Bannerlord Crash Fixing

A short playbook for getting a crashing mod list back to the main menu. Most crashes come from a handful of causes, and the game already writes down which one it was. For the general method that works in any game, plus a checklist to hand your AI, see When a Modded Game Crashes.

Download

Download the mod checker (.zip): a read-only PowerShell script that checks for every cause below and prints the latest crash report.

Step 1: read the crash report

Every crash writes a folder here:

C:\ProgramData\Mount and Blade II Bannerlord\crashes\<date and time>\

Copy it somewhere safe right away. The game deletes it the next time you launch.

Inside:

• crash_tags.txt: App Run Time plus the exact list of mods that were loaded
• LauncherData.xml: your load order at the moment of the crash
• rgl_log_*.txt: the engine log. The last lines show how far it got.
• dump.dmp: a memory dump, for the deep cases (Step 4)

App Run Time is the best clue.

• About 1 to 3 seconds: a mod's DLL failed to load. It's a file problem: blocked DLLs, missing dependencies, duplicate files. Go to Step 2.
• About 30 seconds: often two copies of the same library loading. See "Library mods loaded twice" below.
• Minutes, mid-game: a gameplay bug in one mod. Go to Step 3.

A second log lives in Documents\Mount and Blade II Bannerlord\Configs\ModLogs\ if you use ButterLib. After a hard crash it often shows the previous run, so check its timestamp.

Step 2: the usual suspects

Blocked DLLs. Windows blocks downloaded files, and the game skips them. Fix: Unblock DLLs, or the PowerShell line in Start Here.

A mod shipping the game's own files. Some mods accidentally include TaleWorlds.*.dll files in their bin folder. Those replace the real game files and crash it instantly. Fix: move every TaleWorlds.*.dll out of that mod's bin folder (keep a backup). Recheck after every mod update; one version can be clean and the next not.

A hidden dependency. A mod uses another mod but doesn't list it. Example: AI Influence needs MCM but doesn't say so. The launcher says "cannot load due to a dependency problem" and points at the wrong thing. Fix: read the mod page's requirements, not just the launcher. The checker lists declared dependencies that are missing.

Library mods loaded twice. Bundles like TAOM.Dependencies contain Harmony, ButterLib, UIExtenderEx and MCM. Tick the standalone versions too, and the game crashes about 30 seconds in. Fix: untick the standalone ones for that mod list.

A mod folder one level too deep. Modules\ModName\ModName\SubModule.xml doesn't load. Move the inner folder up.

Version mismatch. Check which game version each mod page lists. Set it in Steam under Properties > Betas. Don't assume a mod is too old just because its date is old, though. Confirm with Step 3 before you go hunting for a newer download.

Step 3: find the mod by halving

When the report doesn't name a culprit:

1. Untick half your non-essential mods. Launch.
2. Still crashes? The problem is in the half that's still ticked. Works? It's in the half you unticked.
3. Halve again. Ten mods take about four launches.

Keep the library mods and your total conversion ticked the whole time. Test each step at the same point (main menu, then a town, then a battle) so you're comparing like with like.

Step 4: the stack trace

For a crash mid-game, the memory dump tells you which mod's code was running. Dumps live in the crashes folder (dump.dmp) and in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\.

The game is built on .NET, so you can open the dump with ClrMD and read the managed stack. The name at the top (for example SomeMod.MissionLogic.OnRegisterBlow) is the mod to blame. This is fiddly by hand and easy for an AI agent. See When a Modded Game Crashes.

Step 5: ask well

When you post in a mod's Discord or Nexus page, include:

• your game version (and beta branch)
• the mod's version
• crash_tags.txt and the last 30 lines of rgl_log
• what you were doing ("closed the loot screen after a battle")

Real fixes from real installs

• Battles crashing on hitting trolls in TAOM: DismembermentPlus broke on TAOM's non-human body meshes. Fix: turn off "AI can dismember" in Mod Options, or drop the mod for that list.
• Instant crash after updating DismembermentPlus: that version shipped nine TaleWorlds.*.dll files by mistake. Deleting them fixed it.
• Cinematic Combat crashing when soldiers spawn: Cinematic Combat was built against a newer, unreleased version of its own core library, so the public core was missing pieces. It wasn't the game version at all. Checking every reference in the mod against the installed files found it. If you hit this, check the mod's Patreon or Discord for a matching core build.