Paradox Interactive recently announced the upcoming DLC for Crusader Kings 3, which will bear the grand title of Tours & Tournaments. This role-play-focused expansion pack promises to deliver the color and culture of the real Middle Ages with the addition of tournaments, itinerant courts, lavish weddings, and much more.
Real medieval people loved to show off at every opportunity and those with the money to back up their ambition would go to great lengths to throw spectacle after spectacle. People also traveled for a multitude of reasons, sometimes out of necessity, but often for pleasure. Tours & Tournaments aims to capture all of this and make Crusader Kings 3 the most fun it has ever been.
1 Grand Weddings & Bloody Weddings
Choosing the right spouse and getting married is a big deal in Crusader Kings 3. Marriage alliances can be crucial for securing the support of unruly vassals or for gaining allies in times of war. Alternatively, players can elect to arrange marriages with spouses who possess certain desirable traits, that will hopefully be inherited by any resulting offspring of the union. However, as important as marriage is, the weddings themselves are pretty much non-existent in the game, especially in contrast to the grandiose events they could be in the Middle Ages. With the introduction of the Tours & Tournaments DLC, weddings are finally receiving the love they deserve.
With Grand Weddings, players will be able to show off their wealth and impress everyone, including families above their station that they wish to marry into. Furthermore, each wedding ceremony will present ample opportunity for diplomatic affairs, both friendly and hostile. Players will even be able to recreate their own "Red Wedding" with the Bloody Wedding option, which will be perfect for the upcoming A Game of Thrones mod, which promises to be one of the best total conversion mods for Crusader Kings 3.
2 Regents
Regents played an essential role in Crusader Kings 2 and in the real Middle Ages too, ruling in the place of those too young to govern or those currently away from their lands. Thankfully in the free update that accompanies the release of Tours & Tournaments, regents will be added to Crusader Kings 3.
As players will be spending more and more time away from their realm, fighting in foreign tournaments or strengthening their faith on longer pilgrimages, the addition of regents makes perfect sense. As rulers, players will need to make sure they leave behind regents they can trust, but when playing as a vassal they will have their own chance to sow chaos in the absence of their liege.
3 Grand Tours
In contrast to popular belief, medieval rulers rarely had one castle or demesne that they would stay in. Instead, they would move between their different estates and often undertake tours of their lands and vassals. With the introduction of the Tours & Tournaments DLC, players will be able to do all of this and more in Crusader Kings 3.
The first thing players will have to do before setting out on their Grand Tour is decide which route they will take and who they will take with them. While taking those they wish to curry favor with would be ideal, sometimes keeping enemies closer will prove to be the smarter choice. Tours present the perfect opportunity to conduct more personal diplomatic affairs with individual vassals and perhaps make sure they cough up their taxes. Other activities such as hunts, feasts, and pilgrimages will also be gaining much-needed updates with this expansion pack.
4 Armor Through The Ages
While the armor and clothing options within Crusader Kings 3 are great at the start of the game, matching the start dates of 867 and 1066, these styles soon come outdated as players progress through the centuries. Thankfully, the Tours & Tournaments DLC aims to fix this by having armor and outfits evolve throughout the course of the game.
Not only will later medieval styles be added to the game, but characters will now be able to proudly wear their coat of arms on surcoats. All of these aesthetic improvements will be better showcased in a new expanded Barbershop screen that provides players with even more customization for their characters.
5 Tournaments
As the title of the DLC suggests, tournaments will take center stage in Tours & Tournaments, just as they did in the medieval world. Tournaments were a riot of color in the Middle Ages and involved grandiose processions, music and dance, and even costumes for the combatants who might take on the role of characters.
With this new expansion pack, Crusader Kings 3 players will be able to host their own tournaments, boosting their own prestige and providing entertainment for the masses. Competing in tournaments will not only give players the chance to prove their prowess in the joust but in other contests too, some more cerebral than others. Each tournament will also present the perfect opportunity to pursue other goals through intrigue, from dispatching foes to winning the heart of a particular love interest.
Crusader Kings 3 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.