Ummmm... not really all that much, really.

1) Raised all regions to at least level 2 rebellion level. About half are level 4 (highest, like Portugal). Only Antioch and Tripoli are 0 rebellion level. They are low so that an exhausted crusader army doesn't get immediately jumped by a massive rebellion. On the other hand, crusades to Edessa, Palestine and anywhere else DO get jumped.

2) Re-arranged what regions belong to what factions. England, France, Spain, Almohad, Byzantium and The Turks are mult-region powers. The HRE, Italy and Denmark are one-province mini-states. Most of the map is born-a-rebel and tends to stay that way for about a century. One must be cool and not be too aggressive.

3) Re-assigned the faction "personality" to match my own demented sensibility. I think England and Spain should be expansionist, etc.

4) Changed a bunch of titles to new and amusing alternatives. I like em, anyway.

5) Gave all the crusader factions a church at the start-- so they can build a chapter house and get a crusade going right away. If you hurry, you can get a large crusader army to Antioch or Tripoli at the start of the game, and maintain it as a viable crusader kingdom (probably fight one large battle with Turks). You can expand from there (or lose it all a few decades later if you're not paying attention). That is, you must build a fleet and start playing like an Egyptian-- trading using the HUGE trading potential of Antioch and Tripoli.

6) In reality, the crusaders had an easier time of it than they should have, since the Caliph of Baghdad and the Caliph of Egypt were fighting over the Holy Land. The Turks were playing both sides against each other. It wasn't until the third crusade that Saladin united both factions into what would be the Egyptian faction in the game. To simulate that, the entire Middle East is one big rebellion just waiting to happen. Everybody is fighting everybody else all the time. So, into this malestrom, you send your brave crusaders to rescue the Holy City (good luck).

7) Lower Anatolia is Christian and rebels constantly (historically correct).

My most recent play-testing stayed pretty historical until the mid 14th century, when the English launched a huge campaign to stop the Turks in the Balkans. What would have been the "Holy Roman Empire" was all English, and they were sending crusade after crusade against the Turks, but the Turks were winning until I jumped in with the French army to help out. That's when the
Spanish invaded France (damn!)

I could have called this "Stop the Turks" since they are the bogey-men in this mod. But hey-- that's what I was aiming for. The "Terrible Turk" rides again!