CK3 Rite is a new religion system that came with the free 1.20 update. Before, you only picked a faith. Now every character follows a Rite, and a Rite can split away from its faith. In this guide, I’ll explain what a Rite is, how to create one, how Divergence and heresy work, and how much control you really have.
Rites, Divergence and heresy outbreaks are free in 1.20. Puppets and Papal Bulls need the By God Alone expansion.
In This Guide:
What Is a Rite in CK3?
A Rite is a branch of a faith with its own tenets, doctrines, Head of Rite and map color. The Faith as a whole follows its Mainline Rite. The new order is religion, then faith, then Rite, and the Rite decides what every follower practices.
Old branches and schools are now Rites. Ambrosian, Mozarabic, Hanafi, Theravada and Rabbinism are some examples. It’s not only a Christian system, as Islam has Rites too, like Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi’i. In 867, most Christians belong to the Chalcedonian Faith but follow different Rites. Rome leads the Roman Rite, while the eastern side includes Greek, Slavic and Georgian Rites. Chalcedonianism cannot have a Head of Faith until the Great Schism changes that structure.
How to Create a Rite in CK3
To create a new Rite, you need:
- To be an adult and at peace
- To be independent, a Duke or above, or have Ecclesiastical government
- To not have made one before (it’s once per lifetime)
- At least one core tenet or doctrine that is different from your current Rite
You pick which tenets to raise or lower and which doctrines to swap. The game shows a Divergence breakdown while you create or edit a Rite. The more different your Rite is, the more Piety it costs. High Fervor makes it more expensive too.
You also can’t freely pick every Tenet and Doctrine in the game. Normally, your character needs to know them first. The new Study Faith scheme lets you learn the Tenets and Doctrines of nearby Faiths and Rites. The Prophet perk can also open additional religious options that would otherwise be unavailable.
Once the Rite is founded, your whole same-Faith domain and court convert to it. Other rulers who accept the founding conversion offer convert their domain and court as well.
With By God Alone, secular Christian rulers also have the option of working through the clergy with Puppets. A Clerical Ruler or Realm Priest Puppet, often your Court Chaplain, can give you another way to influence Rite creation and church politics. However, a Puppet isn’t a universal requirement for every ruler who can create a Rite.
How to Spread Your Rite
Creating a Rite is only the first step. Counties can follow different Rites while still belonging to the same Faith, and clerical rulers gradually spread their Rite through their Clerical Regions.
CK3 also has Sway to Rite, which lets you try to bring courtiers, vassals or other rulers into your Rite. One catch is that although the mechanic arrived with 1.20, Sway to Rite requires the Khans of the Steppe expansion.
What Is the Mainline Rite in CK3?
Every faith has one Mainline Rite, and every other Rite is compared to it. If the faith has a Head of Faith, the Mainline Rite is the one he follows. If it has none, it’s the Rite in most counties and holy sites.
The Mainline Rite can change during a campaign. For example, if a newly elected Head of Faith follows a different Rite, that Rite can become the new Mainline Rite.
CK3 Rite Divergence Explained
Divergence shows how far a Rite is from the Mainline Rite. The more its tenets and doctrines differ from the mainline, the higher it goes.
Divergence also hurts Fervor, which shows how strongly people believe in the faith. Every point of Divergence puts additional downward pressure on the Faith’s Fervor. Fervor grows by 1.5% per year on its own, and it affects how expensive new Rites are and how easily counties convert.
If Fervor falls below 40, heresy outbreaks can start in organized faiths. In an outbreak, 10 to 25 counties and at least one Duke convert to another faith of the same religion.
How a Rite Becomes a Heresy or a New Faith
- Heretical Threshold: Every Faith has its own heresy threshold. Once a Rite becomes divergent enough to cross it, the Rite is treated as potentially heretical and can be separated from its parent Faith.
- Declared heresy: The Head of Faith can then declare the Rite heretical, and the selected Rite forms a new faith.
- Maximum Divergence: If a Rite reaches maximum Divergence, it automatically splits away and becomes a new Faith.
Paradox also added ten historical heresy Rites, such as Cathar, Waldensian, Lollard and Hussite.
How Much Control Do You Have Over Your Rite?
Not much, but if you are the head of rite, everything is different.
- Only the Head of Rite can edit a Rite, once per lifetime. They can’t create a new Rite. If you’re not the Head of Rite, the Modify button changes into Create a Branched Rite.
- Becoming Head of Rite isn’t always straightforward. The game can give the position to a clerical ruler instead of the secular character who founded or backed the Rite, and the exact succession can depend on the religious and clerical setup. Just days after 1.20’s release, players are still testing how these cases are resolved.
- Secular rulers have less direct control. Current 1.20 games show clerical Heads of Rite changing Tenets independently after a Rite is founded. Even puppeting the cleric doesn’t necessarily give the secular ruler a direct Modify Rite command. This is still very fresh post-launch behavior, though, so I wouldn’t assume Paradox will leave every part of it unchanged.
These are some tricks you can use to steer a Rite:
- Change your Head of Rite’s mind. Get him to adopt your personal tenets. Players say he then tends to change the Rite toward them.
- Become the Head of Rite yourself. If your government and religious setup allows your character to hold the position, becoming Head of Rite gives you much more direct control over future changes.
- Make your Rite the Mainline Rite. With By God Alone, Christian rulers can use Ecumenical Councils to influence Tenets and Doctrines at the church level. That can also push rival Rites toward greater Divergence. Raising an Antipope and successfully replacing the Pope can also change which Rite is Mainline. Other religions don’t have this Christian Ecumenical Council route.
- Break away. Let your Rite become its own faith, so no one above you can change it. Players call this the simplest option for secular rulers.
That covers CK3 Rites as of patch 1.20. Have you made your own Rite yet? Tell us how it went in the comments.
