Crusader Kings III (referred to by the community as CK3) is one of Paradox Interactive’s biggest games. The medieval life simulator gives players the chance to experience life in the middle ages as anything from a lowly noble to a high king or emperor, with the chance to transition forward or backward between each station as you play through each generation of your family tree.
One of the big draws to CK3 and a focus of the developers are the numerous roleplaying mechanics that exist in the game. Rather than being your typical grand strategy, in CK3 you’re focused more on playing a character than you are building a strong nation. This sets it apart from many games in the genre and is why the game still sees so many active players and constant updates.
In the newest update, Tours and Tournaments, Paradox Interactive aims to further connect the player’s character to the map around them by giving them a reason to travel from place to place. In their recent dev post, Paradox explains their goals with the newest expansion and gives a better look at some of the mechanics we’ll see in the upcoming release.
You can read the dev post here.
As Paradox explains in the post, they wish to “reinforce the connection between character and map,” giving players more of a reason to explore the world around them. As they point out, historically leaders of the medieval world would be on a constant tour of their lands, and Paradox wants to give players a reason to leave their castles besides war.
“By assembling an entourage, selecting options for your travel, and hiring a caravan master, you are ready to set out on the road and travel to activities across the world. The Travel system is an integral part of activities, with both the host and guests traveling to reach them – creating a stronger feeling of place as you see your route being plotted and your character moving directly on the map.”
To get kings out of their keeps, Paradox has introduced grand marriages, tournaments, and tours, all activities to get you moving about the map with their own unique benefits and drawbacks. As your ruler travels the lands, the new Regent mechanic will put a temporary ruler on the throne, giving players something new to manage as well as a new way to seize power from their feudal lords.