i HATE these partition succession rules

[DrwHem]

the main reason i dont play this game more is because every time you die your damn kids undo all your hard work. of course getting to the point where i can change the law takes hundreds of years.
if i try to assassinate my extra children it takes sooo long that they end up having kids before its over and then im a kinslayer and murderer and everyone hates me and i STILL dont get my land back.
whats the most effective way to re-conquer your lands that wont leave you open to a bunch of scheming against you?

[brownacs]

Elective laws are one way, disinheriting's another, holy order vows, killing your kids as you mentioned (don't have to murder/execute them; sticking them in the dungeon usually kills them without getting you kinslayer if you've got a few years and there's always the glorious one knight charging into an army of 5000 but that's a bit rng dependent... you can also reform your religion so those things aren't sinful although that's a double-edged sword), your heir'll have a claim anyway so there's also the just fight to get it back option. If you've got the new DLC, admin government's pretty much mono heir from day 1 erm... if you're not playing ironman could just save when your wife's pregnant (/wives are) then reload if it's the 'wrong' gender. I'm sure I've forgotten one but those are the standard ways I think. Oh there are a few decisions, Roman Empire and Slavic Empire spring to mind, where you can combine multiple empire titles into one (although this is actually a bad thing in some ways with the new admin government systems). Apologies for the slightly fragmented formatting .

[Jean-Maurice Nya]

Feed them some duchy or kingdom, or give those inherited titles to others who'll remain your heir's vassals.

[Mansen]

So start at a later game date, where partition lost popularity - Or play in one of the cultures that allow for a voting system in 867.

Partition was the norm at the time.

[Rattay]

To be fair that kind of thing is historically accurate. There's a school of credible thought that we have so many countries in Europe 'because' of those kind of partitions in the past.

Find a culture with some kind of Elective knowledge and add the laws to your main duchy, ideally one you already own. Read some guides or something, you'll pick it up.

I wouldn't do it with it a full kingdom without some care and thought though. Scandinavian elective especially can turn on you as a tribal with a million relatives determined to ruin your run

[CrUsHeR]

That's just the meta of the game. Plan ahead and conquer, or don't plan and deal with the consequences later.

Only problem is how this changed compared to CK2.

In CK2, partition is called "Gavelkind" which gives you a flat +30% domain limit to compensate for future losses. So you can simply keep more titles because you lose some on succession.

But even worse is how CK3 insists on the title rank. Specifically, an heir needs to receive at least a Duchy rank title to be satisfied. Otherwise, you personal domain is getting sliced and diced until you only have your capital remaining.
While in CK2, you can simply give them any number of counties during your lifetime until you no longer lose titles on succession. Which also means you can permanently keep your own domain.


Lastly, it is absolutely annoying how Primogeniture in CK3 - the real, natural succession form of the middle ages - is artificially gated behind a time lock.

So first you need to play until the year 1200 which is the hard minimum. That's over 400 years if starting in 768.

Then you need to wait ~20 years for the late medieval era to unlock.

And only then you're finally allowed to actually research Primogeniture, another 10-40 or so years depending on your skill and development.

While in CK2, this is only restricted by Legalism tech points, which can for example be "stolen" from other realms to accelerate the process. And there are other means to speed up tech, like allowing a Merchant Republic in your realm.

[armyissue69]

Felt the same way....Until I learned more. Lots of suggestions listed above. I mean, ONCE I LEARNED to put a succession law on my primary duchy...damn, the game just opened up. Managing your Dynasty is what this game is ALL ABOUT.

Cheer UP BUD!! Good Luck

[Kublaioi]

Title succession laws are the best and only permanent fix. You need nothing else.

If you're playing as a Clan government that's even better, as you can get Harmonious Succession and basically get high partition early.

[Razorblade]

Partition is pretty easy to deal with. If you only have the land required for one top-tier title, then your siblings will become vassals, which can be pacified through alliances, friendship, and/or handing out some duchies/kingdoms so you have less direct vassals to deal with. If they happen to secede, then a quick war with your vastly superior Men-At-Arms will win you the title back.

You really only run into an issue once you have enough land for two empires and are still on Confederate Partition. At that point, you may not be able to take back your title before your weak sibling gets the title destroyed by a Dissolution Faction.

Tbh, your real issue is likely a lack of Men-At-Arms, and/or not using delegation and alliances to properly pacify your vassals. If your armies are strong, and your vassals are well managed, succession type is largely irrelevant. Mechanics like Disinheriting and Elective Succession tend to be noob traps that slightly delay having to learn how to actually engage with the game's core systems, and set you up for failure when you have to deal with a bigger crisis than "my starting ruler died."

[Bordric]

I just take it back from them, they are weak when they take the land. I can't think of a reason why you would not have a strong pressed claim (unless someone corrects me). Otherwise I go on a disinherit crazy when I get old and don't care if people are mad I don't have high legit.

[AceRattman]

There are many answers to the whole succession thing. of course single-heir inheritance is far away in the innovation tree.

Catholicism or other religions with monasticism can turn their heirs into monks who will not inherit. this is my favorite because its not very costly to do.

You can use renown and prestige to disinherit your heir, which not only invalidates them from succession, it also invalidates their kids from it. I don't like this one because its expensive and sort of a last resort.

You can also do certain strategies to control how many kids you have, such as marrying a woman who is on the verge of infertility, or otherwise not marrying till your character is older.

death by boat lol

personally I have no issue with just reclaiming titles if I have to through war. co-heirs are weak after succession, they don't have MAA and are not likely to have a lot of gold. I know how frustrating it can be to grind towards empire and dying, then having your children split into multiple kingdoms but honestly after playing for a while its not that bad.

if you want to avoid the whole thing entirely just play clans and keep good house harmony, or Admin government who entirely avoids that issue. there are also mods which make the whole thing obsolete

[TiberiusGaben]

step 1 start as an adventurer. step 2 get rich. step 3 build a horde. step 4 kingdom . youll have over men at arms capacity for your units my kingdom can have 4/4 but all mine are 7/4 . so its a pretty nice army 3.5k with some mercs u can conquer your cousin no problem

[DrwHem]

is it saving the seed on reload? ive reloaded the game at least 8 times in a row and i keep getting a son instead of daughter.

[brownacs]

Originally posted by DrwHem:

is it saving the seed on reload? ive reloaded the game at least 8 times in a row and i keep getting a son instead of daughter.

The seeding in this game's a bit weird. Children are a couple of weeks ish from personal experimentation. Is the name changing (or the appearance or the traits... in other words, is anything changing?)? If so, you're just getting unlucky and it's not the same seed.

[Rostan]

Originally posted by Mansen:

So start at a later game date, where partition lost popularity - Or play in one of the cultures that allow for a voting system in 867.

Partition was the norm at the time.

It was not. It was mainly a thing in Western Europe.

[Zorrito_Zam]

1500 prestige and use feudal elective. I usually implement this when I have a grandson or very young son whom I want to be the heir. Ive had more than 10 sons and never lost any land unless I died unexpectedly. Just using Feudal, Scandinavian electives on key Kingdoms and the duchies I want to keep forever.