I was recently playing as the King of the Danelaw. I like to roleplay because I think Crusader Kings is generally more fun that way. To me, it's essentially an RPG hidden inside a strategy game. As King of the Danelaw, I didn't have any grand ambitions. I wanted to formalize the Danelaw, figure out what to do with my religion, and generally see what made sense for my character and the situation around me.

At one point, I went hunting. Naturally, I started getting event pop-ups every few weeks. While I was hunting, one of my allies in Norway was attacked and called me to war. I had 19 knights, so I didn't really need to abandon my hunt to help him. As a result, I was simultaneously on a leisurely hunting trip and waging a war.

Trying to maneuver my army, decide which enemy army to engage, and determine which holdings to siege already requires a certain level of concentration. At the same time, I'm constantly getting event pop-ups asking me to make decisions about my character, relationships, hunting, and whatever else is happening. That combination feels wrong to me.

The game seems to have two different paces happening simultaneously: on one hand, you have these relatively relaxed blocks of text where you're supposed to think about your character and make an RPG-style decision; on the other, you have moments where you're carefully strategizing about armies, sieges, and movement. Having both constantly interrupting each other makes neither experience particularly enjoyable. But that's exactly what frustrates me about it.

Of course, this situation is ultimately the result of me engaging with both mechanics. I chose to go hunting, and I chose to answer my ally's call to war. I could simply have decided not to go hunting while at war, or ignored the call altogether. But that would require me, the player, to impose limitations on the game, rather than the game itself creating reasonable boundaries between these mechanics.

Then I had another moment that highlighted the same problem.

I married my third daughter to one of Ivar's sons because he had some genetic traits I wanted to breed into my family. That's why the marriage was matrilineal. Ivar subsequently lost all of his holdings in Scotland and Ireland because he refused to call me into his war at a time when I could have still helped him.

Fine. I didn't really care where he ended up. I had his son, and that was the important part for my plans. But I was never really told what happened to him. A few months later, I got a notification saying that the Seneschal position was vacant. My third daughter had previously held the position, so I was confused. What happened to her? Was she sick? Did she die? Did something else happen? Nope. Her husband had apparently been elected King of Sweden. I have absolutely no idea how. She was now Queen of Sweden, so she was no longer available to serve as my Seneschal.

Obviously, this was actually great for me. Their children belong to my dynasty, and they now have a strong claim to the Swedish throne. But I had no idea any of this was happening. I didn't know her husband was high enough in the line of succession for this to be a possibility, and I wasn't given any indication that an important political development was taking place.

At first, this seems like a notification problem. But then I started thinking about CK2. CK2 doesn't necessarily solve this by having better notifications. In fact, it arguably has fewer. Yet I don't remember having this same problem nearly as often.

Why? Because the game had more downtime. There were fewer constant pop-ups demanding my attention, and more periods where I was simply waiting for something to happen. During that downtime, I naturally spent time checking relationships, looking at succession, examining characters, and generally keeping track of what was happening around me. So when an opportunity arose, I was much more likely to notice it.

CK3 constantly gives me things to do, but ironically that can make me feel less connected to what is actually happening in my realm. And there's another issue that bothers me when trying to roleplay. I'd argue that roleplaying is very much something CK3 intends you to do. But the game can be surprisingly restrictive when it comes to actually making decisions based on your character's goals. For example, I'm playing as the King of the Danelaw. I'm not a warmonger. I've signed the treaty with Alfred to split England and establish the Danelaw. I have no particular ill will towards Alfred and no desire to conquer his territory. But I can't formalize the Danelaw until 1100. It's the 880s. Of course, I can wait. That's not inherently a problem. But in the meantime, my vassals seem to declare war at every possible opportunity. Suddenly, I'm accumulating territory in Wales and Ireland that I have absolutely no interest in. Eventually, my ruler dies, and my heirs inherit three kingdom titles, even though I still haven't been allowed to formally establish the one kingdom that actually matters to my character.

Mechanically, I could potentially form the Empire of Britain before I can even formalize the Danelaw. And I wouldn't have achieved that through some clever meta strategy or by deliberately trying to conquer the British Isles. I'd get there simply by not actively avoiding the war mechanic at every opportunity. That doesn't feel like the story I'm trying to create. And that's ultimately what all of these examples have in common. I like CK3. It's one of my favourite games. But in moments like these, I don't feel immersed. I don't have those moments where something happens and I immediately want to tell my friends or post about it on this subreddit because I just experienced an amazing story. Instead, I feel like I'm constantly having to fight the game's mechanics to keep my campaign fun.

I don't want to turn every campaign into a chaotic world-conquering mess. I've never really played that way, and it's one of the reasons my campaigns usually end around the third or fourth generation. I want to play a character, make decisions that make sense for that character, and see where the consequences take me. But CK3 often seems to push me in the opposite direction: constant events, constant wars, constant notifications, constant opportunities for expansion, while simultaneously limiting when I can pursue the goals that actually make sense for my character.

So, I don't want this to just be a rant. If you disagree with any of these points, I'd genuinely like to hear why. More importantly, if you have found ways to play CK3 that make these aspects work better, I'd be interested in hearing how. How do you make CK3 feel more immersive and enjoyable when you're trying to roleplay rather than optimize or conquer everything?

From the latest dev diary, republican and feudal bookmark characters for the 1178 start date, also indicating if the character is a Guelph or a Ghibelline.

Did you guys have any other characters in mind for the bookmark?

So this guy I am playing as had a wild life, he got forced to abdicate his county and now he is with a wife who does not love him.

I have been trying to get a child with her for ages now but right when she got pregnant, my character started suspecting her of cheating and now when I see my son, I see that he is not mixed but rather white.

I think the kid is someone elses.

The Roma and Hadharem (sea-traders arabs) people come to mind. Maybe the diasporic Greek and Armenians should get their own culture as well. They were the primary traders in some parts of Europe.

The process exerting soft power rather than actively controlling territory would add so much depth to gameplay. You could have the option of keeping an incompetent ruler in check, or outright sieze power through rebellion or assasination. Maybe even have the option of altering the matrilineal/patrilineal status of your marriage.

Your husband have crappy traits? Seduce some genius pesant and pump out an amazing heir. Maybe kill the poor guy to keep the secret safe.

This also adds a new way to transition out of an adventurer playthrough. Marry into power.

Trait trees could be altered while playing like this to lean into the playstyle, similar to unique adventurer traits.

Are there currently any mods that do this?

And I wasn't even playing in Europe, I was chilling in West Africa unifying Ghana and decided to check on the Europeans

This gif is from normal gameplay. Honestly, it’s not that bad if you can pause.

But then I tried playing multiplayer after all these years… and it’s when you can’t abuse the pause button that you start noticing how dominant the UI has become. I honestly think this might be what’s causing so much fatigue on me...

Yes, compared to the early years, CK3 has much more depth now. But I wish some of this UI micromanagement and event spam were toned down a bit. Not for multiplayer, which I rarely play, but to help reduce the fatigue in longplays

Now, where was I? Oh. Yes.

CONTEXT:

365 days ago I posted a small list made by a team of Hungarians which contained a couple of fixes and easily addable tweaks to improve the immersion and fix historical inaccuracies concerning Hungary.

Multiple Paradox employees gave voice to their appreciation in the comments, and I even received news that a Paradox employee received the list, and "will do their best to implement as much as possible." Well nothing was implemented from it this past 365 days, but I suppose you can’t rush perfection.

2026 was announced to be the year of depth. If these and last year’s listed issues remain unpatched for this year, I hope 2027 will be a deeper year. There was a community fix day where people could suggest bugs for the devs to fix live, I was sadly not available. Alas. 

The list will go from most important and easiest to implement to less important, somewhat harder to implement. I will try to sprinkle in some images so it’s not too dry.

HUNGARIAN NAME LIST:

Similarly to the Mögyer name list, the current Hungarian one contains oddities and anachronisms and needs to be rewritten. Most of these mistakes came over from Ck2. Here is the rewritten list:

Men: Ábrahám Ákos Aladár Ambrus Apa András Antal Bálint Benedek Bereck Bertalan Bulcsú Csák Csépán Demeter Dénes Domokos Dezső Donát Egyed Elek Endre Ézsau Farkas Fülöp Gábor Gergely György Gyula Henrik Illés Imre István Jakab János Kozma Konrád Kristóf László Lőrinc Lampert Lukács Márk Márton Máté Mátyás Mihály Miklós Mór Móric Nána Olivér Pál Péter Pósa Roland Sándor Saul Sebes Sebestyén Simon Smaragd Tamás Tiborc Tóbiás Tódor Ugolin Ugrin Vencel Vince Zacheus Zakariás

Women: Anna Ágota Ágnes Adelhaid Borbála Dorottya Emese Erzsébet Eufémia Gyöngy Hedvig Ilona Jolán Judit Katalin Klára Klára Konstancia Krisztina Kinga Luca Magda Magdolna Mária Margit Márta Melinda Odola Orsolya Piroska Róza Sára Sarolt Skolasztika Ursula Viola Zsófia Zsuzsanna

Dynasties: Aba Agha Agmánd Ajka Andornok Apc Apor Aracsa Atyusz Ákos Baracs Bikács Balog Balogsemjén Baracska Bökény Barsa Becsegergely Bejc Berencs Bicske Bogátradvány Bor-Kalán Botond Budmér Hahót Báncsa Bárca-Tekele Bél-Ug Bés Bó Csabi Csanád Csemény Csermény Csolt Csupor Csák Csém Csór Gutkeled Csörnöc Damasa Divék Dobra Dém Désdamján Döröcske Etre Gatal Geregye Gug Gyovad Gyulazombor Gyüre Győr Gég Hanta Hanva Haraszt Harc Hermány Herény Hodos Hontpázmány Héder Igmánd Ják Kacsics Kalota Kaplony Kartal-Kurszán Katapán Kinizs Kán Káta Kér Kökényesrénold Kürt Lipovnok Lippó Ludány Lád-Vérbulcs Lócs Lőrinte Pápa Magyar Majz Marót Mena Miskolc, Monoszló Negol Nolcsa Nána-Beszter Németi Osli Otrokocs Palat Petenye Pilis Pok Szalók Pudur Pátró Péc Pöse Sennye Rosd Rozvágy Rád Rátót, Salamon Szabó Szemere Szentemágócs Szolnok Szák Szécs Sártivánvecse Tardos Terkent Tolcsva Told Tomaj Turul Tét Tétény Türje Ugra Örsúr Vaja Varas Velek Veszkény Vezseny Vojk Vásony Zovárd Zsadány Zsidó Zágrábkorpás Záh

(If we had additional categories for lowborn names, for historical dynasties to favour names they favoured IRL, for large-medium-small landowners, for different startdates, that would be nice.)

CHARACTERS

• Aba Sámuel (20371) should have the excommunicated trait. Excommunicated by Pope Benedict IX
• István IV (98001) should have the excommunicated trait. Excommunicated by Lukács, Archbishop of Esztergom. Make sure not to confuse him with István III, who is incorrectly called István IV in the game. For the whole Hungarian regnal number kerfuffle, see last year’s list.
• László II (98000) should have the excommunicated trait. Excommunicated by Lukács, Archbishop of Esztergom
• This bug report will soon turn 1 year old. Please fix it. It bothers me a lot.
• Yefrosinia (222573) should be imprisoned in the 1178 start date by King Béla III. Later she was banished from Hungary. What sort of mother steals her son’s birthright?
• King Béla III (219500) spoke Greek, so please add that as a language to him. 
• Ban Ampudin (93544) and Voivoid Leusták (ratot_1) are more deserving of a military education I believe. They are the two commanders King Béla III sent to aid the Byzantine Empire against the Seldjuks. Ampudin also fought against the Byzantine Empire, and was quite successful when he wasn’t unsuccessful. 

PEOPLE WHOSE FAMILY NAME IS LOST IN THE FOG OF HISTORY

The next subject will be about title histories. Before I begin I would like to highlight a problem. Many, many rulers in the following lists don’t have a known family name. Sometimes the name of their father is known, sometimes not even that. In cases like this, because landed people can’t be depicted without a family name, the game assigns the character a random dynasty name. Which I believe is horrible. It’s a deception, historical inaccuracy. 

My idea for solving it is a custom “unknown family dynasty”. Some kind of blank or unique dynasty flag for them, with the description “This character’s family name is lost to history”.

Some unknown family name characters are dead and only present in title history. Those that occupy a title in one of the start dates will be able to be played as, and to be renamed into something the player desires, but the AI won’t be able to do that.

I would like some feedback/brainstorming on this idea. Or other ways someone with no last name could occupy a title.

TITLE HISTORIES 

(Incorrect info imported from Ck2, not enough English language sources, only Paradox and God knows the cause of the horde of fictional characters that infest the different title histories. I trimmed fictional characters, added known historical ones, and adjusted incorrect years. This resulted in a lot of titles not having a known owner in the startdates 1066 and 1178. I say give it to the king in those startdates. I believe that’s the best solution.)

1. Hungary:

• Orseolo Péter (497) should have the title king.
• As king István (482) is the first ruler of the Kingdom of Hungary every ruler before him in the Kingdom of Hungary title history needs to be removed. Luckily it’s unnecessary to move them to Mogyer Confederation title history, they are already there.
• László II (98000)’s reign is missing from the title history. Conquered rather than inherited, 1162 july - 1163 january 14. Died of suspicious circumstances. 
• István IV (98001)’s reign lasted 1163 january 27 - 1165 april 11, inherited. He was murdered.
• István III (219511)’s reign has to be adjusted to portray the usurpation of his uncles. End his first reign 1162 june 30. Start his second reign 1165 april 11, end it 1172 march 4. 

1. Voivodate of Transylvania:

• Between 1111 and 1113 the voivode was Mercurius. Currently not in the game.
• Leusták (ratot_1) was only voievode from 1176, not 1172.
• Unknown voivode in 1178 so give it to the king. Prince László is fine as a ruler in 1066.

1. Banate of Slavonia:

2. Keled (1116)

3. Elek (1116-1131)

4. Belus (1146-1156)

5. Apa (1158)

6. Belus (Appointed by Anti-King István IV) (1163)

7. Ampod (Ampudin in game) (93544) (Ban 1164-1171) has the dynasty Gorjanksi. Which is fascinating. Gorjanski is the Croatian translation of the Hungarian Garai family name, whose earliest known member is mentioned a century after the 1178 startdate. What I believe happened here is that Paradox simply carried over the title history from Ck2, where it was already incorrect. Ampudin has Croatian as his culture. While I am neutral about it, I read a historian that believed that he is from an originally Pecheneg Hungarian family. If he is reverted to Hungarian culture his name should be changed. 

8. Unknown Ban in 1178, so the king.

County of Bács:

1. Vid from house Gutkeled  (1071)
2. Keled (1111-1113)
3. Dénes (1177-1183) 

Unknown ispán in 1066, so owned by the king.

In game, the first and second ispán of Bács are fused together.

County of Bars:

1. Péter (1156)
2. György (1164-1165)

County of Bihar:

1. István (1067)
2. Saul (1111-1113)
3. Ákos (1138)
4. János (1166)

County of Bodrog:

1. Petus (1089-1090)
2. Apa (1156) 
3. Hendrik (1163) (Anti-King István IV’s ispán)
4. Gatal Gatal (1164) (Yes.)

County of Borsod (Sorsod Borsod):

1. Jakab (1108)

County of Csanád:

1. Csanád (1028)
2. Ézsau (1163, Anti-King István IV’s ispán)
3. Weza (1166)

County of Esztergom:

1. Gurcu, son of Péter (1079)
2. Simon (1156)
3. Ssubanus (1177)

County of Székesfehérvár:

1. Tamás (1108-1113)
2. Euzidinus (1138)
3. Seza (1166)

County of Fehér:

1. Mercurius (1097)
2. Gál (1177)

World-Building caused by importing the Ck2 title list without checking if it’s correct or even close to reality.

County of Hunyad:

According to one theory, the county of Hunyad only separated from the county of Fehér in the mid 13th century. According to another, it existed from the start. Either way, we don’t know of any ispán, and as such their title history between the years 1000-1178 should be the same as the county of Fehér’s.

County of Győr:

1. Kornél (1177-1192). 

To the king in 1066. Weirdly held by a woman in 1066 currently.

County of Hont:

1. German (1156)

Give Hont to the king in 1066 and 1178.

County of Torda/Kolozs, maybe it should be renamed to Kolozs:

1. Tamás (1177)

Give Torda to the king in 1066 and 1178.

County of Nyitra

1. Bökény, Una, Bacha (11th century. I know, very helpful.)
2. Mózes (1105-1110)
3. Lukács (1166)

Samodyn who holds it in 1178 can only be proven to have held it in 1183.

Give it to the king in 1066 and 1178.

County of Pozsony: 

1. Julianus (1146)
2. Wanlegun (1165)

County of Somogy:

1. Győr Ottó, son of Győr Győr (1061.09)
2. Grab (1087-1090)
3. Tibold (1111-1113)
4. Adilbreth, brother of Kaladinus (1133-1134)
5. Miklós son of Pál (1141-1162) 

County of Sopron:

1. Jan (1071)
2. Lőrinc (1141-1162)

County of Szolnok: 

1. Euzidinus (1134)
2. Fulkó (1166)

County of Vas:

1. Vgudi (1108)
2. Lőrinc (1141-1162)

County of Veszprém:

1. Pongrác (1164)
2. Benedek (1171)

County of Kolon (Should be Zala in 1178):

1. György (1137)
2. Márton (1138)

ECCLESIASTIC TITLE HISTORIES:

Paradox obviously did/will do their own research on title histories for By God Alone, but I thought I will collect the known Hungarian clergymen for comparison, could be useful. Once again, it’s quite common that we do not know the clergyman in charge in one or both startdates. Can they start empty and the monarch can appoint someone there? That would be ideal.

-Archdiocese of Esztergom:

1. Domokos (1002)
2. Sebestyén (1005) 
3. Anasztáz (1007.11.01-1030)
4. Benedek (1055)
5. Nehemiás (1075-1077)
6. Acha (1087-1090)
7. Szerafin (1099-1103)
8. Lőrinc (1106-1116)
9. Marcell (1124)
10. Felicián (1128-1139)
11. Makár (1142-1146)
12. Kökényes (1150)
13. Martirius (1151-1157)
14. Lukács (1158-1181)

-(Arch)Diocese of Kalocsa:

1. Anasztáz (Before 1007. IMPORTANT, this is the same person as the 3rd archbishop of Esztergom, not a second character)
2. György (1050.10.20-1051.01.11)
3. Dezső (1064.01.20.-1076.12.25)
4. Fábián (1089-1090)
5. Ugolin (1103)
6. Pál (1111-1113)
7. Fulbert (1118)
8. Gergely (1124)
9. Fancica (1131-1134)
10. Simon (1135)
11. Mikó (1156-1165)
12. Csama (1169-1171)
13. István (1176)
14. András (1176.08.-1186) (In the 1178 startdate he and King Béla III are not on the best of terms, he insulted royal authority, in response the king removed him from his post and seized the archdiocese’s income for the treasury. Archbishop Lukács used this opportunity to once again become liked by the king by supporting him against András, who was supported by the Pope. András apologised in 1179, and the king forgave him.)

-Diocese of Csanád:

1. Saint Gellért (1030-1046.09.24 the latter date also being his death.)
2. Mór (1053)
3. Lőrinc 1083-1113)
4. Beszteréd (1138)
5. Pál (1142)

-Diocese of Eger:

1. Procopius (1102)
2. Volfer (1111-1113)
3. Martirius (1142.05-1150)
4. Péter (1164)
5. Csama (1165-1166.10)

-Diocese of Transylvania:

1. Simon (1111-1113)
2. Péter (1134)
3. Baranus (1139.07.16-1139.07.31)
4. Valter (1156-1157.03)
5. Vilcina (1166.10.24-1169)

-Diocese of Győr:

1. Miklós (1051-1055)
2. Hartvik (1097-1103)
3. György (1111-1118)
4. Ambrus (1124-1131)
5. Pál (1137-1138)
6. Zacheus (1142.05-1146)
7. Izbeg (1150-1156)

 -Diocese of Nyitra (SHOULD ONLY EXIST IN THE 1178 STARTDATE, CREATED BY KING KÁLMÁN IN THE EARLY 1100s BY REMOVING LAND FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ESZTERGOM):

1. Gervasius (1110-1128)
2. Miklós (after 1134.04.26)
3. János (1156)

-Diocese of Pécs:

1. Bonipert (1009.08.23-1036)
2. Mór (1036-1064.04.11)
3. Simon (1109-1124)
4. Makár (1138)
5. János (1142.05-1146)
6. Antimius (1148-1156)
7. Makár (1162-1181)

-Diocese of Vác:

1. Marcell (1111-1113)
2. Marcelinus (1138.09.03-1139.07.31)
3. Ipoly (1156-1157.03)
4. Ded (1158-1162)

-Diocese of Várad (IT IS DIOCESE OF BIHAR IN 1066, IT’S SEAT IS RELOCATED TO VÁRAD BY KING LÁSZLÓ I, SO IT SHOULD BE DIOCESE OF VÁRAD IN 1178):

1. Leodvin (1050)
2. Syxtus (1103-1113)
3. Valter (1128-1138.09.03)
4. Miklós (1163-1181)

-Diocese of Veszprém:

1. Isván (1009)
2. György (After 1061.09.01)
3. Kozma (1089-1090)
4. Almarius (1091)
5. Máté (1111-1117)
6. Nána (1119-1131)
7. Martirius (1124-1137)
8. Péter (1137-1139)
9. Pál (1142.05)

-Diocese of Zágráb (CREATED BY KING LÁSZLÓ I, THUS SHOULD ONLY BE PRESENT IN 1178):

1. Duh (1087-1090)
2. Bertalan (Before 1095)
3. Fancica (1128-1131)
4. Macilinus (1131-1137)
5. Verblen (1142.05)
6. Gothsaldus (1156)
7. Bernát (1162)
8. Prodanus (Before 1172-1181)

I noticed that in the 1178 startdate King Béla III changes every major update, from blond to ginger to black to ginger to black, from short to tall to his wife being taller than him to him being taller, to them looking the same height, if any Paradox dev would like to make a custom body for him, that would be nice.

We have his and his wife’s skeleton and skull. From that (and a contemporaneous source—Richard of London—wrote of Béla's exceptional height) we know that he was around 190 cm, and there was an anthropological facial reconstruction project, here is it. At least his height could be locked to 190 cm. 

Here is the face reconstruction of his wife based on her skull, she was around 161 cm tall based on her skeleton.

TO TELL RIGHT FROM LEFT

With the upcoming Christianity Overhaul/DLC, I believe that in the 1178 startdate, one of the holiest Hungarian Catholic objects needs to exist as an artifact. 

The mummified right arm of Saint-King István I of Hungary. Became a relic in the late 11th century. Nowadays it’s only the fist since they cut it in half (sharing is caring I guess), but we know that originally it was longer. It should be a powerful artifact in the hands of the bishop of Várad.

THE HERM OF SAINT-KING LÁSZLÓ

After his canonisation requested by King Béla III of Hungary in 1192, his grave was opened, and the skull of God's athlete was placed in a reliquary.

I believe this would be lovely as a custom decision for Hungary in the 1178 stardate.

Requirements:

-King László I was canonised as a saint by the Pope

-Some gold I guess?

-Piety level maybe? 

As for the text on the big press button to make decision, I would put a line from the Hungarian catholic hymn “Regis regum civis ave“ (1192)  

“Regem regum es aggressus, sis defensor indefessus et athleta patriae.”

“You faithfully followed the King of Heaven, you defended our country, may you be our nation’s champion.”

Maybe that pretty purple letters that brings up the english translation.

Then as a reward I would have the reliquary as an artifact, and maybe a custom legend. Maybe a small bonus to Várad for a couple years since that’s where it’s guarded, and people will flock to it in pilgrimage.

ACCESSORIES OF A CORONATION

Although I am more than fine with the following artifacts being a part of the base game, I also believe the Coronations DLC was a missed opportunity to add historical crowns and regalia as artifacts. “Why would I want to crown myself king of Hungary with a metal circle my vassal found in the attic in a funny event™  instead of the Holy Crown of Hungary?” Indeed, currently only the HRE and ERE have a custom artifact crown in Europe (I think).

The 3D asset of the Holy Crown of Hungary is tied to the Roads to Power DLC, I still think it should exist as an artifact in 1178. Its importance cannot be overstated.

What should also exist in 1178 is the Coronation Mantle. Created in 1031, it became used as a coronation cloak/mantle by the end of the 12th century.

360 POV camera, view it as it’s currently display in the Hungarian National Museum

Observe the circled objects. Coronation Winged Spear, crown, globus cruciger. Gifted to him by Pope Sylvester II. A couple years after István’s death in 1043 Holy Roman Emperor Henry III captured these regalia and sent them back to Rome to the Pope. From a letter dated 1074 we know they were in Rome. From a book from 1693 we know that they were guarded in a building above the Veronica Gate. That gate was destroyed/dismantled, and as of 2026 we don’t know where the regalia is. But we can say that they were in Rome in the hands of the Pope, in the 1066 startdate. It would be fun as a 1066 Árpád player to try to get the crown back from the Pope. 

Sources

1. Zsoldos Attila: Magyarország világi archontológiája 1000-1301 [Hungary’s earthly archontology] (in Hungarian) (ISBN: 9789639627383) (Hungarian Name List, Title History, Clergy Title History )
2. Györffy György: István Király és műve [King István and his work] (in Hungarian) (ISBN: 9789635068968) (Hungarian Name List)
3. Kristó Gyula; Makk Ferenc (1996). Az Árpád-ház uralkodói ISBN 978-963-7930-97-3. (Characters, Custom historical appearance for Béla III)
4. Kálmán Béla: A ​nevek világa ISBN: 9639469165 (Hungarian Name List)
5. Nora Berend, Przemysław Urbańczyk and Przemysław Wiszewski: Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c. 900–c. 1300  

And that was it. Thank you for reading. See you next year.

SANCTE REX STEPHANE INTERCEDE PRO NOBIS APVD REGEM SAECVLORVM

Have yall ever seen this? He has a typical (while pretty sick mind you) adventurers group name "of the Enduring Sisters" (also don't know why it's 'sisters' while he's a dude but meh).

However, he owns lands? He doesn't have a title that shows his land, just that he's a dude who knows some cool gals I guess

R5: Basically the Ptolemies are having a BLAST! Alexandros would be proud.

I started a play through in China at the year 867 start date. And I gotta say, I’ve enjoyed China more than I thought I would! For whatever reason, my frame rate was suffering, but it fixed itself. (Idk how, but I’m grateful lol)

I like how the Dynastic Cycle influences the gameplay style. I like that at certain points, intrigue and merit are the focus and then in others, warfare is emphasized. It’s been a lot of fun! I don’t really see a lot of people talk about China on this subreddit, so I’m just curious about others thoughts on it. I haven’t played as a feudal European realm since the release of AUH. I’m looking forward to the new DLC coming out this month! It’s gonna give some much needed depth

What buildings should i be putting in my estates?

Can't believe this game sometimes.

They are more cost effective and does practically the same thing as normal crossbows.

I have finally done it. I finished a 867-1453 campaign. I started as Alfred of Wessex in Dorset, formed the North Sea in a single lifetime (I have done it before the new update, but the new update made it easier) and then played the rest of the campaign as the high kings of the North.

This will be a heck of an AAR to write. Halfway through the game I decided to just become world police. Some odd freaking stuff happened as well.

List of Rulers:

17 rulers in total.

Longest Playtime: Alfred the Great (64 years), majority of this as England

Longest Rule of the North Sea: Richard I (61 Years)

Shortest Playtime: Henry IV (8 years)

Shortest Rule of the North Sea: Alfred the Great (5 years)

Achievement Gained during the whole campaign:

(I've done most of the North Sea related achievements LOL)

BTW MODS USED: Community Flavor Pack, RICE, VIET Events, Historic Invasions, a myriad of others I forget in my load order.

Apologies for the monitor photo, it was late and I'm too stupid to screenshot

There was a brilliant mod full of historic, mostly period-appropriate music called The Bard House (or Barde House?). It was absolutely brilliant and a lot of effort had gone into selecting music and scripting it to play at the right time and place.

Sadly, it seems to have vanished - perhaps because a lot of the music was copyrighted.

Does anyone know if there are any other similar mods, or perhaps a renegade hosting of this one? Unfortunately, a lot of the "medieval music" in modding content is out-of-place rubbish from movie soundtracks.