Dynasty

Introducing CK3 #02 - Dynasty. One Proud Bavarian tackles dynasties and how to make them endure throughout centuries!

A Dynasty represents an unbroken Noble line descending from the same Landed character who founded the Dynasty. Each Dynasty is made up of multiple Houses working towards bringing Renown upon the Dynasty. A Dynasty can be renamed by the Dynasty Head at any point.

Family

A diagram showing family relations in Crusader Kings III.

A family of a character consists of their relatives.

• A character's grandparents, parents, siblings (including half-siblings), children and grandchildren are considered Close Family.
• Uncles, aunts, first cousins, nephews and nieces are considered Extended Family.

Opinion modifiers

See also: Relation

The table below shows static opinion modifiers gained from family relations. These modifiers are only gained given to public connections; for example, if a character is a secret bastard, they will not have the Father relation with their biological father. Also note that in scenarios where a character has multiple relations to another, all relevant modifiers are applied.

Relation to other character	Opinion
Father	+50
Mother	+50
Child	+50
Siblings (includes half-siblings)	+25
Spouse (includes secondary spouses)	+25
Same Dynasty	+5

Marriage

Marriage is the legal union between two opposite gender characters in a personal relationship. Only characters who are at least 16 years old may marry. If either character is too young, the two prospective partners may enter a betrothal instead until both parties come of age.

Spouses, concubines and consorts who are fertile are able to have children legitimate. Normally, children in a marriage belong to the father's house. However, in a matrilineal marriage, children are born of the mother's house. Moreover, marriage is one way to form  alliances with other characters.

A faith's doctrines affects who a character may marry, how many official partners they may have and whether marriage may be ended in divorce:

• The Consorts & Concubines marriage type doctrine allows rulers to have up to three consorts or concubines, alongside their spouse. Children born of consorts or concubines gain the Child of Consort/Concubine trait. Unlike marriage, concubinage does not yield alliances; however, consorts and concubines can be set aside at will without the need for divorce.
• Consanguinity doctrine determines the legality of incestuous marriage.
• Marriage may be ended subject to divorce doctrine. The target of the divorce gains −25 Opinion (Divorced Me) for 50 years with their ex-spouse, while their close family members gain −5 Opinion (Divorced Close Family) for 5 years. Divorced characters may remarry.

Polygamy

With the Polygamous marriage type doctrine, characters may marry one spouse, and rulers (depending on their View on Gender doctrine) may additionally have up to three secondary spouses. If two married rulers have the Polygamous doctrine and are allowed to do so by the gender doctrine, they may have multiple spouses each. With the Equal gender doctrine, there is no existing restriction on having the same spouse(s) as another ruler.

Any spouse who has the Monogamous doctrine will suffer −40 opinion (Not in a Monogamous Marriage). Monogamous spouses who were previously in a polygamous marriage (e.g. a secondary spouse was divorced) will gain −20 opinion (You blasphemed our Marriage by having other Spouses) for 20 years. Any monogamous close relatives will suffer a similar −20 opinion modifier. Spouses with the Consorts & Concubines doctrine or Polyamory tenet do not suffer similar penalties. When arranging marriages, prospective spouses who would become part of a polygamous marriage and do not believe in polygamy suffer a marriage acceptance penalty of −1000.

Rulers receive a penalty of −0.5 monthly piety per missing spouse if they are under the expected spouse amount for their title tier:

Title tier	Expected spouses
Unlanded	1
Baron	1
Count	1
Duke	2
King	3
Emperor	4

Marriage acceptance

In order to successfully arrange marriages with AI characters, the player must reach a marriage acceptance score of at least +1 for the prospective spouses. Below is a list containing all possible conditions that affect marriage acceptance:

Condition	Marriage acceptance
Weak hook	+100
Strong hook	+200, or auto-accept
Promising Prospects Perk	+50 (self) +25 (family member)
Dynasty Glory Perk	+30
Arranging own marriage	−15
Is player's heir	+20 (primary heir) +10 (other heirs)
Desires alliance	Varied
Does not want alliance	−100
Marrying up	+30 for each difference in title rank
Marrying down	−30 for each difference in title rank (if AI is King) −40 for each difference in title rank (if AI is not King)
Opinion	+0.25 per  opinion (round down) with prospective spouse +0.75 per  opinion (round down) with marriage offerer
Wishes well for Lovers	+15
Prospective spouses love each other and AI has compassion greater than zero	+0.25 per AI compassion
Candidate is Lowborn	−20 −120 (if recipient is not lowborn themselves)
Candidate's Level of Splendor	+(Level of Splendor * 5 - 5)
Incorrect marriage (patrilineal/matrilineal)	Varied
Different faith	−10 −25 (faith considered astray or hostile) −1000 (faith considered evil)
Faith does not have polygamy doctrine or polyamory tenet and potential spouse would belong in a polygamous marriage.	−1000
Age Considerations	Varied
The marriage will have Low Fertility	Varied
Unimportant courtier	+10
Important courtier	−10
Prospective spouse is a parent of recipient's children	−25
Player is AI's liege	+40 (general) +60 (marriage with liege)
Valuable claimant	−50
Claimant to one of AI's titles	−50
Intimidated	Varied
Terrified	Varied
Character is dear to AI	Varied
The marriage would be incestuous	−1000
Age of recipient	+(Recipient age − 20)
Spouse councillor - boosted child or heir	+50 +75 (if heir)

Adultery

Having a lover outside of marriage creates a Lover secret. If it is revealed, it may result in the two lover characters gaining the Fornicator and Adulterer traits, depending on the faith's / adultery doctrines. Children known to be born out of wedlock gain Bastard (trait), or Wild Oat if their faith has the No Bastards bastardry doctrine. If a bastard successfully becomes landed, they gain the Bastard founder trait.

Incest

Incest is sexual activity between family members. A faith's Consanguinity doctrine determines the legality of incestuous marriage. Characters having an incestuous relation that would not be allowed in marriage gain the Is Incestuous secret, and if exposed the Incestuous trait. Any form of incestuous relation, legal or not, may risk producing inbred offspring.

The Divine Marriage tenet provides bonuses to incestuous marriages.

Relatives are harder to seduce unless the target character's Faith accepts such an incestuous relation or the seducer has the Subtle Desire perk ( Seducer tree).

Houses

Each Dynasty will have a Founding House, usually of the same name as the Dynasty, which is the first House of that Dynasty. Ruling Dynasty members of Feudal or Clan Government who are distant by blood to the current House Head may choose to create a Cadet Branch, a new House under the Dynasty. Each House has its own name and motto, usually inspired by the location in which they are founded and the founding character, which can be changed at will by the House Head. They will also have a unique coat of arms that has two quarters copied from the Dynasty coat of arms.

Creating a Cadet Branch has the following requirements:

• The character must be blood-related to their current House Head
• The character must not stand to inherit any of their current House Head's titles
• The character must have sufficient Prestige
• All ancestors of the character are dead

If a House Head demands the religious conversion of a House member and the member refuses, it will result in the creation of a new Cadet Branch.

Each character born from a Marriage will belong to the father's House unless the marriage is Matrilineal.

House Head

The House Head is the leader of a House. House Heads have the power to legitimize bastards, call House members to war at no cost and demand that they convert to their Faith. In addition, House Heads will get a  Weak Hook on all newly born House members and monthly prestige from living and landed members of their house. When a House Head dies, its Primary Heir becomes the next House Head.

When a character creates a Cadet Branch, they become its House Head, and free from the direct influence of their old House Head unless he or she was the Dynasty Head.

The heir to the house head is determined by the current house head's player heir.

For example, John creates a cadet branch and is the first house head. His player heir will be the next house head. The player heir is determined by the realm's succession laws and gender preference. Under partition laws and primogeniture, the oldest child will be the player heir, taking into account gender preference. Ultimogeniture will have the youngest child be the heir, and house seniority will be cause the oldest member of the house to be the heir.

Land, military strength, prestige and other factors have no effect on the player heir.

One exception : The house head at the start of the game is determined differently. If the founder of the house is still alive, the founder will always be the house head. If the founder is not alive, then the house head at game start will be the house member with the largest realm size. This is why Ludwig II is the Karling house head in 867, even though he is not the oldest male child.

Dynasty Head

The most powerful House Head of a Dynasty (as determined by military strength) will be the Dynasty Head. If another House Head becomes 10% stronger than the current Dynasty Head it will take its place. The Dynasty Head gains Monthly Prestige from living and landed members of their Dynasty. The Dynasty Head has access to the following interactions with dynasty members of the same faith:

Interaction	Effects	Cost
Call Dynasty Member To War	Targeted Dynasty Member may join the Dynasty Head's current war	75  Renown
Claim Title	Gain an  Unpressed Claim on the targeted Dynasty Member's Primary Title and a temporary -50  Opinion	150  Renown
Disinherit	Targeted Dynasty Member gains the Disinherited trait and a permanent -75  Opinion	75  Renown and 150  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Unlanded 150  Renown and 300  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Heir to a title 225  Renown and 900  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Landed
Denounce	Targeted Dynasty Member gains the Denounced trait and a permanent -50  Opinion	50  Renown and 150  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Unlanded 100  Renown and 300  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Heir to a title 125  Renown and 500  Prestige if Dynasty Member is Landed
End Dynasty Wars	All wars between members of the same Dynasty end in White Peace	75 Renown
Forgive	Targeted Dynasty Member loses the Denounced trait and the  Opinion malus	25  Renown
Restore Inheritance	Targeted Dynasty Member loses the Disinherited trait and the  Opinion malus	75  Renown

Renown

Renown is a resource accumulated by a Dynasty and is used for the most powerful Dynasty Head interactions, unlocking Dynasty Legacies and increasing a Dynasty's level of Splendor. Each living Dynasty member will add Renown to the Dynasty, and Prestige to its Dynasty Head and House Head. Renown can also be gained by marrying to a Ruler of a different Dynasty.

Title rank	Renown	Dynasty Head Prestige	House Head Prestige	Marriage Renown
None (stacks with title bonuses)	+0.02	+0.01	+0.02	0
Baron	+0.12	+0.01	+0.02	+0.1
Count	+0.25	+0.02	+0.04	+0.2
Duke	+0.5	+0.03	+0.06	+0.4
King	+1	+0.04	+0.08	+0.8
Emperor	+2	+0.5	+0.1	+1.6

Renown gain is capped at +2 for total non-ruler house members (100 members). Dynasty Head Prestige gain is capped at +3. House Head Prestige gain is capped at +5. Rulers will not add Renown to their Dynasty if their Liege is a member of the same Dynasty.

Level of Splendor

Firstly, all renown earned by a Dynasty counts towards its Level of Splendor, which determines how well-known the Dynasty is in the eyes of the world, how much Prestige characters get from being born or marrying into it, the maximum long reign Opinion characters can get and how decorated the Dynasty's coat of arms will be. Having a high level also makes it much easier to arrange marriages, especially with Dynasties with a Lower Level of Splendor. The Level of Splendor will only decrease if a player character attempts suicide. Peasant Dynasties start at Base Origins.

Level of Splendor	Birth Prestige	Marriage Prestige	Max Long Reign Opinion	Max level for guest Congenital traits	Required renown
Base Origins	0	-100	+5	1	0
Obscure	+100	0	+10	1	0
Insignificant	+200	+100	+15	1	700
Noteworthy	+300	+200	+20	2	1000
Reputable	+400	+300	+25	2	2000
Well-known	+500	+400	+30	2	3000
Significant	+600	+500	+35	2	4000
Famous	+700	+600	+40	3	5000
Glorious	+800	+700	+45	3	6000
Fabled	+900	+800	+50	3	7000
Legendary	+1000	+900	+55	3	8000

Dynasty Legacies

Dynasty Legacies are permanent modifiers and unlocks that can be unlocked by the Dynasty Head and affect every member of a Dynasty. Each Legacy contains five unlocks, each costing a progressively higher amount of  Renown to unlock. If an AI character becomes Dynasty Head it will only unlock Legacies belonging to the tree with the highest current progress.

Tree	Legacy 1 effects (1000  Renown)	Legacy 2 effects (2000  Renown)	Legacy 3 effects (3000  Renown)	Legacy 4 effects (4000  Renown)	Legacy 5 effects (5000  Renown)
Warfare	+2 Prowess +15 Knight Effectiveness	-20% Casus Belli Cost	+10% Monthly Martial Experience	+5 Advantage	+1 Max number of Men-at-Arms Regiments Can recruit House Guard Men-at-Arms
Law	+5 Popular Opinion	+0.2 Monthly Control Growth	+10% Monthly Stewardship Experience	+5 Powerful Vassal Opinion	+1 Domain Limit
Guile	+20% Dread Gain	+10 Hostile Scheme Success Chance	+10% Monthly Intrigue Experience	-0.05 Monthly Tyranny	77% chance to prevent one Murder of each Dynasty member
Blood	+30% Chance to inherit good congenital traits +30% Chance of new good congenital traits	+30% Chance to reinforce congenital traits	-30% Chance to inherit bad congenital traits -30% Chance of new bad congenital traits	Select a congenital trait to become more common to all Dynasty children: Comely, Quick, Hale, Fecund, Albino, Giant, Dwarf, Scaly The trait has a 5% chance (10% if a player character is a parent) of appearing at birth Applies to all children of the dynasty who have at least one parent from the dynasty	+5 Years Life Expectancy
Erudition	+10 Courtier and Guest Opinion Better Guests are attracted	+10% Monthly piety	+10% Monthly Learning Experience	+3 Same Faith Opinion	+10% Effectiveness of Councilor Tasks
Glory	+30 Marriage Acceptance	+10% Prestige	+10% Monthly Diplomacy Experience	-20% Short Reign Duration	+10 General Opinion
Kin	+10% Fertility	+2-3 Education Score	+10 Spouse Opinion Fewer pregnancy complications	+5 Dynasty Opinion +30% Personal Scheme Success on Dynasty members	+1 Random skill point every 5 years, starting at age 30 Prowess doesn't decrease with age Dynasty members age at a slower rate

See also

• Breeding

References

Mechanics