Download without Steam
Supernatural is plain files, so it runs on any copy of Crusader Kings III — GOG, Epic, Game Pass, wherever you bought it. It takes about ten minutes by hand, and this page walks the whole thing.
Home › Mods › Supernatural › Download
If your CK3 is on Steam, use the Workshop instead
It's one click, it keeps itself current, and it handles the load order for you. Nothing on this page is better — it exists for people who can't use the Workshop at all.
Get the files
The mod is open source. The repository is the download — there's no mirror, no shortener and no waiting.
On the newest release, take Source code (zip) under Assets. The .tar.gz is the same files in a wrapper Windows can't open on its own, so stick with the zip.
Fair warning about the size. Supernatural is a large mod — the art alone is a few hundred megabytes, so expect a download in that range rather than a quick one. That is the mod itself, not padding, and it is the same weight the Workshop copy takes up on your disk.
Installing it by hand
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Unzip it
The archive holds one folder named after the version — something like
CK3SupernaturalMod-2.33. Open it. That outer folder is just packaging and is not what goes into your game.Inside are the two things you actually need, sitting side by side:
supernatural_mod— the mod folder, containingcommon,events,gfx,gui,history,localization,musicanddescriptor.modsupernatural_mod.mod— a small text file the launcher reads
You need both. A handful of
.txtchangelogs and.pyhelper scripts ride along inside the mod folder — they're leftovers from building it, the game ignores them, and you can leave them exactly where they are. -
Move both into your CK3 mod directory
The folder and the
Windows Documents\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings III\mod\ macOS ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III/mod/ Linux ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III/mod/.modfile go here together — the.modfile sits next to the folder, never inside it:If there's no
modfolder there yet, launch CK3 once and close it, or just create the folder yourself. -
Replace the .mod file — don't skip this one
This is the step that decides whether any of the rest works, and it is not optional. The
supernatural_mod.modfile inside the download was written on my computer, and it still carries the folder path from my computer. On your machine that path doesn't exist, so the launcher reports a descriptor error and the mod never shows up.Open
supernatural_mod.modin any plain text editor — Notepad is fine — select everything, delete it, and paste this in its place:version="2.33" picture="thumbnail.png" tags={ "Alternative History" "Gameplay" "Events" "Character Interactions" } name="Supernatural" supported_version="1.19.0.6" path="mod/supernatural_mod"Two things changed, and both matter.
path=is now relative — it just says "thesupernatural_modfolder insidemod", which is true on every machine. And theremote_file_idline is gone: that line tells the launcher "this is a Steam Workshop item", which is exactly what your copy isn't, and leaving it in is a good way to watch the launcher ignore your folder or quietly replace it.Make sure your editor saves it as
supernatural_mod.modand notsupernatural_mod.mod.txt— on Windows you may need to turn on file extensions to see the difference. -
Enable it and set the load order
Open the Paradox launcher, go to All installed mods, and Supernatural should be listed. Add it to a playset. On its own it needs nothing above it — it's a base-game overhaul, not a submod.
If you're also running The Long Night & Azor Ahai, the order matters and the patch goes last:
- A Game of Thrones — required by The Long Night
- AGOT submods — AGOT+, Valyrian Steel, Submod Core, Nobility…
- AGOT: The Long Night & Azor Ahai
- Supernatural (this mod)
- The Compatibility Patch — always last
Two mods, one campaign
Supernatural and The Long Night both rewrite some of the same base-game files, and whichever loads second silently erases the other's version. The compatibility patch exists to settle that, and it only works from the very bottom of the list.
- A Game of Thrones
- AGOT submods — AGOT+, Valyrian Steel, Submod Core, Nobility…
- AGOT: The Long Night & Azor Ahai
- Supernatural — this one
- The Compatibility Patch — always last
The patch is on the Workshop, and there's a full write-up of what it merges on the mods page.
Troubleshooting
"Descriptor file error"
- You skipped step 3, or the
path=line is still wrong. It's the cause almost every time. - Use forward slashes, never backslashes — even on Windows.
- The path must match your folder name exactly, including case:
supernatural_mod. - If the relative path still won't take, use the full one instead:
path="C:/Users/YourName/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III/mod/supernatural_mod"— with your Windows username.
It doesn't appear at all
- Check the file is
.mod, not.mod.txt. - Check it's in the
modfolder itself, not inside the mod's own folder. - Check you removed the
remote_file_idline — with it left in, the launcher may look for a Workshop copy instead of yours. - Restart the launcher fully — it scans on start.
- Confirm
supernatural_modactually containscommonandevents, not another folder that contains them.
Still stuck? The Supernatural Discord is the fastest place to get it sorted — manual-install questions get answered there.
Manual install FAQ
Do I need any other mods for this?
No. Supernatural is a base-game overhaul — it runs on Crusader Kings III on its own, with no total conversion underneath it. You only need extra pieces if you're deliberately combining it with AGOT and The Long Night, and then it's the compatibility patch, loaded last.
Why do I have to edit the .mod file when the Workshop version just works?
Because the Workshop writes that file for you, pointing at wherever Steam put the mod on your machine. A manual copy doesn't get that, so it ships with the path from the machine it was built on — mine. Step 3 replaces it with a relative path that's correct everywhere. It's one paste, and it's the difference between the mod loading and the launcher shrugging at you.
Will it update itself?
No. A manual install is a snapshot of one version. When a new one goes out you'll want to delete the old supernatural_mod folder, unzip the new one in its place, and change the version= line in your .mod file to match. Watching the repository or joining the Discord is the easiest way to know when that happens.
Can I use it with an existing save?
Adding an overhaul this size to a campaign already in progress isn't something I'd promise will go cleanly — Supernatural adds traits, lifestyles and characters that a running save was never built expecting. Starting a fresh campaign is the version of this I can actually stand behind. If you want to try it mid-save anyway, copy your save file somewhere safe first.
Does it work on Mac and Linux?
It's script and assets rather than compiled code, so yes. Only the folder location differs, and both paths are in step 2.
Where's the source?
The repository is public — you can read every file, open an issue, or fork it. Supernatural was built on other people's work and it seemed only right to pass that along the same way.
Can I put this on my own Discord or mirror it somewhere?
Please do — that's rather the point of it being public. Linking back to this page or the repository is appreciated, mostly so people end up on a version that's current rather than one frozen in 2023.
Standing on other people's work. Supernatural leans on Rycie's Witchcraft mod, Nope's V&L mod, the Modjam Team's Witches & Alchemists potion-crafting interface, the Princes of Darkness team, and Luke0704's Spanish translation. If you enjoy this, that's where a lot of it started.
Supernatural is a free, non-commercial fan mod for Crusader Kings III. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Paradox Interactive.
What the mod actually does
If you landed here for the download and haven't seen it, the full breakdown is worth a look — the four supernatural traits, the five lifestyles, the men-at-arms, the artifacts, and the potion-crafting bench. And if the undead are more your thing, The Long Night & Azor Ahai has a manual install guide of its own.
