If you thought things could get awkward and tense in Crusader Kings 3 then just wait for the arrival of its Friends And Foes pack on September 8th. There’s also the upcoming free Bastion update, which introduces memory maps for characters, the loyal and disloyal traits, and revamps childhood events. Have a watch of the trailer for Friends And Foes below, old buddy, old pal.
Friends And Foes adds more events to your ruler’s everyday existence, which devs Paradox say include “childhood, memories, nemeses, wrangling unruly sons, or wooing your significant other”. You can now become best mates with someone, and both good and bad memories will take on greater importance. These extend all the way back to childhood, with bullies and teenage romantic entanglements rearing their ugly heads.
If you don’t pick up the DLC then the base game will still be seeing some overhauls to accommodate memories and a revamp to childhood. The 1.7 Bastion update is being lined up to make tracking characters’ pasts way easier to manage, with a memory system and accompanying log of thought-nuggets to browse. Memories will fade over time, but others stick around.
“The new system allows us to make use of memories that a character has both to trigger content and to make use of in events,” Paradox say. “This means that you may now find memories used in content that previously had to be vague, an assassin might now actually cite a specific slight you committed against their employer, for instance.”
Other changes coming in Bastion are new icons that serve as clearer indicators of characters’ relationships with each other, and revamped childhood events. Twelve more childhood occurrences are being added in, which alter the possible personality trait combos and create some previously impossible ones. Paradox hope that’ll make playing as a guardian to sprogs more interesting. There’s also the new loyal and disloyal traits, which affect how likely characters are to cheat, join factions or start hatching plots against rulers. You can read all about the Bastion update in the latest Crusader Kings 3 dev diary here.
Nate reckoned that Crusader Kings 3 still felt fresh thanks to DLC and updates. ”For me, where Paradox has really nailed it with the DLC for CK3 so far, is by introducing complexity that isn’t just there for its own sake, or to obfuscate the immense, bird’s-beak-wearing-down-a-mountain processes at the game’s core,” he said. “It’s complexity that’s interesting in its own right.”
The Crusader Kings 3: Friends And Foes event pack invades Steam on September 8th. Just remember that DLC for the game is becoming twice as expensive as it used to be from September 13th.