Crusader Kings 2 [official site] is secretly Crusader Kings 5 or 6. The specific number isn’t important; the point is, Paradox’s alternate history generator has grown in all directions since release. The timeline covered has expanded, the map is much bigger, there are more cultures and religions, and you can join a cult and give birth to the antichrist.

There wasn’t an official expansion announcement at PDXCON, the media event and fan gathering that I returned from yesterday, but today game director Henrik Fåhraeus published a post discussing some future changes. The playable world is getting bigger, again: “the Himalayas and the vast Tibetan plateau” are opening for business.

It’s not clear when or in what form this change will arrive, but it’ll include new cultures and religions, as well as the extra provinces that currently fall in one of the map’s empty ‘Wasteland’ areas. Over to Henrik:

“I’ve never been happy with the way the eastern edge of the map feels like the edge of the world when, in fact, it should be a dynamic hub connecting at least four major civilizations (China, India, the Steppe Nomads and the Islamic world.) Well, the time to do something about that is now! In our working build, we have added the necessary provinces, new cultures (Bodpa, Tangut and Nepalese), new religions (Bön and Khurmazta), and title history for the entire region. “The Bön religion is a pagan faith which functionally has many similarities with the Romuvan and Buddhist religions: It is very hard to convert, has access to Gavelkind, and unlike other pagan faiths it can not be reformed (though this might change in the future.) Instead, it starts off with the ability to designate heirs, just like Buddhists. It has also got a Patron Deity system like that of the Hindus and the ‘defensive’ Pagans.”

I just started a new game of CK II. I reckon I might be physically incapable of playing it after spending a weekend talking to people about its wonderful ways. There’s so much that I haven’t even touched, despite Steam telling me that I’ve been playing for more than a thousand hours. I’ve barely even touched Republics and haven’t died from half the diseases now available. What kind of feudal lord am I supposed to be?

So I’ll be tinkering with old things, but there’s a little more to see in the pile of new things.

“In addition, we are looking over the great Muslim conquerors (Sabuktigin, Seljuq and Timur) to make sure they usually rise, toning down the Indian Holy Orders and making them creatable (rather than existing from the start.) We also plan to add or expand on adventurers for more generic conquests into and out of the subcontinent especially.”

Making sure great conquerors rise. All part of the job.