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Crusader Kings II: Way of Life will let you break up with your medieval lover on December 16th

Crusader Kings II: Way of Life release date

The scant amount of free time I’ll have this Christmas will be spent chipping away at my infinite backlog, so of course there’s a new Crusader Kings II expansion coming out, diverting my attention with medieval intrigue and conquest. 

Way of Life is Crusader Kings’ ninth expansion, and this one’s all about roleplaying. Like a Christmas bird, Paradox’s grand strategy romp is getting filled with new events that will help to define your dynasty. And it’s due out on December 16th.

Rulers in Crusader Kings are ambitious men and women, and those ambitions can be anything from spawning an heir to becoming the king or queen. Way of Life expands on this by adding focuses, things that sit somewhere between ambitions and traits which will confer immediate boosts to skills, while nudging them down a particular path.

Here’s the list of focuses:

  • Rulership – Be a better king!
  • Business – Gold is good
  • Hunting – Kill the beast!
  • War – What’s yours is mine
  • Family – the most important thing, right?
  • Carousing – ahem
  • Seduction – double ahem
  • Intrigue – sneaky, sneak
  • Scholarship – We love to learn
  • Theology – Do it for the big guy upstairs

New diplomatic and personal interactions will appear with the expansion too. No more will you have to murder lovers to get rid of them, and finally you’ll be able to challenge that smug minister to a duel.

Topping it all off are hundreds of new events, including specific ones that tie into a character’s focus.

Looks like it’s time to start that Byzantine game I’ve been contemplating.