- Never, ever adopt anyone out of the blue. Less generals, less governors, less cash and less full stacks roaming around : all of that makes for a slower pace. Plus, I wants me bloodline pure. Thus, I keep it thoroughly inbred :}

- The pope is right. No matter what he says, he's right. He wants me to cease hostilities 8 turns into a siege ? Fine, I'll pack my treb's, saddle up and go home. His inquis are ALSO right, meaning I will never try to kill the bastards.

- As few mercs as possible, with a max ratio of 1/4 of the troops in a given stack. They're not to be trusted (and, of course, they make the game mondo easy). Only exception being Crusade/Jihad mercs - then I'll take any and everyone with a red cross'd shield who's willing to join.

- if possible and not too silly, try to turn every settlement that borders another faction into a castle. Inland and island provinces depend on wether they're already well built-up as castles, if not they'll usually be converted into cities unless sitting in a strategic spot.

- Usually, I'll be somewhat passive, respect my treaties and merely retaliate against factions that attack me instead of invading other people out of the blue. Exception made for crusades, and sometimes for other religions but only if the game gets too stagnant.