It’s not ready to play just yet, but The Elder Kings 2 – a total conversion mod for Crusader Kings III set in the world of The Elder Scrolls – is already looking amazing. It’s a vast and complex mod that, like its predecessor, adds new systems to Paradox’s grand strategy game and overhauls the map. The result is pretty spectacular, especially if you’ve ever thought of ruling Skyrim as the high king.
The first thing you’ll likely notice is the brand new map, and it comes in both the close-in terrain variety and the zoomed-out paper map form. Both are gorgeous recreations of Nirn, and the mod team has been busily populating it with upgradeable landmarks and unique settlements. But The Elder Kings 2 is far more than just a new map for Crusader Kings III.
Religion played an important role in original Elder Kings mod for Crusader Kings II, and it’s only gotten more complex and important in the next version. Here you’ll not only be able to take on the patronage of one of the many aedra and daedra, you’ll also be able to create your own new pantheons of deities to serve your purposes.
YouTuber One Proud Bavarian shows off the latest progress in the video below.
Like religion, culture plays a pivotal role in The Elder Kings 2. As in Crusader Kings, spreading your culture prior to moving into an area is a good way to guard against rebellions, and the myriad cultures and cultural groups of Tamriel are all painstakingly modeled in The Elder Kings 2.
Correcting an issue with the original mod, the developers have introduced a new system called Nativity Regions – basically, you’ll be able to easily spread your culture to territories in your native region, but you’ll run into trouble trying to move outside your culture group. That means that if you’re playing a Breton ruler and you start moving into Hammerfell, you’ll be better off letting Redguard rulers remain in place.
There are even lore-based lost cultures to discover and potentially revive, given the right sets of circumstances. These you can use to help create claims on new territories, and so clever rulers will be on the lookout for ancient texts that harken back to lost tribes and clans.
Oh, right – you can also summon dragons; that is, provided you’re a member of the dragon cult.
It all looks extremely impressive, from the redesigned map to the sleek new spellbook. You can keep up with development of the mod by joining the Elder Kings Discord server and the browsing official thread over on the Paradox forums. We have a list of the best Crusader Kings 3 mods that should keep you busy until The Elder Kings 2 arrives.
