CK3 modding as a worldbuilding tool

[Pelthis]

Hello,

I don't know if the title is self-explanatory enough or not at all, but here's my point :

I've always loved making stories and actually have a "kinda ambitious" project in mind. I started writing a classic fantasy story (which also could be used as D&D like campaign) whose main selling point would be a Tolkien-tier worldbuilding, with gazillions of different countries, cultures, religions etc (yes, I know, that's why I said "kinda ambitious").
But my main issue is managing all the ideas I got to put them on paper in a clear way.
I started making maps trying softwares like Inkarnate or Wonderdraft, but I can't really do what I really want because my computer doesn't support too high resolution maps.
And I'm trying to make some text documents explaining about all the characters /nations /religions etc. But it stays very messy and it doesn't feel very rewarding to just write some random Word documents, without actually making any real use of them.

But as I'm following closely all the news about CK3 and I heard it would be "very moddable", even more than CKII was... I actually thought it'd be the perfect way to give life to my ideas.
3D models with some stats and traits would be a perfect simplification of character sheets.
I could put the whole map of my universe here.
I could edit provinces development and control to simulate economy and politics.
I could use the Tenets and doctrines system to make some prototypes for my religions
etc...

And I could even run some games with it to simulate what could happen in order to give me more inspiration for further improvements etc

And at worst, if I never manage to write my story or run any D&D campaign, I could still have some cool ideas for a total conversion mod.

The main issue is that I never modded anything. I just followed a 101 course on C# and gave up because it seemed too complicated for me. So maybe I have a totally biased idea of the process and it would require way too much efforts for little results.

But on the other hand I have way too much free time, so I could seriously think about it, without giving up too fast...

So yeah, I was kinda wondering what you were thinking about this, if it seems to be doable or if I'm just delusionnal.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Bubba42]

It definitely sounds like the map editor might be really useful for this purpose and additional mods to facilitate would be amazing.

 

[Sugary]

Wow this sounds beautiful!
I'm really hoping we get a modkit or some sort of modding tool from Paradox this time round to make modding more accessible.
It would be AMAZING for folks with creative writing and world-building abilities to be able to create their own mods who don't neccesarily have the modding experience from CKII

 

[Zarine]

As long as you reuse existing mechanisms, it is quit easy to mod. You just need to be patient as progress are quite slow.
There little bonus to know programming language when dealing with elements with conditions but that's all. It can be done without experience by looking at how things were done and learning from them (and from your mistakes)

 

[Sute]{h]

While modding the map has become much easier it is still harder than just drawing up your own using map making software, and doing the complete rework of the game you are suggesting is a lot of work. So doing it for a tabletop game would IMHO be wasting precious time. Doing it because you want to play CK3 in your own world on the other hand would not. It basically comes down to if you enjoy modding the game or not. Personally I like the "lego" experience of rebuilding a game differently. I very much recommend starting small though. Doing the map alone will takes weeks of work.

 

[Pelthis]

As long as you reuse existing mechanisms, it is quit easy to mod. You just need to be patient as progress are quite slow.
There little bonus to know programming language when dealing with elements with conditions but that's all. It can be done without experience by looking at how things were done and learning from them (and from your mistakes)

You actually removed one of my main concerns regarding this idea. If it's actually able to mod properly without knowing much about programming, it definitely sounds good to me. I'm not scared of die and retry, so if mistakes happens, it happens. Anyway I'd have to wait for the game and play with it a bit in order to understand how all elements are connected, but my motivation raised one step higher.

While modding the map has become much easier it is still harder than just drawing up your own using map making software, and doing the complete rework of the game you are suggesting is a lot of work. So doing it for a tabletop game would IMHO be wasting precious time. Doing it because you want to play CK3 in your own world on the other hand would not. It basically comes down to if you enjoy modding the game or not. Personally I like the "lego" experience of rebuilding a game differently. I very much recommend starting small though. Doing the map alone will takes weeks of work.

As I said, I have too much free time. So yeah, maybe it's indeed a waste of time to spend days and weeks and months to mod something according to some tabletop game idea, I think it won't be a waste if I actually can use the modding tools in order to give birth to my ideas. Even though I have a rough idea of the whole world, I have only very few areas clearly detailed in my mind. So I could start by making those, then extrapolating using this starting point.
And then, I always had a hard time finding people motivated enough to play tabletop games on a regular basis with me. And I have no idea if I'm good enough of a writer to actually write a decent looking story, so CK3 would give me a thrid way to uses my idea in a form some people could appreciate.

Anyway, thanks to all of your answers. When I first posted this I was mainly thinking it was a dumb wild idea, but now I'm already thinking about it more seriously. So I'll keep a close eyes on Dev diary and other news about the game and think about what I can do with it...

 

[Zarine]

What I can suggest you, is to take CK2 and try to mod few things in it.
There is a very high chance that the core of the modding will be similar. So this can give you an idea.

 

[Ezumiyr]

In my experience, if your world building already feels messy and hard to map (in the larger sense), modding it in a game won't really fix the problem. You usually want something already robust initially.
Then there are the problems that come from the fact that CK3 is not a simulation, but a game, so it won't allow you to translate the world you've built very well.

I think the first steps would still be to organize your world building, and yeah you'll need a map, even if you draw it on paper.

 

[Pelthis]

I know myself too well, I know nothing would actually fix the problem, but if I actually can channel my ideas in energy in any kind of productive process, rather than just derping around, it would already be a huge improvement to me.
Maybe I'll discover my new passion in modding. Or maybe I'll try for a few hours before being like "meh, actually it was not a good idea". But hey, we gotta try some stuff.

Thanks again for sharing your opinions !

 

[Etha.]

I know myself too well, I know nothing would actually fix the problem, but if I actually can channel my ideas in energy in any kind of productive process, rather than just derping around, it would already be a huge improvement to me.
Maybe I'll discover my new passion in modding. Or maybe I'll try for a few hours before being like "meh, actually it was not a good idea". But hey, we gotta try some stuff.

Thanks again for sharing your opinions !

Worldbuilding and RPG Campaign Management | World Anvil

Worldbuilding and RPG Campaign Management tools for all Storytellers, Dungeon Masters and fiction Authorss

www.worldanvil.com

You can use this to organize your thoughts for wordbuilding.
I, too, am making a mod for my world in CK3 and did one in CK2. The map can be a lot of work, but it can be very fun if you are willing to stick at it.