Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

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Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

As a seasoned Crusader Kings 3 player with countless hours spent navigating the complexities of medieval politics and intrigue, I wholeheartedly endorse the use of debug mode for those moments when you need a little extra help or want to indulge in some creative shenanigans.

In simpler terms, Crusader Kings 3 is an intricate game where you manage multiple aspects. You accumulate various global resources, maintain ties with families, neighbors, subjects, and court officials, all while dealing with numerous strategies and conflicts.

As a newcomer to the epic world of Crusader Kings 3, I must admit it can be quite an overwhelming experience, especially for those diving into their first grand strategy game. However, fear not! There are several strategies that can make your gaming journey smoother (and if you’re okay with sacrificing some achievements). Here’s one approach:

Game Rules

Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

At the start of each new game in Crusader Kings 3, you get a chance to customize the game settings. As you choose your starting character, you will notice a “Difficulty” indicator beneath their image and details, as well as a “Game Rules” button right below it.

You have the option to adjust the Difficulty level to three settings: “Very Easy”, “Easy”, and “Standard”. The Standard setting offers neither advantages nor disadvantages, whereas the other options grant additional benefits.

Easy:

  • +15 to Hostile Scheme resistance
  • +10 Fertility
  • -25 percent to the Short Reign Penalty duration
  • -25 percent to any Tyranny opinion losses
  • -25 percent to all Stress gains
  • +66 percent chance that Champions will survive battles
  • -15 percent Disease chance
  • A small Health boost
  • Factions form slightly slower

Very Easy:

  • +30 to Hostile Scheme resistance
  • +20 Fertility
  • -50 percent to the Short Reign Penalty duration
  • -75 percent to any Tyranny opinion losses
  • -50 percent to all Stress gains
  • +75 percent chance that Champions will survive battles
  • -75 percent Disease chance
  • A moderate Health boost
  • Factions form significantly slower
  • All vassals get a permanent +25 opinion modifier
  • All lieges get a permanent +50 opinion modifier

Beyond the fundamental perks, many additional game mechanics can significantly simplify your experience as a medieval monarch. While they disable certain achievements, applying these rules does not come with any other drawbacks. Here are some beneficial game settings worth considering for adjustment:

  • Exclave Independence. If you set this to “Total (AI Only),” then every territory that isn’t connected to a ruler’s capital by sea will become independent the moment they’re at peace with all their neighbors. “AI Only” means your own exclaves are immune to this rule.
  • Plague Frequency. If the plague mechanic is hammering your home territories too hard, you can turn them off completely. However, you should keep in mind that the Black Death has its own independent rules.
  • Realm Stability. You can make factions far less common by setting this to “Extreme Stability.”
  • Casus Belli Costs. Set this to “No Costs” to stop spending Prestige or Piety on wars. However, this rule doesn’t get rid of Fame or Devotion requirements, nor does it get rid of the penalties that come from breaking treaties or alliances.
  • Culture Conversion Speed/Faith Conversion Speed. A realm with a uniform faith and culture is much more stable, so you may want to boost both of these to “Significantly Faster.” This makes the conversion actions take one-quarter of the normal time, including conversion actions performed by vassals and foreign rulers.
  • Randomized Faiths. Every ruler starts the game with a random faith, including every vassal and your chosen starting character. Every county also adopts its direct ruler’s faith. The only exceptions are heads of faith, such as the Pope and any Caliphs. This rule tends to make larger nations shatter into pieces, which means players have fewer big rivals to worry about in the early game.
  • Random Ruler Placement. This swaps rulers around between domains, which are mostly the same and follow the same religions. This can create the same kind of realm-breaking chaos as Randomized Faiths.
  • Domain Limit. Personal domains are a big source of gold and levies, so you can give yourself a big advantage by setting this rule to “+3.” Just be aware that this rule applies to every ruler in the game.

Ruler Designer

Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

As a passionate player, I get to choose the starting character in the game, and then I have the freedom to customize them entirely according to my imagination. From their physical attributes to their skills, I can adjust everything as per my liking. Moreover, I can bestow upon them an array of positive traits, ensuring they excel in every aspect. If I wish to unlock achievements, I can assign a bonus score of 400, but there’s no cap on how high I can push their abilities beyond that point.

Additionally, you have the option to utilize the Ruler Designer to customize your future liege lords, enhancing their abilities as chancellors, marshals, spymasters, among other roles. This can be done even in games with achievements, as only the main ruler is required to meet the score limit. However, remember to assign “Loyal” traits to your exceptional vassals and strive to keep them content to prevent any potential unrest.

The only problem with this approach is that the Ruler Designer only works when you start a new game. Your ruler’s children can inherit congenital traits like Herculean and Genius, but not other traits or your ruler’s skill bonuses. If you want to grant these bonuses to your ruler’s children, you’ll need to use the next method of making CK3 easy.

Console Commands

Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

In most Paradox Grand Strategy games, there is a console where you can input commands to change the game situation. Here’s how to access it in Crusader Kings 3:

  • From the game’s launcher, choose “Game settings” on the left and scroll to the bottom. Press the Launch button next to “Open game in Debug Mode.”
  • If you own the game through Steam, right-click on the game’s name and select “Properties.” Under the General tab is a field called “Launch Options.” Type “-debug_mode” into this field, but without the quotation marks.
  • If you own the game through GOG, select the game on Galaxy, then click on “More” (next to the Play button), “Manage Installation,” and then “Configure…” You should see a box you can check by “Custom executables / arguments.” Check this box, and you should see an Arguments fields you can add “-debug_mode” to.
  • You can also find several mods for CK3 that let you toggle debug mode. In fact, you can use these mods to add or remove other features that come with debug mode, such as the cheats that appear on the interaction menu and each character’s hidden ID and stats.
  • From the Crusader Kings 3 folder, select the “binaries” folder, right-click on “ck3.exe” and select “Create shortcut.” Right-click on the shortcut, select “Properties,” and then look at the “Target” field. At the end of the field, add ” -debug_mode” after the quotation marks.

When debug mode is enabled, you can press the ‘`’ key to open the command console. This console serves as a debugging tool and includes numerous commands that may not be necessary for mere cheating purposes. However, here are some valuable commands to keep in mind:

  • kill [character ID]
  • change_diplomacy/martial/stewardship/intrigue/learning/prowess [amount] [character ID]
  • add_piety [amount] [character ID]
  • add_prestige [amount] [character ID]
  • cash [amount] or gold [amount]
  • give_title [title ID] [character ID]
  • yesmen (AI characters will always accept your proposals. Type again to disable.)

In many instances, you don’t need to specify the character ID as the game automatically selects the active ruler. To find a character’s unique ID, simply hover your mouse over their portrait and check the stats that appear when debug mode is enabled. Similarly, county IDs can be seen by hovering over them.

An effective method to uncover fresh commands is by utilizing the Tab key. By typing in “add_” followed by pressing the Tab key, the console will display a list of items you can add. Similarly, if you type “change_” and then press the Tab key, it will show you all the stats that can be modified, and so forth.

Character Switching

Crusader Kings 3: How to Make the Game Easier

A more imaginative approach to simplifying “Crusader Kings 3” involves utilizing the “Switch Character” feature from the main menu. This allows you to seamlessly move between your main character and any other ruler or vassal within the game whenever you desire. Unlike the Ruler Designer, this option can be used at any point during gameplay. By exploiting this feature, you can gain several advantages, such as:

  • Force a neighboring ruler to surrender or white-peace a war they aren’t losing.
  • Have a neighboring ruler offer to become a vassal of your main ruler.
  • Have your vassals shut down a faction they started.
  • Have your rivals shut down their schemes against your main ruler.
  • Have a king or emperor grant independence to most of their vassals.
  • Have a neighboring ruler try to revoke a title from a strong vassal, inciting a war against tyranny.

As a gamer, let me share a heads-up about using hacks: steer clear of multitasking with different characters while the game is paused. The AI takes over and makes decisions for your character when you’re not playing them, and those choices might not align with what you’d prefer. If you want to set up a sequence of events that can’t happen simultaneously among your opponents, remember to hop back to your main ruler after each decision they make.

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2024-08-30 06:03