Hello everyone and welcome to the second dev diary for Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne!

I'm Tobias Bodlund, Scripter on the CK2 team. Today we'll discuss two new game features that we are really excited about. One has to do with titles and the other has to do with stories. Oh, and we've also changed something that has to do with murders.

In Crusader Kings 2: Charlemagne, rulers will no longer be restricted to the predefined de jure kingdoms and empires on the map when they wish to take a step up in rank. Any duke that has a large enough realm and enough prestige can now declare himself a king. The new kingdom will initially have no de jure lands, but it will gain them with time (if it survives). In the same way, a powerful king can declare a new empire. The new title will inherit its name and coat of arms from the primary duchy or kingdom title that the ruler had before.



This new feature should open up new ways for players to shape the world, and you'll see new titles arising according to the unique sequence of events that unfolds in your specific campaign.

Along with this comes new support for modders to dynamically change the coat of arms for any title through events or decisions or via the history files.

Another new feature is something we've wanted to add to Crusader Kings II for a long time. As you play through a long campaign, you are effectively creating the epic story of your dynasty, and we've always felt that it would be nice to create some kind of record of this, something that enables you to look back on your history and that you can also keep as a record after the game. This is why we've now added the Dynasty Chronicle.



The Chronicle will register any important events that happen to the characters you play, such as births, marriages, wars, deaths, important decisions etc. It will also mention major world events such as the arrival of the Mongols, the Crusades and the start of the Viking Age. You will be able to review your family chronicle at any time through the in-game interface, and you will also be able to export it to a text file so that you can keep it and share it with your friends. Maybe you'll even want to format it in a fancy font, print it in color and show it off properly.

Finally, for todays dev diary, let's talk about assassinations. There are two major changes being done here - and this part is free content, meaning it will be in the patch for everyone whether you have the Charlemagne DLC or not.

The first change is that the assassination diplomacy action has been removed. Since we introduced plots in Crusader Kings II, we've really had two different and wholly separated systems for assassinations. No longer. The click-to-assassinate mechanic was, to be honest, somewhat obsolete considering how the game has evolved over the past few years. From now you'll have to run a proper plot in order to kill someone, which also makes for much more interesting gameplay.

The second change to assassinations is that we've added a way for you to defend yourself from those who would plot your untimely death. There is now a new decision called "Go Into Hiding", which allows you to remove yourself from the public eye for as long as you desire and thus greatly decrease the chance of any murder plots against you succeeding. The decision is available at any time that there is a known or suspected murder plot against you (you might be wrong of course, but being paranoid doesn't mean that they're not actually out to get you). This new mechanic will have a number of new events associated with it.

You will also be able to send your spouse or any of your children into hiding in the same way - provided they are not rulers themselves, they are in your court, and that there is a credible threat against them.

You may come out of hiding, or take your dependants out of hiding, at any time you wish.



Hiding away in the inner rooms of your castle for prolonged periods of time does have its price, however. Your inability to hold court means that you will suffer a reduction to your diplomacy attribute while in hiding, and your vassals with be less loyal due to your absence. You will also be unable to hold feasts and tournaments, travel, lead armies and all those other things that would require you to leave your hiding place and step out into that evil and dangerous outside world.

There are of course also other risks associated with hiding. People living in relative isolation during extended periods have at times been known to... how to put it... suffer certain effects to their personality. But I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

[Kimberly]

The plot system is good at its core, and I support the removal of the diplomatic assassination button, but this is also a prime opportunity to make the plot system better--by making the results more player-driven and less dependent on circumstance. I have a proposal that could keep a lack of foreknowledge while making plots a little less frustrating:

First, there should be a minimum plot strength necessary to attempt an attack on a target. A lowly courtier might not even be able to get near the target at all, no matter how long they plot. This minimum strength is visible to the player and dependent on the target's rank (courtier, baron, count, duke, king, emperor) as well as whether they are in hiding. Once the minimum plot strength is reached, a die is rolled to determine when the attack will take place. The higher the plot strength, the more the odds favor a low time-to-attack. The player does not know the time-to-attack.

The timer ticks down daily at a steady interval. However, it is modified by events. If plot strength is increased or reduced (via people joining or leaving, or changing their position within the target's court), a new roll is done to determine how this affects the time-to-attack. More plot strength can mean a reduced time or no difference, again weighted for the added plot strength, but not increased. Less plot strength can mean more time-to-attack or no difference. If the plot is discovered, a roll is done to determine how much the time-to-attack is increased. (Perhaps events should also be available to reduce the time, via favorable circumstances.) If the plot goes below minimum strength, the timer is cancelled and the plot goes back to square 1--the player cannot exploit this for favorable rolls, because they do not know the time-to-attack.

When the time-to-attack has run down, an assassination attempt is made. The probability of success is determined by the amount the plot strength is over the minimum amount. If the attempt fails but the plot is not discovered, a very modest (but slightly random) time is added back to the time-to-attack; the plotters will soon try again. If the plot is discovered, a somewhat random but generally large amount of time is added back to the timer, but not so much that the plot is starting from square 1.

In addition to all this, the player can pay his courtiers to go another person's court. The ability for rulers to reject people who want to enter their court is also added. Now, potential refugees from foreign courts are suspect because they may be assassins, but there must be a cost (say, in piety) to rejecting guests. The player (and AI) now has a way to try and increase plot strength even if the target's court is not favorable for an assassination.

Through this system, although plot's success remains largely unpredictable, it will A) be more likely to happen in a reasonable time given the circumstances and B) the player has more options to influence the situation. Defense against others' plots also becomes more interesting.

 

[andoking]

Any duke that has a large enough realm and enough prestige can now declare himself a king.

i like

 

[stilgarpl]

I am rather concerned about the removal of assassination.
The plots menu generally doesn't let me choose the person I wish to assassinate. There are one or two candidates that are relevant and that's it.

You know that there is a button to start plot against anyone on that person's screen, right ? You might have been missing a very important feature

 

[Thund91]

You know that there is a button to start plot against anyone on that person's screen, right ? You might have been missing a very important feature

Lol ya it took me a while to figure that out when I was new. As soon as I learned about it my mind was blown.

I'm still wondering how we're going to kill our kids if we can't plot against them in the new DLC, though.

 

[raw]

The first change is that the assassination diplomacy action has been removed. Since we introduced plots in Crusader Kings II, we've really had two different and wholly separated systems for assassinations. No longer. The click-to-assassinate mechanic was, to be honest, somewhat obsolete considering how the game has evolved over the past few years. From now you'll have to run a proper plot in order to kill someone, which also makes for much more interesting gameplay.

The second change to assassinations is that we've added a way for you to defend yourself from those who would plot your untimely death. There is now a new decision called "Go Into Hiding", which allows you to remove yourself from the public eye for as long as you desire and thus greatly decrease the chance of any murder plots against you succeeding. The decision is available at any time that there is a known or suspected murder plot against you (you might be wrong of course, but being paranoid doesn't mean that they're not actually out to get you). This new mechanic will have a number of new events associated with it.

If this keeps going we might be able to play CK2 in multiplayer ... in 5 years.

Any words on network/steam improvements?

 

[Pethom]

With the new chronicle thing is there maybe a chance of getting a notes button on the character profile interface like explained in this thread?

 

[vidmizz]

Nice updates, but I do hope that plotting isn't going to take 15 years to accomplish, like it does to me now. Oh and I know this is like alpha and all but the snow looks a bit off... reminds me of man milk

 

[Damarrocarion]

I am rather concerned about the removal of assassination.
The plots menu generally doesn't let me choose the person I wish to assassinate. There are one or two candidates that are relevant and that's it?

You do know that you can open any character, click the button under them and select them as target for assassination plot.

 

[Emre Yigit]

You do know that you can open any character, click the button under them and select them as target for assassination plot.

Though as has been stated in other posts prior to these, the chances can be very low.

More interestingly, why are there dev posts answering questions about the de jure stuff, but not one answering questions about the new assassination mechanic?

 

[esbenmf]

I'm still wondering how we're going to kill our kids if we can't plot against them in the new DLC, though.

Why would you kill your own children ? When they are below 16 at least.

 

[Jorlem]

Will events have a button or checkbox that will force it to be added to the Chronicle? For example, let's say I win some giant battle against all odds. I'd like to remember that battle, and if there is something I can click on the battle results page to ensure it gets entered into the chronicle, that would be great.

Also, will there be the possibility of a stripped down chronicle for non-player realms? Really, just a listing of wars the realm was involved in, along with their outcomes would be enough. Sometimes I look over at another part of the world and see that something incredibly bizarre has happened, and I currently have no way to figure out how it happened. If enough info could be provided to piece together the history of other realms, that would be great.

 

[vandevere]

The question still remains: are you going to be able to assassinate anyone out of your reach, or not? Before CM, plots were group projects with extended support by many personalities in the target's court, while assassinations were giving a big sack of gold to a man and telling him to stick a dagger in the target's heart. Are we going to be able, for example, to assassinate claimants in outer courts? Or adventurers? Because, as of now, plots there never get beyond 25% or so.

I'm *VERY* interested in learning what-if anything-has been done to address the threat of Adventurers. As it stands now, large Kingdoms and Empires have a fighting chance against them.

But small fry counties and duchies can be destroyed by Adventurers.

So, how are we supposed to deal with Adventurers now? Are the small fry going to be forced to sit on their hands and wait for the Game Over?

 

[Jokolytic]

Nice updates, but I do hope that plotting isn't going to take 15 years to accomplish, like it does to me now. Oh and I know this is like alpha and all but the snow looks a bit off... reminds me of man milk

Well technically the game map is a board game table. Player gets excited every winter.

 

[Elryos]

Why would you kill your own children ? When they are below 16 at least.

The first son is an imbecile, the second is fat, the third is a genius. Guess who gets caught in tragic accidents. :ninja:

 

[vandevere]

Normally, in my Dublin play throughs, I create the Duchies of Tara and Leinster. Would I be able to create a Kingdom from just those two Duchies?

 

[Hecaton]

Here's hoping they do something about adventurers given that we can't cack them for money anymore.

 

[Norman250]

So, if I can't diplo assassinate them, can I finally make murder plots on my own children? I feel the ability to kill your children is central to the gameplay of CK2.

 

[Skordisk4]

Great expansion! I especially like the epic story about dynasty!

 

[WolfWaffle]

Guys, don't forget that they plan to improve the plot system.

Also, this stuff sounds great!

 

[Choksquaker]

Let me guess, the new plot system is a free-feature and the seasonal effects too. The only two things i care about. I don't give a rat's butt to CharleMagne and his familiy. Why
should i buy the expansion? ( i usually buy most music and sprites DLC, i bought ToG and LoR)

Will Charlemagne bring new cultural specific events, new global events, etc? We need more variety. I'm tired of the same fat man visiting my court and giving me an eunuch.