Basics and conversion costs in Crusader Kings 3
There are a few different ways to access the faith conversion screen.
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Select the Religions view (R on the PC keyboard). Next, select a faith on the map that your ruler does not follow. This will open the Faith description panel and at the bottom there is a “Convert to Faith” button.
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Select a ruler who follows a different faith. Then click on his faith symbol or name.
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In the description panel for any religion, click “Other Religions.” This button is just below the Fervor of Faith index. Next, uncheck the “Only X religions” box in the new menu. This new menu lists all the religions in the game and you can sort them by number of counties, current fervor, religious family, or alphabetically. That said, this is a long list and it can be difficult to find a specific faith if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Once you have selected your new faith, you will need to pay a certain amount of Piety to convert. This cost can be less than 1000 or more than 100,000, depending on some factors.
First, the new faith demands a specific base cost based on how different the tenants and doctrines are from their ruler’s current faith. For example, if witchcraft is a crime for your current faith, your new faith will add no additional cost if it also considers witchcraft a crime, a small cost if you avoid witches, or a large cost if you accept witches. This means that it is much cheaper to change to a similar faith than to a very different one.
Next, Crusader Kings 3 applies some modifiers that change the total cost by a percentage. Each modifier changes the number independently, so two -50 percent modifiers halve the cost twice, instead of reducing the cost by 100 percent.
|
Modifier |
Percentage |
|---|---|
|
The ruler’s learning |
-1 per point |
|
The current faith has a pluralistic doctrine |
-15 |
|
Ruler directly controls Wiltshire (and the unique building of Stonehenge) |
-20 |
|
The ruler is cynical |
-20 |
|
The current faith and the goal have a pluralistic doctrine |
-25 (replaces -15 modifier) |
|
The ruler’s concubine follows the objective faith |
-25 |
|
Faith objective exists in at least one county |
-35 |
|
The target faith exists in at least one county and belongs to the same religion as the current faith. |
-50 (replaces -35 modifier) |
|
The ruler’s wife follows her objective faith |
-50 |
|
The attacker in a holy war follows the faith of the target |
-50 |
|
The ruler’s dynasty has at least 3 adventuring legacies. |
-50 |
|
The ruler has the “Apostate” learning lifestyle benefit |
-75 |
|
The target faith is within or adjacent to your realm. |
-90 |
|
The ruler’s faith has not been reformed and the target’s faith is organized. |
-90 |
|
The ruler’s faith is unreformed pagan and the concubine’s faith is organized. |
-90 (replaces -25 modifier) |
|
The ruler’s faith is unreformed pagan and the spouse’s faith is organized. |
-90 (replaces -50 modifier) |
|
The faith of the ruler has not been reformed and the attacker in a holy war follows the faith of the target |
-90 (replaces -50 modifier) |
|
The ruler is jealous |
+20 |
|
The ruler controls the government of a clan and is converting to an unreformed faith. |
+25 |
|
The ruler controls a feudal government and is converting to an unreformed faith. |
+50 |
|
The target faith belongs to a different religion in the same family as the ruler’s faith. |
+100 |
|
The target faith belongs to a different religious family than the ruler’s faith |
+200 |
|
The objective faith has not been reformed, while the ruler’s faith is organized. |
+500 |
|
The objective faith is not present in any county and no ruler follows it |
+500 |
What all this means is that Norse pagans only have to pay a token amount of piety to convert to Catholicism, while Catholic rulers will need impossible amounts of piety if they want to convert back to Greco-Roman paganism.
New religions and reforms in Crusader Kings 3
Instead of converting to an existing faith, you have the option of creating an entirely new one, one that has exactly the doctrines and principles you want. However, you will need to meet some requirements for this creation to work.
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Your ruler must be at peace.
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Your ruler must be an adult, although you can create a new faith during an established rulership.
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Your ruler must be independent, a vassal duke or vassal king.
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No ruler can create a new faith more than once.
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If your current faith has not been reformed, your kingdom must control three of your faith’s sacred sites, and the direct ruler of each site must follow your faith.
Creating a new faith is always costly in terms of Piety, even if you do not change any doctrine or principles. You also don’t get as many discounts as you do for conversions, but there are a couple of ways to reduce the cost.
Your new faith automatically maintains the holy places, virtues, and sins of your current faith, and you cannot change them during the reform process. It will also lose special doctrines such as ecumenism, which are shared by major Christian religions such as Catholicism and Orthodoxy. You can change most of the doctrines of your new faith and all of its principles, but the more changes you make, the more mercy you will have to pay.
One thing you cannot do is create a faith that has doctrines and principles identical to those of an existing religion in the same religion. However, this restriction counts special doctrines such as ecumenism and occult doctrines as “unreformed.” This means that you can reform a pagan religion without adjusting any principles or doctrines, and you can create a faith that is identical to Catholicism but can wage holy wars against all of its neighbors.
Vassal Conversions in Crusader Kings 3
Whether you are converting to an existing faith or creating a new one, you will need to consider what your vassals will do. While his immediate family will always convert, each vassal may or may not convert to his new faith depending on a few factors. These include:
If you can afford it, try to make sure that all your important vassals are willing to test your new faith. Unless your new faith is pluralistic, vassals of different faiths are more likely to have a negative opinion of your ruler and join factions against him. You can still demand that your vassals convert later, but doing so can be risky.