Marriage in Crusader Kings 3 is a powerful way to gain access to good courtiers, and highly skilled commanders for your army, fill council positions, and secure alliances. But first and foremost, marriage is the only way to expand and strengthen your dynasty.
This marriage guide for Crusader Kings 3 will teach you all you need to know when planning and considering marriage proposals to get the best out of marriages.
General tips for the perfect marriage
- Your female children should be married for alliances
- Pick alliances carefully; you will be called into war
- Allies should be close to your own territory to be useful
- Consider marrying your female children matrilineally to ensure that children are born into your dynasty
- Arrange marriages for courtiers to get more children in your court
- Educate those children to maximize their skills and get a steady stream of highly skilled councilors
- Arrange marriages for male court members with characters from outside your realm to gain their spouses as additional court members
- Arrange matrilineal marriages for female court members with characters outside of your realm to gain their spouses as additional court members
- Try to keep as many congenital traits in your court as possible to ensure availability for future marriages
- Culture has minimal impact; faith has a high impact on the willingness to accept a marriage proposal
- Consider claims potential spouses hold
- A pressed claim will be passed down as an unpressed claim to children; unpressed claims end with you
- Fertility goes down dramatically with age; choose young spouses
- The list of all possible spouses is usually too long to show all the possible candidates; use the filter function
- Choose your main spouse mainly on her skills
- The skills of the main spouse should improve your worst skills; you can assign them to assist with a certain area
- Prioritize congenital traits when choosing a spouse (use the filter)
- Children have a small probability to inherit those traits
- If you’re able to combine all 3 trait groups in one child you can use the “Strengthen Bloodline” decision
- “Strong Blood” modifier for your dynasty
- Health: Small Boost
- Chance of inheriting good congenital traits: +40%
- Chance of new good congenital traits: +400%
- “Strong Blood” modifier for your dynasty
- Keep an eye on the prestige gain/loss associated with marriage; decided by the character’s standing/influence
- Utilize perks and traits to increase the willingness to accept marriage proposals via opinion increases
- Dynasty Legacy “Desirable Match” from the Glory tree will increase the marriage acceptance chance by 30
Useful Perks for marriage proposals
| Lifestyle | Tree | Perk | Effect |
| Diplomacy | Diplomat | Defensive Negotiations | Fellow vassal opinion: +15 Independent ruler opinion: +15 Can propose one Alliance without a marriage |
| Diplomacy | Family Hierarch | Befriend | You can use the Befriend Scheme (Befriend rulers of children you want to arrange marriages with) |
| Diplomacy | Family Hierarch | Flatter | Befriend Scheme Power: +30% |
| Martial | Gallant | Promising Prospects | Marriage Acceptance for yourself: +50 Marriage Acceptance for your Close Family: +25 Marriage Acceptance for your Extended Family: +25 |
| Learning | Scholar | Open-Minded | Different Culture Opinion: +15 Ignore Negative Culture Opinion: Yes |
| Learning | Scholar | Apostate | Different Faith Opinion +15 Faith Conversion Costs: -75% |
Useful traits for marriage proposals
| Lifestyle | Tree | Trait | Effect |
| Diplomacy | Diplomat | Diplomat | Diplomacy: +3 Independent Ruler Opinion: +20 Personal Scheme Power: +25% |
| Diplomacy | Family Hierarch | Matriarch | Fertility; +20% Stress Loss: 20% Close Family Opinion: +15 House Opinion: +10 |
Before you go …
Finding the right spouse for your character is just the first step in establishing a ruling dynasty. The children your perfect marriage will produce should get the best education. Read the next guide to ensure that your children receive the perfect education …
Crusader Kings 3 – Education Guide
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