Over the course of Crusader Kings 2‘s life span, it clocked up an insane 15 expansions, each of which built upon the work of the vanilla game in different ways. Paradox games, particularly their grand strategy games (Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis), are renowned for their post-launch strategies, and Crusader Kings 3, a great game in its own right, has just started down that journey with the announcement of its first (likely of many) DLC packs, the Northern Lords Flavor Pack, coming March 16.
As the title suggests, the Northern Lords pack is a smaller-scale offering than a comparative expansion pack that will surely come later down the line. Aimed at making the northern kingdoms more distinct, and will include new music, art, character and infantry models, and events to help that part of the feuding world feel more alive. If you own the Crusader Kings 3 expansion pass, you’ll get access to the Northern Lords pack when it releases in a few days.
Accompanying this DLC is a free update. Paradox had previously been teasing version 1.3 for a little while, and this update will introduce winter weather as something that can influence your gameplay decisions. There will be three levels of winter harshness and the more intense the weather, the higher the toll on any armies caught in the blizzard – particularly on cavalry units. Also in the new update is a new dueling system that will make petty disputes more eventful, and a poetry generation system that expands on the “poet” trait in Crusader Kings 2, so you’ll be able to read all the wonderful poems your characters come up with come March.
Crusader Kings 3 is a really good iteration of the series, and we have a ton of guides up for it. As you can probably imagine, there’s a lot you can do with CK3‘s many systems – from forming a coven to the art of claim fabrication. Crusader Kings is a series famous for its unique ability to create some amazing narratives. What are some of your favorite stories? Leave a comment below.