CRUSADER KINGS III PART I

Yes, yes, I know, I know. Crusader Kings III is a game that practically begs you to be cruel, self-serving, and just generally evil. But I’m going to lean hard into the alternate history angle, and try to avoid falling over. What if, unlike the real medieval leaders, I really was a king that had everybody else’s best interests at heart? Was all that aggression and backstabbing really necessary in the grand scheme of things? Can’t we all just get along?

I decide to jump into the Anglo-Saxon shoes of King Harold II. Taking stock of my situation, I realize that I haven’t exactly made things easy for myself. I’m already at war with both King Harald IV, and Duke William II ‘the Bastard’. In terms of family, my parents had eight children including me, because Netflix hasn’t been invented yet. My brother Tostig hates me so much that he’s my nemesis. He’s clearly far beyond my powers of persuasion, which makes me very sad.

My mother, I’m shocked to find, has a slightly negative opinion of me. I don’t have this problem with my dad, although this is, admittedly, because he’s