Crusader Kings 3: Roads to Power Review – A Game-Changing Expansion that Redefines Unlanded Gameplay

Those lunatics at Paradox have finally done it. They’ve introduced unlanded gameplay into Crusader Kings 3 - marking the most revolutionary change of the game to date. 

Roads to Power isn’t just an expansion. This is hewing the game in two and splitting it right down the middle. No longer are you tied to your castle, organising your realm and bickering with your neighbours. Now you can live the life of a storied vagabond or warlord - roaming the world and causing mayhem and mischief in your wake.

You can of course settle down on a nice patch of land somewhere and pivot to playing the game traditionally. Or you can keep skulking the earth for generations. Or even invade and seize an already-established empire. There are countless ways to approach it.

But that’s not all. The devs have gone back to the drawing board and completely reworked the Byzantium experience. Believe it or not, there’s now even more infighting, trickery and subterfuge. 

The region now has its own ruling type - an administrative government. At the top - the head honcho - the emperor. But beneath them are several powerful families, each with land entrusted to them. The twist is - nothing is guaranteed by blood. You might start with a region, but the emperor could quite easily wrestle that off you and pass it on to another in your family. Or another bloodline altogether. The imperial dynasty is not set in stone either - and any of the houses can influence, scheme or murder their way to the top.

This all goes hand in hand with a slurry of new changes in a free update - the most notable being a reworked and fleshed out intrigue system. Now that’s crucial, because as a Byzantine governor gunning for a status boost - well, there’s gonna be lots of plots and ploys going on.

A New Byzantine Experience 

There’s a lot to unpack in the expansion - and I’m going to start by looking at the Byzantium changes. Now, this is obviously a popular region, but I always felt it underwhelming to play. It was just another empire - albeit with an excessive amount of rioting.

But now we’ve got something far more interesting. The emperor is at the top. The influential powerful families beneath them, and then the rest of the households at the bottom. The further you climb up the ladder, the more sway you’ll have in the empire.

None of this is defined by blood. A region - or Theme - isn’t tied to a family in perpetuity. The emperor can remove them from governance and give it to someone more competent. If your lands get taken and passed to your rival - that’s just life. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Each family has a base of operations - their estate. This is another new mechanic - basically a customisable and upgradeable hub which can be moved at will. If you want to be nice and close to the emperor and in the fray of political intrigue, you can plonk your estate down a stone’s throw from Constantinople.

You can pick which buildings get raised in your estate, and fine tune their upgrades. You’ll have to choose what kind of estate will seat your family. A defensive fortress, a bustling trading hub, or a lavish pleasure palace are all feasible options. 

There are a few new metrics exclusive to the region. Influence, which is used to rise up among the ranks and as a currency for operations, and governance - how effectively you’re running your Theme.

So - many powerful families, money getting funnelled into pockets, movers and shakers trying to twist the crown around their fingers. It’s all very Game of Thronesey. And that’s kind of how it plays out. Every prominent family will be making moves, unfurling schemes to elevate themselves. You either react to them, or you get ahead. Besmirch their name at gatherings. Twist the Emperor's ear. The game’s new intrigue system comes into play in full force here - and you’ll constantly be enacting or reacting to one scheme or another.

To note - I’m really enjoying the new intrigue system. There are plenty of new scheme types - and each requires a different set of agents doing different things. It feels like a more comprehensive system, rather than the old mechanic of ‘bang, marry or kill’.

So you’re either spinning or getting caught in a web of lies and whispers. Little schemes can return little gains here and there. But big ones - they can give you everything. 

Any family has a shot at the imperial crown. There’s a line of succession that’s based on prominence in the empire and past deeds, and this can be manipulated. Besmirch the names of others. Have rivals sing your praises. Just go ahead and murder every other candidate. There’s a lot of roads to power, whichever one you take it up to you.

Within a lifetime, you can go from a governor who loses his lands in disgrace, to a scheming, plotting, murdering tour de force who manages to manipulate his way onto the imperial throne. 

As I said. Very Game of Thronesey. But that’s Byzantium for you. To be frank, I don’t really play this region as I viewed it as ‘another empire with a bit of flavour’ - but with the expansion in action, this immediately feels like one of the most distinct areas. Really fleshed out, interesting, and you’re approaching the game entirely differently. You’re not paying attention to the outside world ‘cos there’s so much conflict happening close to home.

Unlanded adventure 

The other flagship feature is a big one. Unlanded gameplay. Now, the implications of this are massive. 

Crusader Kings has always been about rulers. Whether you’re a small-fry or a superpower, you run a region, manage a court, get into trouble and go to war. You’re only really concerned with the area around you, unless you have particularly lofty ambitions. Being unlanded, turns this on its head.

You can travel anywhere. Meddle in affairs all over the globe. You can settle a kingdom wherever you like, perform jobs from Italy to India, and go wherever the winds of adventure take you. CK has always been this interesting middle ground between Grand Strategy and Role Playing - but this splits it down the middle and gives an incredible avenue for the RP side. And I’m thrilled about this, because I don’t think there’s another game out there that captures what Crusader Kings does.

You can pick key historical figures, such as El Cid - and galavant around your region working for kings, building an army, and changing history. In some cases, you’re nudging the world stage in a different direction. In others, you’re shattering order and turning everything on its head. With Suleyman - you can traipse around Europe amassing an army, before returning to take the entire Persian empire by force. It’s worth noting, that you don’t have any levies - your entire fighting force are men at arms, which results in some absolutely ludicrous battles - and some very satisfying slaughters.

Your base of operations is your camp, which like the estate, can be upgraded and specialised. You’ll undertake tasks and jobs in your region, curry favour with local lords, make requests of those you’ve aided. Always building your entourage of followers and knights. Then, when you’ve done all you can do in a region, you pack up, and move on.

Your adventurer band has a specialty. Whether you’re a sword for hire, a simple explorer or a gaggle of bandits - each gives a distinct feel and dictates the kind of work you’ll find. Some contracts are a simple matter of fulfilling a job for a character - often played out using the new operations interface. In some regions, you can pledge yourself to a faction, potentially upsetting the balance and fracturing kingdoms.  

There’s so much opportunity here for those drawn to the roleplaying side of the game. You don’t have to take on a historical figure - you can make your own anywhere in the world. Do whatever you want. Set whichever goals tickle your fancy. And let me tell you, this can lead you to some truly absurd places.

Final Thoughts 

If I had to sum up the expansion in a word - I’d call it nuts. Absolutely bonkers. Allowing players to be unlanded and travel around the world doing anything their heart’s fancies, it’s madness. It completely changes the game, and I don’t think I’ll ever play CK3 the same again. Yes, the novelty will wear off, but the implications that at any point you can just give up your titles and go on an epic quest around the world - it’s definitely something I will find hard to resist when I’m dug in deep and tired of kingdom politics.

It takes the game in a new direction, and I think this might be a pivotal moment. On one side, the grand strategy. On the other, a much more roleplaying focus. They still intermingle, but if Paradox continues to develop each part of the game separately, they don’t have to compromise on one to satisfy the other.

I had so much fun playing unlanded, and it’s clearly a very drastic and technically complex thing they’ve done. This is the first iteration, and there are some problems. As you’re travelling so often, getting the same events does grow stale. They’ve done good work tweaking the lifestyle perks to impact unlanded characters, but there’s still a lot of choices you make that won’t do anything for you.

I’d have liked to have seen more integration with the Legends mechanic ‘cos - frankly - it seems like adventurers, legends, they’d go hand in hand, but the two expansions didn’t really bounce off each other. There’s also bugs here and weird interactions here - and hopefully those all get squashed as more players get their hands on it and identify issues.

As for the Byzantium portion of the expansion - this is coming from someone who doesn’t typically play in that region but I thought the changes were really interesting. It makes the empire feel like a distinct, individual region. There’s so much going on, constant scheming and plotting and you’re so focused on everything that’s going on close to home, you’re kind of ignoring outside threats - which is pretty true to history. 

This only really works ‘cos of the changes to the intrigue system, and while it’s got more moving parts and is more interesting, it does soon fall back into ‘set a scheme and wait’. There are more interesting interactions that go on, but it doesn’t change the game.

What I’m most interested in now, is seeing what the future of the game looks like. Adding unlanded gameplay, it feels like they chopped the game in two. Will they start to flesh out this new side and add more possibilities there, or only work on content that affects all styles of gameplay. 

They’ve really gone deep into Byzantium, and they’ve made it feel unique. What comes next? More empire reworks? A Holy Roman Overhaul? Other distinct playable governments introduced? Could the merchant republic I’ve been clamouring after be on the cards? 

This is such a huge change to the game, but it has really shaken things up. Honestly, I’m at a loss at where they go next to follow it up. But I cannot wait to find out.