v1.32 — Vassals now matter

July 23, 2026 · Fallowborn devlog

Every change in these nine updates grew out of feedback from players. Thank you to everyone who reported a bug, questioned a rule, or pointed out where the game felt unclear. Please keep it coming.

A realm, not just a demesne

Versions 1.23.1 through 1.32.0 change how larger realms are managed. Previously, a county held by a vassal mainly paid taxes. This made granting land feel like giving away part of your army and slowing down your climb through the ranks. Vassal counties now provide a share of their levies, and every county in your realm counts toward becoming a duke, king, or emperor. Granting land no longer works against the main goal of the game.

However, keeping everything yourself is no longer always the best choice. Your domain limit starts at four, with one more county for every five points of Stewardship. Every county over the limit reduces the income and levy from the land in your own hands. You can grant a single county to a new count, or grant an entire duchy when you personally hold all of its de jure counties. This gives larger rulers a reason to create vassals while keeping direct control of the land they care about most. Extraordinary taxes now scale with Stewardship, and the top bar shows exactly where your seasonal gold, prestige, and piety are coming from.

See what belongs where

De jure progression is easier to follow. The map can now display duchies and kingdoms, while county panels show how much land you hold and how much you still need for each title. De jure is also explained as rightful liege in the interface. The map zooms in further, county names remain visible at lower zoom levels, and settlements in your own counties can be opened to inspect their buildings or start new construction.

Give your host its orders

War gives you more control over how much you want to manage. Your host now musters automatically when a war begins. You can still move it yourself, but you can also give it a defensive order to protect and refit at home, or an offensive order to hunt a weaker enemy host and move toward the war target. Manual orders always take priority. War events can be automated separately from minor and major events, and automated war councils will continue a siege when your host reaches the target. After three field victories, an attacker can accept tribute or refuse it and continue fighting for the county. New hints also explain that a host only takes land by remaining on the target through the siege.

Relationships you choose

Relationships have more direct effects. Likeable characters build regard faster, a trusting target is easier to scheme against, and new events react to close friends or hostile lords. Rivals are no longer assigned automatically. If another character's regard falls low enough, you can choose to declare them a rival, and you can end the feud later. Every culture also has twice as many given names, and newborns avoid the names of living members of their own house.

Three matches, three tradeoffs

Marriage and children have more deliberate choices as well. Seek a match now presents three families at once: an older match from a more established house, a peer near your own age and station, and a younger match from a lower station. The older match brings a better dowry but is harder to court and has fewer childbearing years. The younger match is easier to court and has more time to raise a family. These prospects remain the same until you make a choice. Conceptions are also a little less common, and a spouse's character sheet now has a No more children option. An existing pregnancy will still continue.

Clearer choices and more uses for piety

Every event option now includes a short hint about what it is likely to do. The temple has several new uses for piety, including a good word with your lord, masses for your ancestors, and a blessing for your house. The new Give alms deed converts gold into piety and some popular opinion. This makes piety easier to earn and gives it more practical uses outside of the older blessings.

A cleaner game on mobile

The mobile interface received a general cleanup. The Menu, Automation, and end-of-life screens now use the full screen. Event dialogs stay above the bottom edge, the full date has its own row, and long names no longer break the top bar. Event buttons also ignore the first fraction of a second after opening, which prevents a tap intended for the time controls from selecting an event choice. Smaller fixes include proper title-screen symbols on itch.io and a clearer bug report form.

Bugs & ideas: GitHub issues · argue about balance: Discord · keep the barley free: Ko-fi