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I'm not asking specific questions im more looking for recs like I said. I really enjoy the current state of the game, they did a great job of balancing and I love the new expansion. I want some mods to maybe add a bit more flavor and make it more difficult. Turning the difficulty in the game up is just artificially making the ai stronger and thats not a real challenge. I want the game to be more difficult not in that way.
Below is the usual copypasta speal I give for suggesting mods; Riknap has seen this 58318503185034 times already. Do note that as I'm the creator of VIET I'm biased towards VIET and to a lesser extent PB, which is my personal preferred mod, but I'll try to give as fair an assessment of the mods as possible. Do note that a few of these may not be up to date with SoA/patch 2.0.
When it comes to CKII, there's what can be considered the three big overhaul mods, each offering something different for the game:
CKII+ adds many new features and improvements to the game, but some people don't like it because it adds too much Prince and Thane adds in many new ways to roleplay and immerse yourself in the medieval world, but for some it adds in way too much (it also is still stuck at patch 1.092 for now) Project Balance tries to stick close to vanilla as possible and improve on the game without changing it, but for some it's too close to vanilla
The two currently available are CKII+ and PB. If you're considering one of these, below is an explaination of the differences between these two, as they do cater to different audiences:
Now, both CKII+ and Project Balance try to mainly balance and improve on the CKII game but their methods are different. PB tends to be more cautious, and less willing to add in entire new systems or sweeping changes to the original game. CKII+, on the other hand, is willing to do that, and change the way some of vanilla's mechanics work. Perhaps it's best to see what each mod claims itself to be:
From the PB first post:
The goal of Project Balance is to improve the play experience not by adding a large amount of new features, but by making small changes to make the game more interesting and historically plausible.
With Project Balance installed you'll have things that could not have possibly happened historically happen much less often, but it will still feel much like the same game.
The purpose of CK2+ is to create a broader, deeper, more challenging and more balanced CK2 experience without straying too far from the original game mechanics or tacking on deterministic railroading events and modifiers. The purpose of this mod is not historical accuracy (although we try to preserve it whenever it is not a major detriment to gameplay) but rather to embrace and enrichen the medieval intrigue sandbox that is CK2, while fixing its various little issues and exploits.
There is a rather subtle difference here, one that I believe most PB and CKII+ fans understand well. PB is about historical plausibility and preserving vanilla gameplay, while CKII+ is about a deeper game experience and preserving the spirit of the vanilla game.
As to the actual pros and cons of that. Project Balance fans tend to tout its closeness to vanilla and minimalist changes as its main advantages - thus, it's a better choice for those who are generally happy with the way vanilla plays, but would like some improvements nevertheless. CKII+ fans like its deep changes to the way vanilla works - thus it's a better choice for those who want to see a more overreaching and pronounced improvement to the game. Now, when I mention "improvement," do note that this can be rather subjective; both mods (and many of the big mods in general, such as VIET and TPATT), do different things to "improve" gameplay, but whether you agree with that is another matter. Those who don't like CKII+, for instance, tend to argue that its so-called improvements are too much (a common statement is that for every change in the mod they like there's another they don't like), and that it is being hard for hard's sake. Similarly, those who don't like PB believe that its so-called improvements are either not enough (in comparison with, say, CKII+), or that its changes are too annoyingly restrictive for the sake of historical "plausibility" and "balance."
One last thing to consider is whether there are any other mods you want to play with PB and CKII+ - that's often an important factor for many of the mod players here. I cannot speak much for CKII+ as I don't really play it, but PB, for instance, is fully compatible with SWMH, the most popular map mod, and is also fully compatible with VIET (but not both simultaneously... yet). Both mods have a list of smaller mods they are compatible with, so you may want to check that out.
Ultimately, both mods cater to different preferences. Want less changes, more sensible historical outcomes, and want to stay close to vanilla? Go for PB. Want more changes, a deeper sandbox experience, and don't mind re-learning the rules, essentially? Go for CKII+. There's plenty of fans for the two, and even some that play both. Somehow.
Besides these big three, there's other major mods out there - each, again, offering something different for everyone.
VIET - it's my mod . VIET focuses on flavor, immersion, and roleplay, similar to Prince and Thane, but it takes a more minimalist approach like Project Balance, meaning it tries to keep things as close to vanilla wherever possible. In contrast with TPATT, it also focuses on a wider variety of religions and peoples besides the Christians, so it's broader rather than deeper in a sense. It's also modular, meaning you can pick and choose (to some extent) what you want and don't want to play with, and it's fully compatible with Project Balance, and has some CKII+ compatible modules. SWMH - the biggest map mod, currently. Adds a lot of new provinces and cultures. A lot like it because it offers a much, much, much more historically accurate setup for the world, for those who dislike it it adds too much for the sake of accuracy at the cost of gameplay. Umbra Spherae - it's a mod that takes place in the entire old world.
Besides these, there are several complete overhaul mods that change the setting - some historical, some alt history, some completely fictional:
Lux Invicta - the premier alt-history mod. Gameplay is much more dangerous and dynamic than vanilla, even the 867 start, and there is a very detailed backstory and the setting is well-fleshed. Of course, if alt history is not your thing, though, LI would probably be too radical for you. A Game of Thrones - one of the two main fantasy overhauls out there, based on the world of AGOT. Pretty self-explanatory. Elder Kings - the other of the two main fantasy overhauls, based on the world of the Elder Scrolls game series. Also pretty self-explanatory. Saeculum Obscurum - one of the few larger mods catering to those interested in the pre-medieval era; this one takes place towards the end of the Roman Empire, and while relatively new looks pretty promising Britannia 479 AD - a solid and focused mod dealing with post-Roman Britain from the fall of Rome to the coming of the Normans Diadochi Kings - an antiquity mod dealing with the aftermath of Alexander's death and the rise of Rome
There's also several smaller mods that may suit your taste if you don't like these bigger things; some of these are mainly cosmetic, and a good number of these have been integrated into the larger mods above, or are at least compatible with them:
Memento Mori - adds in new ways to die, most importantly in childbirth, but also does other things to make the world more dangerous. Diseases are more potent, for instance. Additional Objectives 2.0 - new ambitions and plots Mazdayasna Zarathushtrish - the Zoroastrian-themed mod Judaism - The Diaspora, the Exilarchs and the Khazars - the Jewish-themed mod Clear Combat - a simplification of the tactics system which, to the surprise of some, actually improves battle balance Cultures and Portraits Revamp - my portrait mod; adds in tons of new portrait sets for different cultures by recombining existing vanilla and DLC portrait assets, thus giving the world a lot more variety Portrait Realignment Pack - an alternative to CPR above, that does not necessarily add new portrait sets but mainly improves existing ones, for those who don't want new portrait sets per se but do want improvements Better Looking Garbs - yet another alternate portrait mod to the two above; it is the unofficial successor of BLC, which was once the most popular portrait mod - it adds new portrait sets like CPR, but unlike CPR (which just recombines vanilla and DLC assets) it also uses new original art assets, and has integrated CPR Arko - the main COA mod currently; pretty flags and stuff, especially for the Muslims Ancient Religions - adds in some flavor and mechanics for ancient pagan religions, including Hellenism; does go into the realm of fantasy, I suppose, but it is nice for those who want to play as a Hellenic pagan and the like High Kings, Consuls and other crazy things - localization mod for different cultures' titles (i.e. Thanes for Anglo-Saxon barons, etc.); good if you want some more variety with your titles but not something as dedicated (and for some, unbearable) as SWMH
Tl;dr: That's all the ones I can think of - there's a lot more out there, obviously, that are generally well-made. As for overhauls, personally I prefer Project Balance, because I'm very much content with vanilla and I don't like adding new features I won't enjoy. Additionally, if you really don't like any of those, mixing and matching smaller mods has always proved good. Your pick ultimately, though. There are quite a number of options.
. VIET focuses on flavor, immersion, and roleplay, similar to Prince and Thane, but it takes a more minimalist approach like Project Balance, meaning it tries to keep things as close to vanilla wherever possible. In contrast with TPATT, it also focuses on a wider variety of religions and peoples besides the Christians, so it's broader rather than deeper in a sense. It's also modular, meaning you can pick and choose (to some extent) what you want and don't want to play with, and it's fully compatible with Project Balance, and has some CKII+ compatible modules.