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It's time for the second of three dev diaries on the new expansion for Crusader Kings II; the Sword of Islam! Those who watched yesterday's live stream already know a bit of what I'll talk about today. Just like last time, I'll talk about both some unique Sword of Islam features and some free stuff that comes with patch 1.06.

THE SWORD OF ISLAM

Our intention was always that playing a Muslim should feel quite different from playing a Christian ruler. One of the major differences, of course, is the ease with which you can ensure the continuation of your line. Muslim men are allowed to marry up to four women, and bastardy does not carry the same stigma. This means that Muslim dynasties tend to be huge and sprawling; especially the powerful ones. Unfortunately, all these princelings will expect a share of your wealth, and unless you can give them enough land and responsibilities, they will grow decadent, or at least, your dynasty will be perceived as being decadent. Decadent dynasties risk being replaced by more dynamic and righteous ones, and also suffer penalties to troop morale and demesne income. To compensate for these problems, Muslims have an easier time conquering, through special Casus Bellis (more on those next dev diary.)

Polygamy

The way polygamy works is that only your first wife gives you a skill bonus, but you're allowed to marry up to four. They all give you alliances, and they can all provide you with heirs. Rulers are expected to marry a number of wives corresponding to their station, so a Sultan should have four, or he will take a monthly prestige hit, whereas an Emir is only expected to have three wives, etc. Having multiple wives means that you will produce a lot of offspring, many of them half-siblings. Ambitious mothers will tend to favour their own sons, which can lead to all kinds of nasty business through events...

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Open Succession Law

Muslims have access to only one succession law: 'open', also known as 'Turkish'. The way it works is that your son with the most titles and vassals inherits. There is no "unlanded sons" Prestige penalty, but there is still pressure on you to land all of your sons, because adult men of your dynasty will accrue Decadence. In the Muslim world, brothers, especially half-brothers, dislike each other (negative opinion modifier.) This means that Muslims tend to suffer frequent succession crises.

Decadence

Decadence lies at the heart of the Sword of Islam. It's what really separates Muslims from Christians; not that Christians could not be perceived as being individually decadent, but there was not the same type of friction between clans and tribes. Thus, decadence affects the whole dynasty. Dynasties start out with 25% decadence, which has no effect one way or the other. Decadence increases by having indolent, unlanded males of your dynasty kicking about, depending on their rank and the total rank of all titles held by members of your dynasty. Dynasty members who give decadence are listed in a new list in the Religion View (well, they are immoral.) You stop them from gaining decadence primarily by giving them enough land, imprisoning them or simply killing them off. You only lose decadence when dynasty members fight in battles and sieges, or through certain events. The decadence level affects the morale damage your demesne troops take and the tax income from your demesne. At 75% decadence or more, there is a very real risk of a more dynamic tribe riding in from the wastes to depose you and your whole House (this is one serious rebellion...)

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THE 1.06 PATCH

On to the 1.06 patch!

Strong and Weak Claims

There is a problem with the old claim system, in that some very remote relative can just declare war to supplant not just a perfectly legitimate ruler, but also the next five people in line to the throne. Therefore, we've reworked the system to differentiate between strong and weak claims. Strong claims work like before, but are only given to the second and third person in line to the throne when a ruler dies. Weak claims are given to children who are further down the line of succession. When a strong claimant dies (and the claim is "pressed"), it is inherited as a weak claim. Weak claims can only be pressed against women (if the claimant is male), regencies, titles currently in a succession crisis and titles that the claimant is second or third in line to inherit.

Plots

We've added and changed some things. Chiefly, we've added a plot to gain a claim on the title of a target character. Also, the murder plots have been completely reworked. You no longer get decisions that you can simply execute at various plot power levels. Instead, plotters can randomly find opportunities to strike depending on their contribution to the plot power.

Event Window improvements


We've made some changes to make event windows more appealing. You can now see the icon, with tooltips, of traits being added or removed in an event option. Also, event options that only appear if you have a high enough skill are now properly marked with a coloured border.

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I believe that will do for now. Next week I'll talk about the Muslims CBs, vassal treatment, temple holdings and laws, as well as some more patch features. Until then!
 
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So these opportunities can vary the success of the plot or if they fire it's a 100% kill? I'm not in control of my plot anymore?

I´d guess that the probability these oportunities have of succeeding depends on the actual plot power you accumulated, but I´m also intrigued by how this´ll work.

Edit: Just saw that Doomdark explained a bit about this issue. Sounds cool!!!
 
Purely from a common sense point of view I'd suggest fabricated claims should by definition be weak. The point is they're flimsy, dubious claims which have been somehow scraped together or simply forged entirely.

... Maybe make it so fabricated claims are weak, but that weak claims can be futher fabricated to become strong claims?
 
I wonder how the AI will respond to this patch? Do you think the Muslims will grow weaker or even stronger than before after this patch?
 
You are less in control, but you still get the choice if you want to go through with the actual murder or not, when a plotter or you yourself see an opportunity.

Sounds like this could add quite a bit of tension. For example, if you find out someone outside your realm is plotting to kill you, you can plot to kill them back but there is then a bit of luck as to whose plot fires first.
 
Purely from a common sense point of view I'd suggest fabricated claims should by definition be weak. The point is they're flimsy, dubious claims which have been somehow scraped together or simply forged entirely.

Maybe, since they´re adding a plot to obtain claims, they could integrate both mechanics? Something like: to execute the plot you need to send your chancellor to fabricate claims at the corresponding county, and the strength of the claim depends on the plot power you accumulate?
 
Weak claims can only be pressed against .. [snip] and .... titles currently in a succession crisis

Bugger! Succession crises are already the bane of my games without more jumping on the rebel band wagon.:angry:
 
Great job, Paradox. Making DLC an option, thus not forcing it unto consumers and whilst at it making the game playable cross-DLC is the way to go.
 
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Purely from a common sense point of view I'd suggest fabricated claims should by definition be weak. The point is they're flimsy, dubious claims which have been somehow scraped together or simply forged entirely.

If it was up to me I would also make them weak, but I understand that for balance reasons the fabriacated claims being strong will still allow for slow and steady fabrication expansion, making them weak would make it almost pointless to fabricate them. Since inheritance trough assassination is already the favorite method of expansion, to weaken claim fabrication would only worsen the situation. This new system is basically to prevent ICS (infinite claimant spawn), having a list of 30 people with claims on your titles, all waiting to be invited to someone's court and having their claims pushed.


Sounds like this could add quite a bit of tension. For example, if you find out someone outside your realm is plotting to kill you, you can plot to kill them back but there is then a bit of luck as to whose plot fires first.

This would be nice, exept you can still just push a button a couple of times and have them killed instantly. Asssassination plot reworked, awesome! Auspicious time to remove the infamous diplo-assassination?
 
Great stuff, however this makes the Muslim dynasties appear an hell to manage.
 
Quick Question (that i'll probably get the answer to in a few days because of steam): Will the Sword of Islam be available on Steam? It's not showing up yet... it might be because it's not released yet... but i want to make sure. thanks :)
 
"""" a Sultan should have four, or he will take a monthly prestige hit """"

this is not importnat for sultan !!!

I think this is not good idea ... but everythings good ...
Waiting for next week ...
 
"""" a Sultan should have four, or he will take a monthly prestige hit """"

this is not importnat for sultan !!!

I think this is not good idea ... but everythings good ...
Waiting for next week ...

Note that the game should not be about what good Muslim rulers should do (according to the Koran perhaps), but what they historically did, wanted and had to do.