A Dynasty represents an unbroken family line. Each Dynasty is made up of multiple Houses working together (theoretically) towards bringing renown upon the Dynasty.
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 Dynasty members that 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, coat of arms and motto, usually inspired by the location in which they are founded and the founding character
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 conversion of a House member and the member refuses it will result in the creation of a new Cadet Branch.
House Head
The House Head is the leader of a House. House Heads have the power to legitimize bastards, call House members to war and demand that they convert to their Faith. In addition House Heads will get a Hook on all newly born House members and passive Prestige based on the number of members in the House.
The most powerful House Head of a Dynasty will always become the Dynast upon the death of the current one. The Dynast can disinherit and restore the inheritance of Dynasty members, Denounce and Forgive members of the Dynasty, personally claim titles held by Dynasty members and force members of the Dynasty to end all wars against each other. The Dynast also gains Prestige for every living member of the Dynasty.
When character who creates a Cadet Branch becomes its House Head, becoming free from the direct influence of their old House Head unless he or she was the Dynast.
Renown
Renown is a resource accumulated by a Dynasty, and is used for several things. Firstly, all renown earned by a Dynasty counts towards its Level of Splendor, which determines how well the Dynasty is perceived in the eyes of the world, how much Prestige characters get from being born or marrying into it and the maximum long reign Opinion characters can get. Having a high level also makes it much easier to arrange marriages, especially with Dynasties below your level. Regardless of if Renown is spent or not, the Level of Splendor won’t decrease. The higher your Dynasty’s Level of Splendor, the more impressive its Coat of Arms frame will look. Peasant Dynasties will start at a negative Splendor level, which means that you’ll actually lose prestige for marrying them.
Renown itself is a spendable currency, representing the clout your Dynasty holds over itself. Its use is twofold; firstly it can be used for the most powerful Dynast interactions (getting claims, disinheriting, etc.) and secondly for unlocking Dynasty Legacies (more on this below).
The way you get Renown encourages you to mimic a ‘playstyle’ that was common in reality, but that wasn’t very practical in CK2 - spreading your Dynasty far and wide! You will gain renown for every ruler of your Dynasty that isn’t a subject under another member of your Dynasty. This is based on tier, which means that a King will give more Renown than a Duke, and so on. Marrying in such a way that your Dynasty ends up on the throne of a foreign realm is therefore useful for other reasons than to just murder them until you inherit their lands. Having your Dynasty spread out will give you more Renown, and thus a more powerful Dynasty overall. For example, if you’re playing as the King of England you will NOT gain renown from your landed vassal brother, but you WILL gain renown from your Dynastic cousin ruling a Duchy in the Holy Roman Empire. You will also gain renown from marrying away your dynasty to be spouses of powerful rulers, symbolizing your newfound influence in their realms. This gives you a reason to carefully plan the marriages of your kinsmen, even if you are not in need of an alliance!
[en:Dynasty]]