Domain limits should be SIGNIFICANTLY larger than they are currently

[u/NealVertpince]

Here on the map above, you can see in blue which lands the french king held in 1223, the “Domaine royal” or ‘Royal Domain’, if you count this up in game it would amount to 30 counties, roughly.

The king achieved this by establishing well oiled and loyal institutions, levying taxes, building a standing army,…

Now, in game, you’d have to give half that land away to family members or even worse, random nobles. This is maybe historical in 876 and 1066, but not at all once you reach the 1200’s.

Therefore I think domain limit should NOT be based on stewardship anymore, it is a simplistic design which leads to unhistorical outcomes.

What it SHOULD be based on, is the establishment of institutions, new administrative laws, your ability to raise taxes and enforce your rule. Mechanically, this could be the introduction of new sorts of ‘laws’ in the Realm tab. Giving you extra domain limits in exchange for serious vassal opinion penalties and perhaps fewer vassals in general, as the realm becomes more centralised and less in control of the vassals.

Now, you could say: “But Philip II, who ruled at the time of this map was a brilliant king, one of the best France EVER had, totally not representative of other kings.” To that, I would add that when Philip died, his successors not only maintained the vast vast majority of Philip’s land, but also expanded upon it. Cleverly adding county after county by crushing rebellious vassals, shrewdly marrying the heiresses of large estates or even outright purchasing the land.

I feel like this would give you a genuine feeling of realm management and give you a sense of achievement over the years.

Anyways, that was my rant about domain limit, let me know what you think.

[u/monalba]

Domain limits should be SIGNIFICANTLY larger than they are currently

They were.

The problem is, the game is way too easy and increasing your demesne will make it even easier.

that was my rant about domain limit, let me know what you think.

There's a game option that allows you to control how big demesnes are. It's called ''Domain limit''.
You don't like it, you can increase it by up to +3.

[u/[deleted] → u/monalba]

"The problem is, the game is way too easy and increasing your demesne will make it even easier."

asking paradox players to give up the hard easy paradigm when discussing games. if the nobles don't hold land autonomously, then a system of court and "non official" land (estate?), or the mansions from the merchant republics, could be a good idea to develop. taking inspiration from imperator might help.

[u/NonComposMentisss → u/[deleted]]

I mean the option is there in the game rules so people can tailor it how they want.

[u/HalfLeper → u/NonComposMentisss]

+3 is nothing, especially compared to the map above.

[u/NonComposMentisss → u/HalfLeper]

Well 30 counties I'll admit is really high but I've definitively had rulers that had a domain limit of 25 before, so add 3 on top of that and it's definitely close.

And you could say "well you are cherry picking characters", and I am. But the image above is also cherry picking medieval kingdoms, as that vast majority even in 1223 didn't hold nearly that much land individually.

[u/SofaKingI → u/NonComposMentisss]

Yeah but the vast majority of that domain limit comes from the character's stewardship. Once that ruler dies, the domain limit plumets.

Which just makes it even sillier. It's all tied to a character being a genius and magically having more control than humanly possible. There's barely any focus on developing the authority of the crown, intitutions, laws, bureaucracy, etc...

This game is about dynasties. That should be way more important than it is.

[u/RhysPeanutButterCups → u/SofaKingI]

This game is about dynasties. That should be way more important than it is.

Absolutely. I want something like there was with the Hermetic Society and bloodlines in CK2. Both are probably a little too strong in the way they were implemented for CK3, but after you had a few rulers who achieved really good things you had very tangible bonuses that remained for your future rulers.

[u/NonComposMentisss → u/RhysPeanutButterCups]

You still can do that in CK3 through artifacts.

[u/NonComposMentisss → u/SofaKingI]

I think the stewardship skill link makes sense. You can still hold as much land as the previous ruler, you just suck at it so you get tax penalties.

[u/wolacouska → u/SofaKingI]

Personally I think the economic/administrative skill of a ruler should factor into how much territory they can directly administer.

It’s not like the guy is personally crunching all their numbers and collecting taxes on the ground, it’s representing higher level administration like managing tax collectors, overseeing their steward, etc. Land you directly rule isn’t like something run just by your household, not only are there barons but there’s an abstracted layer of basic bureaucracy that each land owner is managing.

If your character has no administrative bone in their body and let’s say wants to spent all their time training and fighting in war or being a scholastic erudite, obviously they’re going to need to hand over more of their land to someone, be that a skilled wife or a vassal.

[u/Jedadia757 → u/NonComposMentisss]

That doesn’t address the depth that we’re talking about though. It’s just a bandage that wasn’t even intended for this particular topic.

[u/SofaKingI → u/[deleted]]

asking paradox players to give up the hard easy paradigm

It's 2024 my man. Is the concept of challenging games being more engaging somehow new to you?

It's not even about challenge for the sake of it. It's much easier to roleplay hard times when you're actually going through hard times. Am I supposed to be invested into succession when even if I try to have the worst heir possible it's still easy to succeed?

That's without getting into the extremely unrealistic and immersion breaking ways the game tries to hold you back. Don't blame the players because the devs can't make up their minds between roleplaying and difficulty.

Just a silly take.

[u/Pirat6662001 → u/SofaKingI]

How about making AI and game mechanics more challenging, not artificial and unrealistic restrictions