Crusader Kings 3's "landless adventurers" are set to offer a whole new way of playing the medieval trouble sim

rockpapershotgun.com:

Okay, listen. The Roads To Power expansion coming to Crusader Kings III is focusing on the Byzantine Empire. But forget that. Because today developers Paradox revealed the ins and outs of another feature from the DLC that is way more exciting than some fusty old Greeks. It's called "landless adventurers" and it'll let you play as disgraced dirtbag travelling the world in a sort of medieval gig economy. You'll be making camp, gathering followers, taking random jobs from local rulers, and catching infectious diseases as you try to travel safely through war-torn regions. It sounds amazing.

Simply put, you’ll be able to create a custom "Landless Adventurer" character at the start of a campaign, just like designing a normal ruler (you might also find yourself landless mid-game following some classic political turmoil). At this point, you'll be expected to play the game a little differently than normal.

"Crusader Kings is a game about marriage, inheritance, and complex realm politics; none of which really apply to wandering characters with nary a vassal to call their own," say Paradox in a lengthy developer diary. "Well, simply put, we think of [adventurers] as the ultimate underdogs: outsiders with no land or prospects, but also no responsibilities or restrictions...

"We wanted to reflect this philosophy with a play style focused on travel and roaming, encouraging you to experience the map in a different way by moving across and spectating it — occasionally stopping to influence this realm or that when you have to proverbially sing for your supper."

That travel takes the form of making camp. You pick a region and set up camp there, at which point you'll be offered "contracts" - various odd jobs that range in difficulty and payout. Some contracts will see you help out in a war (provided you have the soldiers trailing along with you). Others might have you assisting the local ruler's councillors in some scheme or plot, or collecting taxes from reluctant locals, or