What are the odds of some "odd man" starts?

[Reverend Belial]

My favorite dynasty to play in CK2, by a rather considerable margin, were the Zunbils. Not only did they provide an interesting challenge by being sandwiched between the most terrifying tag on the map on one side (the Abbasids) and a fairly monolithic, and thus prone to cooperation, culture on the other (India, who in my experience tended to band together with all but their biggest rivals when someone came knocking on their doorstep), but they gave the experience of being one of the few truly unique (albeit not particularly fleshed out) groups on the map.

I loved the experience of taking this small, isolated, beleaguered group and turning them into a superpower by slowly chipping away at my neighbors until I could hold my own in proper wars. No real allies, usually no places to fall back to if a war went wrong, just a straight "make or break" reshaping of history.

I know it's incredibly early in CK3's development and we've only had the bare minimum of reveals so far, but I hope there will be some interesting little isolates in the hinterlands of the world that provide a similar experience to the Zunists.

 

[Torngasuk]

They'll exist, but unfortunately there will likely be fewer of them, now that we're limited to predefined starting scenarios and no longer able to choose any date between them.

 

[Despotism]

Well there were plenty of interesting 867 start dates in CK2 (which has been confirmed to be in CK3), and I don't think they will remove them, and secondly, I think Zunists might be in 867, because historically I think some Zunists were still around (though not for much longer), and they were probably not added so that Zunists could be exclusive to the Charlemagne DLC, so they are still a possibility.

 

[Reverend Belial]

Well there were plenty of interesting 867 start dates in CK2 (which has been confirmed to be in CK3), and I don't think they will remove them, and secondly, I think Zunists might be in 867, because historically I think some Zunists were still around (though not for much longer), and they were probably not added so that Zunists could be exclusive to the Charlemagne DLC, so they are still a possibility.

If the actual Zunists themselves make a return, I'll be completely satisfied frankly.

 

[mrinku]

The Zunbils were conquered around the same time as the 867 start, so their populace would still be followers even if the rulers are Moslem. Wikipedia says the last Zunbil ruler was killed in 865, with the Saffarid conquest completed in 870 (dates may vary by source, though). It would be reasonable for Zunist courtiers to be around as well on that start date.

I'd expect Zunism to still feature in CK3. And from a choice of start date viewpoint, 867 is about the last practical date anyway.

 

[Ezumiyr]

I hope Zunbils aren't in CK3 as they are portrayed in CK2. There isn't a good justification for their existence as an original religion - or if you consider there is, then we need a lot of other obscure religions and people in the game.
Which doesn't mean that there aren't other odd starts, or even that Zunbils aren't one of them. I just hope that they make more sense historically. In CK3 they could just be a Hindu heresy (which is close enough to what they were).