Crusader Kings 3isn’t just about running a kingdom or empire, it’s also about playing a medieval character (or dynasty of characters) and adding some personality to what would otherwise be an ordinary grand strategy game. That’s the main reason why Paradox Interactive has added the Stress mechanic to the game.
Stress is a stat that every character in the game has. If it goes up too high, characters will suffer mental breaks and usually gain negative traits and suffer other bad consequences. If it stays high, characters can even die from stress. That’s why players ofCrusader Kings 3should know where stress comes from, how to track it, and (most importantly) how to get rid of it.
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The Stress Meter
Without any menus, players will find the Stress Meter in the lower-left corner of the screen. It’s right next to the player ruler’s portrait,between the Inventory menuand the Dynasty menu. If a character’s Stress reaches 100, they’ll reach a new Stress level and suffer a mental break. If a character still has at least one Stress level 5 years later, they’ll suffer another mental break. Also, if a character reaches a total of 400 Stress, they’ll drop to 300 and suffer a mental break immediately.
0
Nothing, the character is feeling fine
1
-10 percent Fertility
2
3
-50 percent Fertility, Severe Health Penalty
Gaining Stress
Stress comes from a variety of sources. Some decisions will cause player rulers to gain stress, while other decisions allow rulers to lose stress. The character’s personality plays a big role in which decisions are which.
Almost every character inCrusader Kings 3has three Personality Traits. These appear as the character grows into an adult, and their guardian has a chance to replace these traits with one of two others.
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Many events in the game have decisions that interact with Personality Traits. For instance, when a player ruler goes on a pilgrimage, they can run into a group of pilgrims who are in the middle of mocking the ruler. Normally, sitting down and listening is a way to reduce Stress, but characters with the Vengeful or Arrogant traits may gain Stress by doing so, and a Sadistic character might reduce Stress by whipping the peasants.
Player rulers can also gain Stress from regular game mechanics. If a ruler is Ambitious, they’ll gain Stress every time they give away counties that would put them below their domain limit. On the other hand, Generous rulers lose Stress by granting counties to others. Compassionate rulers gain Stress when they execute prisoners (including traitors and murderers), while Callous rulers gain Stress when they let prisoners go without ransoming them.
There are also ways to gain Stress that have nothing to do with Personality Traits, such as:
Mental Breaks
When a mental break strikes a player ruler, an event will start, and players will have to choose an option. If the ruler is at level 1 Stress, one of the options is usually to gain a little more Stress and do nothing else. This is fine if players know they can reduce Stress quickly, but the options get worse if the next mental break strikes while the Stress level is higher.
A mental break can let players choose betweentwo Coping Mechanism Traits. Most of these traits are negative, but a few of them are actually positive. Choosing a Coping Mechanism will add the trait to the ruler, and it’ll also give the character a new decision they can take to reduce Stress. Unfortunately, these decisions have a three-year cooldown period, so Stress is still a factor.
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Athletic
+1 Prowess +20% Stress Loss Small Health Boost
Work off Some Stress: gain Sweaty Stench, -5 General Opinion for 1 year
Indulge in Food: lose scaled Gold, gain Weight
Confider
+1 Diplomacy +20% Stress Loss
Talk to Confidant: -10 Opinion with every courtier except confidant (Envy)
Confess: gain Disturbing Confession, -5 General Opinion for 2 years
Drunkard
-2 Stewardship -2 ProwessTiny Health Penalty +20% Stress Loss -10 Travel Safety +10 Opinion with other Drunkards
Flagellate: gain Wounded
Hashishiyah
-2 Stewardship -2 Learning +20% Stress Loss +10 Opinion with other Hashishiyahs
Consume Hashish Cakes: gain Hashish Stupor, -1 Stewardship, and -2 Learning for 2 years
Improvident
+1 Diplomacy -15% monthly Income +20% Stress Loss+10 Opinion with Zealot vassals
Donate to Charity: lose scaled gold
Inappetetic
-1 Diplomacy -3 Prowess +20% Stress Loss
Shun Food: gain Famished, -1 Prowess, Moderate Health Penalty, Weight loss for 3 years
Irritable
-2 Diplomacy -1 Martial +2 Prowess +20% Stress Loss +10% Dread Gain -5 Opinion (Attraction)
Lash Out: equal odds of insulting random vassal, gaining Lashing Out, a -10 Opinion with Direct Vassals for 1 year Release your Anger: a special hostile interaction; can target anyone at Stress level 1 or higher andchallenge them to a duel
Journaller
+1 Learning +20% Stress Loss
Write Thoughts Down: gain Occupied Writing, -2 Diplomacy for 1 year
Profligate
-10% monthly Income +0.5 Prestige +20% Stress Loss +10 Opinion with Courtly Vassals
Visit the Market: lose scaled Gold
Rakish
-1 Diplomacy +1 Intrigue +20% Stress Loss -5 Opinion (Attraction) +5 Opinion with other Rakes
Visit a Brothel: lose scaled Gold; chance of disease
-2 Diplomacy -1 Stewardship +20% Stress Loss
Seclude Yourself: -150 Prestige
“Scaled Gold” means that rulers who control bigger economies will have to pay more to use these decisions.
NPC characters also have to worry about stress, and they also gain coping mechanisms after mental breaks. This is worth knowing because coping mechanisms can affect an NPC’s personality, and the player ruler’s heir may have several coping traits if they’ve had a rough life.
If a mental break happens when a character’s Stress level is 2 or 3, some of the options may be even worse than a coping mechanism. Possibilities include:
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How to Lose Stress and Gain Less Stress in the Future
If the player ruler’s Stress is spiking, one good option is to start an Activity. The three basic Activities, Feast, Hunt, and Pilgrimage, are all good ways to lose Stress. This Stress loss doesn’t take place immediately as of the Lance (1.9) Update, but in exchange, Activities can reduce a lot more Stress than before, especially if players choose the Recreation Intent.
Rulers can also lose Stressby playing to their personalities. Generous rulers can give things away, Sadistic rulers can torture prisoners, Arrogant rulers can insult peasants, and so on.
However, something that’s even more valuable than losing Stress is never gaining any in the first place.Crusader Kings 3has several ways rulers can reduce Stress gain, such as the Carefree perk in the Learning Lifestyle tree and the Whole of Body trait from the same tree. Both of these abilities reduce Stress gain by 20 percent, for a total reduction of 40 percent. If players can find enough perks, traits, and other benefits to reach 100 percent, their ruler will never gain Stress from any source for the rest of their life.
Crusader Kings 3is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
