Rulers of the medieval era weren't just worried about external enemies like rival kingdoms or marauding raiders. They also had to worry about internal threats like pretenders to the throne, powerful vassals looking for independence, and religious minorities looking to free themselves of foreign overlords. In Crusader Kings 3, these threats are represented as factions.
Factions are persistent threats even for powerful and otherwise stable empires. Players who want their Crusader Kings 3 dynasty to last across the many centuries of the game's timeline should understand what each faction wants, and how to keep them from tearing a hard-won empire into pieces.
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Faction Types & Mechanics
Players can always see which factions are active in the Faction menu on the right side of the screen. Its icon is a yellow fist on fire. Factions are listed by type, but any faction with rising Discontent will rise to the top of the list.
Faction Types
Factions in Crusader Kings 3 are organized by their intentions. Each intention has its own symbol, and if their Discontent reaches 100 percent, they'll send their liege a specific kind of Ultimatum. These intentions and their goals are as follows:
|
Type |
Ultimatum |
Who Can Join? |
Military Power Source |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Independence |
All faction members become independent rulers. Liege loses 150 Prestige. |
Direct vassals |
Faction member armies |
|
Dissolution |
Liege loses primary title (and 150 Prestige). |
Direct vassals |
Faction member armies |
|
Claimant |
The claimant backed by the faction gets the demanded title. Every faction member gets a weak hook on the claimant. |
Direct vassals of the claimed title |
Faction member armies |
|
Liberty |
Liege lowers Crown Authority by 1 and can't raise it again. Liege loses 200 Prestige and 20 Dread. |
Direct vassals |
Faction member armies |
|
Populists |
Faction members create an independent realm. Liege loses Fame level. |
Direct vassals and counties with a different Faith than the ruler |
Faction member armies and up to 50% of each county's levy |
|
Peasant Rabble |
Control for faction members drops by 75. Control growth is lowered by 50%, but popular opinion rises by +30. |
Domain county populations |
Up to 100% of each county's levy |
Obviously, some factions are more dangerous than others. Peasant Rabble is more of a nuisance than anything, especially since only counties that are in a ruler's personal domain can join the faction. Only low-level rulers like counts and dukes need to worry about this, since rulers with plenty of vassals can field armies much bigger than their personal levies. On the other hand, Peasant Rabble don't need a minimum military power to increase Discontent and will almost always trigger once they form.
When Do Factions Become A Threat?
Other than Peasant Rabble, every faction needs to reach a military power threshold to start being a threat to their ruler. This threshold is usually somewhere between 75 and 80% of the liege's military power, but it can go lower if a lot of powerful factions are lining up to take down the liege.
Once a faction reaches the threshold, its Discontent will start to go up. Discontent goes up faster when the faction is much more powerful than the liege. If the faction drops below the threshold (for example, if a faction member leaves), Discontent will slowly start to drop instead.
Crusader Kings 3 Beginner's Guide
Crusader Kings 3 takes quite a bit of learning to get into, but with some key pointers, players can begin ruling effectively in no time.
Something else to note is that Crusader Kings 3 measures the liege's current military power, not their potential military power. If a liege destroys their army in a badly thought-out foreign war, an opportunistic faction may choose that moment to strike.
Once a faction reaches 100 Discontent, their leader will send the liege their Ultimatum. If the liege agrees, they'll get what they demanded (listed above). If the liege disagrees, the factions will raise their armies and a civil war will break out. If the liege loses the civil war, the faction will force them to meet their demands. Note that new factions and Ultimatums can still trigger while a civil war is raging.
How to Prevent & Minimize Factions
There are many ways a ruler can keep factions from forming. In addition to the tips below, notethat a new ruler is always more vulnerable thanks to Opinion penalties and no Dread bonuses. As such, be sure to avoid any risky wars until the vassals have had a chance to quiet down.
Relationships With Vassals
The five most powerful vassals always want a place on the ruling council. They also contribute the most to a faction's military power, so try to keep them happy and on the council even if their skills are terrible. However, "powerful vassal" is a relative term. By maintaining as many vassals as the player ruler can handle (mostly based on the level of the ruler's primary title), angry vassals will need a lot of their fellows to join a faction to threaten their liege.
There are several reasons why a vassal may be unable to join a faction. Vassals won't join a faction if they're underage; if they're the liege's friend, lover, or ally; if they're a prisoner; if they have the Loyal trait; or if the liege has a Strong Hook on them. Keep these things in mind to help prevent factions from forming. A Disinherited dynasty member cannot be a claimant, nor can one who gets imprisoned and is forced to give up their claims to be released.
Managing Opinion
Opinion is another strong factor in whether vassals will join a faction. Vassals who hate their lieges are more likely to join a faction, and vassals who love their lieges are more likely to leave them. If a vassal has an opinion of 80 or higher for their liege, they'll refuse to join a faction entirely.
Gifts are the most direct way to increase vassal Opinion, and player rulers with high Diplomacy will get more Opinion from each gift. Rulers can also host feasts and go on Grand Tours to increase Opinion, and this may be a more efficient way to spend Gold.
To further increase Opinion, try to avoid acts of Tyranny. This includes revoking titles, imprisoning subjects, making feudal contracts worse, and even forcing wins during Grand Tournaments. Players can avoid some of these penalties by using (or fabricating) claims on titles, hooks, or crimes that deserve severe punishments.
The Power of Dread
If lieges can't be loved, they can at least be feared. Players can gain Dread by torturing and executing noteworthy prisoners like foreign leaders, vassals, and family members. The Torturer tree of the Intrigue Lifestyle is especially good for getting extra Dread, and the Malice Implicit perk converts high Tyranny directly into extra Dread.
Vassals will refuse to join a faction if they're Terrified by a liege with high Dread, but only so long as the faction isn't already increasing its Discontent. If a faction is big enough to threaten their liege, Terrified vassals will join in.
War
If it comes to war, remember that wars can end quickly if the enemy leader gets caught and imprisoned. Always target a faction leader's capital and armies first. For Populist and Peasant Rabble wars, keep in mind that the rebel leader always chooses to lead their single largest army. This trick doesn't always work, but it works often enough to be worth a try.
How to Take Advantage of Factions
If the player ruler is a vassal rather than an independent liege, they can start their own faction or join a faction started by someone else. Just under the title of the Factions menu are two tabs, "Against You" and "Against your Liege." This tab won't appear if the player ruler is independent. At the bottom of the "Against your Liege" tab is where players can create a new Independence, Liberty, Claimant, or Dissolution faction.
Players can only start one faction at a time, but they can join other factions that accept vassal members. Faction mechanics work the same way for player characters as they do for NPC rulers, but if a player ruler is in charge of a faction, they can send their Ultimatum at any time and not when Discontent reaches 100.
As a faction member, players can take advantage of Strong Hooks. While vassals won't join factions for all the reasons listed above, invoking a Strong Hook can override these reasons and force a fellow vassal to join a faction. Strong Hooks are hard to come by, but players can use the Truth is Relative perk in the Schemer tree of the Intrigue Lifestyle to create some short-term Strong Hooks.
Another perk to consider as a scheming vassal is Meritocracy. This one is the first perk of the Administrator tree of the Stewardship Lifestyle. This perk lets the player ruler fabricate a claim to their liege's primary title, which means they can then create a Claimant faction with themselves as the star. Just make sure no vassals are starting their own factions to take advantage of a player-led civil war.
Crusader Kings 3 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- September 1, 2020
- ESRB
- T for Teens: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Paradox Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Paradox Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
Your legacy awaits. Choose your noble house and lead your dynasty to greatness in a Middle Ages epic that spans generations. War is but one of many tools to establish your reign, as real strategy requires expert diplomatic skill, mastery of your realm, and true cunning. Crusader Kings III continues the popular series made by Paradox Development Studio, featuring the widely acclaimed marriage of immersive grand strategy and deep, dramatic medieval roleplaying.
Take command of your house and expand your dynasty through a meticulously researched Middle Ages. Begin in 867 or 1066 and claim lands, titles, and vassals to secure a realm worthy of your royal blood. Your death is only a footnote as your lineage continues with new playable heirs, either planned… or not.
Discover a sprawling simulated world teeming with peasants and knights, courtiers, spies, knaves and jesters, and secret love affairs. An extensive cast of historical characters can be romanced, betrayed, executed, or subtly influenced.
Explore a vast medieval map stretching from the snowswept Nordic lands to the Horn of Africa, and the British Isles in the west to the exotic riches of Burma in the east. Claim, conquer, and rule thousands of unique counties, duchies, kingdoms, and empires.
- Engine
- Clausewitz Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Crusader Kings
- Platform(s)
- PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Grand Strategy
- How Long To Beat
- 70 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 11 GB (November 2023)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
