Crusader Kings II

[rickinator9]

Thanks, Chaotix. It's too late for the Kingdom of Wales, but I'll keep that in mind about any other Kingdoms I get a chance to usurp.

I just had a four hour or so session. Very little territory changed hands but it was one of the most eventful I've had.

Some quick Highlights:

-King of Ricard, after initial setbacks, singlehandedly saves the Andalusian Crusade, but thPope sees fit to give all the conquered land to Scotland. Satisfied at having done his duty, he returns home and strengthens the dynasty, securing marriage alliances with Britanny, Norway, and the Holy Roman Empire. For a time his eldest daughter Derborgaill is his heir, but several sons are born and Ricard II stands in line to gain the throne. War with England breaks out over their repeated attempts to fabricate claims on Irish lands and Ricard I passes before the war ends. Young Ricard II and his regent finish it, adding the English held realm of Gwent to his lands (around the same time the Duchy of Ulster singlehandedly conquers Galloway, which had split from Scotland). Shortly after, his regent attempts to have him killed. He succeeds scant days after Ricard II comes of age (right as I'm pausing so I can imprison him). Now the even younger Gilla-Patraic becomes King, with his halfsister (he was born by Ricard I's second wife, a Norse Princess) Derborgaill as regent. Derborgaill, having bided her time and played the innocent for the long years since losing the heirship, has Gilla killed (in the same manner as Ricard II even. A hunting "accident") and becomes the Queen of Ireland at the age of 22. Heir heir is a son with an older sister....he better watch out.

One of the most interesting things about this is that I would have expected some trouble or even rebellions from going through three rulers in a few years. While both the young Kings received mixed attitudes to their ascension, the new Queen is almost universally loves. I was even able to release the Duke of Connacht, who had -100 relations with Ricard and had to be jailed. She also has respectable stats (better than her brothers') and a matrilineal marriage with a Prince of the HRE. I hadn't considered it previously but this turn of events might be worth starting an aar...

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

[Centurion1]

so your good at the game?

[rickinator9]

so your good at the game?

Somewhat good. I usually don't get any revolting vassals unless it's either:
1: The start of the game
2: Muslim relatives
3: Regency
4: A foreign vassal

[Chaotix]

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

Well if you have good intrigue, you rarely get hit with a plot before you can detect it.

My ruler, despite being a Genius had all sorts of traits like Honest that reduced his intrigue to something like 3 or 4. The stepmother that bumped him off was an Elusive Shadow.

[rickinator9]

If you play a ruler without dynastic heir, it's really annoying when your wive dies from disease while pregnant.

[Chaotix]

If you play a ruler without dynastic heir, it's really annoying when your wive dies from disease while pregnant.

Strangely enough, I've almost never had a wife die during pregnancy. I think it might have happened maybe once with one of my Sultans, but then it didn't really matter because he still had three left. And I was actually expecting death during childbirth and stillborn babies to be present in the game, considering this is medieval times we're talking about. I guess they either thought it was too serious of subject matter or figured it would just be too much work with no dramatic effect on gameplay. I mean kids and wives do die young and pregnant, it's just never when the wives are in the actual process of having kids.

[The Stranger]

plot killing suddenly stopped functioning for me. even when im well over 100% plotpower I no longer get the option to execute the plot. yesterday it was working fine :S anyone experienced something similar?

[Chaotix]

plot killing suddenly stopped functioning for me. even when im well over 100% plotpower I no longer get the option to execute the plot. yesterday it was working fine :S anyone experienced something similar?

They changed the system with the 1.06 update.

Now plot kills work by events. You get a bunch of people to join you, and based on how high your plot % is it will take a certain mean time for one your conspirators to come up with with an assassination plan. Then a set number of days later the plan is put in motion. If you fail, you have to wait for a conspirator to come up with another plan and you might get revealed.

So yeah, it's a big nerf. You can't kill entire royal families almost immediately any more with the right courtiers in place. However, you can do some serious damage over time, and if you have over 200% plot power it usually takes only a month or so for the trigger.

I've had a lot of practice with the Seljuks. My Sultan plot-assassinated at least 10 Sultans of Persia in nearly as many years (most of them children; interestingly enough they kept sending the maid to smother them, you'd think after the 5th one kicked the bucket they'd get the hint not to trust the maid!), and it has made them incredibly weak for the coming Ilkhanate invasion. Many more Seljuks (though not Sultans) have been killed via hired assassin, though, and still more have been imprisoned. As of 1209 or so, I have the dynasty reduced to maybe 12 male members that are not in jail, and that includes my Sultan, his three living sons, and one grandson. With the dough I've got rolling in I can put together enough funds for a new assassin every 2-6 months depending on the cost, and it shows.

[The Stranger]

yea i read about it now, but its weird because i started a new 1.06 game yesterday and i still got those 75% and 90% chance descisions. then i started another one today and it was suddenly gone :P

[Monk]

They changed the system with the 1.06 update.

Now plot kills work by events. You get a bunch of people to join you, and based on how high your plot % is it will take a certain mean time for one your conspirators to come up with with an assassination plan. Then a set number of days later the plan is put in motion. If you fail, you have to wait for a conspirator to come up with another plan and you might get revealed.

So yeah, it's a big nerf. You can't kill entire royal families almost immediately any more with the right courtiers in place. However, you can do some serious damage over time, and if you have over 200% plot power it usually takes only a month or so for the trigger.

It's based on a few things now. Plot power determines your chance of success, but now the number of plotters involved determines how often your plot can strike. There's now a big incentive to get as many people on board with your campaign to kill someone as you can, and feels a lot more dynamic than before.

In my previous game I set myself up to inherit the kingdom of Castile and attempted to murder the king with 5+ plotters.. i swear to god it was like a historical parody. He dodged every single one, including a runaway carriage, a falling stone from a battlement, a mistimed hunting accident and a misfire at an archery range. I never have seen such luck! But never once found out who was after him either..

After the 5th attempt i gave up and declared war.

[frogbeastegg]

Strangely enough, I've almost never had a wife die during pregnancy. I think it might have happened maybe once with one of my Sultans, but then it didn't really matter because he still had three left. And I was actually expecting death during childbirth and stillborn babies to be present in the game, considering this is medieval times we're talking about. I guess they either thought it was too serious of subject matter or figured it would just be too much work with no dramatic effect on gameplay. I mean kids and wives do die young and pregnant, it's just never when the wives are in the actual process of having kids.

CK1 featured higher death rates from illness and battle, and also had women and/or children die in childbirth. That was cut from CK2 in order to keep the character history data files from becoming obscenely large and grinding the engine to a halt. Kind of a shame, but an understandable decision.

There must be some mods which tweak mortality rates. Might be worth taking a look?

[Monk]

CK1 featured higher death rates from illness and battle, and also had women and/or children die in childbirth. That was cut from CK2 in order to keep the character history data files from becoming obscenely large and grinding the engine to a halt. Kind of a shame, but an understandable decision.

There must be some mods which tweak mortality rates. Might be worth taking a look?

Yeah, this is essentially the reason. The game tracks every character ever born. No, really. Every character ever, even those who are in the history files dead has to be checked for events and various conditions for every in game day. When a character dies they are still stored in the history files, and the game continues to track their progress until the end of the game at 1453. It doesn't matter that they are dead, the game is still tracking them.

This is why if you plan to start adding a bunch of new events to the game you risk seriously slowing down the engine unless you include the player only tags.

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

Crusader Kings II is a bit like Dwarf Fortress in that, at some point, your skill at the game actually hinders the fun you can have just a bit. Sometimes half the hilarity is seeing it all blow up in your face, or struggling against the inevitable collapse of your dynasty after a series of events sets you into a decline. I firmly believe that Crusader Kings II is a game meant not only to chronicle your rise to power, but also your fall. Losing is fun.

[naut]

I'm really enjoying the huge epithet list and how each of my rulers get a swanky little nickname to go along with their reigns. My current king is Sultan Khalid 'the Merry'. =)

[rickinator9]

Well if you have good intrigue, you rarely get hit with a plot before you can detect it.

My ruler, despite being a Genius had all sorts of traits like Honest that reduced his intrigue to something like 3 or 4. The stepmother that bumped him off was an Elusive Shadow.

Might be because my name means 'Powerful ruler'

[Zim]

That's a cool turn of events. I forgot how fun primogeniture could be, Elective and Turkish Open succession have spoiled me.

Also, I always find it weird playing as the character who assassinated my last ruler. Kind of want to kill them on some level, but then if you got assassinated in the first place it probably means the new ruler is a better one...

It is a bit wierd. At least the one she assassinated was the younger son I only had for a year or so...

She does have quite good stats and since I tend to roleplay as a "nicer" ruler someone more pragmatic might be interesting.

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

Probably just a better player than I am. The Ireland game had been my first and I hadn't been managing my characters much. Just starting getting the hang of managing my heir's education.