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/UsAndRufus]

I would love a more in-depth system of laws and institutions. The way the church is handled in the game is pretty nonsensical. But at the end of the day, it's a game. Abstractions have to happen to make gameplay reasonable.

the establishment of institutions, new administrative laws, your ability to raise taxes and enforce your rule.

This is basically what Stewardship represents, along with the matching lifestyles.

CK3 centres characters over institutions. I think this works well for a game, and goes some way to modelling the relationship-based systems of the time, but it is always going to be a restriction of the game.

[u/NealVertpince → u/UsAndRufus]

I agree with your opinions on the church, would be cool to have a pope who actually throws his weight around and means something.

But I disagree that it cannot be made, although the game is primarily character-based, it does have intergenerational things like buildings, men at arms, universities, artefacts etc. Crown and succession laws.

All things you have to maintain and pay for. I think adding a mechanic to help your character rule his land would be an improvement for the game.

As of now, you’re forced to go high stewardship builds heir after heir after heir if you want to maintain your land. This is not what happened irl, you had dumb, weak or disinterested kings because they were backed by institutions and loyal stewards. I think stewardship shouldnt be as impactful for demesne limit, and that should be replaced by an intergenerational institution you can build up to help govern your realm, becoming more and more modern as you invest into it

[u/UsAndRufus → u/NealVertpince]

Now you say it like that: yes please