Quick Links
Historically, many pagan rulers in Europe and Africa converted to more organized religions like Christianity and Islam during the medieval period. InCrusader Kings 3, you’re able to follow in their footsteps byconverting to a new faith.
Some conversions are easy to handle. A ruler can demand that their vassals and courtiers convert as an interaction, and your ruler can make the same demand of you if you’re playing a vassal. However,if you want to manually convert to a new faith, it helps to understand howCrusader Kings 3handles this mechanic.
Conversion Basics & Costs In Crusader Kings 3
There are a few different ways you can get to the faith conversion screen.
Once you’ve selected your new faith, you’ll need to pay a certain amount of Piety to convert. This cost can be lower than 1,000 or higher than 100,000, depending on a few factors.
First, the new faith demands a specific base cost based on how different the tenants and doctrines are from your ruler’s current faith. For instance, if witchcraft is Criminal to your current faith, your new faith will add no extra cost if it also considers witchcraft Criminal, a small cost if they Shun witches, or a large cost if they Accept witches. This means a similar faith is much cheaper to switch to than a very different one.
Next,Crusader Kings 3applies a few modifiers that change the overall cost by a percentage. Each modifier changes the number independently, so two -50 percent modifiers cut the cost in half twice, rather than reducing the cost by 100 percent.
-1 per point
Current faith has Pluralist doctrine
-15
Ruler directly controls Wiltshire (andthe Stonehenge unique building)
-20
Current and target faith have Pluralist doctrine
-25 (replaces -15 modifier)
Ruler’s concubine follows target faith
-25
Target faith exists in at least one county
-35
Target faith exists in at least one county and belongs to same religion as current faith
-50 (replaces -35 modifier)
Ruler’s spouse follows target faith
-50
Attacker in a holy warfollows target faith
Ruler’s dynasty has at least 3 Adventure legacies
Ruler has Learning Lifestyle perk “Apostate”
-75
Target faith is within or adjacent to your realm
-90
Ruler’s faith is unreformed, and target faith is organized
Ruler’s faith is unreformed pagan, and concubine’s faith is organized
-90 (replaces -25 modifier)
Ruler’s faith is unreformed pagan, and spouse’s faith is organized
-90 (replaces -50 modifier)
Ruler’s faith is unreformed, and attacker in a holy war follows target faith
Ruler is Zealous
+20
Ruler controls a Clan governmentand is converting to an unreformed faith
+25
Ruler controls a Feudal government and is converting to an unreformed faith
+50
Target faith belongs to a different religion in the same family as ruler’s faith
+100
Target faith belongs to a different religious family than ruler’s faith
+200
Target faith is unreformed, while ruler’s faith is organized
+500
Target faith isn’t present in any county, and no ruler follows it
What all this means is that Norse pagans only have topay a token amount of Pietyto convert to Catholicism, while Catholic rulers will need impossible amounts of Piety if they want to convert back to Greco-Roman paganism.
New Faiths & Reformations In Crusader Kings 3
Instead of converting to an existing faith, you have the option to create a completely new one, one that has the exact doctrines and tenets you like. However, you’ll need to meet a few requirements to make this creation work.
Creating a new faith is always expensive in terms of Piety, even if you don’t change any doctrines or tenets. You also don’t get as many discounts as you get for conversions, but there are a couple of ways to reduce the cost.
Your new faith automatically keeps your current faith’s holy sites, virtues, and sins, and you may’t change them during the reformation process. You’ll also lose special doctrines like Ecumenism, which is held by mainstream Christian faiths like Catholicism and Orthodoxy. You can change most of your new faith’s doctrinesand all their tenets, but the more changes you make, the more Piety you’ll need to pay.
One thing you aren’t allowed to do is create a faith that has identical doctrines and tenets to an existing one in the same religion. However, this restriction counts special doctrines like Ecumenism and hidden doctrines like “unreformed.” This means you can reform a pagan religion without adjusting any tenets or doctrines, and you can create a faith that’s identical to Catholicism but can declare holy wars against all its neighbors.
Vassal Conversions In Crusader Kings 3
Whether you’re converting to an existing faith or creating a new one, you’ll need to consider what your vassals will do. While your close family will always convert, each vassal may or may not convert to your new faith based on a few factors. These include:
If you can afford to, try to verify all your important vassals are willing to give your new faith a try. Unless your new faith is Pluralist, vassals of different faiths are more likely to have a negative opinion of your ruler and join factions against them. You can still demand that your vassals convert later on, but doing so can be risky.
