Partitioning and Succession in CK3

Partitioning and Succession in CK3 can be quite confusing, so we’re going to go over what to do when your King or Queen dies including all of the laws, how to change them to your favor, and how to make the laws best fit what you desire.

How To Add Succession Laws

You will want title succession laws because otherwise, your player heir will be the first child born and no one else without an election. You can view your title succession law by clicking on your realm crest in the bottom right corner of the screen and adding a law, or destroying the current.

Title Succession Law Menu is accessed via clicking on the family crest in the bottom left corner and by adding a law.

CK3 Succession Laws Explained

Below is a list of the Succession Laws in Crusader Kings III and what they mean:

Feudal Elective shows that there is a title allegiance opinion of +10 and allows for an election for the next heir to the throne. If you purchase Feudal Elective, it’s important to make sure your vassals like you because that is where title allegiance will come in. If they like you, they will vote for whomever you do in your next election for the heir to the throne.

With 10 vassals, this allows for +100 opinion. If someone has the title of Count or Duke (Duchy), they are granted votes to use for who they like. If they don’t like you, they’ll vote for themselves and not the heir you want. Mind you, the more power they have, the more voting strength they have, a Count/Countess has 1 vote, a Duke/Duchess has 2 votes, and a King/Queen has 3 votes.

Saxon Elective is another title succession law that can be passed. Under Saxon Elective, you and your Powerful Vassals will vote for the next heir in an election. The next heir can be any of the legitimate children of the current ruler, any Powerful Vassal, or anyone with a claim to the throne and even unlanded characters. Also received is a title allegiance opinion of +5.

Scandinavian Elective makes it to where the Ruler and all De Jure Vassals, or, whomever the Vassals own land and pay taxes too (hence De Jure or “by law”) vote in an election for the heir. The heir can be anyone with a claim which means any close family, extended family, Vassal, and unlanded people. The elector’s voting power is based on their domain size, so if 3 buildings are built in their duchy, they have 3 votes. The elector can become very powerful the more the Ruler adds buildings for taxes and levies.

Tanistry Elective is the final type of election you can hold but you must be Goidelic or Brythonic to hold these elections. Goidelic is Scottish or Irish, Brythonic is British, Welsh, or Scottish. Vassals will swear a title allegiance opinion of +5 and this election introduces the Tanist which is essentially the Title Heir. The Ruler, Vassals above the rank of Baron, and Counts can nominate a Tanist from among the Ruler’s dynasty. Electors tend to favor extended and older family members rather than closer, younger family members.

Crown Authority and Partitioning Laws

Partitioning laws and Crown Authority are important in Crusader Kings III because otherwise, you will have the default Confederate Partition, which is a realm succession law and your land will continue to split up upon each Ruler’s death if you do not otherwise do anything about it. You can access this menu by pressing F2 or going to the Realm tab and within the realm tab going to the Succession tab.

CK3 Crown Authority

Crown Authority is a big part of how the game will work in your favor or not. You can view it by going to the Realm tab or pressing F2. There are 4 stages of authority, and the more you have, the more your Vassals hate you. If you are a tribal leader, you will need to get to the highest Crown Authority to unlock the ability to become Feudal or Clan.

If you are Feudal or Clan, the higher your Crown Authority, the more your Vassals will pay you in taxes and levies and the less power they have. Essentially, the higher Crown Authority, the more power you have, and the less your Vassals have which is why they do not like you and if you are Feudal or Clan, they will pay more in Taxes.

Confederate Partitioning is the default which you are locked into for tribal governments, your Direct Vassals and House opinion are +5 and your Children have a +10 opinion. Upon death, all of your lands will be partitioned away to all eligible children and your capital will go to your Player Heir as well as the Primary Title, and De Jure titles associated with the capital.

Any new titles gained will be partitioned for any children that are alive but not yet of age when the title is captured. In which case, moving your capital is paramount if you are landlocked or would like to keep moving in a particular direction. If there is enough land to be had, titles will be created for eligible children that are not yet of age.

Partition law is that your Eligible Children and Vassals are granted a +5 opinion of you and your Player Heir is granted a +10 opinion. All current titles you own will be divided equally amongst your children. The Player Heir is given the Primary Title, Realm Capital, and any De Jure titles associated with the capital. It is essentially the same as Confederate Partition, the only difference being opinion differences and titles are not created for younger children.

If you are under a tribal government, you must use your innovations to make it into the Early Medieval Era and unlock Hereditary Rule to allow for any other kind of government structure other than Confederate Partition.

High Partition is essentially the same as the others with only a couple of changes. The Player Heir will get at least half of all the titles of the previous Ruler and the opinion changes to Direct Vassal +5 opinion and Player Heir +15. High Partition is unlocked when Heraldry is unlocked in innovations which comes with High Medieval so it is a mid-game goal.

Primogeniture and Ultimogeniture are late-game realm succession laws that allow for a single heir to inherit all of your titles. Primogeniture allows for the oldest child depending on your gender law to inherit all titles in your land and Ultimogeniture allows for the youngest child to inherit everything.

House Seniority is something only allowed in Bohemia that allows the oldest member of your house to inherit all of your titles instead and leave your children with nothing. A House member is someone who is connected to your original Ruler’s dynasty in any way possible via the family tree.

Partition Laws

How Partitioning Laws and Succession Laws Coincide

It’s important to check what your laws are when starting so you know where you stand. If, for example, I had Confederate Partition Law and Scandinavian Elective and an unrelated Vassal to me was chosen as the heir to the throne, then all of my lands would be split amongst my children, but since someone unrelated to me is up next to rule it is game over unless I switch rulers. That would be a very rare occasion though because the player would have to decide that.

In the case of Confederate Partition with a Feudal Elective vote, the highest title, Realm Capital, and any De Jure land connected to the Capital would go to your heir, and the rest split amongst your children. This can easily still split your land in half, so it is important to check in the Realm tab (F2) what your Player Heir will be keeping and what they will be losing as it will say so if they are.

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Jason

Strategy and RPG's are my go to games, I've spent countless hours questing and adventuring in the video game world.
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