Character

A character refers to any person, historical or generated, that is represented personally in Crusader Kings III. Every single character is an individual, living entity that will act individually and has the potential to change history. Characters can be either noble or lowborn, and landed or unlanded.

• Noble characters are members of a dynasty.
• Lowborn characters are not members of a dynasty. If they are landed with a playable government title they will become noble and found a dynasty.
• Landed characters own at least one holding.
• Unlanded characters do not own any holdings; a character who Leases holdings (e.g. a Realm Priest) is considered an unlanded character.

All Characters are part of a certain Religion and Culture, and may have a variety of Attributes, Traits, Modifiers and Resources that further shape each individual. Some may even attempt to interact with others through Schemes.

If they are landed, they will also have Titles, Council (if they are at least a Count), a specific Government, a Lifestyle and a Court.

Appearance¶

Every character's physical appearance is internally determined by a DNA system, which defines how they look: body proportions, facial features, skin pigmentation, height, and hair color are all stored as DNA. It can be directly edited with the Ruler Designer. DNA is stored as dominant and recessive genes and passed on to a character's children, affecting their appearance. The appearance is further determined by age, prowess, weight, and congenital or disease traits.

A character's outfit depends on their culture, title rank, social status, and whether they are noble or lowborn.

A player can use the Barbershop to customize the hair and outfit of their character as well as those of any character inside their realm. This will override any automatic appearance.

Sexual Orientation¶

A character's sexual orientation determines with which gender they will gain attraction opinion and can form lover relations. It is decided when the character is around 10 years old and cannot be changed. AI characters will never try to form a relation with characters that do not match their sexual orientation. Both the initial distribution of sexual orientation and the chance for children to gain a certain sexual orientation is determined by the sexuality distribution game rule.

If the child is played by a player, there is a 20% chance that the player will get to pick the gender preference.

Male icon	Female icon	Preference	Can form lover relations and have attraction opinion with
		Heterosexual	Opposite sex
		Homosexual	Same sex
		Bisexual	Everyone
		Asexual	No one

Opinion¶

Each character has an opinion of every other character. The opinion the player character holds influences the success rate of certain actions that target another character while the opinion of AI characters also determines their behavior towards other characters.

When a character dies, their primary heir will temporarily inherit part of the opinion of vassals towards the late liege, shown as Opinion of Predecessor.

• Positive opinion towards predecessor: 25% of opinion is inherited.
• Negative opinion towards predecessor: 50% of opinion is inherited.

Opinion¶

General¶

General is an opinion modifier that affects every character, this means only Popular Opinion of Counties are independent of this modifier. See also Attributes.

These are modifiers that influence General opinion:

• +10 Dynasty Legacy "Glory" (tier 5)
• -8 ~ +92 Personal Diplomacy Skill
• -2 ~ -126 Trait "Gallows bait"
• -1 ~ -1000 Tyranny
• -10 Trait "Peasant Leader"
• -10 Trait "Sadistic"
• -15 Trait "Murderer"
• -25 Modifier "Attacked An Ally"
• -50 Modifier "Broken Truce"

Attraction¶

Attraction is an opinion modifier that can only be held towards characters one's sexual preference allows. Male characters aged above 65 years and female character above 50 years are not affected by attraction. Only adults (16 year old and above) can generate attraction and have attraction towards another.

These are modifiers that influence Attraction opinion:

• +10 Trait "Brave"
• +5 / +10 Trait "Hunter" (Falconer way) (Level 1/Level 2)
• +5 / +10 / +15 Trait "Amazonian"/("Herculean")/"Robust"/"Hale"
• +5 Trait "Gregarious"
• -30 / -20 / -10 / +10 / +20 / +30 Trait "Hideous"/"Ugly"/"Homely"/"Comely"/"Handsome"("Pretty")/"Beautiful"

Same Dynasty¶

Dynasty is an opinion modifier that affects everyone of the same dynasty.

These are modifiers that influence Same Dynasty opinion:

• "Mystical Ancestors" Tradition: +10
• Same Dynasty: +5
• Tier-3 "Legitimacy" Legacy: +5
• Tier-4 "Kin" Legacy: +5
• "Dynastic Kinslayer" Trait: -5
• "Familial Kinslayer" Trait: -5
• "Kinslayer" Trait: -5
• "Dininherited" Trait: -5
• "Gallivanter" Trait: -10
• "Legitimized Bastard" Trait: -10
• "Bastard" Trait: -15

Virtue & Sins¶

Some traits are considered virtuous or sinful in certain faiths, the opinion modifier will be dependant on the character whose faith sees certain traits as virtuous or sinful. (e,g, a Muslim who has the "Forgiving" trait would have no modifiers from other Muslims, have +10 (virtue) modifier from Christians and -10 (sin) modifier with Asatruans).

Faith Hostility¶

Faith Hostility is determined by the Religious Families to be Righteous/Astray/Hostile/Evil, and are then given 0/ -10 / -20 / -30 opinion maluses, respectively.

• "Pluralist" Doctrine: -50% faith hostility opinion malus
• "Fundamentalist" Doctrine +100% faith hostility opinion malus

The opinion malus from other characters is dependant by how hostile the other faith sees that faith that you belong to as, not how hostile your faith sees their faith as.

The "Pluralist" and "Fundamentalist" Doctrines affect how much maluses to opinion they have for you, not vice-versa.

Relations¶

When certain requirements are met, two characters can have one of three types of relations, with each type having three levels. Relations have a great impact on how two characters act towards each other. Friendship and conflict are mutually-exclusive but neither is mutually-exclusive with love.

• Childhood relations can only be held between two child characters and might evolve into their corresponding adulthood relations when the characters reach adulthood
• Adulthood relations can be gained and lost as a result of events
• Lifelong relations can only be obtained towards characters with an existing adulthood relation and each character can have only one of each lifelong relation

Relation	Childhood	Adulthood	Lifelong	Can be ended manually
Friendship	Friend - +60 opinion	Friend - +60 opinion - +20% Efficiency as councilor - +10 stress when character dies	Best Friend - +120 opinion - +30% Efficiency as councilor - +10 stress when character dies
Love	Crush - +60 opinion	Lover - +60 opinion - +25% fertility - +10 stress when character dies	Soulmate - +120 opinion - +25% fertility - +10 stress when character dies
Conflict	Bully-Victim - -20 opinion	Rival - -60 opinion - -20% Efficiency as councilor - -35 stress when character dies	Nemesis - -120 opinion - -30% Efficiency as councilor - -35 stress when character dies

Two characters who have Nomadic government or the Way of the Nomad trait can swear a Blood Brotherhood with each other as long as they're not family members. Being Blood Siblings has the same benefits as being Friends but also gives the characters a Strong Hook on each other, forms an alliance, and allows choosing a Blood Brother modifier if any is available. Each character can only have one Blood Brother. The relation will end if a call to war from a Blood Brother is refused.

Tyranny¶

Tyranny is negative opinion gained by rulers who take unjust actions. It is felt by vassals and courtiers towards a liege. The maximum tyranny a character can have is 1000. Tyranny is not gained if the liege has a valid reason.

Tyranny can be lost through certain events and most importantly through

Monthly Decay:

• -0.25 Monthly delay by Default
• -0.15 Monthly delay by Perk 'Soon Forgiven' Duty lifestyle tree
• -0.05 Monthly delay by Perk 'Venial' Guile Dynasty

All tyrannical actions, events and the monthly decay can be affected by the following modifiers:

Source	Tyranny Gain
Natural Primitivism (Tenet)	+100%
Chivalry Tradition	+50%
Legalistic Tradition	+25%
Generic Artifact Modifier	+10% to +40%
General Modifiers	Varies
Shwedagon Pagoda (Holy Building)	-10%
Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar (Historical Artifact)	-15%
Palace of Aachen (Special Building)	-20%
Jewelled Danda (Historical Artifact)	-20%
Callous (Trait)	-20%
Diplomatic Court Grandeur Level 4 Perk	-20%
Faith is Tanism (Donyi-Poloism or Sedism) and Faith holds Holy Site Pemako	-20%
Faith is Mandé (Bidaism or Siguism) and Faith holds Holy Site Niani	-20%
Defender of the Faith (Theology Lifestyle Perk) and Faith has the Righteous doctrine	-25%
Easy Difficulty	-25%
Pursuit of Power (Tenet)	-50%
Very Easy Difficulty	-75%
General Modifiers and Artifacts	Varies

With the Torturer lifestyle perk Malice Implicit, characters gain +0.5 dread per tyranny.

Diplomatic range¶

The diplomatic range is the distance within which two characters can interact with each other. Neighboring realms are always within diplomatic range of each other, as well as realms separated by no more than three sea zones.

• The first Dynasty Legacy from the Adventure Legacy track increases Diplomatic Range by 30%. Northern Lords DLC
• The Rock of Gibraltar increases Diplomatic Range by 20%.
• From the Wanderer Lifestyle's Voyager perk tree, Been There, Done That -perk gives +15% Diplomatic Range, and it's capstone Voyager -trait gives an additional +15% Diplomatic Range. Roads to Power/Wandering Nobles DLC

Diplomatic range map mode is only available in debug mode.

Nicknames¶

Nicknames are epithets granted to characters and are displayed either before or after a character's name. They are mainly gained through decisions and events.

AI Personality¶

AI characters will act based on the following attributes:

• Boldness: Characters with high Boldness are less affected by Dread and more likely to declare war on rulers of similar or higher strength, accept and propose Duels and take risks. Characters with low Boldness are more affected by Dread and more likely to declare war on weaker rulers, accept faction ultimatums and more reluctant to try to imprison Strong Vassals and take risks.
• Compassion: Characters with high Compassion are more likely to release prisoners (especially children), use the Promote Cultural Acceptance steward task, let people marry for love and make friends and more reluctant to harm others, use the Murder scheme, execute prisoners or torture prisoners. Characters with low Compassion are more likely to harm others, use Hostile schemes, execute prisoners or torture prisoners.
• Greed: Characters with high Greed will more often choose short-term gains, go on Raids, use the Collect Taxes steward task, betray other characters for and Titles and pay less on contracts and are more reluctant to pay ransom, send gifts, accept title revocations and end wars in White Peace. Characters with low Greed will more often spend Gold, pay ransom, send gifts, accept title revocations and host activities and pay more on contracts and are more reluctant to betray other characters for and Titles.
• Honor: Characters with high Honor are more likely to follow Laws and honor Alliances and more reluctant to blackmail characters with Secrets. Characters with low Honor are more likely to start hostile Schemes, blackmail characters with Secrets, use the Find Secrets spymaster task and betray their friends and spouses.
• Rationality: Characters with high Rationality are more likely to use the Disrupt Schemes spymaster task, peace out of wars when they last more than 6 months and start Murder schemes against a liege with Tyranny and try to fix debts and are more reluctant to gain Tyranny. Characters with low Rationality are more likely to gain Tyranny, get into inopportune wars and continue wars for more than 6 months.
• Sociability: determines how often the character will consider a character interaction.
• Vengefulness: Characters will high Vengefulness will more often seek to harm Rivals and cheating Spouses and request Excommunication to punish criminals and will less often forgive slights and transgressions. Characters with low Vengefulness will more often forgive slights and transgressions, refuse to punish prisoners and pardon criminals and do not start hostile schemes targeting Rivals and cheating Spouses any more than other characters.
• Zeal: Characters with high Zeal are more likely to join defensively against Holy Wars, pledge or donate to Great Holy Wars, convert counties or vassals, go on pilgrimages and take actions that grant Piety and more reluctant to convert to other faiths. Characters with low Zeal are more likely to ignore Faith in politics and use it as a tool and more reluctant to take actions that grant Piety or accept requests from rulers with Theocracy government.

Each AI character will have its personality described with an adjective and a noun based on the highest amount of the value of two attributes. Children who do not have any traits yet will instead be described as Balanced, as are those who have little to no personality tendencies.

Every character will have a pose that is determined by the highest or lowest value that the character in question has, with the pose being slightly different between male and female characters (i.e High boldness characters will stand confidently, low boldness characters will cower meekly).

Economic Archetype¶

An AI ruler would spend their Gold according to the following archetypes based on their traits and attributes:

• Warlike: A Warlike ruler will save Gold for war before investing it in developing their realm. If they are at peace for an extended period of time, they will use their gold to build Buildings. If the Legends of the Dead DLC is installed they are also more likely to create and promote Heroic legends.
  • Relevant Traits: Wrathful, Impatient, Sadistic, Ambitious, Vengeful, Irritable, and Zealous.
    • AI with high Boldness and Greed also tends to be Warlike.
• Cautious: A Cautious ruler is more averse to declaring offensive wars, more inclined to save Gold for defense, and invest gold for Fortification Buildings and Men-at-Arms regiments. If the Legends of the Dead DLC is installed they are also less likely to create and promote legends.
  • Relevant traits: Patient, Calm, Craven, Paranoid, and Content.
    • Fickle rulers will never be have this archetype.
• Builder: A Builder will fund Buildings and Men-at-Arms regiments as soon as they have surplus Gold. They construct more Economic Buildings and Holdings. They only save up gold if threatened directly, such as by a strong Faction. If the Legends of the Dead DLC is installed they are also less likely to create and promote legends.
  • Relevant traits: Calm, Patient, Diligent, Generous, Stubborn, Profligate, and Improvident.
    • Rulers with Domain lifestyle focus also tend to have this archetype.
    • Rulers with high Boldness, inclination for building and low inclination for war tend to have this archetype.
• Pious Builder: A Pious builder will invest all their Gold to increase their Piety. They will spend their treasury to fund religious and ceremonial Buildings, Great Projects, Activities and Decisions, and often construct more Pious Buildings and Temple or Temple Citadel Holdings. They only save up gold if directly threatened, such as by a strong Faction. If the Legends of the Dead DLC is installed they are also more likely to create and promote Holy legends.
  • Relevant traits: Zealous, Forgiving, Humble, Patient, Diligent, Generous and Improvident.
    • Rulers with Theology lifestyle focus also tend to have this archetype.
    • Mandala Rulers with a penchant for Virtue and no particular inclination for War also tend to have this archetype.
• Unpredictable: Unpredictable rulers have no traits for any specific archetype, and may temporarily follow any economic strategy.
• Conqueror: A Conqueror ruler will invest all their Gold into the war chest or to buy Men-at-arms. They hardly sponsor inspirations and only use Activities to gain Prestige and Piety to go to war.
  • Used only by rulers with the Conqueror or Greatest of Khans trait.

Legends¶

Legends represent important deeds that a character achieved in life. The story of the legend will be written in various events as the legend is being completed. Creating a legend costs 200 Gold if Count or Duke, 300 if King and 400 if Emperor, and it also has a monthly maintenance cost until it is completed. Legitimizing legends also cost 75 Prestige. A legend needs at least 5 years before it can be completed or abandoned. Each legend can only be created once.

Legends are created from Legend Seeds. The primary way of obtaining Legend Seeds is by employing a Court Chronicler with high Aptitude. They can also be obtained by doing certain deeds or being part of a certain dynasty.

When created, a legend can be about either the ruler creating it or to one of its close or extended family members, living or dead, as long as they are at least 16 years old. If the protagonist is another character the ruler will gain +20 Legitimacy if the protagonist does not have a trait considered a virtue, and +50 if it does. Creating a legend also unlocks the Commission Legend Artifact decision.

Each legend while being created will have an Owner and may have Promoters as well. Both will gain bonuses depending on the legend type and unlock the Spread Legend intent for certain activities. Additional bonuses can be obtained as the legend is created.

• Owner is the ruler who starts the legend and gains the most bonuses. If the character dies any member of the same dynasty can take ownership of the legend from the Chronicle screen.
• Promoters are rulers that promote the legend, gaining fewer bonuses but only paying half of the maintenance cost of owning it. Promoting a legend requires one of the following:
  • Know the language of the legend's creator
    • Neighbor with the legend's creator
    • Lover or Soulmate with the legend's creator
    • Friend or Best Friend with the legend's creator

Legends come in three types and three levels of quality, which together determine what benefits they give. When a legend is created it will start at Famed quality. Once it has spread to 100 Baronies it can be upgraded to Illustrious quality and will not spread further until upgraded. Once it has spread to 300 Baronies it can be upgraded to Mythical quality and will not spread further until upgraded.

Completing a legend ends the Owner and Promoter bonuses but allows a new legend to be started. A county can receive bonuses from multiple legends.

Historical legend seeds¶

Historical legend seeds can only be used once per game, regardless of character. They are restricted to certain dynasties, cultures or faiths.

Some historical seeds have an associated ancient culture. If the Royal Court DLC is also enabled, completing these legends will give the option to create a divergent culture with the ancient culture's cultural pillars

Legitimizing historical seeds¶

Legitimizing historical seeds, in addition to their usual bonuses, will also give the character completing the legend claims on a certain major title.

Decision legend seeds¶

The following legend seeds can only be obtained by decisions and only if they weren't disabled by game rules.

Mechanics