Blood is thicker than water, they always say, and this is especially true in the world of Crusader Kings 3, as one's family, and dynasty, play crucial roles in a character's life. They can offer aid and support in a number of situations, though, most importantly, are potential playable characters.
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Think of one's dynasty and family members as extra lives. When the character the player is living through dies, which is inevitable, they will then begin playing as their heir. An heir does not necessarily have to be a child; they could be a sibling, cousin, or, if no Close Family (grandparents, parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) or Extended Family members (aunts, uncles, first cousins, nieces, and nephews) are available, more distant blood relatives still within the dynasty are options.
Through marriages and births, one's family and dynasty will ideally flourish. There are many mechanics tied to these aspects that determine who one can get married to and how much one's family will mean to a character.
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The first thing to consider is the value of a relationship and what the player means to others via the Opinion mechanic, which is how a ruler is perceived by others.
- Parent or Child: +50 Opinion
- Siblings or Grandparents: +25 Opinion
- Spouses: +25 Opinion
- Extended Family or Same Dynasty: +5 Opinion
The bonds that tie characters together is an immensely complex one with many variables, though, many benefits as well. Any character can be betrothed to another by various means, though only those 16 years of age and older can get married. Spouses (as well as consorts and concubines) can potentially create offspring with the player to produce a child heir as well as increase the size of the dynasty and gains some Prestige. Additionally, marriage is arguably the best way to form alliances with other nations, which is often very useful for both offensive land-taking and defense pacts against big threats.
To get married in CK3, one will have to send a proposal and have at least +1 in the marriage acceptance stat with that character or their guardian (for betrothals of characters under 16). There are many factors that can affect the marriage acceptance stat in varying degrees. They can be hard to remember, as there are many, so here they are for convenience.
- Strong hook: +200
- Weak hook: +100
- Promising Prospects Perk:+50 (self), +25 (family member)
- Spouse councilor: +50 (general), +75 (if heir)
- Player is AI's liege: +40 (general), +60 (marriage with liege)
- Dynasty Glory Perk: +30
- Marrying up: +30 (for each difference in title rank)
- Is the player's heir:+20 (primary heir), +10 (other heirs)
- Wishes well for Lovers: +15
- Unimportant courtier: +10
- Opinion: +0.25 per opinion with a prospective spouse, +0.75 per opinion with marriage offerer
- Prospective spouses are in love and AI has a compassion stat greater than zero: +0.25 per AI compassion
- Candidate's Level of Splendor: +the Level of Splendor
- Age of recipient: +(Recipient age - 20)
- Desires alliance: Situational
- Incorrect marriage (patrilineal/matrilineal): Situational
- Age Considerations: Situational
- The marriage will have Low Fertility: Situational
- Intimidated: Situational
- Terrified: Situational
- Character is dear to AI: Situational
- Different faith: −10, −25 (faith considered astray or hostile), −1000 (faith considered evil)
- Important courtier: −10
- Arranging own marriage: −15
- The candidate is Lowborn: −20, −120 (if the recipient is not lowborn)
- Prospective spouse is a parent of recipient's children: −25
- Marrying down: −30 for each difference in title rank (if they are King), −40 for each difference in title rank (if they are not King)
- Valuable claimant: −50
- The claimant to one of AI's titles: −50
- Does not want alliance: −100
- Faith does not have polygamy doctrine or polyamory tenet and a potential spouse would enter into a polygamous marriage: −1000
- The marriage would be incestuous: −1000
There are 4 specific doctrines that determine who a character can marry, how many spouses they can have, the fate of illegitimate children, and whether or not divorce is legal.
- Marriage Type: determines if the relationship is monogamous, polygamous, or grants the legality of consorts and concubines
- Consanguinity: determines if incestuous marriage is legal
- Bastardy: whether or not bastards (children born outside of marriage) can be legitimized or not
- Divorce: can separate legally from a spouse (divorced character gets −25 Opinion for 50 years with their ex-spouse and their Close Family members get −5 Opinion for 5 years)
Whether a ruler can have 1 or more spouses will directly determine how fast one's family and dynasty grows. The maximum number of partners that the player can have in the game is 4; 1 main spouse and 3 secondary ones.
Since Monogamy and Polygamy are traits that come under Faith Doctrines, marrying a character with the opposite aspect the player has is possible, though not advisable, as their Opinion will decrease significantly.
Furthermore, if a ruler is polygamous, they will be expected by the general public to have a certain number of spouses based on their title. Players will get -0.5 Piety per month for having the wrong number of partners, therefore, take a look at this short list to determine which is the right amount.
- Unlanded: 1
- Baron: 1
- Count: 1
- Duke: 2
- King: 3
- Emperor: 4