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[WealthyRadish]

I usually ignore vassal relations as well. There reaches a point where the personal demesne levy and retinue is beefy enough that I'm fine with all of them getting a permanent -95 modifier (-30 from crown authority, -30 from feudal tax, -20 from wanting a kingdom/empire, -10 from imperial administration, and -5 from max feudal levies). With that setup all viceroyalties will give 80% of their levy no matter what their opinion is, and funnily enough they'll often have so many complaints that their power is split between too many factions to rebel. Things can get hairy if you start having to concentrate power in multiple kingdom level viceroyalties to keep expanding, though.

[umiman]

Oh yeah. Viceroyalties. I haven't had a chance to try that out yet, it's pretty new isn't it?

Basically makes all duchies non-inheritable. That sounds awesome.

[dennislp3]

Kingdoms too...that way you can pass out duchies and kingdoms to keep your vassal/demesne limits in check without actually losing the titles from your family line

[Reudh]

Oh yeah. Viceroyalties. I haven't had a chance to try that out yet, it's pretty new isn't it?

Basically makes all duchies non-inheritable. That sounds awesome.

You want said dukes to be on side though! I handed out a viceroyalty of Scotland to a distant Ua Briain cousin who liked me a little, and as time went by he kept pushing for independence. Eventually, Exarch Pulmonary Ua Briain of Scotland met his end and the kingdom came right back to me.

[WealthyRadish]

Oh yeah. Viceroyalties. I haven't had a chance to try that out yet, it's pretty new isn't it?

Basically makes all duchies non-inheritable. That sounds awesome.

There are a bunch of side benefits that make them insanely good for keeping your vassals down. If you're the primary heir (the viceroyalty is their best title) you'll get all their cash, all their vassals become your direct vassals to do whatever you want with, and you can revoke viceroyalties and retract vassals without any tyranny. If you're OCD like me about keeping de jure duchies together and preventing annoying inheritances, it's easy to keep them weak and pacified. You also get your pick of any of the counts/dukes to be the new duke/king, and any personal gains they make by aggressively revoking titles essentially vanishes on their death.

[ArKFallen]

The only disadvantage it has is that it lowers their everyone's opinion of you by 1 for each viceroyalty. But if you can keep factions from getting any traction...

FTFY

[BurnedToast]

I tried this for the free week on steam...

I managed to make it 10 minutes before I accidentally married my cousin, managed to clone my son somehow, then had my uncle declare war on me and totally wreck my shit while my armies were away attacking the province the tutorial told me to attack...

Seems fun, but 75% off the complete pack is still $40 which is way too much for me. Maybe next time the DLC goes on sale I can pick and choose the good ones instead of paying for extra songs and crap I don't care about.

Edit: nevermind, the DLC is on sale, just the first 3 you can see without expanding the list are not

[EuchreJack]

The absolute newest DLC tend not to be on sale.  When they are not the newest, they'll go on sale.

[PanH]

At this point, I pretty much HAVE to ask.

Is there any mod anywhere that actually makes the Umayyads and Abbassids break up? I've seen it happen a grand total of twice in all my games without me intervening and fucking them over via mass command use.

Yeah. Ummayyads often stay, though I've seen them break a couple times.
Abbassids are just impossible to remove.

I'd wish the arabic cultures were better represented. In the Abbassids, the vassals should be of the culture of the county they rule over. Egyptian sunnis (with some myaphisites) in Egypt, Levantines in Syria, etc. That way, there would be culture penalty with pretty much everyone bar in the Arab Kingdom (would probably be more accurate if the Abbassids were Mesopotamian culture, mashriqi).
The Caliph should probably also grants such bonuses too. I mean, I understand the bonuses for the pope, but it's a bit too strong for a secular ruler (at least when you're reform a pagan religion, you're pretty much the only realm of that religion, so it evens out).

As for the Ummayyads, don't know. A bit more culture difference maybe. Though, once there is crusades, unless christianity has failed massively, they begin to crumble away and stay only in Mauretania.

[Wysthric]

 I have tried to break up the Abbasid blob with mass killings and conversions in my Jewish Wales game (no benefit to me, but more fun to play when I convert over.) No luck as of yet. The Ummayads only broke up because of the Aztecs.

[PanH]

I have tried to break up the Abbasid blob with mass killings and conversions in my Jewish Wales game (no benefit to me, but more fun to play when I convert over.) No luck as of yet. The Ummayads only broke up because of the Aztecs.

Mass conversion doesn't really work. It's too easy to change religion and keep it. I had enough Abbassids killed that the ruler was jewish, and 10 years later, every vassal of the Abbassids were jewish. There wasn't a single revolt about it (bar the peasants one, which are harmless).

[bQt31]

In my games, Abbasid always implode at some point.. but I'm always trying not to let them blob so that might be the main reason

[Loud Whispers]

At this point, I pretty much HAVE to ask.

Is there any mod anywhere that actually makes the Umayyads and Abbassids break up? I've seen it happen a grand total of twice in all my games without me intervening and fucking them over via mass command use.

In my Miroslav empire game the Umayyad and Abbasid were overthrown by Mansurid and Koserid dynasties very early on, with the Umayyad driven to total extinction and the Abbasid only regaining control over the Caliphate after 3 centuries of no rule.
In my eternal Miroslav Serbia game it's not as severe of an implosion in either, but the Umayyad were rising in power up until they got crusaded out of Aquitaine and the Abbasid blob just got absolutely wrecked.

The Byzantine blob and Abbasid blob kept fighting each other, constantly trying to get the one up on one another. For the most part the Byzantine Empire emerged victorious in these wars until the Byzantine Empire surpassed the Abbasid Empire, only held in check by the scheming of the Miroslav family. After the Abbasid's failures to destroy the Byzantines, a failed invasion of India and a reign of a limp Caliph, two great revolts split the Abbasid blob apart during a miaphysite and a zoroastrian revolt and a war with the Byzantine Empire.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Abbasid Empire was of such a weak state that it lost to the Byzantines again and by the time the revolts and Miaphysites were crushed the Zoroastrians succeeded in making away with south-eastern Persia, led by a hunchbacked strategist. Aforementioned hunchbacked general was in turn succeeded by a genius who managed to conquer the Zunists of Afghanistan after two wars; now the Abbasid have to contend with a Zoroastrian state in the East, the Umayyad in the West and close to home a threat greater even than the Byzantines.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

SHIA
This kid is both fair and clever. He appeared one day whilst the Shia in Jerusalem were getting pissy and started a full scale insurrection.

I looked back on the middle east to find that the Abbasid blob was not what it used to be:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jerusalem fell. Then Syria, but I was not too concerned by that, the Abbasid blob couldn't touch Serbia after all.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then they wrecked the Byzantine Empire as well. They just took on the two greatest powers on the planet like it was nothing. I love the bastards! In general, Muslim nations are impervious to harm as long as they win, and always win. Stop being victorious and they fall apart.
I also like how history repeats itself. The first Muslim conquests were enabled by the Byzantines and Persians exhausting each other with their power struggles until they both lost horrendously. The Shia conquests were enabled by the Byzantines and Abbasid exhausting each other with their power struggles until they both lost horrendously. With any luck the Shia or a Sunni follow up will finish the Byzantines off all the way past Constantinople and Serbia will be able to begin removing kebab and reclaiming the Empire under Miroslav. Whatever the case, the Basilius will no longer be able to invade the Serb. Ohrid is not forgotten, one day it will belong to Serbia again.

[blazing glory]

Can someone explain to me what exactly the Abbasid blob is and why everyone is so determined to break it up?

[umiman]

The Caliphate.

They're the Karlings of the Middle East, except unlike the Karlings it refuses to fall apart. Every time you declare war on any Sunni Muslim lords in the area big bro Caliphate is going to come "yo dude, you picking on mah little brother here? How bout you pick on my 80,000 troops bitch."