http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CrusaderKings

Many are Called, Few are Chosen.

Steam review of Crusader Kings II "I thought I was a moral person. I was wrong."

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Crusader Kings is a historical grand Turn-Based Strategy / Real-Time Strategy 4X game produced and published by Paradox Interactive. It's set chronologically before its sister series, Europa Universalis, and uses a variant of the Europa Universalis II engine.

The game was originally developed by Snowball, who abandoned it in a very unfinished state, forcing Paradox to do some last-minute fixes before release; this makes the game exceedingly buggy and all but unplayable in its post-release state. Some furious activity both by the community (via modding) and Paradox Interactive itself (via both patching and the Deus Vult expansion) has rendered the game significantly more stable and fixed many of the gameplay mechanics.

The gameplay itself is somewhat original in concept: Rather than playing a particular nation you play as a dynasty (with direct control being vested in the head of said dynasty) in medieval Europe starting in 1066 and ending in the early 1400's. While you can raise armies, form alliances and so forth the most important aspect of the game is management of your family and estates: The amount of land you can directly control is limited by certain factors, and thus you have to parcel out land to your vassals. The vassals have their own personality traits and ideas (some of which make them butt heads with you, or each other). The focus on individual characters and the dynamics within your dynasty gives the game a quality that is almost The Sims-like. It's also notable for being one of the first Paradox Interactive games to rely on Random Events with complicated triggers rather than chains of Scripted Events to drive the game, which would go on to become the staple of the company's later games.

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A sequel, Crusader Kings II, was released on February 14th 2012, and a demo has also been released. Amongst other gameplay changes, the sequel introduces character ambitions, an expanded plotting and intrigue mechanic, a revamp of the holy order and mercenary system and the sub-division of provinces into baronies, bishoprics and cities, all ruled by vassals.

Paradox has released numerous expansion packs for CKII, each focusing on different aspects:

Sword of Islam, released in June 2012, expands the map, introduces new mechanics, and features playable Muslims, with different rules to reflect their different culture.

Legacy of Rome, released in October 2012, focuses on the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox church.

Sunset Invasion, released in November 2012, introduces an Alternate History where the Aztec Empire invades Medieval Europe. In no way intended to be taken seriously.

Advertisement: The Republic, released in January 2013, makes merchant republics playable and adds mechanics to simulate patrician families and republican elections.

The Old Gods, released in May 2013, makes Pagans and Zoroastrians playable, gives them unique events and mechanics, and adds another start date in 867 AD.

Sons of Abraham, released in November 2013, which focuses on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, most notably adding the Jewish Khazar dynasty into the campaign map and including the College of Cardinals for papal elections, as well as finally making it possible to take your character on pilgrimage.

Rajas of India, released in March 2014, expands the map eastward to include India and much of Central Asia. It adds three new religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism), Jungle terrain, new events and mechanics to account for Indian cultural and religious beliefs, and war elephants. Some additional content for the East African Miaphysite kingdoms that was originally intended to be part of its own expansion are also included, added with the free update to the base game scheduled to come at the same time as the new DLC.

Charlemagne, released October 14th 2014, which extends the start date back to 769 with a string of events following Charlemagne's rise to power. And that's just Western and Central Europe. In the Eastern Roman Empire, the Iconoclast controversy had been raging on for some time, and further east, the Abbasid Caliphate was at the zenith of its power. It also introduces a chronicle detailing a dynasty's conquests and actions in the style of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and more customization options for kingdom names and banners.

Way of Life, released December 16th 2014, which gives the player more control over the roleplaying aspects of the game by adding the option to select a particular area of life for characters to focus on, as well as additional features such as duels and more player control over certain character interactions (such as seducing new lovers or spying on specific people).

Horse Lords, released July 14th 2015, adds unique mechanics for nomadic steppe tribes such as a horde mechanic, clan politics, and the ability to gain income by taking landed nobles as tributaries and through controlling the ancient Silk Road.

Conclave, released February 2, 2016, adds additional court intrigue, legal, and diplomatic functionality, which ties with the new council mechanics and favors mechanics, expands education of children, and allows you to rent out your armies as mercenaries.

The Reaper's Due, released August 25, 2016, adds more depth to the spread and severity of diseases, allows the player to take steps to mitigate them (such as building Royal Hospitals and sending your court into seclusion), and gives players incentives to focus on peaceful development.

Monks and Mystics, released March 7, 2017, adds increased depth to religion mechanics, allows characters to join societies (including monastic orders, cults, and heretical sects), and gives players new jobs to assign their councilors to.

Jade Dragon, released November 16, 2017, adds a playable Tibet in the Himalayas and adds China as an offscreen superpower that rulers can negotiate with. China can provide powerful boons to rulers, but it might also decide that the western barbarians need to be civilized through military force. The accompanying patch also expanded Zoroastrian heresies and added new casus belli.

Holy Fury, released on November 13, 2018, focuses on religion and adds revamped crusade mechanics, pagan warrior lodge societies, legendary bloodlines, sainthood and coronation events, additional succession laws, and options to play on a randomized and/or shattered map.

The third game, Crusader Kings III was released on September 1, 2020. In addition to having 3D character models that are affected by traits, CK3 reworks several of the core gameplay systems to be more intuitive and expands the map to Central Africa and more of South Asia.

For game mods, see FanWorks.Crusader Kings.

This video-game provides examples of:

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Tropes Present in Multiple Games

Crusader Kings I