly. I think if you are playing this for role playing purposes, conclave is a good choice since the liege-vassal relationship is fleshed out much better. There are new mechanics to deal with of course but its not some mystery how the mechanics work
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I like having control over things though. >.>

Like I don't really ever give any of my Sims much free will.
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https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/ck2-dev-diary-81-cleaning-up-the-map.1087927/
Pretty borders are coming!
Also, the next expansion may well mark the end of CK2's life-cycle. After Jade Dragon they said they were only going to do 1 or 2 more.

Also bear in mind that if you want to get achievements, you have to play Ironman mode which means no savescumming. I'll occasionally play an Ironman game if there's a specific achievement I want, but I like to play comfy and reload when things get too bad. I don't mind becoming someone's vassal or losing some money, but sometimes shit goes to hell in a handbasket and I prefer to just reload. >_>

Most of CK2's achievements fall into a few catergories:

10% are things you'll get just playing normally
90% are things you have to actively work toward and will take centuries in-game to happen and require lots of skill and planning. Also many of them require playing a certain country/religion/etc. so it will take a LOT of playthroughs to get them all

For what it's worth, I only have 11% of the game's achievements.
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Yeah, I've largely given up hope on that since if I can't save scum in an emergency, it's just gonna be stressful, not fun.

One reason I figured I wouldn't want Conclave is because how I want to play seems incredibly similar to how you play. This further validates that.

And so far, kids have still been ending up fairly different.
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Man, I am absolutely turning off AI seduction next time I play. It's usually not too bad, but this time EVERY woman is getting seduced! Two of my daughters, including one who could have been queen, already have the title "the Unfaithful" and my third daughter's husband asked me to punish her for being unfaithful! Even the queen in neighboring Sweden is known as the Unfaithful! And three other random women including my chancellor have that title!

I murdered the guy who I thought was doing it (one of my vassals who had the seduction focus and had some similar title), but it's still happening somehow.
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You also might want to turn off AI intrigue so you dont get kidnapped by some random dude for no reason.
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I'm not sure if I want to keep playing my tutorial game because of all the limitations, and I don't think it's taught me anything in a long time.
It also wasn't a very useful tutorial. Kept telling me to do things but not enough about how. Took me forever to find my Ambitions.
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Looking into mods and the first thing I wanted to find was a way to name grandchildren, and that comes with the Ruler Maker dlc I got. Sweet.

Now I'm trying to find one that'll make it so members of my dynasty won't marry their relatives since as it gets bigger and bigger, I don't want to sit and choose every single person's spouse, but I don't want incest either. But the incest mods seem to be for more incest, not removing it as an option.

Taking general mod recommendations~

Edit: Ooh, maybe there's one that'll give more name variety for the autonames rather than everyone just having the same few.
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If you found a way to name your grandkids, great. I don't know if it was part of the base game or that DLC, but I have to make sure my kids stay in my court (i.e. don't give them land) and then I get naming rights to the grandkids. Only problem is if they inherit land from the other parent then they'll go to their own court and name any future kids. It's funny though, because sometimes they'll name a kid after themselves/a grandparent who was one of your unique names. So you might pop over to their court one day and find some random child with a name you used generations ago.

There comes a point where characters are far enough away in relation that you won't have to worry about incest. The wiki says the game calculates how many shared ancestors characters have back to five generations.

Also don't rely on the blood drop to inform you who's related to who because once you get far enough out, everyone with your last name will have a blood drop even if they're super distantly related. On the other hand, you might not see a blood drop, but still be closely related to someone who took another dynasty's name.

As an example, say there is a woman distantly related to you (has your surname and has a tiny blood drop) who marries a man with a different surname. She has kids with him and they take his name, but have no blood drop to you. Then the husband dies and the woman remarries within the dynasty (so her new husband has a blood drop) OR she gets a matrilineal marriage. Either way, her new kids will have your/her dynasty's name and the blood drop. So you can see siblings in which one has a drop and the other doesn't even when their shared parent is your relative.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

I'm not sure if I want to keep playing my tutorial game because of all the limitations, and I don't think it's taught me anything in a long time.
It also wasn't a very useful tutorial. Kept telling me to do things but not enough about how. Took me forever to find my Ambitions.

That was my problem. It told you to do things without telling you how. I don't want my hand held, but don't just throw me in the deep end of the pool without teaching me how to swim.
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Currently doing a 4 player game with some pals

The duke of Brandenburg has found trouble in fighting the kingdom of Pomerania after 2 unsuccessful invasions in which their ally, Bohemia, left them for dead.

The king of Leon has taken northwestern Spain, and tried to take out the mooslimbs. This failed and the french quickly came in an vassalized King Jiren of Leon.

The king of italy was able to create the kingdom of Italy, but tried to help both Brandenburg and Leon in their wars which ended up bankrupting him and killing most of his troops. Despite being the strongest out of the 4 players he has suffered the most.

The kingdom of Hungary is doing pretty well for itself with some pretty successful invasions of neighboring lands aside from some polish war in which a single province was lost.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

It said it was occupied when I hovered.

I think I managed by upping levies etc.

Also I just appointed Guillermo, Mayor of Toro, as my Spymaster.

Then you are at war. You have to siege the county with your own troops to retake it. However, even if you lose the war, you will get your occupied territory as long as it was not the target of the war. What you take is not what you occupy, but what you have claims too. Taking territory and winning battles will increase your war score (the percentage score at the bottom). If the war score reaches either -100% or +100% you effectively win/lose guaranteed. The AI generally won't give up before 100%, but they will offer white peace, which is effectively a truce where the declarer of war takes a bit of a prestige hit. Enforcing your demands means winning, and surrending is ... straightforward.

Also, who wouldn't want Guillermo Del Toro on their cabinet?

HitTheGroundWal posted...

Looking into mods and the first thing I wanted to find was a way to name grandchildren, and that comes with the Ruler Maker dlc I got. Sweet.

Now I'm trying to find one that'll make it so members of my dynasty won't marry their relatives since as it gets bigger and bigger, I don't want to sit and choose every single person's spouse, but I don't want incest either. But the incest mods seem to be for more incest, not removing it as an option.

Taking general mod recommendations~

Edit: Ooh, maybe there's one that'll give more name variety for the autonames rather than everyone just having the same few.

Incest is not generally to common. Honestly, if you just arrange marriages for all your immediate family, you'll be fine. The rest will branch out and marry on their own, particularly if they hold titles.

I've taken the liberty of compiling some interesting characters in various early start-dates

-769
Khagan Burkhan of Otuken: He's Mongol-culture. Mongolian culture characters get some neat bonuses. That's all that's special here.

Satrap Jimofuta of Zunbil: Hey look, it's some weird sun-cult religion!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zunbils
It's a unique religion, and an interesting-though-precarious position. Pro-tip: your chancellor is going to accompany the Caliph everywhere he goes. Even the bathroom.

King Sigurdr Ring of Svibjod: He's one of the strongest Norsemen of this early start and a pretty famous semi-mythical character, but his son is an even bigger deal. That's right, you, the player, can be Ragnar freaking Lodbrok!

Emir Phlemon Yabhalla of Socotra: He's Nestorian Christian, which is hard to come by. Socotra is a tiny island off the coast of Africa. Will need lots of patience. Also available in 867.

King Phineas of Semien: He's actually a duchy-holder. He's Jewish. Semien/Beta Israel was a pocket of Judaism in Ethiopia. Are you a bad enough dude to drive out the heathen Christians and Muslims?
And, if you're REALLY ambitious, you can always claim your birthright and revive Alpha Israel.

Emir Sorkhab of Bavandid: He and his son(his vassal) are the last descendants of the Sassanids(other than the ones who went to China. Long story). The Sassanids once ruled a mighty Persian empire, but it got smashed by the Arabs. Now you're a vassal to the Caliph. It's time to rekindle the fires.

-867

Haesteinn of Nantes: This is a great start, because Haesteinn is great, has a giant pile of event troops, a prime position in Brittany, and no titles or vassals to hold him down. Europe is your oyster: with judicious invasions and lots of raiding, you can make a home for you and your Norsemen just about anywhere you like.

Satrap Vandad of Karen: If you prefer a Zoroastrian start where you start out a regional power and aren't a few law changes away from the Caliph seizing your holdings.

King Rurik of Holmgard: Hey, do you want to guess what family dominated medieval Russia? The Rurikoviches: literally, the sons of Rurik. THIS Rurik. Dyre the Stranger down the road in Kiev is a similar start, but Rurik doesn't need to conquer his way to the coast to get raiding.

Khagan Manasseh of Khazaria: Another Jewish start, and a nomadic one as well. Easier than Semien. I hear the Mediterranean is always a nice place for a migration.

King Aethelred of Wessex: He's kind of a nobody, but he's in a bit of a pickle, what with rapacious Norsemen everywhere. Maybe he should step aside and let his brother Alfred take care of things?

1066

Count Guillaume of Bourgogne: He's a lowly count, but his descendants would be the Hapsburgs before the Hapsburgs, including being kings of Castille. Can you get your ginormous family out of the gutter?

Count Werner of Aargau: Oh, hey. It's the actual Hapsburgs. This guy and the guy above are basically neighbors. But only one family can Hapsburg up Europe, and that's yours!

Count Herbert of Vermandois: The last Karling is in captivity, and Europe is at peace. Reclaim your family's birthright!

Duke Eric "the Heathen" of Uppland: This guy, historically, was the last truly powerful worshiper of the Aesir. But the old ways have fallen by the way-side. Is it too late to remind the world of wise Odin and mighty Thor?

ElatedVenusaur posted...

Pro-tip: your chancellor is going to accompany the Caliph everywhere he goes. Even the bathroom.

XD That's true for my previous (Zoroastrian) ruler as well.
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Southernfatman posted...

HitTheGroundWal posted...

I'm not sure if I want to keep playing my tutorial game because of all the limitations, and I don't think it's taught me anything in a long time.
It also wasn't a very useful tutorial. Kept telling me to do things but not enough about how. Took me forever to find my Ambitions.

That was my problem. It told you to do things without telling you how. I don't want my hand held, but don't just throw me in the deep end of the pool without teaching me how to swim.

You been getting used to the game at all?
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Hm, yeah, I imagine there will reach a point where it's distant enough that it's no longer icky.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

Hm, yeah, I imagine there will reach a point where it's distant enough that it's no longer icky.

IIRC, it's two degrees of separation. Like, cousins are iffy, but general kinsfolk is generally fine.

I'd probably rather wait a bit longer than that, but yeah.

I got one mod that makes the character creation a bit better, and there's a few I'm looking at: Family Heirlooms, Abdication, and Your Personal Castle.
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tag
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josifrees posted...

You been getting used to the game at all?

Sadly, I haven't had enough time to play with work and other stuff. I'm sure I'll get my chance soon. I can't wait til I do. Been wanting to play this game for the longest.
.
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I probably need to find a better tutorial than the game one, myself.

Seriously, I think that was the most annoying with pop-ups but still not informational tutorial that I've ever had the displeasure of going through.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

I probably need to find a better tutorial than the game one, myself.

Seriously, I think that was the most annoying with pop-ups but still not informational tutorial that I've ever had the displeasure of going through.

One of the major issues with the tutorial is that it was originally created for the game 5 years ago, but the game is virtually unrecognizable compared to that version. Soooooooooo much has changed. For example, when the game released there was a single religion, no retinues, no weather, and a remarkably smaller map.

Even just the base game, where I went through it on?
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Yeah, the base game has been patched a ton, all the major DLCs have been accompanied by patches with free features
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

Even just the base game, where I went through it on?

Yeah, they actually include a lot of free additional features and tweaks with each DLC patch.

True, like the option for gender equality seems to be one of them.

Any really spectacular fantasy mods?
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

Any really spectacular fantasy mods?

I've heard great things about the Game of Thrones mod, if you are into that. The mod community for all Stellaris games is pretty broad and well maintained, and worth a look if you are into modding.

Yeah, AGoT is great.
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I am for the most part not into GoT. A lot of things I find really interesting, and I'm curious about the outcome, but I could never watch or read it due to various reasons, like the graphic deaths, the emotional attachment to the dying characters, the graphic sex, etc.

Like I really liked the fantasy mod, I think it was DnD based, that I found for Civ V. It was the closest I'd ever came to actually finishing a game, stopping only because I couldn't figure out the victory conditions.
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https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1301762877

Didn't make it quite in time to edit my post but I found this one~ Other big fantasy mods are based on existing properties, but this one just seems fantasy.

Anyone have any experience with it?

Edit: The character creator unlocked mod or whatever it was called doesn't seem to have any restrains so IDK what'd be balanced. I wanted a bit more give on it since I heard it's SUPER restrictive, but this seems to be ALL The give.
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You've all disappeared but I need start recommendations. >_>

Edit: Doing some googling, Ireland 1066 seems to be a recommended place for learning, but other people are against it, saying there's a lot of waiting around involved.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

You've all disappeared but I need start recommendations. >_>

I'm still here. The list provided above is good. It really depends where your interests lie, though.

For me, Haesteinn of Nantes is probably my go to. I prefer Viking playthroughs, and he is one of the few that starts feudal and retains his Germanic religion. He also has enough troops to carve out a kingdom anywhere in Europe (especially if you take Brittany first).

Another good one during the Charlemagne bookmark (769) is King Harald Wartooth of Sjaelland. He starts off primed to take Denmark and you can expand from there. Your principle competition early is Sigurdr Ring of Svijod (Sweden), but it's a rivalry that isn't too challenging while still being accessible to a beginner. Rurik of Rus and Dyre of Kiev (both from the 867) are also good if you want to go for a Germanic Russian empire playthrough.

I'm also a huge fan of the Magyars in either of the two earliest start dates. In both, they are nomadic Tengri who are smack in the middle of the map but can hold their own for the first few decades. They can expand in pretty much any direction and offer a very flexible start. The 876 bookmark, in particular, gets a large amount of event troops and starts in a war to conquer Hungary, which is pretty easily doable. Requires The Horse Lords for the best experience, though.

As people have mentioned, pretty much anyone in Ireland can be a good start if you want to take a Christian path. Alternatively, you can easily conquer part of Ireland with a Germanic Viking really early on for instant claims on the entire kingdom.

Asturius is a great Spanish game if you want to play the Iberian peninsula from the Christian side. They are playable in both 876 and 769. Internally, they are pretty easy, but fighting a war against the Umayyad Muslims is a bit more challenging. The name of the game here is consolidating power until there is a fracture in the Muslim empire, then striking to take as much as possible. It can be challenging, but you can easily make allies in France/England/Germany to back you up if you are struggling. After that, Leon can be fun, though there is much more plotting due to the later date and rival Christian kings in Spain.

For Buddhists, I like Nepal in 769. You are under Tibet and close enough to interact with China, but also have a spot on the silk road and your mountain territory is highly defensible. You start with the eastern part of the kingdom, but can easily get the rest due to a lack of authority in Tibet. Requires DLC, though, and gets boring once you've secured your territory.

For Romuva, there are like three leaders who start as it in 769, and pretty much any of them are doable. Pruthenia is my personal favorite, but if you want to go on to form Lithuania, Livonia works too.

I'm incredibly poorly versed in Muslim, Indian, and Orthodox characters, though, so I can't really recommend much there. Suomensko, Zoroastrian, and Slavic are pretty challenging and probably shouldn't be your first go. IIRC, there is also a religion called Zunists in the Afghani region, but playing them is basically a self inflicted challenge.

Here is a great roundup organized really well;
https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Interesting_characters_guide#Germanic

HitTheGroundWal posted...

Edit: Doing some googling, Ireland 1066 seems to be a recommended place for learning, but other people are against it, saying there's a lot of waiting around involved.

It's not that you should avoid it because there is a lot of waiting, but you should go in aware that most playthroughs are not that uneventful. It is the safest start in pretty much any bookmark, but that also means it's not super exciting and therefore some people are concerned it may scare new players away with boredom.

Whoops, someone posted that already? ._. I guess sometimes stuff can be overwhelming.

I know I'd like to expand, but I'd like to do so in the least violent way possible, as far as where interests lie. I'm pretty pacifistic. I'd rather not go waging war and killing people willy nilly to get their lands (although if the person is a total jerk, I'd probably not mind too much).

I really need something good for learning too.

And IDK, uneventful is kinda nice for me, I like it in management games where everything is going nice and smoothly, and I sorta end up making things interesting for myself. Like, I never do the nutty things you hear about in the Sims. Instead I have a fairy fall in love with a vegetarian vampire and have her use her powers to grow him the blood substitute he can eat.
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Matilda of Tuscany in 1066 is hands-down the best beginner character IMO. She's young, she has good stats, she's the most powerful vassal in the HRE, and you have clear-cut goals in the formation of the kingdom of Italy and then either becoming emperor of the HRE or seceding and forming a separate Italian empire.
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UnholyMudcrab posted...

Matilda of Tuscany in 1066 is hands-down the best beginner character IMO. She's young, she has good stats, she's the most powerful vassal in the HRE, and you have clear-cut goals in the formation of the kingdom of Italy and then either becoming emperor of the HRE or seceding and forming a separate Italian empire.

I was kinda planning on using the character designer dlc, especially to inject a couple of the fantasy traits from Mythos 2. So time and place and maybe family are probably most important.
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

I know I'd like to expand, but I'd like to do so in the least violent way possible, as far as where interests lie. I'm pretty pacifistic. I'd rather not go waging war and killing people willy nilly to get their lands (although if the person is a total jerk, I'd probably not mind too much).

Don't worry, Crusader Kings will ruin you eventually.

Honestly, though, I tend to only play 'Heroic' rulers (even my Vikings are pretty progressive besides the whole raiding thing), and I get where you are coming from. You'll need to fight some wars, though, and sometimes killing people is really the best solution. The more I think about it, though, the more I play the less I use assassinations, so it's definitely possible.

HitTheGroundWal posted...

I really need something good for learning too.

Yeah, like everyone said, Ireland. Everyone else has there favorites for various specific types of games or that suit their playstyle, but Ireland pretty much allows you to play how you want and still survive, so it's a good all-around start. Plus, pretty much any character on the island is playable.

In my second of my three unfinished Civ V runs, I did wage war, but only because I specifically put in a bad guy for everyone else to unite and fight against.

So I don't really break easily there I guess? Same with Sims, again, I don't just go on a killing rampage. I'm very pure or whatever I guess.

Do you agree with Ireland 1066 specifically? Any particular rulers?
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HitTheGroundWal posted...

Do you agree with Ireland 1066 specifically? Any particular rulers?

I actually like starting with the 769 bookmark, but 1066 is good too. I'd avoid The Viking Age bookmark, though, since some people have trouble fighting off early raids.

Like I said, any character is workable, but I remember starting as Deasumhumain at least a couple times. Dubhlinn is good (and the historical capital of Ireland). Connachta seems to usually survive pretty well under the AI. As well, Tir Eoghain is the only ruler to begin with two counties, giving you an initial advantage, offset by your proximity to Pictland/Northumbria (who may arbitrarily decide to take some counties in Ireland).

Again, though, don't be afraid to try a new character once you get the basics if the game starts to get boring. After you take Ireland, you can expand to the British Isles for a bit of challenge, but after that can be quite boring.

Well, since I dunno what I'm doing, I'll go with whatever you recommend~

I've decided to use the Ruler Designer Unlocked mod, but just be really conservative on what I add. Just some adequate stats, and the two traits from Mythos I want to pass down.
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@Eerieka

Any final thoughts? Since you seem to really get me.

Also I was gonna make her Celtic but it wouldn't let me color my coat of arms purple. ._. Boo. Back to catholic

...I hope the -20 of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish from the mage education trait I got from Mythos 2 isn't too bad. On second thought, based on the area I'm in, that's probably going to hurt me quite a lot and I should just stick to her being of dragon lineage and pick a different education.
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I don't really have anything to say regarding what you're doing now lol. Just hope you have fun! I've never used that mod or the ruler designer so I don't know what you're getting yourself into by using those. And although I RP, I DO like to take over land and do "evil" stuff so I'm not sure how long you can avoid it. Heck, I think "bad things happened" is most of the fun of the game. It's like how I didn't want to turn off AI seduction because the idea that it happens occasionally is fun, but it was happening WAY too often in my game to the point where literally 6 women in my court including two of my daughters had the title "the Unfaithful." Which sorta ruined my fun because I like seeing what titles a ruler will become known by, and one of those women was set to become a great queen.

I think Ireland is pretty safe no matter which time period you start it. You WILL have Viking raiders if you play in an age with them, but you can either turn them off or just deal with them, although you may need to take over all of Ireland in order to have enough troops to fend them off.
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Yeah, occasionally playing as an evil ruler or having your good ruler assassinated is a huge part of the fun of the game
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I will try to take over Ireland gently.

Now I'm going through the game options~

Unless anyone feels strongly, I think I'll go mostly default. Ironman off, gender equality, and monster inheritance strong, are what jump out at me.

Edit: I'm confused why my custom coat of arms isn't being used. >.>
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I can't help ya with issues like that. When it comes to technical issues, I am the dumbest person in the world. Could it be a mod compatibility issue? Like maybe it doesn't work with your fantasy-monster mod?

I always play with gender equality on at the start. What can I say? I'm a girl and I like to play as queens with my name. :)
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It's being applied to the house, but not the chiefdom, it seems. I have no idea if that's normal or not. >_>

One thing I am wondering though is why there's only two succession options this time, just Elective Gavelkind and Tanistry. It might have something to do with the fact that my character ended up Tribal instead of Feudal. Could come with Irish, or with being dragonkin.
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Oh yeah, I think that's intentional. Your coat of arms is for your family, not your land. After all, you can change your primary holding and change your flag, but your family coat of arms is permanent.

And yes, that's a tribal thing. You can become feudal through an Intrigue option, but it'll take some time to implement. It's currently what I'm aiming to do in my Suomenusko game. Tanistry is kinda nice actually. It's similar to Elective Monarchy except your vassals can ONLY vote for people in your dynasty. :) It's also Celtic only, I believe. Or... some vague geographical region around the British Isles.

Edit: Warning about tribals: When a tribal leader gets 500 prestige, they can call upon a 2500-man army out of nowhere. You are also allowed to do this, so a good early-game strat is to push for prestige and conquer your tribal neighbors before they hit 500.
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Right now I'm just trying to find an acceptable husband for her to start her dynasty with. Not doing well on options here. Probably alright since I modded her herself.
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