Yesterday should have been a dev diary day, but I forgot that May 1 is actually some sort of Red holiday, and turning up to work gets you lined up against a wall and shot. However, this is not the time to discuss the mysterious idols, totems and faiths of the previous century. Let us instead think back much further, to simpler - if no less bloody - times, before Socialist May Day, before Christian Walpurgis Night, when the bonfires blazed for the Old Gods...

To begin with, religious Moral Authority has been revamped. The base value is now determined by the number of Holy Sites under the control of the religion. On top of this, there are various timed modifiers (think character opinions) for things like winning or losing holy wars, or building temples. This new system applies to all religions, not just the pagans. The pagan religions do tend to start with fewer Holy Sites under their control, but on the other hand there are no pagan heresies to worry about.



Now, as mentioned in previous dev diaries, pagans enjoy a number of advantages, but they also suffer from some frustrating limitations. Foremost, perhaps, is that they are stuck with Gavelkind. Pagan vassals are also a lot more suspicious of new rulers on succession (harsher "short reign" opinions), they cannot demand conversion of vassals, and they are easily impressed by the cunning missionaries of the Abrahamic religions. To avoid these problems, pagans can of course simply give up the old ways and convert, but there is another option; pagan religions can be reformed in imitation of those clever monotheists. With a proper church hierarchy, a holy book, and standardized rituals, the pagan religions can become more competitive.



Reforming the faith is not easy; you need to control three of the holy sites and have a lot of Piety to boot. After reforming, your faith will be given a religious head. In the case of Norse Pagans, the character who conducted the reformation will become the Fylkir, serving as both secular ruler and religious leader in much the same way as an Islamic Caliph. You may now declare holy wars, both great pagan Crusades and regular religious wars against infidels. Other pagan religions get a vassal religious head, like the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.



There are tradeoffs to reforming the faith, however. You will lose the Subjugation casus belli and the defensive home attrition, and the unreformed version of your religion will become a heresy (which can cause problems for you.) As a pagan, you will normally want to grow quickly using your invasion and subjugation CBs, and then try to either reform your religion or convert in order to consolidate and stabilize your realm...

That's all for now. Next week's topic is special pagan events and decisions!

[video=youtube;yoF84KVR9F8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoF84KVR9F8[/video]
[video=youtube_share;vYxB1O-XGk0]http://youtu.be/vYxB1O-XGk0[/video]

Bonus! Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods expansion in-depth Q&A at PC Gamer
Everything you want to know, but haven´t dared to ask?
“It’s less than a month until the longships land to bring us The Old Gods, the pagan-focused expansion for Crusader Kings II. We’ve been keeping close tabs on new details at our Viking Analysis Desk, and today, we’ve got some extra meaty details for you. Below you’ll find our massive Q&A with project lead Henrik Fåhraeus, covering everything from concubines to pagan sacred kings.”
Read the full Q&A here: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/05/01/crusader-kings-2-the-old-gods-in-depth-qa/


Web page: http://www.crusaderkings.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Crusaderkings
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Crusaderkings

 

[Sotof]

That would kind of remove the drawback of it, though. Give each son a minor holding, and your heir the kingdom and duchies.

Force it to be about equal distribution.

 

[Comradebot]

Force it to be about equal distribution.

Exactly. Force it to have the same distribution it has now, just let us have some control over who gets what. It's always obnoxious when you end up with sons that hold their land on three different corners of your realm.

 

[TheDarkMaster]

Make it so in Gavelkind, you can't designate more then one title of a given type to a son unless the others have at least the same amount. Any titles that are not assigned are distributed as per normal.

 

[balmung60]

Just wait until you get old (especially if you're wounded, stressed, ill, or maimed) and give your first born everything but your main title and capital and start doing as much as you can to get killed (go on hunts, lead armies in foolhardy battles, hold fairs to try to add stressed to your illness cocktail). Or if you're depressed, you can do it at any time. Hand off everything, then commit suicide, giving your firstborn everything.

 

[ChildeR]

They should rework gavelkind in my opinion, because right now it's a mess. It would be better if you were able to choose which title(s) you give to each son.

The only choice I'd add to gavelkind is who to play. You should be able to pick the third son who only gets a couple of counties over the eldest king and the middle duke.

 

[Gemberkoekje]

EDIT: Also, what will the norse holy book be called?

THOR: The man, The legend.

 

[Maestro Ugo]

For all those interested in Zoroastrianism, you can check out a mod I made some time ago (in the sig). I actually made it possible to reform Zoroastrianism, if you hold 3 holy sites of the faith (3 sacred fires).

I knew this sounded familiar, Paradox.

 

[Ruwaard]

I've been away for a week, so a needed to read up on this DD. Interesting, luckily I managed to watch the video DD though.

 

[sputttnik]

I am a little concerned as I see the Scottish royal standard of 1222 'Lion rampant' flag in the dev diary video which is obviously inaccurate for this date as the earliest use would be around 1058. This would be better represented by the St Andrews Cross and which is attributed to a legendary battle involving Pictish King Oengus II in 832. This should be a key area for Norse influence and I really hope that the Kingdom of Scotland will be properly represented and correctly named the Kingdom of Pictland as it was known at this time and up until mid 10th century.

I also hope that distinct cultures will be correctly represent on the mainland as it this time there was major cultural transitions in Scotland i.e. receding Pictish culture in the east, Scottish in the west, Cumbrian in the western lowlands/central belt and Anglic culture in lothian/borders.

Noticed in the map and Im looking forward to the inclusion of a kingdom to represent Strathclyde but I wonder if this will also be correctly named as Alt Clut and have Cumbrian culture?

 

[ikki]

Well I found it that it is not the case here. The Slavs and Summensko are very stubborn. Incredibly so. More often your vassals revolt against you and you have to fight them if you try to stay Norse. If you are up for a challenge, make Russia a Viking Empire. I found it entertaining and difficulty.

I assume going from asgard norse empire of the steppes into zoroastrian would be to ask for all the trouble in the world, as muslims (or tengri?) will be ruling over the zoroastrian holy sites.
OTOH, it would be awesome.
Especially as the monsters stay mostly the same: giant wolf, giant snake.. just a hydra added..?

Or would keeping one site be enough for your religion not to collapse? (hope theres one in north kaukasus and/or central asia)

 

[Wardok]

Being stuck with gavelkind is frikin rubbish.....gavelkind is by far THE worst succesion law...EVER!
should atleast be an option to change once you reform

 

[Velorian]

Being stuck with gavelkind is frikin rubbish.....gavelkind is by far THE worst succesion law...EVER!
should atleast be an option to change once you reform

Once you reform it IS an option.