Crusader Kings 3's By God Alone Expansion Lets You Reshape Religion, Even as a Polyamorous Pope

Crusader Kings 3's By God Alone expansion introduces a deep religious reformation system that lets players reshape the core tenets of their faith, with outcomes that can be both rewarding and hilariously unintended.

The expansion centers on the historical Great Schism of Christianity, which split the faith into competing factions. Players take the role of Popes elected from a pool of cardinals, a departure from typical feudal succession. Rather than inheriting power through bloodlines, each new Pope is chosen from the top three cardinal candidates, often bringing different priorities and skills to the role.

One reviewer's playthrough illustrates both the system's depth and its quirks. Starting as Pope Nicolaus in 867 AD, the player initially aimed to prevent the schism between the Roman Rite, Eastern Orthodox traditions, and the Carolinginian Rite. Early efforts focused on appointing cardinals and constructing Romanesque cathedrals. However, finding military and political leverage limited without reliable alliances, the player took a radical approach: reforming the Roman Rite itself.

The expansion allows players to modify religious tenets by spending piety points, provided changes don't accumulate too much divergence. The reviewer removed restrictions on women in clergy and on adultery, then added polyamory as a core doctrine. Prior council decisions helped smooth adoption, preventing immediate heresy accusations. Instead, other Christian rites declared themselves heretical for not following suit, effectively fragmenting Chalcedonianism faster than intended.

With polyamory now a personal and religious tenet, the Pope pursued multiple marriages and seduction schemes simultaneously. The polyamory doctrine allowed running an extra flirtation-based scheme alongside other personal missions. The player married three women, including the Doge of Venice's daughter, while conducting affairs with the queens of England and Bavaria. Both queens' husbands accepted the affairs without complaint because their realms shared the reformed Roman Rite that now permitted adultery.

The system rewarded this unconventional approach with legitimate and illegitimate children. However, complications emerged when a betrothal to the Bavarian queen's daughter was abruptly broken. A pop-up warning declared the Pope could no longer marry, having devoted his life to God. Simultaneously, his three existing wives divorced him within seconds of each other, arriving as papal notifications right as the Great Schism formally split the church.

The reviewer acquired three wounds from the schism moment itself, compounding the marital chaos. The unusual circumstances triggered what appeared to be a bug in the game's systems, landing the fictional Pope on comparisons to historical accounts of sexually active popes.

Despite the comedic breakdown, the expansion demonstrates how its religious reformation mechanics create emergent storytelling. The system tracks different stages of religious tension, offering players distinct actions and events during fragile unity, crusading periods, mass conversion windows, and reform opportunities. Players campaign through cardinal appointments, pilgrimage mechanics, and ecumenical councils to influence the religious climate.

The papal election system itself creates unpredictability absent from typical feudal playthroughs. Three of the Popes in this playthrough arrived as elderly figures in their 60s and 70s with failing health, forcing adaptation to their limited lifespans. The third Pope, Caelestinus, arrived at 49 years old and proved spry enough to execute the radical religious reforms that reshaped the faith.

The expansion's religious depth comes at a cost to traditional alliance-building. Unlike feudal rulers who forge reliable bonds through family marriages, Popes cannot secure the same locked-in military support. Rulers sharing a Pope's rite may join religious wars, but their participation remains less certain than vassal obligations.

The By God Alone expansion offers substantial theological tools for players seeking to remake Christianity in their own image, though the system's interaction with personal mechanics and marriage rules still contains rough edges that can create memorable, if unintended, consequences.