Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a new article outlining the importance of
character in CK3:
This bit, about how events are now due to direct cause & effect, sounds really great:
The traits you cultivate for your character won't just inform their abilities, but the types of things that happen to them. Maximilian Olbers, the game's content design lead, had been working on Stellaris prior to moving focus to CK3, and took a lot of that game's thinking on event design over with him.
"A big one we learned from Stellaris is that it's good when there's a direct link between action and reaction in the case of events," he explains. "The old style would have random events popping up and telling you something that might or might not be relevant, generated by basic game state parameters and a random timer. We're successfully moving away from that now – virtually every event in Crusader Kings 3 is a direct consequence of either an action that you did, or an AI actor in your vicinity."
For example, if a nearby ruler picks a diplomatic lifestyle for themself, and focuses on building their skill in foreign affairs, you can expect to see the results in your own realm. They might invite you on hunts, or lavish diplomatic summits… but they might also choose to throw their weight around more in the ducal political landscape. "It's important to remember that almost all of the events are two-sided," says Olber. "Either you're doing something, or someone else is doing it to you."
It's a massive expansion to the Way of Life expansion's handling of character cultivation.
The article also outlines some new/deeper systems. Notably, intrigue (schemes) are about quality rather than quantity, and with knights (named non-commanders) in an army, the possibility of defeats in battle being catastrophic to your court. Church holdings are also more important, with a physical representation on the map and more characters to interact with.
They also outline the stress sytem:
Not only does CK3 allow more opportunities to roleplay, but it gives you good reasons to do so, too. Fåhraeus explains: "In CK2, you can largely ignore your own personality traits. You're the player character, right, so why does it matter? In this game, we wanted to make it matter." The answer to this is the Stress system, which imposes difficulties if you play wildly against your character type. "It's nothing major to begin with, but for each level of stress you gain, you risk a negative trait or another type of cost, and if you hit the roof, it's bad news."
Then, they talk about how Paradox is following the "losing is fun" model for CK3, which inspired the dynasty system. Basically, it is a skill tree/influence system that accrues as you play, allowing you to shape your dynasty in a real Game of Thrones fashion. So if your empire collapses, it won't feel like you lost everything.
There's way more detail in the article, but it basically sounds like they're doubling down on the very best elements of CK2, and designing CK3 from the ground up around them. It sounds incredible.
Right on, Paradox.
What is the difference between playing something like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis? Is it similar, but with more of an emphasis on royal lineage and the spreading of religion?
On top of what Kyora posted, it's also more like an RPG than EU; something that CK3 is leaning more into.
