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Crusader Kings 2 Succession Laws – Explained

 

In this post I will try explain the inheritance laws in Crusader Kings 2 as well as I can.

When a ruler dies he needs a successor, how successors are chosen depends on the laws you have set. Understanding all laws can be a little complicated for newcomers and changing them might not as straightforwards as you might think.

The succession laws are separated into two categories: gender laws and succession laws. Gender laws determine how females are treated and succession laws determine how the successions work, combined these laws determine who's next in line for the throne.

Let me explain gender laws first.

Agnatic-Cognatic

This is the most common gender law. It allows women to inherit but it will prefer men over women. If there is a 10 year old girl and a 6 year old boy the 6 year old will be preferred, even though the girl is older

Agnatic

Under agnatic succession only men can inherit. Women are ignored.

Absolute Cognatic

Absolute cognatic is a special law. It's reserved for rulers with the Basque culture. It will regard women and men equally. It's very rare you will see this in the game.

Now, let's get on with the succession laws.

Elective

With elective succession you and the lower ranked vassals (for example, the counts of a duke) all get one vote to determine the successor. This is obviously tricky because it introduces the risk of losing your titles. If your vassals are happy with you they will generally vote like you vote, but nothing is guaranteed! Vassals like this law, except if you hoard elector titles, but your children who are not elected aren't that happy with it.

There is no crown law requirement for elective.

Gavelkind

Gavelkind is a very common law in the game, it will split all titles between the heirs. The oldest heir will get the primary title (the title by which you are known in the game) and the rest is split up. If you have more than one of your highest titles (for example two kingdoms or two duchies) everything will split up and you will lose control over the second realm. This can be frustrating and make the game harder. That's why gavelkind has some benefits: you can hold 30% more holdings and you won't lose prestige if your adult children have no land. Your children, except the oldest, will like you more.

There are several strategies to deal with the downsides of gavelkind. You can, for example, try to hold only one of your highest titles or assassinate your other sons. But, these strategies have obvious drawbacks. Often, changing to elective succession is the best strategy.

There is no crown law requirement for gavelkind.

Seniorty

Under seniority the oldest member of your dynasty will inherit. This makes the rest of your dynasty happy but your oldest child will dislike it. This will increase the average age of your rulers so you will probably have to deal with a lot of deaths and related problems because of that.

If you have a dynasty with a lot of rulers this law is useful to slowly combine the titles. Everyone will be in line to inherit eventually, even a very far removed uncle who holds a duchy somewhere.

Seniority requires medium crown laws or higher.

Primogeniture

Under primogeniture the oldest child of the ruler will inherit. If he's dead his oldest child will inherit, if the oldest child has no children the second child of the ruler will inherit. If there are no children for the ruler the game will look at the father, brothers,  uncles, etc, until the game finds an eligible heir. The heir will like this law but other members of the dynasty will dislike it. This is a very strong law because it keeps the titles very secure and together.

Primogeniture requires high crown authority.

Changing succession laws

All succession laws have up and downsides but there are clearly laws that are better than others. Because of this there are several requirements to change your laws:

• You can only change the laws once during your lifetime
• You have reigned at least 10 years
• You are at peace
• You don't have a regent
• Your vassals like you (barons are ignored except if you're a count)
• Your vassals are not fighting each other
• You must have the required crown authority (if applicable)

Absolute cognatic has another requirement: you must have the basque culture.

There are several laws that require a certain crown authority. Even if you're not king or you're not the vassals of the king of your area you will have to comply with this requirement. This means you don't always have control over the situation, making it a lot harder. But it gives you some incentive to become king yourself and change the laws!

I hope this was helpful. If there are any questions or comments please leave a message!

Related posts:

1. Crusader Kings II AAR — Duke of Bohemia (preview version)