Hello and welcome everybody! I am One Proud
Bavarian and you might know me from my grand
strategy channel here on Youtube. I am collaborating
with Paradox Interactive to bring you a series
of Tutorial videos about Crusader Kings 3.
In this video I want to focus on how you can
build and lead your dynasty to greatness.
Half a century ago, Charlemagne’s Empire
ruled over Western Europe, but it has since
been split into East Francia, Lotharingia,
Italy and West Francia – All ruled by members
of the Karling Dynasty. West Francia is under
the control of Charles The Bald and he will
serve as our example for this video. I’ll
be telling you about Marriage&Alliances, Prestige&Fame,
Cadet Branches and last but not least – Renown
and Legacies.
Let’s kick it off by talking about Marriages
and alliances. Marriages in this time period
are very rarely motivated by love. You will
mostly be looking for marriages to bind your
fate to other powerful families. It is important
to note that commonly the children of a marriage
will belong to the father’s house and dynasty.
This is reversed if both sides agree to a
matrilineal marriage.
The most direct benefit of marriages – besides
the children stemming from it – are alliances.
Both the spouses as well as their close relatives
will become allied, which is how you will
acquire most of your alliances. Usually this
means that both sides will aid one another
in war, but it can also have other benefits.
Charles the Bald has married his daughter
Judith to the Duke of Flanders. For the moment
it means that the Duke of Flanders will never
join a faction against Charles, no matter
how much the mood has soured. Charles needs
his own kingdom to stay at peace since he
plans to go to war over the rest of the Carolingian
Empire.
Now that you know how to keep your dynasty
going, let’s take a look at Prestige and
Fame, which measure the success of your character.
Prestige is accumulated over time based on
your actions, the titles you hold and your
personality. You can use prestige in many
different ways. If you were to press Charles‘
claims to the rest of the Empire you would
have to expend some of your prestige for example.
Whether you spend it or not, every bit of
prestige you accumulate counts towards your
level of fame. The higher it is, the higher
will people think of you. This of course makes
ruling significantly easier. Be careful about
your own reputation, if you act dishonorably,
for example by breaking a truce, your hard-earned
fame will melt away like snow in summer and
people will begin looking at you differently.
Prestige and fame make for a good measure
of how well an individual character is doing,
but what truly matters in Crusader Kings III
is the family.
Let’s continue by talking about Cadet Branches.
A dynasty is a group of Nobles that all trace
their lineage back to one common ancestor.
With time, as the dynasty grows, rulers that
want more power within the dynasty might found
their own branches. These branches are also
called Houses and still belong to the same
family. Founding a new House however brings
more independence, more direct power over
House members and it comes with the opportunity
to rise up to be recognised as the new Dynasty
Head. Becoming and remaining the Dynasty Head
requires you to be the most powerful Head
of a House inside of your Dynasty.
Let’s take a look at why being the Dynasty
Head is absolutely amazing: Renown and Legacies
are the last topic and they measure the success
of your dynasty as a whole.
Renown increases over time based on the current
titles family members hold and the total number
of living dynasty members. It is a powerful
boon that the dynasty’s head can spend on
influencing their family directly or by investing
it in legacies – legacies give permanent
bonuses to your dynasty and reflect the history
of your ancestors. The choice between influencing
your dynasty directly or via legacies can
be a tough one since they both require renown.
Every accumulated point of renown also earns
your dynasty splendor, which widens the range
of resources and options your family has.
A well-respected dynasty will for example
have it easier to keep a realm under control
even in hard times.
The more your family grows, the more all of
you will benefit from your dynasty legacies.
However, it will also become more likely that
infighting will become a common sight.
Play your cards right and you will be able
to guide your family through the centuries
as their leader. Play your cards wrong however
and your dynasty will be lost in history.
Thank you for tuning into today’s CK3 tutorial
about Dynasties. Next time, we’ll take a
look at succession and how you can keep your
realm from the fate of the Carolingian Empire.
Make sure to subscribe to this channel so
that you don’t miss the next tutorial video!
For now – Later, Alligator!
