[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Crusader_Kings_Coverart_9234.png]]

''CrusaderKings'' is a historical grand TurnBasedStrategy / RealTimeStrategy FourX game produced and published by ParadoxInteractive. It's set chronologically before its sister series, ''EuropaUniversalis'', 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 ParadoxInteractive 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. These vassals have their own personality traits and ideas (some of them which makes 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 ''VideoGame/TheSims''-like. It's also notable for being one of the first Paradox Interactive games to rely on {{Random Event}}s with complicated triggers rather than chains of {{Scripted Event}}s to drive the game, which would go on to become the staple of the company's later games.

A sequel, ''Crusader Kings II'', was released on February 14th 2012, and [[http://www.fileplanet.com/224596/download/Crusader-Kings-II-Demo 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 the game, each focusing on different aspects:

* ''Sword of Islam'', released in June 2012, expands the maps, 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 ByzantineEmpire and the Eastern Orthodox church.
* ''Sunset Invasion'', released in November 2012, includes an AlternateHistory where the Aztec Empire invades Medieval Europe. Some see this as the [[SoCoolItsAwesome Best Thing Ever]], others as [[AlienSpaceBats completely ahistorical and immersion-breaking]].
* ''The Republic'', released in January 2013, makes [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin republics]] playable and adds mechanics to simulate patrician families and republican elections.
* ''The Old Gods'', set for release in May 2013, will make Pagans playable, give them unique events and mechanics, and add another start date in 867 AD.

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!!''CrusaderKings'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* AltumVidetur: The decision seal reads Audaces Fortuna Juvat, or in English Fortune Favors the Bold. Which makes sense, especially with regards to declarations of war.
* AChildShallLeadThem: Especially if the heir of the realm is under 16; Larger realms will feel the pressure especially for younger leaders, as they have low stats (which do grow as the ruler gets older).
** Furthermore, being subject to an underage ruler is cause for yet another loyalty hit for one's vassals.
** Not as bad in the sequel, where underage or otherwise incapable-to-rule leaders will be appointed a regent to rule in their stead. However, [[RegentForLife this introduces new problems.]]
* AerithAndBob: A character's given name is determined by their culture, not that of their parents. A character usually inherits his father's culture, but has a small chance of either inheriting his mother's or identifying with that of the home province of the capital. This can lead to such oddities as a Christian crusader kingdom being led by a Catholic "King Muhammad."
** The sequel lets the player choose a the name of his character newborn children, so one can either avoid this trope or intentionally cause it.
** In the sequel, there's (in addition to all the other ones) a chance for the child to be named for a parent or grandparent... Which means that if you give a character a silly name, chances are it will spread.
** Also some cultures follow a given name plus fathers name with adjective for their full name (with their dynasty name being left out but considered a part of their longer name). Combined this with the parental name sharing aspect mentioned before and this can result in such things as Bob Johnson with a son named John Bobson or even Bob Bobson.
*** [[TruthInTelevision Not that this is unusual in, for instance, Iceland.]]
* AffablyEvil: The game gives bonuses for virtuous traits, such as being kind, humble, or charitable. However, having these traits does nothing to stop you from ordering the murder of children or amassing territory through brutal conquest. The trait-modelling system itself can occasionally cough up a charitable, soft-spoken young man whose chief hobby is impaling people on stakes.
* AlienSpaceBats: The 'Sunset Invasion' DLC for ''Crusader Kings 2'' involves the Aztecs invading Europe in the 13th century. [[http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/content.php?1153-Crusader-Kings-II-Sunset-Invasion-Announced Yes, really.]] Although reaction has been mixed since it goes well beyond the usual alternative history of the games, from a gameplay standpoint, it balances out the fact that Western Europe rarely has to worry about the arrival of the various Hordes in the east which can decimate eastern nations.
* AmbitionIsEvil: The 'ambitious' trait gives characters a nice stat boost, but it also gives them a major relations malus with their liege, making them prone to revolt.
* AnachronismStew: Mostly averted except for when game mechanics require the use of anachronistic terms. The most obvious example is the cultures mechanic, which, for example, differentiates between "Castillian" and "Portuguese" cultures. Such distinctions were not so obvious during the game's timeframe (even after the foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal as a separate entity from Spanish Castille and Leon) and cultural-linguistic similarities between the two cultures exist in Galicia until this very day. The fact that the game covers four centuries, significant portions of three continents, and multiple culture groups means that many things are [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality simplified out of necessity]] compared to how they worked in the real world.
* ApocalypticLog: The title history for unstable kingdoms can come off as this, with the title going from legitimate king to powerful duke to pretender and back again over the course of a few years.
** The map itself can come across as this, depending on your point of view. It can be very unnerving to see religious enemies or the Mongol hordes painting the map as they advance towards you.
* AppealToForce: The factions system allows angry vassals to gang up on their ruler and force him to change "The Rules" (usually succession laws or Crown Authority) to their liking if they can beat their liege in a rebellion.
* ArrangedMarriage: A HUGE part of the game is marrying off your children to the right people. (and possibly arranging a few deaths on the way) so that your heirs can inherit. A variety of systems of inheritance makes this a bit more complicated than it might seem.
** The sequel places even more emphasis on making good marriages by folding the alliance system into the marriage system.
** PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: The random event "You have fallen in love with your wife."
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Conspire with your fellow lords to topple your rightful king! Wage holy war on the infidel! Assassinate small children to inherit large duchies! Tell your wife she's silly for expecting you to spend your money to buy her poetry books!
* ArtificialStupidity: The AI has no clue how to deal with the Decadence system for Muslim rulers in Crusader Kings II. As such, most of the larger Muslim dynasties have a nasty tendency to implode if left in the hands of the AI for too long.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: The sequel introduces the concept of "Crown Authority" which measures how much power a king holds over the nobility - A king with little or no crown authority can't even revoke vassal titles or prevent nobles from waging independent wars.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Some inheritance rules favor the son with the highest martial score rather then the eldest.
** In the sequel, the "Invasion" ''casus belli'' works like this. Essentially, you petition the Pope / Ecumenical Patriarch / Caliph / other relevant authority figure to sanction an asskicking to steal someone else's title. It can be used without a claim, but only if you're smaller than the target.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The Crown Authority mechanic encapsulates this trope. The higher it is, the better a ruler is able to keep his vassals in line, preventing them from launching independent wars, attacking one another (overtly), or passing their titles to another ruler's vassal by inheritance when they die.
* AxeCrazy (potentially): Beware keeping "Schizophrenic" or "Crazed" characters in your court for very long. "Possessed" characters [[ChaoticEvil frequently plot assassinations that don't benefit them in any obvious way.]]
* BadassGrandpa: Any king who lives long enough is likely to become one of these because of how the aging mechanics work.
* BadassMoustache / BadassBeard: Depending on culture and traits, these can be grown by male characters. Whether or not the character lives up to their hair's reputation is another thing entirely...
* BarbarianHero: ''The Old Gods'' will introduce adventurers, who will be both significant threats and potential allies.
* BastardBastard: There's a sequence of events by which a bastard son of your ruler might try to take his revenge for not being part of the inheritance. This stands a good chance of killing or at least maiming the victim.
* TheBeard: An event chain in the sequel deals with rumors about your character being a closet homosexual. You can then choose to embrace them and become a homosexual, or prove them wrong by visiting several brothels and becoming a "whoremaster".
* BelligerentSexualTension: Crusader Kings II has an event chain that starts with a neighbor complaining, potentially followed by you sending roses, potentially followed by...
* BiTheWay: An inversion from the typical presentation -- Homosexual characters can and will still marry and have children.
** This is likely less an indicator of a character's bisexuality as it is an indicator of the stigma of homosexuality in medieval times. The homosexual character may have no attraction to the opposite sex, but they are still under tremendous pressure by a homophobic Church and relatives who [[IWantGrandkids want more heirs]]. In contrast, a combination of the "Homosexual" and "Lustful" traits results in a Fertility stat higher than that of a character with neither trait, and may in fact represent actual bisexuality.
*** Much simpler: A ruler without children is a bad ruler. Not because homosexuals are bad, but because no children mean a succesion crisis and that means war. So even if you were gay you better closed your eyes and thought of England if you had any sense of responsibility. Same goes for dynastic marriages designed to unify or pacify to feuding families. If there are no children of mixed blood the feud might even become worse.
* BigFancyHouse: Patricians in ''The Republic'' get a family palace that is treated as a completely separate holding from those that are on the map. Like any other holding, it can be upgraded to provide bonuses to income, levies, and other areas.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Due to the nature of the gameplay, you'll almost certainly end up like this.
** The plot mechanic introduced in the sequel means everyone is plotting against everyone. that includes heirs, wives and brothers-in-law all attempting to stab you in the back simultaneously. If you're not the plotting type, your poor king can sometimes come across as the OnlySaneMan in a cast of psychopaths.
** The Sword of Islam expansion compounds on this by allowing up to four marriages for Muslim rulers (and punishing powerful rulers who have less than four marriages), all of which can produce legitimate children. This means a lot of plotting by wives trying to maneuver their own child into becoming heirs. Another notable addition is the decadence mechanic for Muslim dynasties, which causes problems for dynasties with unlanded males. The only thing worse than plotting family members is plotting family members with land and armies.
* BillBillJunkBill: Played with in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kX5ggw5AIU "Sloth"]] live action trailer for Crusader Kings II.
* BlackComedy: Event and trait descriptions can be pretty tongue in cheek. Even without those, though, the sheer amount of backstabbing and craziness that your BigScrewedUpFamily will go through CrossesTheLineTwice. In fact, quite a few {{After Action Report}}s use this as a staple of their humor.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The Kingdom of Nubia is playable in the first game, an Orthodox one-province kingdom on the borders of the Fatimid Caliphate. It is ''incredibly'' doomed. The sequel extends the map farther south and adds the Duchy of Axum and Kingdom of Abyssinia, which are only slightly less doomed.
** Mali and Songhai to the west, however, usually survive.
* BlackVikings: The strictest interpretation will [[SelfImposedChallenge technically]] be possible as of ''The Old Gods''. Even in the base game, though, it's possible for a character to inherit his name, culture, and religion from his native-born father but his looks from his exotic-born mother. Displaced courtiers will also try to find a court that's most similar to their own culture and religion, which is usually fairly nearby but can end up being quite far afield indeed (for instance, Abyssinian Miaphysites ending up in Greece or Asia Minor after the Fatimids steamroll their corner of the world).
* BrotherSisterIncest: The "You have fallen in love with X character" event does not check if said character is a family member...
** A popular GameMod adds a code that does, with the comment [[{{Squick}} "Ick!"]]
** As noted below, a patch for the sequel added the "Divine Blood" parameter specifically to model this for the benefit of modders.
* BrickJoke:
** On 2, there's an event chain which begins with a neighbour boring you and sending envoys asking for money, and you can nail the envoy's hat on his head or send roses to him. If you nail the hat, you become an impaler and makes everyone around mad at you, with an option at the end of the chain saying something along the lines of "Perhaps I should begin planting roses?"
** In one of the Improve Intrigue event chains, you can frame your own stableboy for jewellery theft. Thirty years of in-game time later, your ruler will suddenly wake up in the night and realise the man is still in the dungeons for a crime he didn't commit, and will go see the poor bastard.
* CainAndAbel: Really, it's more a question of which brothers ''won't'' try to kill you for the inheritance.
* TheCaligula: It's perfectly possible to have one of these leading your dynasty, sometimes at your discretion and sometimes... not.
** In a nod to the historical Caligula, rulers with the "Lunatic" trait in the sequel can, among other things, appoint their horse to important council positions.
* ChallengingTheChief: Attacking a coreligionist in either game most often requires some kind of claim on their title. In the second game, there's an alternative method in the factions system, which allows vassals to band together against their liege over all manner of grievances.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: In Crusader Kings, characters with the "Rebellious" trait. Possibly the player as well, whether it's to [[MagnificentBastard advance your power]] or [[ForTheEvulz just because this game provides fertile ground for such behavior.]] In Crusader Kings II, vassals with the "Ambitious" trait have distinct tendencies this way.
* ChurchMilitant: Crusader Kings has the crusading orders appear as states after Catholics take control of provinces in their particular areas of concern (they demand a province from whoever gets there first). Crusader Kings II has them appear as (effectively) mercenaries, whom you hire with Piety instead of Gold and who are only available when fighting infidels.
* CivilWar: Get used to this happening.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Crusader Kings II uses different hues of the same color to indicate similarity in its various map modes. On the political map mode, the Iberian Christian kingdoms for example share similar shades of yellow and red, while their Muslim neighbors are green. Similarity, in De Jure Duchies mode all English, French and German duchies are colored in different shades of red, blue and white, respectively. The Kingdom of Burgundy is... well, guess.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Oh so much. Computer factions never go into debt, so they're able to keep their armies fully mobilised at all times, and are always able to pay the transport fee over bodies of water, leading to interesting things like the Sultanate of Oslo and the Emirate of Wessex.
** Crusader Kings II alleviates this somewhat; the computer ''can'' end up in debt, and it's easier for the player to avoid.
* CorruptChurch: Potentially.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: It's quite possible for a Patrician to wind up as a medieval version of this.
* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Played straight in the original. Averted as of ''Sword of Islam'', as Muslims have their own mechanics, such as decadence and polygamy, ''Legacy of Rome'' which made the game slightly different for Orthodox characters, ''The Republic'' which adds special mechanics for patrician families in merchant republics, and ''The Old Gods'', which adds new mechanics for pagan nations. Future patches/[=DLC=] will probably introduce more mechanics for Theocracies.
* TheCrusades: Well, yeah.
* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: Sixteen is the age at which characters become adults. This makes them available for marriage proposals, government positions, and (in the case of males) leadership of armies, as well as when rulers (are supposed to) begin to rule in their own right as opposed to through a regency council.
* DarkHorseVictory: There's an achievement for conquering England as Svend II of Denmark, a somewhat more obscure monarch who also had a claim on the throne, rather than William of Normandy or Harald of Norway.
* DarkMessiah: Schizophrenic characters can become convinced that they're Christ Returned, which leads to them getting labeled as heretics. Heretics tend to eventually get excommunicated one way or another; if they happen to be rulers, this allows other rulers to claim their titles much easier. This (and the inevitable loyalty hit the vassals get) often develops into an ever-worsening cycle of civil war, violence and general mayhem that only ends with the death of the Messiah-King (sometimes...).
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: There are events for your courtiers, many of which tend to consist of them bickering about how one of them is more suited for some post than the current holder. You will also likely get complaints from untitled offspring and offers from your Spymaster to "remove" inconvenient bastards. And finally, there's the one courtier who inevitably [[DrivenToMadness goes off the deep end]] and starts either [[PluckyComicRelief trying to rebuild the Tower of Babel]] or [[SerialKiller murdering the rest of your court]].
** The expansion pack/ DLC Sword Of Islam actually turns this trope into a game mechanic - each Muslim dynasty has a decadence score, and having unlanded males of your dynasty sitting in your palace boozing and whoring makes your entire family look bad and invite a more righteous dynasty to overthrow you.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: You can beat someone around, disable them permanently, kill off their family, and invade their country, yet they tend to agree to your offers to join your army after being defeated. Flipping vassals is one of the principle means of destroying a rival kingdom.
** Crusader Kings II kills "vassal flipping" stone dead; you can't seize a vassal's territory by force without defeating their liege.
* DeliveryStork: Used as a short-hand to indicate that a particular character is pregnant.
* DemonicPossession: Characters in the sequel can become demoniacally possessed, which isn't a very good thing if they happen to be in charge. Of course, it's most likely some form of mental illness that medieval science doesn't recognize yet. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Probably.]]
* TheDevTeamThinksofEverything: Patch 1.06 added a parameter called "divine blood" which, when enabled, makes AI characters prefer incestuous marriages. This was done solely to make the Series/GameOfThrones mod more accurate in its depiction of House Targaryen.
** Mechanics also exist for immortal characters.
** If you only read the drop down when creating a liege, you would think that being openly (well, as openly as medieval times allow for) homosexual is purely a penalty to the diplomacy state. Well, it does more than just that. Most people will dislike you for being homosexual... except other homosexuals who will like you better. This also stacks with attractive...
** Since the historical archives go back so far, TheProphetMuhammad is listed in the database. If you look at his character sheet, however, his portrait is [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen blocked out]], the only portrait in the game to have this property.
** The ''Series/GameOfThrones'' mod itself is an increasingly detailed model of Westros, including "unlucky" modifiers for ruling Harenhall and negating the "Kinslayer" penalty if Stannis or Renly kill Cersei's children.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Sultan" is both a Muslim ruler title and a possible first name for Magrebi Arabs, certain cultures restyle the title name to match the dynasty name under an Islamic ruler, and randomly-generated Muslim dynasties take the name of their founder... which can result in Sultan Sultan I leading the Sultan Sultanate.
* DisabilitySuperpower: While carrying hefty martial and lesser stewardship and health penalties, blind characters get a bonus to their diplomacy and intrigue.
** Averted in the sequel where it is one of the worst injuries a character can sustain, with large stat losses and making the character more likley to die from health problems later in life.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Did the next count over look at you funny during the last banquet? Claim his titles, go to war, and strip him of everything he owns!
* DownloadableContent: Crusader Kings II has two types of [=DLCs=]: "bonus" cosmetic additions that add extra portraits, historical dynasty flags and unit sprites, and mini-expansions like ''Sword of Islam'' and ''Legacy of Rome'' which make Muslim rulers playable and add new gameplay mechanics for Orthodox rulers, respectively. Paradox kept its promise to add new features to the basic game so players won't be forced to buy the expansions, but this hasn't stopped [[BrokenBase some fans]] from accusing Paradox of money-grubbing.
* DrivenToMadness: As with "Driven To Suicide" below, stressed characters have a chance of thoroughly cracking, becoming either Schizophrenic or just plain Mad. Sometimes this is [[HilarityEnsues funny]], sometimes it's [[GoneHorriblyWrong tragic]]. And yes, it ''can'' [[RoyallyScrewedUp happen to your ruler]].
* DrivenToSuicide: Pushing your kids too hard can make them stress. Stress often worsens into depression. Depression often leads to suicide.
** Note that there are situations where you might ''want'' your kids to die.
* DuelingScar: In the sequel, it's possible to receive one in battle or a duel. It's shown on the character portrait and adds a small monthly prestige bonus.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Several of Europe's later historical dynasties are present in the 1066 start, but are unimportant to the point of irrelevance. For example the [[TheSoundOfMartialMusic Hapsburgs]] start out as Counts of a backwater Swiss province. Recreating their rise to power is...[[SelfImposedChallenge difficult]].
** The addition of baronies and several preset courtiers in the sequel introduces even more famous families: the [[TsaristRussia Romanovs]] begin as High Chiefs of the Samoyeds, the [[ImperialGermany Hohenzollerns]] begin as the barons of Zollern and the Trastamaras (one of the royal families of Spain before the Habsburgs inherited the lot) begin as lowly courtiers in Galicia. Heck, even the [[Creator/AlexanderPushkin Pushkins]] appear with a child courtier in Rostov.
* EasterEgg: Paradox Development Studio's main staff are in-game as landless Swedish courtiers.
* EasyLogistics: Averted - Armies are EXPENSIVE, and you're strongly advised not to keep them mobilised when you're not at war. Large armies can also suffer attritional losses which can make entire stacks disappear if you don't manage them well.
** Played straight by the Mongols, who never take attrition damage. This is a big part of why they're considered DemonicSpiders.
** Crusader Kings II adds an opinion penalty for having vassal levies raised too long.
* ElectiveMonarchy: Elective inheritance is one option for succession in both games. In the sequel it's a good way of keeping your vassals happy, but can be troublesome to have your chosen successor actually be the chosen successor.
** The 1.09 patch added Tanistry, an alternative style of elective inheritance which limits the electors to the sovereign and his highest-ranking vassals.
* EliteArmy / ZergRush: Both and somewhere in between. The time frame covered means that your levies are all conscripts and not professional soldiers (that'd be the mercenaries you can hire). Also comes into play with the Hordes as they can show up with close to a quarter million soldiers (with reinforcements on their heels).
* TheEmpire: The HolyRomanEmpire and ByzantineEmpire already exist at the start of the game, though how much they truly live up to this trope can differ from game to game. It's not at all uncommon to see other realms rise to become TheEmpire over time, either.
** There's also the Fatimid Caliphate and Seljuk Sultanate/Abbasid Caliphate which are comparable in power on the Muslim side.
** With the release of Legacy of Rome, it's now possible for the Byzantine Empire to reform the original Roman empire.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Combined with NeverLiveItDown - a character with the Kinslayer trait will never be liked by anybody else ever.
** Unless, of course, the Pope offers to absolve him for an exorbitant amount of gold.
* EvilChancellor: A definite possibility, especially in the sequel, where they can easily be plotting to kill you and steal your title. If it's the Spymaster, who's responsible for finding out such plots, God help you.
* EvilLaugh: When a character [[SanitySlippage goes insane,]] the confirm button on the pop-up reads "Muahahaha!"
* TheEvilPrince: Almost certainly the player. It's that kind of game, really.
** This tends to happen a lot more ofter in the sequel - if your ruler gives his heir a title, the heir will occasionally attempt to quicken his ascension. If a ruler has two sons and only one can inherit, expect a lot of murders to happen as both princes try to out-evil each other.
** This becomes an even bigger problem in ''Sword of Islam'' - Muslim rulers need to make sure all their male relatives have lots of lands and armies or risk their dynasty appearing corrupt and decadent, which also means gives them much more ammunition for potential throne-stealing shenanigans.
* EyeScream: ''Legacy of Rome'' gives Byzantine emperors the option of putting out the eyes of captured pretenders.
* FeudingFamilies: Patrician families in ''The Republic'' can start long-running vendettas, complete with StarCrossedLovers.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: Some historical kingdoms (Portugal, Finland, Ireland and Rus, for example) start the game fragmented into several independent duchies and counties or occupied by foreigners. Liberating enough provinces lets a character found their own kingdom.
** The new start date introduced by ''The Old Gods'' will split up England, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, among many others, and include historical kingdom-founders AlfredTheGreat of England and Haraldr Fairhair of Norway.
* FridgeBrilliance: Have you ever noticed how courtiers of a dynasty, when not influenced by the player, tend to 'not' marry after some two generations or so of sitting on their hands as courtiers, and subsequently ending that particular branch of the family? Well, what if it's the way of the game representing that that particular branch pretty much became plebeians, and thus the records have been lost to history due to unimportance?
* GambitPileup: Crusader Kings II introduced the ability for characters to form secret conspiracies to achieve some goal or another, called "Plots." It's pretty much inevitable that at least two are going to crash into each other sooner or later.
* GameBreakingBug: There's a bug that makes a siege reset upon the siege progression meter emptying, and it does this every time the siege "ends" meaning that you have to make your army physically leave the province and come back again, possibly killing off thousands of soldiers through attrition. If this happens your best bet is frankly to reload.
* GameMod: Almost a given, it's a ParadoxInteractive title. Range from simple balance tweaks to total game conversions, such as the [[AfterTheEnd Post-apocalyptic United States scenario]], [[FeudalFuture a Galactic Feudalism Mod]], and [[Series/GameOfThrones a Game of Thrones scenario]]. Oh, [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent and the]] VideoGame/{{Touhou}} [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent mod]].
* GenghisGambit: If a state is being attacked in a Holy War, Invasion, Crusade or Jihad, its ruler gets a +30 "defending against infidels" relation bonus to all their vassals. Sometimes a well-timed defensive war can really bring quarrelling subjects under a single banner. Also, if a foreign ruler starts a war to claim Vassal X's title to his own realm, Vassal X will get a +100 "defending my title" bonus to his own liege for as long as the war lasts, which more or less ensures they will forsake all their rebellious intentions for that period.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Now that Crusader Kings II allows the existence of queens, this naturally follows.
* TheGoodKing: Taking actions that generally give piety, being fair and just, etc.
* GoodShepherd: Depending on appointment policies, your bishops can be this. Otherwise...
** SinisterMinister
* GottaCatchThemAll: You get a lot of prestige for every Duchy, Kingdom, and Empire title created and inherited, so there's an incentive to collect as many as possible. However, your vassals start to hate you if you have too many high-tier titles, especially Duchy titles.
* GroinAttack: As of ''Legacy of Rome'', castration is an option for Byzantine emperors to inflict on their captured foes.
* HeirClubForMen: Enforced in the original, but Crusader Kings II allows you to loosen the restriction a little and even (if your characters belong to the Basque culture) adopt full gender equality in the succession. Also, the addition of matrilineal marriages means that a woman can inherit a title and pass it on to her children which count as a part of her own dynasty rather then the father's.
* HereditaryRepublic: While all republics in ''The Republic'' DLC are elective, if you're good (and rich) enough, your family can just keep winning election after election.
* HeroicBastard: If a bastard son receives his own fiefdom and doesn't end up trying to kill his father, he may sometimes end up being legitimized on the strength of his rule.
** Crusader Kings II allows you to deliberately legitimize your bastards even if they aren't particularly noteworthy.
* HellGate: One chain of events in the sequel has an actual Gate to Hell open as a result of an earthquake, complete with wailing and gnashing of teeth. Fortunately, it's not too hard to close.
** Although it's not made entirely clear [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether it's a genuine gate to Hell or just a sinkhole seen through the lens of medieval superstition]].
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can name all your children in ''Crusader Kings II''. Since the AI often names children after their parents or grandparents, it is entirely possible to accidentally introduce a branch of the family who all name their children "[[EmbarrassingFirstName Poo Pants McTwat]]".
* TheHeretic: Can crop up sometimes in the first game. The second vastly expands on it, allowing you to [[SelfImposedChallenge convert all of Europe to Catharism]] if you're up to the task.
* TheHighQueen: Now that Crusader Kings II has queens, this naturally follows.
* HilarityEnsues: The vast majority of event options that aren't either practical or malicious tend to be this. Sometimes the game comes up with rather hilarious juxtapositions of the former, too (such as the "Ruler Commits an Act of Cruelty" event triggering at the same time that one of your provinces discovers a new weapon... [[CrossesTheLineTwice or goats]]).
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Many, obviously. In addition to the actual playable characters, random events include others such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Rhymer Thomas the Rhymer]] and [[spoiler:Robin Hood]].
* HopelessWar: This is what Harold Godwinsons defence of England is ''set up'' to look like during the conquest. He faces not only the larger army of William the Conqueror, but also Harald "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Hardruler]]" of Norway. Luckily, Harold has some very loyal vassals and a superb-rated spymaster.
** In Crusader Kings II, the sanest way to keep the throne as Harold Godwinson is to assassinate William the Bastard, since his claim on the English throne dies with him.
** Subverted in the early releases of Crusader Kings II, as the [[ArtificialStupidity AI tended to be overly cautious when it could grind Harold Godwinson's army into the ground.]] In later releases the AI becomes much better at fighting this war and is more willing to assault holdings and attack Harold's army directly.
* TheHorde: The Mongols.
* HotConsort: Your spouse can have the "attractive" trait. The actual appearance of the character can sometimes subvert this--they might appear to be very beautiful or handsome, but various traits they possess will make them repulsive to everyone.
* IdleRich: Pretty much any courtier with no real duties qualifies. Muslims need to avoid this so that their family doesn't look corrupt and decadent. If you don't have enough duties for all your relatives, [[OffingTheOffspring there are]] [[CainAndAbel other]] [[SelfMadeOrphan options]].
* IncestIsRelative: Only BrotherSisterIncest and ParentalIncest are explicitly forbidden by the game mechanics, and then only for marriage; the falling in love event doesn't check to see if the lover is a family member. Also, only blood relations are forbidden; a stepson ''can'' marry his mother.
** Justified to a degree; the middle ages wasn't as bothered by anything beyond incest between direct family members. Marriage within royal houses was a common tactic to consolidate feudal land.
** Though you can marry your grandchildren. Fun!
** Be warned, however, this can lead to the "Inbred" trait.
* InformedAttractiveness / HollywoodHomely: The "Ugly" and "Attractive" character traits in CKII have no effect on the character's portrait, so these tropes can sometimes happen.
* InSpiteOfANail: There aren't many fixed historical events, but those that are tend to happen no matter what else occurs. For instance, TheTeutonicKnights will be eventually formed even if the Crusades fail and the Baltic is already converted.
* InTheBlood: Characters will pass onto their offspring a tendency to have similar stats. This was strong enough in earlier versions that a form of Darwinian evolution could be observed, where since characters with higher stats were more likely to survive and to succeed as rulers and pass their traits on, everyone in the late game had insanely high stats.
** LamarckWasRight
** Nerfed in the sequel. A genetic system still exists but there's a greater element of randomness. Still, a eugenics-minded player can greater extensive breeding projects.
* IstanbulNotConstantinople: Patch 1.09 for the sequel introduces this system, with provinces and titles being renamed depending on the culture of their ruler.
* ItsBeenDone: Bad luck could result in a province making a discovery, while the rest of the world has already moved on to better things.
* JustFriends: Averted. The game assumes that any two characters of the opposite sex who are friends are actually lovers.
** Crusader Kings II replaces friends and the loyalty meter with an unilateral (you can like someone who hates the very soil on which you stand) relationship meter. Romantic love remains as a separate modifier applied to the relationship.
* JustOneMoreTurn
* KnightTemplar: Anyone with the "Zealous" trait. [[TheKnightsTemplar The real deal]] also makes an appearance.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Randomly generated, true, but there are tons of them. Thousands in fact.
* LockedInTheDungeon: The fate of prisoners of war, unsuccessful rebels, and miscellaneous miscreants. Sufficiently noble prisoners may petition your ruler to be transferred to a LuxuryPrisonSuite; you can grant their request, ignore them, or lock them in [[HellholePrison the oubliette]] for their insolence.
* LoyalToThePosition: Even if they got their title by literally stabbing the guy in the back, your character usually inherits their benefactor's court along with their fiefdom.
* TheMagnificent: Characters in the sequel can gain monikers based on their traits and actions. These range from "The Great" and "The Holy" to "The Cruel" and "The Drunkard".
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The goal of any "Murder Character X" Plot.
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: There are many, many ways your characters can die. One of the more recent patches introduced a "cause of death" mechanic, and these tend to be strangely generic. Suicide is "Death by Depression", heart attacks are "Death by Stress", DeathBySex is "Died in an Accident", and so on. Deaths caused by plotting can be anything from simple poisoning to driving carriages over cliffs to something that can only be described as "[[IncendiaryExponent death by exploding manure pile]]."
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: A number of events in both games are seen by the ''characters'' as explicitly supernatural or miraculous, but could have more plausible explanations.
* MerchantCity: ''The Republic'' makes several of these playable.
* MerchantPrince: ''The Republic'' allows players to become one of these within the great merchant cities of (among others) Italy and the Hanseatic League.
* TheMiddleAges: Covers the both [[HighMiddleAges High]] and [[TheLateMiddleAges Late Middle Ages]].
** And ''The Old Gods'' will extend it to cover TheLowMiddleAges as well.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: The game mechanics practically encourage this. For example, sometimes thousands of conscript levies will die just so you can give your second son a county so he'll stop whining about not having any land.
* MoralMyopia: In order to attack a coreligionist, even if you're a king and he's a count, you need to have a claim on at least one of his titles. There's no such limitations for attacking heathens, though.
* NobleFugitive: The sequel allows you to invite claimants to other titles to your court. If they accept, you then have the option of fighting on their behalf, whether their claim is rightful or otherwise. Succeed, and you've won an ally for life.
* NonEntityGeneral: Sort of. You play as the current head of the Dynasty. If your King is overthrown and killed, you may get booted to your very distant cousin, what is count of a backwater province, but your game WILL continue. The only way for the game to end is to have your dynasty die out in the male line.
** In the sequel, you can have female heirs as a non-Muslim dynasty (eg the current head is not-Muslim) - if no males are eligible as heirs. You can, if you wish, choose to exclude females from being heirs (may or may not be handy). But you can also give females equal rights to being heirs. With this option, as long as any one in your dynasty is alive, you can continue... though on the flip side, due to this being an era of {{Arranged Marriage}}s, keeping females in the family without losing prestige can be... challenging.
* ObviousRulePatch: Every patch seems to alter gameplay in the direction paradox forum posters complain the most about. Such changes include having smaller peasant revolts, making it harder for counts to marry into ducal titles and nerfing the Byzantines.
* OffingTheOffspring: If your heir is a SketchySuccessor, or has failed to produce a son with the aging Duke of Norfolk's daughter and only child, or just isn't in line for all the nifty titles your second son by another wife is, this is always an option.
* OutWithABang: Possible with aging characters.
* PassedOverInheritance: The second and third in line for a title get strong claims on that title when the heir inherits. Even if they aren't particularly ambitious themselves, other nobles may start factions on their behalf to put them on the throne, even without their express consent.
* PermanentElectedOfficial: Doges under the new mechanics for Republics are elected for life, not any set term like in modern representative republics.
* ThePope: The Papacy is not playable, but the Pope can be a major asset if he's your friend, or a deadly threat if an enemy. Of course, if he gets ''too'' uppity you can always claim his provinces and remove the problem.
** The sequel lets the player create anti-popes and even replace the pope if they're prestigious enough - and under certain circumstances, people have managed to have their character ''become'' Pope.
** A rare few have had games where a character following a heretical form of Catholicism becomes pope... with the expected results eg heretical religions start spreading while catholicism dies out due to lack of moral authority.
** In ''Legacy of Rome'', the Byzantines or other Orthodox nations can reduce the Pope back to an ordinary Pentarch in a unified Orthodox Christianity, at which point Catholicism becomes heretical.
* {{Patronymic}}: A feature introduced in the sequel - characters from certain cultures (Scottish, Norse, etc.) gain their father's name after their own.
* PuppetState: Very strong element. The player is able to create vassals by giving the aristocrats in his court titles. Assuming relations are good enough he can force these vassals to raise troops for him and even force to them to surrender their title and land (though this is very likely to result in rebellion instead.)
** It's also possible to press the claim of a dynasty member on a neighboring country, since it takes several years to pacify the conquered regions the family member will then be almost completely dependent on you for support and the +100 relationship bonus means that the ruler will usually be an ally for life.
* [[PutOnABus Put On An Ox Cart]]: Characters will sometimes retire or join a monastery; the game treats them for all purposes as though they'd died.
** Crusader Kings II averts this; if the game says someone's dead, they ''are'' pushing up daisies.
* RandomEvent: Unlike most other Paradox Interactive games, this game relies almost entirely on random events, with only a few historical occurrences (the arrival of the Mongols, plagues, founding of Holy Orders) having scripted events. This design philosophy would later influence the next generation of Paradox games ([[EuropaUniversalis EU3]], [[HeartsOfIron HoI3]], [[VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun V2]]) and would carry over with a vengeance in the sequel.
* RealTimeWithPause
* RegentForLife: The sequel introduces regencies for underage rulers, and sometimes regents won't give up on their power so easily.
* RegimeChange: In the sequel, you can press the claims of anyone in your court against any other title. If it's a lower-tier title and you win the claim war, the new holder usually becomes your vassal; if it's the same level as yours or higher and independent / under the same liege, it translates to an automatic alliance.
* RelationshipValues: A ''huge'' part of the gameplay, especially in the sequel. The first game had diplomatic relation scores between rulers, as well as a loyalty score between vassals and their lieges, the latter being essentially binary in practice. In Crusader Kings II, these were scrapped, and now ''every single character'' has a relationship value with ''every other character'' that is affected by a bewildering array of factors. Managing those scores is vital to both victory and survival.
** LevelUpAtIntimacy5: If your vassals like you a lot, they'll provide you with far more troops and pay you far more in taxes than they're legally required to, be more likely to approve any legal reforms you want to push, and can even occasionally be persuaded to give up some of their lands to the crown, or even convert to your religion.
** YouLoseAtZeroTrust: If your vassals hate you, on the other hand, you're one conspiracy away from the collapse of everything you've worked for. Especially bad if it's a [[BigScrewedUpFamily family member]] or [[EvilChancellor your spy master]].
* TheResenter: Bastards tend to end up like this.
* RightfulKingReturns: Deposed rulers typically retain claims on their former thrones, which means that, just like any other claim holder, they can usurp it right back if they beat the current holder in a war.
* RiskStyleMap: It's a ParadoxInteractive game.
* TheRival: Via random events characters may acquire rivals, with appropriate relationship penalties depending on your political relationship to each other. If one of your vassals is a rival of you, always be prepared for them turning on you, whatever their other traits or their loyalty. (They also get a nasty -3 to loyalty per month, meaning even quite loyal vassals can start sliding towards rebelllion.)
* [[spoiler: RobinHood]]: A secret event chain in the sequel deals with this famous brigand and you have a chance of playing the legend straight or trying to subvert it.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: This can happen, and when it does things get very interesting. And by ''interesting'' we mean civil wars and the attention of opportunistic neighbours.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Most rulers generally lead, or at least fight with, their own armies. It's especially important for Muslim rulers to actually do something, or else they risk looking weak and decadent.
* RulingCouple: Can happen when one character has a spouse who is also a ruler in their own right.
* RunningGag: One of the events that a character trying to improve his learning might get involves [[VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis sighting a comet]]. "So it's not an ill omen."
* SanitySlippage: If a character stays Stressed for too long, watch out...
* SchizophrenicDifficulty: Even if you're the most powerful ruler in Europe in theory, the power that you actually wield pretty much correlates to how much your vassals like and respect you. A massive, map-spanning empire can crumble away in less than a decade when the underlings decide to take the throne for themselves or jump ship altogether.
* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: The "attractive" trait gives a pretty big opinion bonus for any character who's sexually attracted to your gender. A beautiful queen can get away with a surprising amount of shit.
* SelfImposedChallenge: Kind of a given since the game is a WideOpenSandbox with no set victory conditions. Among them is trying to recreate certain actual historical occurrences, trying to convert all of Europe to some minor spin-off of Catholicism such as Catharism, and simply choosing to play as a very weak country.
* SevenDeadlySins: They have traits for all of them, as well as for the SevenHeavenlyVirtues.
** Crusader Kings II explicitly flags the deadly sins and heavenly virtues with numbered icons in red and green respectively.
* SheIsTheKing: While a secular female noble will have normal feminine titles, a female who is both a religious head and a countess/duchess (must receive the religious title first and requires Absolute Cognatic succession) will have the title of Prince-Bishop/Prince-Archbishop. If you then make her an Antipope, she'll become King-Bishop.
* ShoutOut:
** A random character in Gotland turned up with the name [[TheBrothersLionheart Tengil "The Liberator"]]
** If you select a plague-ridden province, a sound clip of a man saying "[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Bring out your dead]]" will play in the background eventually. Also, if you're winning a war (but not by a huge margin), your opponent's reason for rejecting a peace offer may be "It's only a flesh wound" or "come on, you pansy!"
** One of many random events in the sequel is about dealing with a child ward's fear of spiders. One of the options is called [[{{Dune}} "Fear is the mind killer"]].
*** Patricians might also get a random event about their galleys bringing in rare spices from the Orient. [[{{Literature/Dune}} "The spice must flow."]]
** Another involves a child discovering you and your lover. One of the options is [[ASongOfIceAndFire "The things I do for love."]]
*** Related: another involves disciplining a child who insists on climbing the old tower.
** Some of the Achievements in the sequel apply: [[VideoGame/DukeNukem "Always Bet On Duke"]] (start as a count and become a duke), [[Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} "On English Neck a Norman Yoke"]] (Conquer England as William the Bastard) and [[Creator/MelBrooks "It's Good To Be The King"]] (Start as a count and become a king).
** There's an [[http://i.imgur.com/N5DAx.jpg assassination event message]] that references JohnFKennedy's assassination and the conspiracy theories surrounding it.
** In the ''Sword of Islam'' expansion, it's possible for two of your wives to fall in love with ''each other'', triggering a series of events that can result in the two driving a carriage off a cliff. The internal character flags that keep track of them are labeled [[ThelmaAndLouise "Thelma" and "Louise"]].
** Having a character's ambition set to increase their learning attribute can trigger a series of events that can involve [[{{Blackadder}} a dungsweeper and local dogsbody, Meldrick]].
** In the sequel's [[ASongOfIceAndFire Game of Thrones]] [[GameMod mod]], your courtier may come forward with claims your heir is a bastard, to which you may respond, [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 "Ah yes, a 'bastard'" and dismiss that claim.]]
** [[http://features.cgsociety.org/newgallerycrits/g35/244635/244635_1341350231_large.jpg In this loading screen]] the man on the lower left corner is holding a staff with a crescent-shaped head, similar to the staffs of the {{Magicka}} Wizards.
** ''The Republic'' allows the leaders of Patrician families to build upgrades to their family palaces, including a hidden vault, the description of which suggests that you're [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse swimming around in your money like Scrooge McDuck]].
** One random event for [[MerchantPrince Patricians]] has your character recite one of the [[Franchise/StarTrek Rules of Acquisition]].
** If you pick the ambition to increase your martial prowess, your character may end up taking a travelling samurai from the far east as their mentor. The related event chain is nothing but shout-outs to ''Film/TheKarateKid''.
** An occasional event to increase intrigue features a [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine former spymaster who became a tailor]].
* ShownTheirWork: The amount of research put into history and genealogy in the sequel is incredible. One can find lists of Byzantine, Russian or German rulers dating back centuries to Constantine, Rurik and Charlemagne, including character traits and family relations. Even minor Irish counts can trace their family line all the way back to the fourth century, and the Papacy goes back to the third Pope, Anacletus, in ''AD 79!''
** ''Sword of Islam'' expands on this, giving Muslim characters the ability to observe Ramadan and go on pilgrimages to Mecca. Its main feature, the dynastic decadence system, is based on medieval Muslim historiography, especially as described in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muqaddimah the Muqaddimah]].
* SillinessSwitch: ''Sunset Invasion'' looks set to be one.
* SimulationGame: The focus on dynastic politics means that you'll spend a lot of time tracking personal relationships and trying to groom your heirs to be good leaders.
* SketchySuccessor: Another big threat. Having a poor leader who nonetheless can keep things stable isn't a big deal. Having a great king who was able to keep everyone in line, and then having him suddenly ''replaced'' by some blithering moron who seems to go out of his way to piss off his vassals and neighbors, can swiftly reduce a great empire to a series of warring duchies.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The first two major [[DownloadableContent DLC packs]] for the sequel were [[ArabianNightsDays Sword of Islam]], which made Muslims officially playable, and [[ByzantineEmpire Legacy of Rome]], which expanded the Byzantine Empire. The third is [[{{Mayincatec}} Sunset Invasion]], or the Aztec Invasion of Europe DLC. [[http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?643376-Crusader-Kings-II-Sunset-Invasion-Announced!&p=14551861&viewfull=1#post14551861 Much confusion ensued]].
* TheStarscream: As mentioned below, disloyal vassals (particularly those with the Ambitious trait) are a bigger threat than almost anything outside your kingdom. Also, if the player character is anything less than a king, chances are the player themselves will be this. Characters with the "Realm Duress" trait will have all their vassals turn into TheStarscream. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity inevitably ensues.]]
** Legacy Of Rome makes it worse: now your disloyal vassals will form massive alliance chains with the sole objective of deposing you.
* StormingTheCastle: An extremely deadly strategy once you gained a numerical advantage (generally around 15 times greater than the garrison) which can melt down the garrison in days. [[HollywoodTactics Not so much if you do not have said advantage]].
* SuccessionCrisis: This and disloyal vassals are probably your greatest threats. Other kingdoms are a distant second, unless you're in the path of the Mongols...
** Speaking of the Mongols, this is how they're kept in check. Mongols have all sorts of bonuses such as no demesne limit, no attrition, and the incredibly powerful horse archer unit, which allow them to rampage through Europe with impunity. The only thing stopping them is that when the Khan kicks the bucket, his enormous realm is divided among his male children (which tend to be a lot), who promptly start fighting amongst themselves, making them much more manageable. There's a much-hated random event that forces the player to institute a similar system of succession or take severe penalties. (And don't think you can cheat and immediately change it back; you can only change your succession laws every 25 years...)
** The succession laws of each Kingdom you rule in the sequel are tracked separately, leading to much potential succession trouble if you don't make their laws similar. There's also the Elective, Gavelkind, and Open succession laws, which are just asking for future wars.
** Played brutally straight in the sequel, where heirs that are second and third in line gain claims on the throne and become pretenders. If these pretenders are powerful and well-connected landholders, the realm can quickly dissolve into civil war. The myriad of alliances created through marriages can even drag powerful foreign realms into the crisis, creating a full-scale succession war, the likes of which become the stuff of history textbooks.
** If nothing else, your vassals will often decide to revolt as soon as the new king is crowned, mostly because of the "short reign" relationship penalty.
* StupidEvil: You can raise your children to be cruel, slothful, envious, wrothful, greedy sons-of-bitches, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards your vassals will dislike such a ruler]] and several of the 'sinful' traits are rather bad stats-wise compared to their virtue counterparts.[[note]][[BatmanGambit Raising someone else's heirs to be cruel, slothful, envious, wrothful, greedy sons-of-bitches can potentially reap windfalls, however.]][[/note]] Also, there are several events where you can, for example, choose to torture some of your prisoners, but there's no actual benefit to that (Unless you want someone dead or maimed) except ForTheEvulz
* SuddenlySexuality: There is an event that causes characters to fall in love with members of the same sex, with the accompanying option [[EternalSexualFreedom to tolerate it]] or [[DeliberateValuesDissonance have the character banished]].
** In Crusader Kings II, even happily married 40-year-olds with children can discover [[HoYay strange urges]] when attending a tournament.
*** There's even an event in Crusader Kings II where a demonic creature (implied to be the Devil) can appear in the night and turn you gay.
* TheTeutonicKnights: They make their first appearance in this game, crusading against the Baltic pagans.
* ThickerThanWater: Rulers who are members of the same dynasty are automatically allies, and they will frequently come to one another's aid when circumstances allow. Of course, this won't always stop them from trying to kill one another when one stands a chance of inheriting the other's titles, but then no family can be perfect.
* ThrownDownAWell: In the second game, you can throw prisoners into an oubliette if you want them to hurry up and die but can't or won't execute them yourself for whatever reason.
* TitleDrop: In the second game, there's a possible random event during the summer fair intrigue event where a wandering band of minstrels are playing in your fair. Your options in respond include requesting that they perform the play "The Crusader Kings".
* TokenYuriGirls: In CKII, there's a specific event where two wives in a harem end up following in love. You can choose to accept it, banish them, or execute them. In the later cases, there is the possibility they end up [[ThelmaAndLouise driving over a cliff on a carriage together]].
* UnreliableNarrator: Especially in the case of traits like "Possessed", which might just as well describe an entirely mundane character trait or condition in modern times.
* UnwantedSpouse: Because of the way [[ArrangedMarriage alliance and marriage mechanics]] work, it's entirely possible to end up with a spouse who, while not exactly ''unwanted'', doesn't really bring much to the table as a person. Fortunately, there are [[MurderTheHypotenuse ways]] to [[UnusualEuphemism terminate the marriage contract]] once the desired alliance [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness stops being beneficial]] -- if you feel so inclined, of course.
** If you don't quickly marry off your children or others in your court, they can marry people on their own. These do not come with alliances, and you may find the woman in question is a dribbling retard with many undesirable traits.
* UriahGambit: A perfectly valid (if unreliable) way of getting rid of uppity vassals or possible claimants to your titles is to send them in battles where they may be wounded, slain or taken as prisoners. If they get captured by the enemy side, you can refuse to pay the ransom for their release, since they are unable to plan against you while imprisoned. There are no diplomatic penalties for doing these things, except a prestige malus if you actually lose battles in the attempt.
* VestigialEmpire: Say good bye to the Empire of Byzantium [[note]]and welcome the Byzantine Empire of Russia![[/note]] (Unless it stops being vestigial.)
** To a lesser extent, the [[strike:Holy Roman Empire]] ''Kingdom of Germany'' as well.
** Tends to be averted (for both Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire) in the sequel. A large part of this in the case of the HRE is the abolition of the Realm Duress mechanic (which used to result in the Kingdom of Germany routinely suffering complete implosion in the 1080s).
* VideoGameCaringPotential: Much, much more difficult than the alternative. Rebellious vassals mean that you are forced either to tyrannically crush dissidents or face part of your realm breaking away, and opportunistic states are a constant danger, meaning keeping the peace while maintaining order is on its own difficult. However, it is there. Keeping low taxes on your peasants and burghers, stubbornly sticking through thick and thin to popular law, gifting your vassals the money they need to develop their lands, (and even giving money to nobles outside your kingdom if you have provided all that your developing kingdom needs) caring and nurturing your offspring and ensuring they are provided for, and even vassalising a state which has been attacked by a larger one and paying for its preservation via tribute to the attacker... it's possible to be nice. It's just not easy.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Pretty intensive. You start playing and then after a few hours of gameplay you realize you've been spending most of your time and effort assassinating six-year-olds so that your literally-idiot nephew can inherit the throne of Bavaria.
** Among other things. This game is essentially to FourX games what ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' is to city management sims, both in complexity and cruelty potential.
** It is absolutely amazing how much murder, imprisonment, and disinheriting one can find themselves doing in the sequal when trying to get a female successor.
** The ''Legacy Of Rome'' expansion allows Byzantine nobles to have their opponents ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_mutilation_in_Byzantine_culture blinded and castrated]]'' in order to remove them from the succession.
*** In case of castration there is even a [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything separate message]], if the [[WouldHurtAChild player's]] victim is not adult: "[[YouBastard You]] have the boy castrated and turned into a eunuch. [[BlackComedy You're a real piece of work, aren't you?]]".
* VideoGameHistoricalRevisionism: Inevitable, and as usual for Paradox the extent to which it applies is a topic of debate. One major deviation, however, falls under AcceptableBreaksFromReality since it would be something of a GameBreaker. When a Mongol Great Khan died, all other Mongol military activity was to cease and the leaders were obliged to return with their armies to Mongolia to see the "election" of the successor. Historically, this was the only thing saving Western Europe from annihilation when Ogedei Khan died in 1241. This rule does not apply to the Mongols in either ''Crusader Kings''.
* VillainProtagonist: We call them "successful rulers."
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Vassals can band together in an alliance against their liege for various petty reasons. However, vassals will do this even if they are being invaded by a larger outside threat, such as the Mongols.
* WeHaveReserves: The AI for some reason thinks its funny to send soldiers that just spent a month marching and retreating back into battle, no matter how many times they have already been smacked down.
** It does this because there is always a chance that if you are besieging a province, an attacking army will manage to interrupt the siege and set it right back to square one. If you're defending or have beaten off an invading AI opponent they will hang back and let mounting debt and attrition, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard the first of which they don't suffer from,]] weaken the player instead.
** The Mongols in the sequel both subvert this trope and force the player to use it: Mongols do not suffer attrition, but can't reinforce their units. Therefore, the only way to beat them is to basically send every soldier you have against them until there aren't any Mongols left.
* WineIsClassy: One of the upgrades for the Patrician's palace in ''The Republic'' is the Wine Cellar, which [[ButLiquorIsQuicker provides a boost to your characters' fertility]].
* WonTheWarLostThePeace: Out of the four eras covered by Paradox (this game, EuropaUniversalis, VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun and HeartsOfIron) the first game is the easiest game for conquering the entire map; with a decent start (England, say) you can do it in two generations. It is also the game where revolutions are the most dangerous; you can easily lose the entire thing as vassals rebel against you in vast quantities during a SuccessionCrisis or realm duress event. Even if you have claimed the entire map, holding it and trying to build a stable, united super-kingdom is a game in and of itself. Equally, in the second game you can easily win a war, ignoring some small civil disturbance down south, and then march back home to deal with it only to gaze in horror as that tiny rebellion has flourished into a multi-duke plot against your throne, and your exhausted army has no means of dealing with it...
* WorldOfHam: The new 867 start date, being from a time ShroudedInMyth, inevitably seems like one to modern ears. Try saying "the sons of Ragnar" in a non-melodramatic fashion. Go on, just try it.
* WouldHurtAChild: Especially if you are behind said child in the line of succession...
* YouALLLookFamiliar: Played straight in the first game, in that there are only so many individual portraits for each culture. The sequel moves it closer to CastOfSnowflakes due to a more random generation system, and the fact that portraits change in relation to traits (such as gaining scars or boils) or when characters are assigned jobs (marshals have helmets and armor, dukes wear golden tiaras, spymasters wear hoods, etc.) .

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