I frequently aim my interests well above my capacity to realize them, which is evidenced by my occasional insistence on booting up Paradox games in series such as Europa Universalis, Victoria, or Crusader Kings. These “grand strategy” titles are UI-dense, feature-broad, and require not just an understanding of the game systems, but also a required mastery of the real-world conceits upon which the systems are based. A few years back I played through the tutorial to CKIII and somehow learned enough to be able to unite Ireland under my rule. Of course, this made CKIII my favorite grand strategy game because I thought I had a grip on all that it entails…I was so very, very wrong.

Thanks to this Steam Summer Sale, I picked up all of the DLC I was missing for Crusader Kings III which was probably not a good idea, but I did what I did. One of the packs, “Roads to Power”, flips the playbook of the standard gameplay: rather than a sitting regent, I play as a wanderer, a head of a camp of travelers who have no country to call home. I can move my camp around towns, countries, and regions, interacting with the local rulers and doing odd jobs such as settling border disputes or escorting luminaries to other locations.

Meanwhile, I have to manage my retinue by hiring and firing NPCs I meet along the way, and also dealing with their squabbles and situations. I still have the standard Crusader King things to do like arrange marriages, start and stop intrigue, and placate the petulant, but I no longer have to really worry about things like trade or raising levies to fight against my neighbors. The wort things I have to worry about are earning gold and acquiring food, both of which are difficult but straightforward most of the time.

In this current run, I am playing as Mistress Wallada, leader of the Thieves of Pleasure in the Iberian Peninsula. Wallada starts out in the twilight of her life, an old woman whose claim to fame is The Double-Moon Tome, a collection of epic poems which acts as an artifact, providing bonuses to several skills and situations.

Unfortunately, during the last session, age had finally caught up with Wallada…

When the game started, Wallada had no heir, and she wasn’t even married. At some point, though, she had the option to name Estefania — her daughter? — as heir. Apparently parthenogenesis is a feature of CKIII, because Wallada had never been married, and there were no intervening events that allowed her to give birth, never mind that she started the game at the maybe-possible-but-certainly-not-recommended birthing age of 66. Making matters weirder, Estefania was one of three possible children I could pick from. She was the best of the bunch, despite being *checks notes* a Catholic daughter of a Muslim parent. I wish I could have seen that conversation.

The good news is that Wallada lived long enough to see her granddaughter born.

Roads to Power is an interesting DLC, but most DLC for Crusader Kings III is trending in the “negative” range per the peanut gallery on Steam. A lot of people seem to be pissy about historical accuracy which…I mean, I guess is important to some people, but I am not some people; my scion spawned three children at age 66 by herself so I think the ship of accuracy had sailed. Unfortunately, the wandering camp system is set to become part of the base CKIII game at the end of 2026, taking most of the wind from the sails of the Roads to Power package. I had more DLC than I was missing for the game so I don’t regret completing the opus during this summer sale, but if you are intrigued by what seems to be an easier time in an otherwise dense but well regarded grand strategy game before then, this might be the DLC for you.

I suspect there’s something inherent in this game mode that I’m not getting, though, because “wandering around taking side quests” doesn’t seem to be meaty enough for a Paradox game.

There is, in fact, a “struggle” going on in the Iberian Peninsula. There are several phases to this, and each phase has two possible outcomes (AFAIK). Right now, the first phase “Opportunity”, can end in hostility or conciliation, and hostility is winning. I could help goose things towards conciliation, but a lot of the means to do so seem to be geared more towards sitting rulers than migrant superheroes. For example, I could contribute 25 points if I were to “release an involved ruler from prison without any request”. I have no prison, and no prisoners, so that option isn’t available. The best I can do is hand out gold to other involved parties, but…I kinda need that for my camp, so I’m not really sure how I’m meant to be participating in this aspect of the game.

Right now, then, my immediate goal is to figure out how Estefania will do as the head of the Thieves of Pleasure. He mother was very good in the “Learning” skill department before age and other conditions whittled her stats away. Estefania isn’t quite the chip off the old intellectual block if you get my drift, so she’ll need to find her own way in the world while also taking care of the followers.