Welcome to the forge of the Ashen Anvil. We are a collective of like-minded modders, world-builders, and grand strategy fanatics who believe that the best stories are the ones you craft yourself. And so, we’ve set out to build those stories.
While we work on a variety of types of mods, our specialty is total conversions for Paradox Interactive’s various grand strategy titles. We’re not just talking a few new flags, tinkering with numbers, or a few new events. Instead, we craft whole new worlds built from the ground up: new settings, new maps, new mechanics, and new stories.
But why total conversions?
It is our belief that Paradox’s grand strategy games are amazing frameworks, lovingly crafted to provide exacting experiences. Crusader Kings understands dynastic drama. Hearts of Iron excels at operational warfare. And Stellaris? Well, that’s the unrivalled master of emergent sci-fi exploration. Each game has the tight focus of its core that serves as its guiding design principle.
But what happens if you take those cores and expand them to touch upon settings they were never designed intended for?
That is where we come in. We take the mechanics, the engines that define each game, break them down into its key parts, and rebuild them into something entirely new.
What we’re working on
And so, our first major project will be Emerald Empire – a total conversion for Crusader Kings III, set in the legendary sword-and-silk world of Legend of the Five Rings‘ Rokugan. You’ll play a samurai dynasty, navigating the strict codes of honor and bushido, duelling rivals with iaijutsu strikes, and maneuvering for the favor of the divine emperor on their Emerald Throne. Over all of this lingers the long fingers of Fu Leng’s minions in the Shadowlands…
This project, and all others we work on, will receive its own dev diaries, design deep dives, and – hopefully sooner, rather than later – playable releases. You won’t have to wait long for the first of the dev diaries – we’ll be releasing Emerald Empire‘s first dev diary, introducing our plans for the conversion, very soon.
Have hammer, LFW
I takes many hands to work a forge. Right now, we’re a small team – and so we’re always willing to bring on new smiths to help out.
Right now, as we work on fleshing out the Emerald Empire, we’re looking mostly for those to help out with 2D/3D art – icons, UI element, 3D models, event backgrounds – along with those who can provide testing and feedback.
If you’re interested, we’d love to hear from you.
The forge is lit…
So welcome. We invite you to stick around and break things with us. Keep an eye out for regular updates; you can follow us on Bluesky or X, subscribe to the RSS feed, or just simply keep on eye on the site for future news.
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