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Hello everyone!

Today is Tuesday and that means it’s time for another fascinating Developer Diary. My name is Divine and I’ve been part of the Crusader Kings team since last autumn as a scripter and now I’m going to tell you about some of the events that we’ve been working on for the soon-to-be-released expansion, Horse Lords!

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If you control a part of the Silk Road you can now build trade posts to make sure to get some of the riches that is traveling along the route. However, there might be more people who want a share of the wealth, so you’ll probably have to guard your treasure chests. There’s also a possibility to gain the help of a trade governor who might attract more traders and riches to your land... or his mishaps might prove to be more of a headache for you to cope with.

As mentioned in a previous dev diary, rulers on the Steppe can send out their sons and brothers to take up arms and become mercenaries. The life of a mercenary, though, is a harsh one and a lot of things can happen when you’re out adventuring in a foreign court; so we’ve added some events about various things that can occur for the captain of such a created mercenary band.

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For instance, the Mercenary Captain, being on the field fighting for a living, has a chance to improve his military education trait to one of the stronger ones. These mercenaries also get a few events to interact with their employer or the ruler of the province they are hanging out in. One of these events is for instance eloping with a person of the employer’s court. It can be a daughter, son or a skilled courtier.

Since the Mercenary Captain is earning his keep from being hired he also gets some choices on what to spend it on. For example, improving his Band of Mercenaries or spend it all on women and vice.

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A ruler of the Steppe was not much of a ruler unless his clan had a thriving herd of livestock to support them. Thus, it is only natural that we needed to have some events about horses! If you’re living on the Steppes as a nomad, you can now adopt a favorite war horse. There are some events associated with having a horse and what you do together with it - both ordinary and unusual happenings.

So that’s a little sneak peek of the things that can happen on the wide Steppes and everything I had to say for today. I hope you are all hyped for the upcoming expansion that is now just a week away!

Oh! And I might actually have heard legends about certain altaic families behaving in odd ways lately… with hideous faces and beast-like behavior.
 
So did this just confirm that a Chinese dlc is coming down the line ?
i mean the last time we got an event about someone from a far off land we got india
looks great btw
 
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Good to see there's another thread - I was afraid the video was it.

What kind of CBs do nomads have? I don't think this was ever answered.

Nomads clans can seize single counties off each other internally if they are feuding. They also have a duchy level subjugation CB against external realms (costs 300 Prestige), normal county conquest, subjugation (much like tribal subjugation) against non-nomads. Oh and the most powerful of all is a type of invasion CB that requires the Nomad Clan to be approaching overpopulation.
 
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Nomads clans can seize single counties off each other internally if they are feuding. They also have a duchy level subjugation CB against external realms (costs 300 Prestige), normal county conquest, subjugation (much like tribal subjugation) against non-nomads. Oh and the most powerful of all is a type of invasion CB that requires the Nomad Clan to be approaching overpopulation.

Sounds great! Can they also use normal religious CBs like holy war?
 
Can pagans do this aswell? Would be awesome to be able to send out my sibling or children to become mercenaries as a pagan, raid other nations or even tie it in with the immigrant system when you raid someone. How cool wouldnt it be to send out one of your brothers to raid, then get settled somewhere where he raids and spread your culture and religion. It would fit the pagans very well aswell, kinda like the varangian guard.

I am also a bit confused about this, can the player also go out and become a mercenary as an adventurer? Raid and settle? or is it just something that can happen to the player. I kinda wish to be able to be a adventurer in this game

No and No
 
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Oh! And I might actually have heard legends about certain altaic families behaving in odd ways lately… with hideous faces and beast-like behavior.
I wonder if that has anything to do with Inmortuos ad Ortum dlc and content pack that appeared in the steamDB a while ago...
 
Looks awesome. I can't wait to see more events from this expansion. Certain Altaic families, eh?
 
No and No

Too bad, as I said in my edited post being able to play as an adventurer in CK2 would raise it to a whole other level for me, the roleplaying possibilities would be endless!

Is there a possibility pagans will get some of the horse lords features in the future though? All in all I look forward to horse lords! Especially the optimization patch! Good job! :)
 
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Will the dynamic mercs be replacing the current static ones completely, or will there be a mix? Also, will I be able to send sons to join existing merc companies? For example, what if I have my elder son form a merc company, could I send a younger son to join him, to take over when the elder comes home?
 
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Will the dynamic mercs be replacing the current static ones completely, or will there be a mix? Also, will I be able to send sons to join existing merc companies? For example, what if I have my elder son form a merc company, could I send a younger son to join him, to take over when the elder comes home?

Original idea was for the dynamic mercs to replace the static ones but it was awful way to play the game so we kept the static ones together with the dynamic ones. No you can't send your sons to join existing mercs. But it is scriptable to do what you want yes.
 
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So just how wealthy are Steppe Hordes going to be? Is the Silik Road going to make them wealthier than republics, for example? And will this break the game? i.e. tons of mercenary companies to conquer the steppes?
 
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Will the dynamic mercs be replacing the current static ones completely, or will there be a mix? Also, will I be able to send sons to join existing merc companies? For example, what if I have my elder son form a merc company, could I send a younger son to join him, to take over when the elder comes home?

Seeing as it is only the horse lords who can send out to become mercs at the moment I doubt it will totally replace the static ones. Would be kinda cool if most nations could send out to become mercs though, making mercs more dynamic. And depending on how successful the mercs are, maybe the build their own stronghold like the jomsvikings. But maybe keep some of the static ones just in case ;)
 
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So just how wealthy are Steppe Hordes going to be? Is the Silik Road going to make them wealthier than republics, for example? And will this break the game? i.e. tons of mercenary companies to conquer the steppes?

No, the Silk Road is a good way for them to make money but generally the Steppe Hordes won't generate much money passively. They gotta earn it.
 
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Cool. Sounds like it will be a little bit like tribals then. Thanks.
 
No, the Silk Road is a good way for them to make money but generally the Steppe Hordes won't generate much money passively. They gotta earn it.

Is the Silk Road a static thing? Or can it "spread" overtime? I just noticed that the routes scandinavian countries used to get down to constantinople and other places is not included
 
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So can nomads up sticks? There was talk of the player having an option to abandon provinces and find more elsewhere.
Yes they can still abandon provinces through a decision on a county.
 
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Great! Really looking forward to the DLC :)
Also: Horse Armor Pack confirmed!
 
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Did you think about an event chain regarding ghulams? An interaction between Muslims and Pagans of the steppes that certainly had a major role in this era given a great deal of military were coming from these slaves.

It'd be sweet if at some point there was a possibility of Altaics taking over states.
 
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