Is there ANY good start for zoroastrians?

[schondetta]

Jewish hare the hardest, nobody like them ,is impossible to form nap marrying your daughter and no place with jewish majority.

Maybe as an independent entity
but it's easier to take the vassall approach since Jews can't be forced into a religion change .

 

[Avalon8782]

Maybe as an independent entity
but it's easier to take the vassall approach since Jews can't be forced into a religion change .

I tried pledging fealty to the Zagwes, and they got all over me about wanting to educate my children so they can grow up as good Miaphysites

 

[Alcadizzar19]

Maybe as an independent entity
but it's easier to take the vassall approach since Jews can't be forced into a religion change .

The only Jews that get that "True Believer" modifier are first generation Jews that you get from the "Jew fleeing persecution" event and even then they can be converted by parking your chaplain on them. Plus their kids don't have that modifier.

 

[schondetta]

The only Jews that get that "True Believer" modifier are first generation Jews that you get from the "Jew fleeing persecution" event and even then they can be converted by parking your chaplain on them. Plus their kids don't have that modifier.

Hmmm didn't notice. I've never been forced when I go Jew mode. But I haven't played in Awhile. But I'll stand corrected

 

[Fishman786]

I tried playing as Emir Sorkab(sp) in the charlemagne start and the Caliph revokes all my titles within months. I tried playing as some independent Satrap north of india, the Caliph declares war on me immediately. I tried playing as a sheikh vassal east of the abbasids, and get instantly steamrolled by the abbasids when i'm inches from independence.

Is there no good start for zoroastrians?

In 769 there are no good Zoroastrian starts. The only reliable way to play Zoro is to convert to it from some other religion. In the Old Gods start the Karen realm is very playable, and there are a couple of other considerably more challenging Zoroastrian realms as well. In 1066 and later Zoroastrian games become virtually impossible.

I disagree with the 'Zoroastrianism is hard mode' assessment. Actually when you get the ball rolling it's quite easy. It's simple to convert to Zoroastrianism (both as a horde and as a Persian Muslim kingdom) and they get a lot of fun stuff later on. It's kind of tricky to get things started but far from impossible. The real difficulty zones are with Judaism (outside of the Khazar Old Gods start) and Zunism. Judaism rarely ever becomes a popular or powerful religion at all, and the Zunists will inevitably be wiped out and converted by their Muslim neighbours. You also can't really convert to those religions as a horde, since marriagable Jewish courtiers are super-rare and converting to Zunism is actually prohibited.

 

[Damarrocarion]

In 769 there are no good Zoroastrian starts. The only reliable way to play Zoro is to convert to it from some other religion. In the Old Gods start the Karen realm is very playable, and there are a couple of other considerably more challenging Zoroastrian realms as well. In 1066 and later Zoroastrian games become virtually impossible.

In 769 it might just take a bit longer but you can still do it, not that any start might be particularly "good" aside from Steppe ruling Manicheans.

 

[giant_sloth]

The only reliable way to play Zoro is to convert to it from some other religion.

That's cheating

 

[Fishman786]

In 769 it might just take a bit longer but you can still do it, not that any start might be particularly "good" aside from Steppe ruling Manicheans.

Oh no it's not impossible, nothing's completely impossible in CK2 and it's certainly easier than starting as a Zoroastrian after 1066. However it's not something that you can really do reliably, unlike the Karen start in 867 which is pretty solid.

 

[Damarrocarion]

Oh no it's not impossible, nothing's completely impossible in CK2 and it's certainly easier than starting as a Zoroastrian after 1066. However it's not something that you can really do reliably, unlike the Karen start in 867 which is pretty solid.

I have never failed with Asfhin/Khuda starts. Sometimes I need to convert but otherwise they are fairly reliable as your liege is weak and realm will fracture eventually.

 

[Dakilla TM]

You can start as the Uyghurs in 769 and convert from Manichaen to Zoro. A tougher start would be the Bavandids, a duchy under the Abbasids. Even harder would be the Karens, which are counts under the Bavandids I think. There are other Zoroastrians and Zoro heretic counts under the Abbasids, but these are almost near impossible.

 

[RelVleDy]

And what about the Jews? The 867 Karen start is actually all right to answer the op.

Ahh, my friend. The Jews are the hardest of them all! To put it in perspective, it's Ultra Nightmare difficulty in Doom.

 

[Dragatus]

And the Jewish religion isn't even that great mechanically. The one good thing about them is that you can holy war everyone on the map and they do have great holy wars. But you get both also as a Zoroastrian and that also gives you concubines and divine blood.

 

[Damarrocarion]

And the Jewish religion isn't even that great mechanically. The one good thing about them is that you can holy war everyone on the map and they do have great holy wars. But you get both also as a Zoroastrian and that also gives you concubines and divine blood.

Exactly. Both Judaism and Zoroastrians suffer from "All or nothing" thing as you only get the interesting stuff when you have done the empire, though Zoros have few more mechanical perks (D-blood, feast, concubines, convert if in trouble). If you could do something before getting empire, then it would reduce need for blobbing.

There was a Zoro mod out there which had "middle-goals" in it too, such as building new capital to Persepolis or forming a holy order when you had k_persia. Something like establishing a weaker Moabad-Moabad or weaker holy order when some criteria are met would reduce the need for blobbing (= give some bonus for "Roleplaying").

I mean, if I decide to just become Shah of Khiva/Khotan with almost total monopoly on Silk Road trade, massive treasury and "Good religion" spreading from Caspia to China, can't I just declare "I am awesome" and form new incarnation of a Zoroastrian empire? But no, for some reason I need to go and grab worthless piece of land like Balochstan or Sunni infested desert in Mesopotamia for that

Same thing could work for Judaism with things like weaker holy order, weaker religious and some perks you could do if you decide to just roleplay as reborn Himyarite kingdom for example and achieve criteria like high enough MA, etc.

 

[LackNull]

There's a great ruler with a strong realm in Persia in, oh, 550 BC. Other than that, not so much.

CK's timeframe is not a good one for Zoroastrianism... Unless you make it so, anyway.

 

[Robert II]

Ahh, my friend. The Jews are the hardest of them all! To put it in perspective, it's Ultra Nightmare difficulty in Doom.

Never played doom but ultra nightmare sounds bad. And yes a jew jogo is a hard jogo. I'm having a bad time in my current game.

 

[mrstevehazzard]

The easiest Zoro start is, of course, to convert as the Seljuks in 1066. They even keep their invasion CB.

 

[RelVleDy]

Actually, I was joking about the jews being the hardest, but others seem to concur, so perhaps there's some truth to it. Now try playing as one in Hearts of Iron IV!