Latest Version: Version 1.13.0.a Hotfix for "Anna Komnene" (Released 10/12/24, for vanilla patch 1.12.x)

Newest Flavor Pack: Lesbos: Island of Poets

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“The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and plunges them into utter darkness, both deeds of no account and deeds which are mighty and worthy of commemoration.” – Anna Komnene (1083-1153), Byzantine princess and historian, in the Alexiad

RICE, or Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment, adds immersion to different regions, cultures, and religions in CK3. As a spiritual successor to my Immersion Packs for CK2, it is a collection of "flavor packs" similar to PI's official flavor pack DLCs. RICE's guiding philosophy is to keep a focused scope that won't change gameplay significantly, but instead adds flavor across the world that is grounded in historical authenticity, especially for lesser-known places, peoples, and histories.

RICE is designed with compatibility in mind, and is technically compatible with most mods; I avoid editing vanilla files to prevent conflicts with other mods. For example, new cultures are added via hidden events at game start instead of directly through province history. If you are a mod author or user and concerned about compatibiliy with RICE, don't hesitate to contact me on the forums or Discord! Also feel free to use my work in your mods - all I ask is that I am credited and (if possible) to give me a heads up.

Manual Installation Steps

DO NOT manually download the master branch unless you know what you're doing as it is a WIP version and not necessarily stable!

1. Go to https://github.com/cybrxkhan/RICE-for-CK3/releases and find the latest version you wish to download.
2. Extract the "RICE" folder and "RICE.mod" file from the .zip file to Documents\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings III\mod
3. Launch CKIII and select RICE in the launcher.
4. Enjoy and play!

The mod folder should look something like this:

NOTE: When re-installing a mod, delete the old version of the mod first before copy and pasting the new one! While it's not always necessary, it's a good habit to do to prevent any potential issues. Additionally, make sure you are not subscribed to the Steam version of the mod, to prevent the launcher from getting confused as to which version to use.

Current Flavor Packs

At the moment, the following RICE flavor packs are included in the mod. Click to view guides which cover the features included in each pack in more detail (please note some guides are unfinished and/or out of date).

• Aachen: Charlemagne's Capital
• Bamian: Valley of Light
• Bozo: Masters of the River
• Brittany: The Western Duchy
• Chios: Isle of Mastic
• Galicia: The Way of Saint James
• Granada: Memories of the Alhambra
• Guanche: The Fortunate Isles
• Harran: The Last Hellenic Pagans
• Khuzestan: Land of the Sugar Cane
• Khwarezm: The Oxus Borderlands
• Khwarezm: The Oxus Borderlands
• Lesbos: Island of Poets
• Mordvin: Along the Volga
• Niger Delta: Heirs of Oduduwa
• Normandy: Adventurers and Aristocrats
• North Atlantic: From Iceland to Vinland
• Pamir and Zunist: Roof of the World
• Polabians: Defenders of Svetovit
• Red Sea: Treasures of the Eastern Desert
• Rhodes: Shadow of the Colossus
• Sardinia: Reign of the Judges
• Siberia: People of the Reindeer
• Sicily: Where Three Worlds Met
• Siwa: Oases of the Western Desert
• Socotra: Isle of Dragon's Blood
• South Ethiopia: The Highland Kingdoms
• Sri Lanka: Abode of Lions
• Sus: Door of the Sahara
• Tarim Basin: Peoples of the Silk Road
• Tuareg: People of the Veil
• Tuyuhun: Horsemen of Qinghai
• Upper Egypt: Children of the Nile
• Yazd: Abode of Worship
• Yazidis: People of the Peacock Angel
• Yorkshire: To Scarborough Fair

Latest Changelog

1.13.0.a Hotfix for "Anna Komnene"

• Added game concepts for Mediterranean Pirates and RICE’s Pirates in general
• Revised Wo Daochong’s family tree and lifespans to be more accurate by integrating changes from Eastern Etiquette (thanks also to the user 🍓白茶 for assisting with this effort)
• Revised RICE’s cultural heritage triggers to account for more heritages as needed (thanks to Cruci for the code)
• Added more missing Spanish and French translation, courtesy of their respective translators
• Decision to Establish European Ivory Carving Center can now be taken in Asia Minor and the western steppes (in Europe) as well
• Flagged Lesbos flavor pack music that’s vocal as vocal music so it will now be disabled if you have the game rule for no vocal music
• Tweaked chances of which cultures an AI Sawdan might pick as his original culture
• Replaced all instances of Virgilianae with Vergilianae in loc for consistency
• Swahili culture now starts with more innovations at game start
• Ibn Nabhan now starts in the county of Harran if he is a landless adventurer
• Increased amount of xp gained for the Nabataean trait when doing Ibn Wahshiyya’s unique travel options
• Slightly increased chances of gaining bonuses when doing Ibn Wahshiyya’s unique travel options
• Adventurers can now do the interaction to request land in Normandy, not just landed rulers
• Robert Guiscard automatically loses his truce with the ERE after the war over Bari, to prevent his scripted invasion of Epirus from vanilla unintentionally breaking this truce
• Buffed Kara-Khitan in 1178 with castle and city holdings and more gold
• Some Kara-Khitan counties are now Mahayana instead of Vajrayana
• Fixed loc for the introductory event chains for Thabit ibn Qurra and Ibn Nabhan to reflect if they are landless adventurers
• Fixed Abu Aaron’s portrait (i.e. Sawdan’s Jewish friend) in the 867 bookmark screen, which had been causing CTDs before the hot-hotfix released right after release
• Fixed some of Ibn Nabhan’s family remaining pagan
• Fixed several geographically restricted travel options not being available to landless adventurers, even if you’re in a correct location
• Fixed Nabati and Khalaj cultures having no innovations at game start
• Fixed fictitious Dunhuang rulers in 867 being unplayable if you select to play as them in game menu due to a hidden effect killing them off at game start – now, they won’t be removed if you pick them
• Fixed broken loc in the decision to Employ African Mud Masons when playing as a tribal
• Fixed some Mediterranean Pirate localization referring to Indian Ocean pirates
• Fixed Japeth ibn Bundar not having his adventurer title at game start
• Fixed decision to Commission a Work from Nasir Khusraw missing if you’re playing as Ali ibn Asad since Nasir Khusraw is a landless adventurer now
• Fixed the Sortes Vergilianae decision not actually costing any gold
• Miscellaneous bugfixes and tweaks

1.13.0 "Anna Komnene"

• Added new flavor pack – Lesbos: Island of Poets
• Added 5 Mediterranean themed songs
• Added many new historical landless characters in all start dates (see bottom for full list)
• Added 4 RICE bookmarks in 1178, 3 for landed and 1 for landless
• Added new RICE Landless bookmarks for 867 and 1066
• Moved a few now adventurer characters from 867 and 1066’s old bookmarks to the new landless bookmarks
• Modified some decisions, activities, interactions, etc. to be available to landless characters, sometimes if they are in the relevant geographical vicinity
• A few RICE decisions are now available when traveling
• Added Nabati culture to the Syriac heritage in southern Iraq in 867
• Added Contentious Colonists tradition to the Siculo-Arabic culture, replacing Religion Blending and Culture Blending
• Added Image of China tradition for Khitan culture
• Added several new regional innovations: Almadraba, Monsoon Trade Routes, and Dragoman innovations
• Added a decision to Finance Almadraba fishing, unlocked by the Almadraba innovation
• Horse sacrifice activity now unlocked via a special Sacred Horses doctrine that's inherited, for easier compatibility with mods seeking to add it to their faiths
• Added Ibn Jubayr as a character in the court of the Emir of Granada in 1178
• Added Wo Daochong, a Confucian scholar-official in Xixia, as a playable character in 1178
• Added some changes to RICE’s Sicily code to make it run more smoothly with Muslim Enhancements (credits to iFrunx from the ME team for assistance with this)
• Added a few new catalysts for the Sicily struggle
• Kara-Khitai, Xia, and Guiyi now start off with Admin government if you have Roads to Power
• Various Guiyi vassals no longer hold land but are instead noble families in Guiyi if you have Roads to Power
• Removed fictitious ruler of Damot as a RICE bookmarked character in 1066 (superseded by the legendary Motolomi in the 1178 bookmark)
• Decision to Collaborate with Indian Ocean pirates now gives legitimacy loss
• Tweaked renown gain for the decision to Collaborate with Indian Ocean Pirates
• Pirate Den and Bawarji Den buildings now give a malus to control
• Decision to Commission a Work from Nasir Khusraw no longer requires for him to be in your court, but is now only available to Ali ibn Asad
• Han culture now has Cultivated Sophistication instead of Water Rituals
• Changed Khitan ethos to bureaucratic instead of communal
• Thabit ibn Qurra’s education level buffed to level 5
• Yarsani appearance event is more likely to happen after the Yazidi appearance event, though this is not guaranteed
• Caucasian heritage now counts towards the Greek world of Sicily
• Syriac heritage now counts towards the Arab-Berber world of Sicily
• Rollo game rule and event chain has been modified slightly to account for if the player has Roads to Power (i.e. making Rollo an adventurer)
• Added legitimacy malus to the Uncrowned by Ooni modifier, but reduced its piety and prestige malus to compensate
• Reduced Aghlabid event troops since vanilla buffed them
• Makhazen and Siba, Seasonal Migrators, and Bantu Migrators traditions now allow voluntary landless adventuring and increased chances of becoming landless adventurers
• Karaism is now automatically involved in the Persian struggle
• Rabbinism and Karaism are now automatically involved in the Iberian struggle
• Halved control malus of the Between Three Worlds tradition
• Tweaked vassals to be more likely to refuse demands with the Between Three Worlds and Contentious Colonizers traditions
• Tweaked Adventurers and Aristocrats and Legacy of the Northmen traditions to have less overlap with the Audacious Cadets tradition
• Tweaked the starting traits of Genghis Khan, his wife Borte, and his mother Hoelun
• Removed duplicate song in Tuareg and Sus flavor packs
• Removed Norman MAA as it was superceded by Roads to Power’s Norman MAA
• Zhang Qiu now is friends with Zhang Huaishen in the 867 start date
• Liberator of Dunhuang modifier now gives a Influence and Legitimacy bonus
• Fixed old decisions to Pray for a Good Nile Flood being available (since it was replaced with the Activity version)
• Fixed AI being able to reinforce relations with Silk Road communities it shouldn’t have access to if it doesn’t meet the geographical requirements
• Fixed wrong loc for the decision to Recruit Soldiers from Sicily saying Palatini MAA instead of Arimanni and Picchieri MAAs when taking the Latin option in earlier and later eras respectively
• Fixed Sicily language event triggering outside of Sicily
• Fixed traveling for activity and hunt catalysts not triggering in the Sicily struggle
• Fixed code for adding a university to Salerno
• Fixed guests getting Baia-related modifiers when doing the hot springs activity outside of Baia
• Miscellaneous bugfixes and tweaks

40 New Landless Adventurers

Made existing RICE characters landless adventurers:

• Thabit ibn Qurra (867)
• Hiwi al-Balkhi (867)
• al-Kashgari (1066)
• Ibn Nabhan (1066)
• Nasir Khusraw (1066)
• Longibardopoulos (1066)

Made existing vanilla characters landless adventurers:

• Ali Kalbid (867)
• Fu Murong (867)
• Ottar (Ohthere) av Hålogaland (867)

Added new landless adventurers:

• Plausible fictitious Korean in Dunhuang (867)
• Ibn Wahshiyya (867)
• Cynewulf (867)
• Al-Balkhi (867)
• Eldad ha-Dani (867)
• Wulfstan of Hedeby (867)
• Manikkavacakar (867)
• Tughj ibn Juff (867)
• Azjur al-Turki (867)
• Bartholomew Leslie (1066)
• Chakrapani Datta (1066)
• al-Wuhsha al-Dallala (1066)
• Japheth ibn Bundar (1066)
• Ibn al-Qatta’ al-Siqilli (1066)
• Solomon ibn Ghabirol (1066)
• Trapelicino (1178)
• Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya (1178)
• Michael Scot (1178)
• Oranmiyan (1178)
• Hugo von Hildesheim (1178)
• Guglielmo Grasso (1178)
• Li Shichang (1178)
• Plausible fictitious Malays in the Indian Ocean (all dates)
• Plausible fictitious Swahili in the Indian Ocean (all dates)
• Plausible fictitious Soninke Wangara merchant (all dates)

Credits

Thanks to all I worked with, took stuff from, and provided me encouragement and feedback over the years. Huge thanks to the kind souls who take the time to translate the mod and put up with my erratic update schedule.

Special thanks in particular to:

• Atreides for bookmark icons
• B7E7 for collab and content from BlackEmperor's Africa Plus mod
• Bonseny for the amazing VIET and RICE logos and the beautiful 3D art assets
• Celticus for a lot of useful help and suggestions
• Cruci for grammar fixes and miscellaneous help
• Diadochi Kings mod (from CK2) for Elamite names
• DrStein(Dupont) for revamped artwork
• Eastern Etiquette mod and 🍓白茶 for Chinese history improvements
• Fische for the Dragon Blood art icon and Vertimnus for donating it to me (originally made for Sinews of War)
• George Hammond for some music (see here for more of his work)
• Henry for the Better Bedouin Culture mod
• KeizerHarm for UI work
• Lahom for most Native American names
• Макс for Erzya and Moksha names and info
• Msl229 for Eastern Europe research and code
• Naatturi for content from the Ukonusko Overhaul mod
• Nezaros for religion and bookmark art
• Nix for Evenki names
• PinkPanzer for some decision art
• Rajas of Asia for Asian stuff and collab
• Shatzi for more Breton content
• Soraya for a lot of research and code
• The Fallen Eagle for some icons and collab
• The Not So Lonely Arrikirri and Tundragrass for help on the Zunbils
• YTnuBF for Native American ethnicities from the Amerindian Steppe Tribe mod

Special thanks also to the translators who work hard to ensure the mod can be played in other languages, and various playtesters for helping me prepare the updates, including but not limited to Shatzi, O-Saft-Killer, msl229, Nezaros, Dystopianist, Patlichan, and others.