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CK2 Dev Diary #34: Facts about Artifacts, Real talk about Relics

Hello all, it’s been a while, but it’s my turn to write a Dev Diary again! Today I’m going to tell you about the Treasury system we’re adding in 2.7. This system itself is part of the free patch. However, a lot of the content for it is part of Monks and Mystics.

The Treasury is where characters store their items, such as weapons, artifacts, or holy relics. In many ways items are much like Character Modifiers which you are likely already familiar with, but Character Modifiers are a fairly limited and not entirely clear system. With the new Treasury system we have greater control over how they work and when they are active as well as more UI space to display and explain them. Not only that, this system allows items to be inheritable and stealable.

We hope that seeing your character’s items as physical object rather than just a number on their character sheet will offer greater immersion, especially for player who like to focus on role-playing. Sure, in the past you could find a nice axe to increase your personal combat skill, but it was just another number - now you’ll see a gleaming axe, ready to hew the limbs from your foes!
artifacts_example_isolated.png

this is not quite final artwork, but it should be similar to what we end up with

As an example, say your Character has found the Holy Grail - you will now see the Grail in your Treasury with a picture and a description as well as the effects of owning it. Further, if some Norseman comes along and raids your castle, there’s a chance that he’ll make off with your precious Grail - however, since he’s not a Christian your most holy relic is nothing more than a fancy cup to him.

As mentioned, items are also inheritable, they all go to a character’s primary heir. In the event someone dies without an heir, the items will pass to their liege if they have one, but they have a chance of being lost in the process. If an independant character dies without heirs, their items are lost - although if time permits we have talked about them having a chance to be snapped up by powerful vassals.

For 2.7 we’re converting several character modifiers into items, such as the +1 axe you might find while raiding, the saint’s bones you might find on a pilgrimage, or the trophy you made from the skull of your rival. With Monks and Mystics we’re adding a lot more, such as:
  • Commissioning swords from skilled smiths.
  • Buying fabulous Crown Jewels.
  • Hunting for Holy Artifacts.
As well as the items you can find or make while playing, we have also added a system to place some Artifacts into character’s Treasuries when a new game is started. These are mostly placed at random to keep things interesting, but there are also a few historical artifacts given to famous characters.
Paradox_CK2_TreasureChamber_big_v02.jpg
 
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... but there are also a few historical artifacts given to famous characters.

Like Doomsday Book of William the Conqueror or unconfirmed Friedrich Barbarossa's Holy Lance? Cool...
 
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Nice! Some questions:

- Can you see the items of other characters? If so, can specific items be hidden (e.g. "Secret Cultist Knife of +2 Intrigue")?

- Can we see the stats given by specific items by mousing over them or a summary of item-given stats?

- Can we attempt to steal items with the Intrigue focus?

- What happens if you somehow get more than one copy of an item (e.g. if your heir already has one)? Can you decide what to do with the extra item (e.g. give it to your spare), or is it deleted automatically? Can you hold duplicates of some items (e.g. the crown jewels of the HRE and France)?


Some sillier questions:

- Are you sure you have the right Grail if it is a fancy cup? Shouldn't it be the cup of a simple carpenter...?

- With the Grail being discussed, can we get Excalibur from some strange woman lying around in a pond, or perhaps the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?
 
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The "masterwork sword" starts leaning in that direction.. in that case, really? Who is this master? Where did he come from? Why do I have his sword? Etc. Unless there is a back story, it risks being superficial.
I assume "masterwork" refers to the quality of craftmanship.
 
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"Any1 know where to find Legendary T3 Buddhist Monk set?"
"gg pdox this game is BROKEN (again!) why nerf T5 Turkic Raider?!"

I for one welcome this new addition and I gotta say its one of the things i least expected to see :)
 
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Cool idea! Two questions:
Is there a limit to how much stuff you can have in your treasury?
Can you sell your stuff?

Your Treasury is effectively limitless. It's not possible to sell items, although it's a good idea.

So were modifiers like the holy relic.:p

Also will character modifiers still exist?

Well true, but it was done on a case by case basis while items inherit by default :) Character modifiers will still exist, we're just replacing the suitable ones with items.

They always all go to the primary heir? Even with gavelkind? Because that would seem to eventually lead to a huge stacking of e.g. holy relics---especially if you get them more frequently than now. You can already end up with many of them as is.

They do. We can look into splitting them more if artifact pileup becomes a problem, but it might be more that the relic event needs tuned. The idea is they'll stay with the player as your characters die.

Can swords break or will you have it for all eternity (assuming nobody nicks it)?
And can you have as many as you like?
So they give any boni? Prestige perhaps?

Items don't break, although you could do so through events if desired. You can collect as many items as you like, but not everything stacks - e.g. you aren't a combat god just because you have 5 swords.

The best crown jewels can also reduce the short reign penalty.
 
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I hope there are some "dangerous" books we can collect too. Also, I hope those items are sellable and giftable to gain favor/opinion.
 
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Please put in the Ark of the Covenant. I'd like to know for sure exactly what's in it when I open the Ark....

"Keep your eyes shut"
 
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Very interesting feature to grow from. Great not just for flavour and bringing some modificators in a more suitable way but for social interaction, quests, research, espionage, religion...

So you're working on my most anticipated CKII expansion since... The Old Gods? It looks awesome.
 
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I see one problem with this... stat inflation. Unless losing artifacts happens as frequently as gaining them (I doubt it), after a few generations you'll be like 'Diplomacy: 8, +10 from artifacts', so character stats lose their relevance the further down the line you go. Also, this is a buff for dynastic systems (Republics get a shaft, or do the items pass to the next doge?).
 
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Hunting for Holy Artifacts.
Will there be only event chains, or will hunting be connected with other gameplay mechanics? I kinda hope for hunting artifacts Lelouch style ('If you need to find small secret society hideout somewhere in China, you should start with coup d'etat and pushing your marionette as new head of government of China').

Also
Sorry for offtopic, but I wanted to ask for some time.
Is there any chance for the series of dev diaries like 'Mechanics X: what we wanted to do, whaw we did, what we think about result, how would we do it in CK 3'? I often feel that some core mechanics is strange, either I don't understand the concept behind mechanics, or it doesn't work. It would be cool to confront my observations and guesses with official position of the team.
 
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Looks good. One thing I'm concerned about is being oversaturated with meaningless items. I hope that obtaining an item is considered an achievement rather than something expected. Quality over quantity and all that. The one other thing I'm worried about is the items being inheritable. I do like that idea, but wouldn't that effectively mean that the further into the game I go, thus the more objects my characters obtain, the larger the bonuses I stack up? I don't really like the idea of the game getting easier over time, even though I probably need any help I can get.
 
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A completely new system, well done Paradox!

By the way, Does it mean every religion will get its own holy relics(such as unreformed pagans)?
Will they influence religious authority?
 
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