Crusader Kings

[SwordsMaster]

Hail all the world conquerors, oppressors of our vassals and greedy warmongers!

Hey Froggy! (Oh, I just know you love this game and you are probably the most experienced CK player around. And I know You will read it )

Well, I got the game 3 days ago. Didnt realy have time to play because Im planning to go snowboarding next week and I need to get my assignments finished beforehand.

Anyway, I didnt read the manual (you know the rule: you dont read the manual til something breaks...), and I´ve got a few questions: (please dont tell me to read the manual coz this whole thread would become pointless..)

1.- How do I have children? (mummy and daddy called a bird in Paris and...)

Seriously. My king is 32, he is married but 3 years into the game he hasnt had any children yet.

2.- If the king dies childless, and his brother inherits, but his brother has another kingdom, do they unite?

3.- Money. I´m just out of a 1.5 year war and my economy is as good as no economy at all. Im in a -400 debt and that doesnt help stabilizing my situation. I know that "tax higher" answer, but is there a more creative and long-term way of doing this?

4.- At which percentage the social groups start rebelling? 50%?

5.- What are the advantages of having a vassal ruling a province? It seems that I cant raise armies in the newly conquered provinces either, is it related to the previous question?

6.- Do I get money from looting? It doesnt appear so, but I tought I would ask anyway...




Thanks to all.
Regards.
Happy world conquering!

[the Count of Flanders]

1.- How do I have children? (mummy and daddy called a bird in Paris and...)

Seriously. My king is 32, he is married but 3 years into the game he hasnt had any children yet.

Your wife is probably too old and barren, kill her, marry some 16-year old and watch the kiddies roll in. ANother problem could be that your leader has the "Chaste" trait, in which case you have a problem.

2.- If the king dies childless, and his brother inherits, but his brother has another kingdom, do they unite?

yes

3.- Money. I´m just out of a 1.5 year war and my economy is as good as no economy at all. Im in a -400 debt and that doesnt help stabilizing my situation. I know that "tax higher" answer, but is there a more creative and long-term way of doing this?

Don't use standing armies!!!!!!!! Disband every unit you have when not in wartime. Generally you make a profit while at peace and when you start mobilising you will almost always lose money, so grab what you need quickly or build up cash reserves first.
It could also be that your demesne is way too big: see 5.

4.- At which percentage the social groups start rebelling? 50%?

dunno really, never had it happen

5.- What are the advantages of having a vassal ruling a province? It seems that I cant raise armies in the newly conquered provinces either, is it related to the previous question?

There are no advantages, letting vasals rule counties is just necessary because you can only rule a limited number of lands directly (demesne). Otherwise you get a large income penalty and unhappy vasals. You can raise armies from newly conquered provinces but they will always be tiny because you just whipped their fighting men into submission (or just killed them). They need time to regenerate.

6.- Do I get money from looting? It doesnt appear so, but I tought I would ask anyway...

yes, but it's rarely worth it

[SwordsMaster]

Thanks, Count of Flanders!

One last question:

If I have the title of "king" of various kingdoms, and I give one of them to one of my courtsmen, are they still my vassals? Or do they become independent?

[the Count of Flanders]

Thanks, Count of Flanders!

One last question:

If I have the title of "king" of various kingdoms, and I give one of them to one of my courtsmen, are they still my vassals? Or do they become independent?

They become independant. I sometimes give king titles to my heir to give him some prestige and then when my current king dies the kingdoms merge again. But it's sometimes risky because your idiot son can get involved in wars and get himself killed or marry an inferior spouse.

[frogbeastegg]

I've actually stopped playing until patch 1.5 is finished, and it's been ages since I played ... back when 1.3 was around, I think. I didn't like some of the changes 1.4 made.

To expand on the heir issue, it is not solely down to the wife. There are several factors:
-Your king's fertility rating (hidden stat)
-Your wife's fertility rating (again hidden)
-Your wife's age (past 35 and it is rare for many women to concieve)
-Traits (lusty boosts fertility, chaste decreases it, and some other traits [often illnesses and stress] also affect it)

I encountered one peasant rebellion; I think it happened about 50% loyalty. I got hit by a lot of power changing events for that province in a short space of time.

To get money from war you really have to demand it in a peace setlement. The maximum you can request is 500 gold. The AI can and will offer you much more.

[sharrukin]

Is this game any good?

How does it compare to MTW or RTW?

How many regions/provinces does it have?

Crusader Kings? The holy land or more extensive?

[the Count of Flanders]

Is this game any good?

How does it compare to MTW or RTW?

How many regions/provinces does it have?

Crusader Kings? The holy land or more extensive?

I think it's pretty good, it's a dynasty building, feudal simulation grand strategy game (so no tactical battles). The map covers the same region as MTW but there are way, way, way more provinces. I don't know exactly how many but I think at least 4 to 5 times the amount of MTW.
The object of the game isn't to conquer the world but to setup a prestigious dynasty.
The biggest downside of the game as it is I think is that there is just very little to do often but sit and watch at the screen while empire churns on happily. And once you start winning you can just keep on picking at smaller rivals and getting bigger and bigger (they don't gang up on you or something). Your vasals will only rarely (too rarely IMHO, I almost never see my vasals fighting amongst each other or against other factions) make trouble. Usually there aren't many province improvements to build either. It's especially bad when your king is wounded or sick so he can't go crusading so there is nothing to do but to wait for him to die.
But still, all in all, it's a very good game. Just needs one more patch to get some balancing issues right.

[sharrukin]

Thanks for the info.
Think I will wait on this one!

[SwordsMaster]

Just started a new campaign, and the "young woman" thing worked: 7 heirs, 3 guys (2 of them died) and 4 girls (all made it to adulthood).

Now another question: Is there any way to keep the loyalty constant without giving and taking titles every year? It is kind of annoying, and when I leave the same guy in the same place for more than a couple of years he wont want me to command his soldiers... God, did I ask him at all? I already picked the government policies that best suit my needs, and that doesnt add to unrest....

In the other hand, I cant just stop taxing them, I need the money. I found an equilibrium earning some 11 gold a month (ok, its not a fortune...), and keeping them all happy and controlling personally about 5 teritories with 95% of utility (i.e. only 5% penalization because of the "large estate" thing).

Any help will be appreciated. I might even consider you for the post of count of the Ural. (Ok, sorry about the joke, I need sleep at this point)

[the Count of Flanders]

You need to appoint your advisors very carefully: especially the chancellor and the stewart. The chancellor's diplomacy stats are added to your own, the higher this stat the more loyal your vasals. So if you have daughters with good stats keep them, don't marry them away to foreign courts but try to marry them to someone in your own court.
Could also be that you have a bad reputation (taking land from christian lords really sinks your reputation very quickly): only way to recover from that is having high piety (build churches, crusade,...) or giving away a lot of titles to vasals.
If you did this right and your vasals loyalty is still dropping then you probably have some really bad negatrait like crazed. You can see what affects loyalty by going to a vasal's personal screen and keeping the mouse still over the loyalty: then a tooltip will appear giving you all factors.

[SwordsMaster]

No, my reputation is fine, I have plenty of unholy devils to redeem at hand, so I dont usually fight cristians unless they are my own rebellious vassals....

I do have a couple of traits that arent too helpful (lazy, proud, endogamic), I thing the only heir that survived was the worst of all of them.... but I have to live with it...

I usually give titles to women. Old women, so that they cant have children and when they die I inherit after them. Machiavellic aint I?

Thanks for the tip about daughters!

[nokhor]

i don't like the paradox games tactical systems. 2 guys with energy bars underneath them when a battle is taking place. is this still the same for CK? it seems from whats been posted here though that they have a really detailed diplomatic/ personel system which would be perfect for a medieval era game, so i'm kinda torn.

[SwordsMaster]

Thats right, tactical combat is absolutely unexistant. Basically if you have a better guy in charge and more troops you win. If one is true and the other isnt, then you get mixed results.

Ok, I think Im getting good at it. Playing the Count of NAples, I became "prince of campania" in year 2. And emperor of Byzantium the 4th generation. Which was pretty good, but the next year, the only one of my 8 sons that made it into adulthood died, and the emperor was already 68! That was unfortunate. Well, long story short, the king died 2 years later childless and I lost the game.


Another question: Even with that "strongest vassal inherits" law, the vassal HAS to have your second name, right?

[the Count of Flanders]

Another question: Even with that "strongest vassal inherits" law, the vassal HAS to have your second name, right?

Yes. But you can change inheritence laws rather safely if your diplomacy rating is high enough.
Becoming emperor of byzantium is a bit too easy IMO, as duke of Flanders I once broke free of France, pledged allegiance to the emperor which died a few months later and voila: I was emperor. As byzantium the game is really easy because you can hold a larger demesne and your vasals get a loyalty bonus.

[SwordsMaster]

...But it is HUGE. And too many rebellious vassals....

If you want a challenge play some Kievan count. You get the mongols as well...

I know about the laws, I was just wondering if the guy who is going to inherit had to be of your family or is it possible to change.

Also, If your daughter is married to someone outside the family but this someone is in your court, can he inherit?

[The Wizard]

Yes. But you can change inheritence laws rather safely if your diplomacy rating is high enough.
Becoming emperor of byzantium is a bit too easy IMO, as duke of Flanders I once broke free of France, pledged allegiance to the emperor which died a few months later and voila: I was emperor. As byzantium the game is really easy because you can hold a larger demesne and your vasals get a loyalty bonus.

This is because the succession law of the empire is set to 'Elective Law' on the outset of the 1066 setting, to try to simulate the frequent changing of hands of the Imperial title. When Alexios Komnenos came to power, that ended and the idea of a stable dynasty was reinstituted.

In my current game, I've destroyed the Byzantine empire on purpose, and I then proceeded to play as the Prince of Kappadokia (yes, the godlike Alexios Komnenos ^^). Right now my manpower is 10,000 the superior of the Abbasids (and rapidly growing to the size of the Fatimids and Seljuqs), I am king of Georgia and Aleppo, I control about half of Asia Minor and am expanding as quickly as I can (keeping BB in check as much as possible), and I have a couple of possessions in Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria as well. The problem is, Alexios is 63 now and his successor (with Semisalic Primogeniture) has a stewardry rating of 1... which is slightly offset by his martial skill of 13 and his 8 diplomacy... but I wonder how his father's combined stewardry of 30 and his father's huge demesne will be handled when he rises to the thrones of Aleppo and Georgia...

P.S. A question: once I take control of 66% of the old Byzantine possessions, and create the title 'Emperor of Byzantium', will my color change to purple and my shield to Byzantium's? You see, it seems the title of 'Emperor' ingame is equal to a Royal title (such as King of Georgia)... and I want to represent the Byzantine Empire rather than King of Georgia... so will I have to release the Kingdom of Georgia as a buffer against the Hordes or ...?



~Wiz

[the Count of Flanders]

P.S. A question: once I take control of 66% of the old Byzantine possessions, and create the title 'Emperor of Byzantium', will my color change to purple and my shield to Byzantium's? You see, it seems the title of 'Emperor' ingame is equal to a Royal title (such as King of Georgia)... and I want to represent the Byzantine Empire rather than King of Georgia... so will I have to release the Kingdom of Georgia as a buffer against the Hordes or ...?



~Wiz

Yes I know Byzantium has elective law in 1066 scenario. But anyway, you keep always the shield of the first kingly title you received, if you want the Byzantine coat of arms you'll have to give away all other king titles you currently possess.

[SwordsMaster]

Yup, thats right.

My current campaign as "count of Messina", 1066.
It is now 1278 and Im King of Sicily, Naples, Maroc, and Egypt. Duke of Alexandria, Tunis, Damietta and a few more. My vassals: Duke of marrakech and duke of Fes, control everything from the Canaries to Oran. The Duke of Sardinia (my son), controls Tunis and 4 other counties around it, a bit of Egypt and another couple of counties more towards Jerusalem. 1/3 of Italy is mine, 2 counties there. Istria and Lisbon are my vassals too as is Pest, Livonia, and all the north of Africa from Malta to Alexandria. The duchy of MAllorca, with menorca, Castellon, Tarragona and Denia also belongs to another son, and the duchy of Granada, Murcia and oran is my brother´s.


But 20 years of war have had a big impact. Constantina and Annaba had to be conquered by arms from reballious vassals, Pest and Livonia were lost due to lack of money to keep the vassals content, Hlaf of Egypt was lost to the Ayyubids, and Lisbon and Granada claimed their independance and are no longer vassals. My manpower is down to approx 20,000 men from about 45,000; and another of my stupid sons (former) count of Corsica and Nice, has lost all his possessions to the Ayyubids. As of now am at war with the duchy of Fes.

And my king is cr*p, squizofrenic, coward, paranoid, chast and a few others. I tried to kill him sending him with his 500 men to fight 1500 rebellious Livonians, but despite losing his army he returned home safe....

How do I dispose of a useless king provided I have enough heirs? He is doing nothing but sinking my reputation and the vassals loyalty.

[nokhor]

just got this. awesome game for the type that it is. my question is, how do you know how big your desmesne can get before suffering penalties for being too big? i can't find it anywhere in the menus.

[SwordsMaster]

Just leave your pointer over the "gold" at the top of the screen and a message will popup in 3 seconds or so.

[nokhor]

thanks SM!!