Another house rule you could use is:
change faction [using the -ian], after a period - say after 1204 - in this way, you will start all over again in a - completely new [as history would have unfolded] - challenging position, and will also eventually have to fight the faction that you grew in the initial period..
teh -ian bit works like so:
For the province loyalty, you can try different values - higher of 130 - however that makes the AI super conservative and practically never attacks.. 130 is a good compromise..
Shift+5 and Shift+8 that are missing from teh list, should be the swiss and the burgundians - after they appear obviously..
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