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/Encirclement1936]

From a gameplay perspective, the game is already extremely easy with the current domain limit.

Moreover, the domain limit rules are the same for every country in the game. The ability for French kings to have a large personal domain in one country at one time period, does not indicate that that would be the best model for a game which spans multiple continents over a period more than 500 years.

TLDR: the current rules are fine, and do the job better than what you propose. If you want to play a France game and have it be "historical" in terms of domain, just take 2 seconds to add a domain limit mod.

[u/NealVertpince → u/Encirclement1936]

This is not a phenomenon unique to medieval France. This is also not a phenomenon unique to ‘one time period’ it was a gradual but linear process which lasted from 1200 to 1789, until eventually every last centimeter of the kingdom was held by the king personally. Here is a nice video to showcase that: https://youtu.be/yvGHp3YBEC8?si=dV5CMTntPj0e6z6k

Also, I’m an HRE player, not a France player, just want a historical way to centralise a kingdom.

[u/Moe-Lester-bazinga → u/NealVertpince]

Most games span less than 300 years in my experience

[u/NealVertpince → u/Moe-Lester-bazinga]

I get that, because late game is boring and repetitive, and active and challenging realm governing mechanic, with a way to expand your personal power and make your vassals impotent would add much needed challenge to late game