Crusader Kings 3: How to Diverge and Hybridize Cultures

Crusader Kings 3: How to Diverge and Hybridize Cultures

Ah, my dear friend! Let me tell you a tale of cultures and kingdoms, of traditions and vassals, a story as old as time itself in this grand game we call Crusader Kings.


Since the release of the “Royal Court” DLC, Crusader Kings 3 has introduced a diverse range of unique advantages and adjustments for cultures. These cultures can be utilized to bypass traditional religious controls over marriage traditions and gender norms, or they can influence every character within a culture to lean towards specific personality traits.

As a devoted player in Crusader Kings 3, I, as a powerful ruler, have the unique ability to exert influence over a larger number of counties sharing my culture compared to any other. This empowers me to shape the Traditions and direct the Innovations of my people. Yet, there are instances when it’s strategically advantageous to forge a new culture, or blend my culture with a neighbor boasting more Innovations and Traditions. Although this comes at a high cost in Prestige, the immediate benefits often make it a worthwhile investment.

How to Diverge a Culture

Crusader Kings 3: How to Diverge and Hybridize Cultures

To start blending or adopting a new culture, it’s essential to have the “Royal Court” DLC expansion. Otherwise, the sole method available for creating a fresh culture is through the use of unique decisions. Such decisions offer options like:

  • Form the Outremer Empire
  • Embrace English Culture
  • Establish Norman Culture
  • Promote Christian Settlements (Hungarian)
  • Found Portugal
  • Found the Kingdom of Aragon

When the “Royal Court” feature is enabled, you can choose the culture of your monarch, which will display the culture menu. Located at the bottom of this menu, you’ll find a button labeled “Diverge Culture.” This option is accessible to all rulers within the game, regardless of whether they are cultural leaders or independent rulers. The sole condition for using this feature is that your domain must contain at least one county that aligns with your ruler’s culture.

Upon opening the Divergence menu as an enthusiast, the initial step is to modify one of your culture’s cornerstones, which encompass Ethos, Language, Heritage, Martial Custom, and Aesthetics. It’s essential to note that even cultures with hybrid origins will only have a unique Language, Heritage, and Aesthetic. As a result, you may find yourself adjusting your culture’s Ethos to one of the other seven available options. Fortunately, every ruler has free access to all seven Ethos choices.

Another choice you have is the Martial Custom, however, the “Equal” and “For Women Only” selections might not be accessible for many rulers. Here’s a method to gain access to them instead:

  • Follow a faith with a Gender Doctrine of “Equal” or “Female Dominated.”
  • Your current (not future) culture must have the “Equal Inheritance” or “Matriarchal” Tradition.
  • For “Women Only” in particular, your realm also needs to have High Crown Authority. This means your culture needs the “Royal Prerogative” Innovation.

Once you select a fresh Pillar, you have the option to replace the existing set of Customs with a new one. Regardless of whether your Custom limit is greater or if your culture is currently gaining a new Custom, your new culture will retain the same number of Customs as your previous one. Furthermore, any Innovations discovered by your old culture will be retained, but your new culture won’t gain access to any newly discovered ones.

As a gamer, I found that when I opt for diverging a culture, it sets me back 500 Prestige points initially. However, every time I decide to swap out a Tradition, the cost is equivalent to what it would take to add the new Tradition to my current culture. This method turns out to be more economical compared to reforming my old culture, as altering an existing Tradition comes with a 50% higher price tag than introducing a fresh one. What’s appealing about this change is that my newly adopted culture instantly enjoys all its new Traditions, without the need for years of integration or decades on cooldown.

In this game, you have the freedom to choose a title for your new culture as well as decide its map color. By default, the game provides a name, usually connected to the name of your domain, but if that doesn’t suit your preference, feel free to pick any name that appeals to you instead.

As a gamer, when I’ve established my dream culture with all the necessary Pillars and Traditions, I always peek at how many of my loyal subjects are likely to adopt this new culture along with me. Each of my vassals has their own thoughts, swayed by several factors: they might embrace the change or choose to stick with their old ways.

  • Your vassal’s opinion of you
  • Your relative Diplomacy skill values
  • Your Level of Fame
  • Whether the vassal belongs to your current culture.
  • Your vassal’s Personality Traits.

In nations that fall under your influence or share similar cultural roots, a distinct culture may naturally propagate on its own. However, it should be noted that a divergent culture adheres to the same principles as any conventional culture.

How to Hybridize a Culture

Crusader Kings 3: How to Diverge and Hybridize Cultures

Embracing multiple cultural influences might require an additional effort, but trust me, the rewards are worth it! Here’s my take on the process:

  • Your ruler does not have to be the head of either culture.
  • Your ruler does not have to be independent.
  • Both cultures must be present in counties within your realm.
  • The target culture must have a different Heritage Pillar than yours.
  • The target culture cannot have hybridized or diverged from yours, or be the culture yours hybridized or diverged from.
  • The Acceptance between your ruler’s culture and the target culture must be at least 40, or at least 80 if either culture has the “Staunch Traditionalists” Tradition.
  • The base cost of hybridizing a culture is 1,000 Prestige instead of 500.

Once you know which other culture you want to hybridize with, you have a few choices to make.

  • You can choose between either culture’s Ethos, Heritage, Language, and Martial Custom.
  • You can choose any of the Traditions held by either culture, up to the maximum allowed by your current culture. You can’t choose any new Traditions, but you don’t have to keep any of the Traditions you don’t want.
  • Unlike when you diverge from a culture, choosing more or fewer Traditions won’t change the hybridization cost.
  • You can choose the details of your hybrid culture’s Aesthetics, including military equipment, names, architecture, fashion, and coats of arms. For some options you must choose one or the other, but for others you can keep both.

By blending different cultures together in a hybrid form, you gain the ability to tap into all the inventions and advancements made by each of the original cultures. This not only provides access to unique regional innovations that might have otherwise remained out of reach, but also allows the new hybrid culture to leapfrog over Innovation Eras that your current culture is still working through.

Generally, hybrid cultures are often labeled as xxx-yyy, but some unique ones derive their names from historical cultural groups such as the Franconian-French being called Rhinelanders, Anglo-Saxon-French referred to as Angevins, and Lithuanian-Estonian known as Livonians. Nevertheless, the decision on what to call your new culture lies with you.

Similar to distinct societies, your vassals might choose not to adopt your newly formed hybrid culture. Nevertheless, this new culture might spontaneously emerge in territories linked to either of the parent cultures. Consequently, any reluctant vassals may eventually embrace the new culture as it gains popularity and spreads.

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2024-08-31 22:04