A Dynasty represents an unbroken Noble line descending from the same Landed character who founded the Dynasty. Each Dynasty is made up of multiple Houses working towards bringing Renown upon the Dynasty. A Dynasty can be renamed by the Dynasty Head at any point.
Houses
Each Dynasty will have a Founding House, usually of the same name as the Dynasty, which is the first House of that Dynasty. Ruling members of a Dynasty, with Feudal or Clan Government who are distant by blood to the current House Head may choose to create a Cadet Branch, a new House under the Dynasty. Each House has its own name and motto, usually inspired by the location in which they are founded and the founding character, which can be changed at will by the House Head. They will also have a unique coat of arms that has two quarters copied from the Dynasty coat of arms.
Creating a Cadet Branch has the following requirements:
- The character must be blood-related to their current House Head
- The character must not stand to inherit any of their current House Head's titles
- The character must have sufficient Prestige
- All ancestors of the character are dead
If a House Head demands the religious conversion of a House member and the member refuses, it will result in the creation of a new Cadet Branch.
Each character born from a Marriage will belong to the father's House unless the marriage is Matrilineal.
House Head
The House Head is the leader of a House. House Heads have the power to legitimize bastards, call House members to war at no cost and demand that they convert to their Faith. In addition, House Heads will get a Weak Hook on all newly born House members and monthly prestige from living and landed members of their house. If a faith has the Must be approved doctrine for divorces but no head of faith, the House Head must approve of divorces.
When a character creates a Cadet Branch, they become its House Head, and free from the direct influence of their old House Head unless he or she was the Dynasty Head.
When a House Head dies, their Primary Heir becomes the next House Head. One exception: The house head at the start of the game is determined differently. If the founder of the house is still alive, the founder will always be the house head. If the founder is not alive, then the house head at game start will be the house member with the largest realm size. This is why Ludwig II is the Karling house head in 867, even though he is not the oldest male child.
Dynasty Head
The most powerful House Head of a Dynasty (as determined by military strength) will be the Dynasty Head. If another House Head becomes 10% stronger than the current Dynasty Head it will take its place. The Dynasty Head gains Monthly Prestige from living and landed members of their Dynasty. The Dynasty Head has access to the following interactions with dynasty members of the same faith:
If the first Adventure Dynasty Legacy has been unlocked Dynasty Heads will also gain the Send to the Varangian Guard interaction. Using it costs 350 Prestige, sends an unlanded and unmarried Dynasty Member to the court of the Byzantine Empire and gives them the Varangian trait. The interaction is not limited to Diplomatic Range but is not available if the Dynasty Head's faith has the Pacifism tenet, the Dynasty Head is at war or truce with the Byzantine Empire or the Byzantine Empire title was destroyed.
Renown
Renown is a resource accumulated by a Dynasty and is used for the most powerful Dynasty Head interactions, unlocking Dynasty Legacies and increasing a Dynasty's level of Splendor. Each living Dynasty member will add Renown to the Dynasty, and Prestige to its Dynasty Head and House Head. Renown can also be gained by marrying to a Ruler of a different Dynasty.
Title rank | Renown | Dynasty Head Prestige | House Head Prestige | Marriage Renown |
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None (stacks with title bonuses) | +0.02 | +0.01 | +0.02 | 0 |
Baron | +0.12 | +0.01 | +0.02 | +0.1 |
Count | +0.25 | +0.02 | +0.04 | +0.2 |
Duke | +0.5 | +0.03 | +0.06 | +0.4 |
King | +1 | +0.04 | +0.08 | +0.8 |
Emperor | +2 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +1.6 |
Renown gain is capped at +2 for total non-ruler house members (100 members). Dynasty Head Prestige gain is capped at +3. House Head Prestige gain is capped at +5. Rulers will not add Renown to their Dynasty if any Liege is a member of the same Dynasty.
Level of Splendor
Firstly, all renown earned by a Dynasty counts towards its Level of Splendor, which determines how well-known the Dynasty is in the eyes of the world, how much Prestige characters get from being born or marrying into it, the maximum long reign Opinion characters can get and how decorated the Dynasty's coat of arms will be. Having a high level also makes it much easier to arrange marriages, especially with Dynasties with a Lower Level of Splendor. The Level of Splendor will only decrease if a player character attempts suicide. Peasant Dynasties start at Base Origins.
Dynasty legacies
Dynasty Legacies are permanent modifiers and unlocks that can be unlocked by the Dynasty Head and affect every member of a dynasty. Each Legacy contains five unlocks. If an AI character becomes Dynasty Head it will only unlock Legacies belonging to an already started but not yet completed tree or in case none of these exist, start a new Legacy Tree. The tree picked is random though and cannot be influenced by character action. If the AI selects Architected Ancestry a random trait will be chosen. (Besides investigating children, there is no way to figure out the selected trait).
The first Dynasty Legacy costs 250 Renown to unlock and each one afterwards costs 500 more than the previous one.
Tree | Legacy 1 effects | Legacy 2 effects | Legacy 3 effects | Legacy 4 effects | Legacy 5 effects |
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Warfare |
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+1 Max number of Men-at-Arms Regiments Can recruit House Guard Men-at-Arms |
Law |
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Guile |
+20% Dread Gain
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Blood |
+30% Chance to inherit positive traits +30% Chance of new good congenital traits |
+30% Chance to reinforce congenital traits | -30% Chance to inherit negative traits -30% Chance of new bad congenital traits |
+5 Years Life Expectancy | |
Erudition |
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+10% Monthly piety
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+10% Effectiveness of Councilor Tasks |
Glory |
+30 Marriage Acceptance |
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Kin |
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Customs
If the Royal Court DLC is installed all dynasties will have access to the Customs legacy tree as well.
Norse legacies
If the Northern Lords DLC is installed dynasties whose Dynasty Head belongs to Norse culture have two additional legacy trees available. Once its first Legacy of a tree has been unlocked its tree will remain available regardless of the Dynasty Head's culture.