Crusader Kings 3 shows off more of its RPG lifestyle system

One of the ways you can nurture your devious little medieval ruler in Crusader Kings 3 is by exploring the lifestyle system. It's the subject of the team's February update, and Paradox has been posting accompanying developer diaries on the specifics over the last month. Check out the update video above.

Lifestyles are how you decide what parts of the game you want to focus on. If you want to go deep into the religious system, become incredibly pious and maybe even start your own faith, the Learning lifestyle might be a good idea. If you just want to paint the map one colour and conquer the medieval world, however, the Martial lifestyle will probably be more your speed.

Each lifestyle comes with a trio of perk trees and focuses that let you define your character further. The learning lifestyle lets you pick the Theologian focus, for instance, giving you an immediate bonus to your learning skill and piety, at which point you can start working your way down the accompanying perk tree.

The perks can be pretty major additions to your list of abilities. Dive into the Avaricous tree in the Stewardship lifestyle and you'll be able to blackmail and extort people for cash and sell off minor titles, along with a slew of other decisions, schemes and bonuses to help you fatten up your coffers. So you're not just watching a bunch of arbitrary numbers going up.

Crusader Kings 2 offered lots of ways to specialise your character and their heirs, but the sequel's lifestyles are more overtly inspired by RPGs. Instead of just picking a focus and letting the game take over, there's a clear path for you to follow if you want to build a specific kind of character.

Crusader Kings 3 doesn't have a release date yet, but it's due out this year.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.