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Crusader Kings 3 Dev Diary #50 - Poetry to my Ears

Crusader Kings 3 Dev Diary #50 - Poetry to my Ears​

Welcome, comrades, to the latest dev diary, and let’s all give an especially warm welcome to the poet trait! This venerable little piece of content is making a triumphant return from the annals of CK2 as part of the 1.3 free patch.

This ain’t just your CK2 poet trait, though, this is the all new poet trait: reworked stats, a character interaction, and (for which I am so very, very sorry) randomised poetry generation.

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Oh yeah, we’re doing this.

Writing a Poem​

First, a little detour into how poetry works. Every poem has a theme, and, at present, we have five themes to choose from:
  1. Romance - in which the poet expresses affection and desire for the subject.
  2. Legacy - in which the poet muses on the nature of death and power, and the subject’s impact on the world.
  3. Mourning - in which the poet discusses the death and lingering emotions left behind after the subject, or a relative of theirs, passes away.
  4. Strife - where the poet expounds on the necessity of seizing power, life, and opportunity when it appears, and on glories yet to be won.
  5. Incompetence - wherein the poet slams the subject for their weakness, incompetence, and method of eating asparagus.

v16SFREuLVjvYnq0rMrI4sMxbYpcJdh7F0-Cebt0HveUu91V6mlsMImgLsGpXKqG2aOQmhtl865uK5if1C7teqV3wyfsdYmfyLPkdKaTo9NWNooGKpl6PdRiuoM8W1QpByvu7DmM


Once we know the theme and subject (if any), we can feed that into custom localisation functions that randomise a couplet. At present, we have both intro and outro functions for each theme, as well as title generation, allowing us to generate ditties between two and four lines in length plus title, though I hope to expand on these in future.

Since these are just ordinary custom locs, they can be dropped into any event or event chain fairly easily, meaning we can auto-generate bad poetry anywhere in future.

Let’s have some examples. Here’s a love poem to the woman that Lord Elisedd ap Tewdwr never quite met:
Kocl7xWoncPloG33_qfFvhH4PnF9hnzY0SUIvmatCDvPopnszEqgLXqcMQbYnsa9gipCKWt_FxXEadCZ2YyU2shPDLAV3dlc5Ub0k034OFC0dMlgBtsMDno5gQRi6757MDD_qfWM


And another, as he ruminates on the problems of succession:
0eBBV5BM_cMKqLyCqQRFowOTlqz_W7ColX09Q1CRQVEQagzvRsKLzq-7JKuW7ZpIusw055ToQbssdi4oC-5ikTN6laNnuTtCC6Yf_J393vdrCz0FjJLQ_ynBt0Jf3J9m3OTlAiyw


And a third, where the lord laments the success of Prince Rhodri ap Merfyn in northern Wales:
swutZdgi9XHijMQqywuSIuXTIq4Qf0tJFe9VLX-wyAfkXLA6oqUcgO1Cl7Fk8le7GEaquLFU8RbQlXmcOkQt0f6FrQ3r6yqSt85wjd3DFiDKiq741BmjCCxOo3Qnpd1Y-DXlK-JJ


Use​

So, that’s all well and good (or, y’know, utterly horrible if you have any command of basic rhyming), but how do we actually use poems in-game? A few ways!

Firstly, we have the triumphant return of the V-completelyoriginal tortuous poetry interaction variant:
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Characters who are poets and elect to torture their prisoners will, frequently, spend hours declaiming their very worst poetry to them. As with any use of the torture interaction, this can cause a hideous amount of stress.

More than this, though, poets can also send poems to most characters within diplomatic range. In all instances, sending a poem costs a little prestige, but the effects available depend on the theme selected, and the themes available depend on who you’re writing to.

A romantic poem makes the subject like you, a poem about their legacy makes them like you and gives them a little piety, a poem about strife makes them like you and gives them a little prestige, and a poem about mourning makes them like you and gives them a little stress loss. Unless, of course, they dislike the poem and publicly mock you for it...

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Some poems are quite flattering to receive, and may well be accepted without question:
wLEWk1UlrkHGFtic_G3qOdoGNUs57NwsKlOd3Kd-Fq7tGT0yV-mmgzQA90cROWPV5mWdrCljgMXQ7ab7rYcVE2dy5dK2kj2t5LtAip7gGXLLONtaAKo9qixUDldsC2V75P4a0G7f


Whilst others are… less polite.

qwlLx6xK_frI9Wlbxh2RjdWlk_XeVmyadTBtJ6DmBYFEfO7tZIxo35a1iRQsgrdjxLap8zcxUMzgUYKM3EwV-4Xc13O9V2gl428SY65O5lVebdFdt2XChgVe0QLqdYvrxFYhTPS7


And yes, these are all useable in MP.

Just for fun, let’s have a few out-of-context poems.

7Gl3NKTXOHmYSXg0sp9ouEUF2D-Gv2VJGxGCB9j9Y2XswJAJom2ruVm6qp9MDdwK6VLrmufmgDbpHLG3c6IyY3MkNoN2FpV8MbK5La6L1K1GAsDhOLgN02UiAOcb1OTcEaE1k25W

YSlOzkqxFYl9PpotmjNc_YTBssvyRRvN1YgxhJtJkzH3FGge6yJw-yBkf_5ib0zYlVOs3nxclEL58rr8bjCEG0T2oik6g65XcNfKmLH9JYo791XSC8A2THCBwvyhVNiWBidoqcO0

Yuuvl-h3gL8XxJ3mcnmZLNLrHKMC5SPNQ1wwcSgI7-yvGklYL5rFo6WuYFQ5g6GbWmEVbp9LEcozcI-x2XnPNb2i5e7qtZaUaOjt4FMsY1MEgfL41EVRBjWDCTrlyGa_9eYQsKwg

Bbdl2e3ccG1Lq9hvV0NqWUR_oa8Y52I4AvI_tK6VO_80YxUFXn2-FkBy1W2ghSGLInO3I51lI-nVoWA8uhnsidA5UMB_7wULfVqu3vDSGpvr4QxzUvjFncLT--FFPM0ySl-o7w2Z

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To round off this DD, we'd like to give you a sneak peek at some of the upcoming fixes & changes in the 1.3 patch. These aren't the full patch notes! More will come in upcoming DDs.
###################
# Balance
###################
- Men-at-Arms, Special Troops and Mercenaries now have travel time and, like Levies, have a penalty to disband/re-raise during wars. Travel time is based on the distance to the realm capital. This should effectively stop being able to ‘teleport’ MaA across the map
- The renown cost of acquiring Dynasty Legacies has been overhauled. Instead a linear progression (1000, 2000, 3000… etc.) the cost is now dynamic. It should be much easier to unlock your first few Legacy perks, but significantly harder to unlock all Legacies in the game.
- All Dynasty Legacy perks have been rebalanced. Their effects should now be much more tangible and interesting.
- The Yearly Event pools have been restructured, and a lot of triggers loosened or removed outright. In practice this means that you’ll see more events when playing (roughly one random event from this pool every 4 years rather than every 5-6 years). This also means that some extremely rare events will now appear more frequently.
- The Infirm trait events have been moved from the Yearly pulse to the Health pulse. What this means is that all characters can now become infirm, not only rulers. It is also much more likely for elderly characters to actually get the trait.
- Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren should no longer wander off, following the same rules as Children
- Married characters will no longer wander off if they are in a realm where they are subservient to the other part of the marriage, and their spouse is in the same court
- You can now Disinherit people outside your diplomatic range
- AI rulers who form an alliance in the middle of a war now wait 1 month before calling their new ally to arms.
- Feudalizing as a Tribe no longer requires all Tribal-Era innovations, now you only need 70% (9) of all Civic & Military Innovations
- You will no longer get stress from Parents or Siblings dying of old age when they're 65 or older (if they're friends or lovers you might still get stress, though)
... and many more [will be posted in future DDs]

###################
# Interface
###################
- Hovering over the unit plate of a friendly unit now shows its full path. Great for seeing where your allies are going
- Players now receive a warning when their enemy in a war forms a new alliance
- Updated the Current Situation widget with a fresh new coat of paint. It’s now darker with more muted colors, and some flavorful decor.
- Current Situation entries now only show ‘X’ to close when hovered
- Added a Current Situation item for hooks about to expire; it'll tell you when a hook expires in less than 3 months
- Added a message that lets the employer know if their councilors leave because of marriage or title inheritance
- Building a new holding will now in the Domain view say you're building the holding type (E.G., "Castle") rather than the name of the main building (E.G., "Motte")
- Ensured scheme success and secrecy modifiers show up as percentages in all cases
... and many more [will be posted in future DDs]

###################
# Game Content
###################
- All formerly inaccessible Religious Clothes/Headgear are now accessible in the Barbershop. You want to wear the Pope’s hat and Steppe Pagan robes? Go right ahead!
- Added a small interaction to pardon a subject’s crimes in exchange for opinion.
- A guardian might now get a hook on their ward, should they be of a greedy/deceitful persuasion
- You can now offer concubines and consorts to other characters!
- When Offering Vassalization to a feudal ruler, you may now offer a more lenient Contract to improve their chance of accepting.
- Added a narrative event for converting to a new Faith, as well as a notification for when your liege converts to a new Faith.
... and many more [will be posted in future DDs]

Well, that’s all from me for this week, but stay tuned for next week’s diary, where we’ll be getting into something a little less passive aggressive.
 
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Yes, would be great. Yet another thing that would be interesting were the many poetry and music competitions akin to tournaments that some major patrons held for the creative that pulled musicians and poets from across the continent in some cases. One being famous minnessänger Margrave Heinrich of Meissen.
Tannhäuser flavor event chain when?
 
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Once we know the theme and subject (if any), we can feed that into custom localisation functions that randomise a couplet. At present, we have both intro and outro functions for each theme, as well as title generation, allowing us to generate ditties between two and four lines in length plus title, though I hope to expand on these in future.

Since these are just ordinary custom locs, they can be dropped into any event or event chain fairly easily, meaning we can auto-generate bad poetry anywhere in future.
Well, could we have a look at randomly generated poetries in other languages, especially Asian languages (Chinese and Korean)?
After all, their structures are very different from western ones...
 
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I'm just glad the kids and grandkids aren't going to scarper off any more. That was really irritating!
 
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Also, will those of us who purchased the Royal Edition finally get all the headwear we were supposed to get?
 
Romance be not foreign to us,
the rules we both knoweth.
Marriage is what I bethinking,
nay one else can offer thee this.

I lay bare mine feelings upon thee,
I desire thy understanding.

I shalt at each moment support thee,
I shalt at each moment satisfy thee,
I shalt at each moment be faithful to thee,
I shalt at each moment bringeth a smile upon thy lips,
I shalt at each moment stay with thee,
I shalt at each moment be truthful to thee and never bringeth thee pain
 
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Can only rulers be poets or can we have random bards/poets adventureing across the world and suddenly ending up in our court?
 
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First of all: great DD, things like this are what makes CK a truly special game for me :) Patch notes also look very good, especially the end of MaA 'teleporting', grandchildren staying at court and being able to see allied army paths.

- The Yearly Event pools have been restructured, and a lot of triggers loosened or removed outright. In practice this means that you’ll see more events when playing (roughly one random event from this pool every 4 years rather than every 5-6 years). This also means that some extremely rare events will now appear more frequently.
I also like this. One - rather general - question though: is the trigger for random events completely unrelated to the player's in-game-situation? What I mean is that I truly enjoy every kind of random event happening whilst I'm not at war, but find random events sometimes annoying or immersion-breaking during war time (especially when I'm leading an army in far-off lands and a random event is about something happening to me personally at court). It would be kind of great to have (at least slightly) more random events in peace time and less random events when at war.
 
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I've been missing the poet trait quite a lot actually. There were so many troubadours that were rulers, not to mention all the troubadours that were sponsored by rulers who went across the land like rockstars from court to court, it certainly merits its own flavour pack. Cour d'amour in general actually.
I totally agree! The "cultural" game was very much lacking in CK2, even books were just treated as artifacts like many others. Some rulers were literally obsessed with the cultural life of their courts, and it doesn't just include poetry.
One of my CK dreams is that one day we get an expansion focused on medieval geography, with more or less reliable reports about what happens beyond a certain distance, instead of seeing everything as it happens. The end date of CK coincides with an era of deeper interconnectivity, so I think it would make sense to see more and more of the actual world as time goes on. And one of the ways to extend your view would be the cultural activity of your court. If you focus too much on economy and military, sure you'll have a powerful realm, but you will lack of informations. Let's not forget that a lot of informations travelled with people like trobadors and others.
 
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Any chance we can add a toggle or option restricting the barbershop to clothes that actually make sense for the person (given their culture, religion, rank, etc.). I already basically never use it because there’s too much nonsensical garb to go through, it sounds like that’ll be even worse now. Not trying to ruin anyone’s fun, just asking for a simple QoL change. I’d like to choose from reasonable possibilities, without having to wade through all the nonsensical fantasy.
 
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- The renown cost of acquiring Dynasty Legacies has been overhauled. Instead a linear progression (1000, 2000, 3000… etc.) the cost is now dynamic. It should be much easier to unlock your first few Legacy perks, but significantly harder to unlock all Legacies in the game.

- All Dynasty Legacy perks have been rebalanced. Their effects should now be much more tangible and interesting.

I like this. As a tool for differentiating your dynasty, it didn't quite work when it took so long to even pick the first one and how little difference a lot of them made.

- AI rulers who form an alliance in the middle of a war now wait 1 month before calling their new ally to arms.

AND

- Players now receive a warning when their enemy in a war forms a new alliance

Proof that devs are reading the threads right here. There was a big thread about this in the last few weeks.
 
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Not to be pendantic, but wouldn't a goblet or a chalice better fit nice and expensive wine? A mug makes it more sound like the house staff was all out of mason jars and gave their Duke the first thing they had on hand

Also, will the Incompetence poems be used with a return of flyting? It'd be an interesting event to see at feasts between rivals, pulling out their repetoire of insults until the other can't compete
 
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Not to be pendantic, but wouldn't a goblet or a chalice better fit nice and expensive wine? A mug makes it more sound like the house staff was all out of mason jars and gave their Duke the first thing they had on hand

Also, will the Incompetence poems be used with a return of flyting? It'd be an interesting event to see at feasts between rivals, pulling out their repetoire of insults until the other can't compete
I quite like the idea of a crap, clueless poet drinking champagne from a mug, thinking it makes them look super-sophisticed.
 
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Very interesting content !

Will the poet trait give some social advantages according to your culture ? For example, in western Europe, the Occitan culture was found of poetry with troubadour/trobaritz, or persian/arabian petry in middle east ?
 
When can you send poems? Is the only limit the prestige paid, or is there a time limit between sending poems to the same/different people?
There's a time limit on the sender, and then a more generous one against specific people. So you can send a poem to one character, then send a poem to another character after a couple of years, but you usually can't send a poem to the first character again until they've had time for the first set of effects to wear off.

:p I suppose you could get around the time limit by coordinating mass poetry smear campaigns against particular characters in MP, but that feels very edge case.

Can only rulers be poets or can we have random bards/poets adventureing across the world and suddenly ending up in our court?
:) Any character.

Not to be pendantic, but wouldn't a goblet or a chalice better fit nice and expensive wine? A mug makes it more sound like the house staff was all out of mason jars and gave their Duke the first thing they had on hand

Also, will the Incompetence poems be used with a return of flyting? It'd be an interesting event to see at feasts between rivals, pulling out their repetoire of insults until the other can't compete
^^ It's a variable loc key, so it's not always wine that goes in there, just an expensive regional drink. That said, we've had an amount of feedback on it (damned time travelling shampaggan), so we'll likely give it a once-over to make it more immersive in future.

Incompetence isn't currently used in flyting, I'm afraid, but perhaps in future.
 
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