Ada Plays

edit: the mod is now out! Find it on the Steam workshop or Paradox mods.

I have been working on a little event mod for CK3 for awhile now, and I’m nearing the end. My goal has primarily been to get comfortable with event scripting and practice a little bit of writing.

My character had the Paranoid trait, and it occurred to me that a paranoid character would see a pattern here. The truth is my wife likely had some nasty blood in her past. Wouldn’t it be more interesting if my character came up with a paranoid theory about scaly people holding some secret power? Scaly people… like, lizards?

A note on the history: while I did my best to be accurate about the actual medical knowledge component, the paranoia chain is completely fabricated. I originally thought of creating a conspiracy theory cult, similar to how witchcraft is modeled in the game, but I felt this would be too inaccurate. Conspiracies in the period that we have some knowledge of seem to be closely related to religion and the occult, especially demons, and calling them “conspiracies” seems a bit anachronistic.

There are however numerous stories of paranoid rulers – Basil I is one I know well, but one more commonly known is King Charles VI. This event chain is modeled on these kinds of individuals who, whether because of head injuries, mental illness, or incest a core personality trait, come to see the world differently than it is.

The event is triggered on the birth of a scaly child. If your ruler is paranoid, you will have an extra option leading to the paranoia story chain. For everyone else, there are a few different options one can pursue to investigate the illness.

Seeking a priest is the simplest choice and, in exchange, gives simple outcomes. Beware the whims of the Most High. Investigating the library has varying success levels based on the character’s own education. Each book has a “difficulty level” and reading progression. A low-learning individual may not want to try at all.

The real joy is in the paranoia chain. I wanted players to be able to decide how their character would think about their scaly newborn. Would they think it was a sign of blessed power? Or a sign of demonic infiltration? How might they act on these thoughts they have, and what would be the reactions of the sane individuals around them? There is some element of chance in nearly all outcomes, but I also wanted the individual character to impact the event in some way. Higher diplomacy makes their stories more believable, while higher intrigue adds to their unpredictable reputation.

It’s a small chain that I hope carries some humor and some utility. I recognize it’s rarely going to trigger since having scaly children is uncommon on its own; doing so as a paranoid character even more so. Still, I have found joy in creating it, and I hope that to the few who experience it, they find a similar pleasure. I’ll post again when it’s up on the workshop!