Common newbie questions answered

[tombom]

Q: Why does the game end when my character dies?
A: If the first character on your succesor list is from a different dynasty, then the game will end when your character dies. This is extremely unlikely to happen under salic primongentiture so I would recommend you use it.

Q: Under Elective Law, my heir is so-and-so of a different dynasty, but I become so-and-so from my own dynasty (who holds a title)!
Read above answer. However, if a relative with your dynasty holds a title somewhere, you will usually continue playing as them. Remember, you are playing a dynasty, not a country!

Q: Why can't I arrange marriages for everybody in my court? / for my son out of court?
A: You can only arrange marriages for people of the same dynasty in your court.

Q: Why can't I arrange marriages with pagans and muslims?
A: During the Crusader Kings time period, Christians and Infidels rarely were on friendly terms (think crusades). Therefore, whenever you capture an Infidel's province, you get to keep it but you cannot engage diplomatically.

Q: Why is the crusade system so messed up?
A: Beacuse that was how it was made. The only way it will stop as of 1.04a is if there are no more infidels. In the betas they have implemented new "crusade targets" which work a lot better.

Q: I'm papal controller and keep losing all my courtiers. Is this intentional?
A: Yes, but only for people with an ecclestical education.

Q: What are these "I could be a better..." events?
A: These events fire when somebody in your court could be better than somebody already in a court postion (i.e. Chancellor, Spymaster, Marshal, Steward) or there is nobody in the court position to remind you of this. There is no appoint option because there is no appoint command. (Edit: There is an appoint button in the beta)

Q: Why isn't Germany called HRE?
Don't ask. Have a search and you should discover that it has previously started flamewars, cause thread closures etc. So don't.

Q: I click on the save game in the left hand corner, but I can't load it!
You have to pick a country from the list every time you load the saved game.

Glossary:
Dynasty: Different surname/last name
Infidels: Muslims/Pagans as known during the CK time period.

Links of interest:
I could be a better... and other courtier events FAQ, the place to find out more about these events.
Encyclopaedia CK, a decent reference guide to CK that should help with a beginner's guide and interesting things.
Useful things to know about CK, check here before shouting "Bug!"
FAQ section for more comprehensive coverage of different subjects.

Yeah, very basic. If you have any contributions or ideas, feel free to post and I will add them.

[Gaute65]

I could be a better..." event and other courtier events

A list of good-to-know things about Crusader Kings

FAQ

[Havard]

EDIT
Removed link, was broken

[Gratianus]

1. Before starting a game (optional)
1) Skip the opening movie --- delete or rename “binkplay.exe” in avi folder.
2) Apply Play in windowed moded --- download screen switcher. It makes your game more comfortable.
3) Get a bride finder and other useful tools --- there are many useful tools. Download which you need.
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...d.php?t=238366

The old links
Peter Ebbesen's
ladyfabia's
Subterranean's
krispin's
total's
yvesp's

2. Mods (optional) Back up the original files before using mods!!
Scenarios and Modifications uploads
Graphic mods

3. Start a game
1) Choose a country
a. Choose by conditions of location --- if the religious enemies are around you, you can be the first arrive to the front of Crusade and get adjoining provinces without claiming titles. However, you have to pay attention to the unstable borders all the time. Iberian, Russian, Asian minor’s countries.
b. Choose by fertility --- Western countries are second to Islamic countries in technology at the beginning. However many of them are superior to the desert area in fertility. Italian, Iberian, British, French countries.
c. Choose by the progress of technologies --- it’s hard to close the technological gaps; therefore the higher technologies your country has at the beginning, the more advantageous you play to the last. Byzantine, Italian countries.
d. Choose by title --- If you think “I like the game all the better for troubles”, play as a count, “I like the country of moderate power”, play as a duke, and “I want to make a powerful war as soon as possible ”, play as a king.
e. Choose by religion --- sorry, I have no experience to play as catholic countries. Orthodox countries are exempted the Crusade penalty. They are allowed to be absorbed in management of provinces.

2) Grasp the situation
a. Relations --- change view mode to View Relation Map and confirm the locations of your liege and vassals (if you have).
b. Relationship --- click a portrait and confirm your family, courtiers and successors. If the ruler is not married, keep in mind that you have to find a partner ASAP. In bottom-right, you can see the current claims.
c. Realm conditions --- click a coat of arms in top-right and confirm your realm conditions (Income, Manpower, Demesne, and Efficiency). If Efficiency is under 100%, it represents that you have too many provinces in excess of the ruler’s ability.
d. Provinces --- click a directly controlled province (demesne) and confirm the power balance and the loyalty of social classes. What kinds of improvements exist? Or what kinds of improvements can you build?

3) Commands
a. Laws --- confirm the current laws and change them (if you need).
b. Advances --- confirm the current focuses of advances and change them (if you need).
c. Advisories --- access court screen and appoint advisors.
d. Construction --- click a province screen and build a province improvement (if you have money and technologies).
e. Change the economic sliders --- change the economic sliders (if you need).
f. Create title --- confirm whether you can create a title just now and how many provinces or which of the provinces should be controlled to create the next title. Creating a title is the most urgent matter. Hesitating to do so, you might be anticipated by others.
g. Find a partner --- If the ruler is without a partner, search him/her at once.
h. Grant title --- If Efficiency is under 100%, give provinces away to sons or vassals.

4) Later plans
a. General plan --- First of all for years devote yourself to develop the provinces, make sons, and build up troops. When you claim a title and make a war, take care of your reputation.
b. Strategy --- weight an income against a title. If you make much of money, invade a fertile province. And if you long for the great prestige, find out provinces for the next title.
c. Diplomacy --- There are two types of marriage. One is the marriage of convenience, and the other is for making excellent sons. Take care of allies. They are rivals fighting for the same game.
d. Crusade --- I can’t make any comment about it.

Sorry, I'm very poor at English. This article is not enough, but I've tried to let new CK fans know the useful things and not to spoil their excitement by telling details.

[binTravkin]

h. Grant title --- If Efficiency is under 100%, give provinces away to sons or vassals.

If you have royal posts in all your provinces, you can have 2 more provinces if you're not afraid of some revolt and villain events (they're rare enough).

If you have royal posts and grand palaces (prerequsitie - income of 15d from province) in all your provinces, you can have 5 more provinces if you're not afraid of some revolt and villain events as well as heretics and monarch-crazed events (a bit harder, but if everything else's running okay, shouldn't be of big problem).

[jtherold]

Guys, I think my level of computer literacy is quite a bit less than all of yours. I'm a total noob, but i think i'm finally getting the hang of this game (tutorial anyone?). My question is this, is there one bride-finder that would be easiest to get to work? I tried downloading all 5 of those and but I couldn't get any of them to work (mostly because I've never been mistaken for a computer whiz). I downloaded the .NET stuff for subterranian's, but it still won't run and still says something about JIT debugging, whatever that means. As frustrating as this is, it's probably worth it not to have to search all of Europe for a bride for my hunchback son. Any adivise?? (btw, having a blast so far!! I've already learned, Moslems=tough)

[L G]

Krispins was very easy and straight forward.

Just dl it, and for safe keeping, put it in your Ck folder so you wont lose it.

When you wanna use it, save the game. Alt Tab, then find your ck bride finder where you last put it, open it up, click on the saved game option and choose which ever title you saved it as.

Choose the stats you want it as, very straight forward on the top, and wala!

[Gaute65]

Gratianus CK_help

[Grubendagger]

I recently grabbed the title King of Norway, and then I declared war on Norway. The problem is that none of his vassals are at war with me and I need over 470 war score, for the King of Norway to recognize me as the King.
Do I have to painstakingly destroy his small scattered armies, and just slowly work up my war score or is there a better way?

[Havard]

Take all his demesne provinces (the ones he controls directly).

Although, as a Norwegian I will have to protest these brutal transgressions by the Danes. Hardrada should return to whoop your asses again

[magnate]

I recently grabbed the title King of Norway, and then I declared war on Norway. The problem is that none of his vassals are at war with me and I need over 470 war score, for the King of Norway to recognize me as the King.

Out of interest, how do you know this? Every time I see the war and peace scores they seem irrelevant to me - my decision is always based on available troops, the financial situation, etc. How do you know whether the displayed score is enough to get claims recognised etc.?

CC

[Nikolai]

Easy: The claims "cost" victory points. You need to have more VPs than what is required to get those titles.

[docsox]

I read that in order to load a saved game one must click on a country button. Please expand and explain. I have tried all sorts of clicking but none works.

Secondly how does one declare war? I cannot even declare war on pagans from my action window since no such option exists!

Please help!!

[Reveilled]

I read that in order to load a saved game one must click on a country button. Please expand and explain. I have tried all sorts of clicking but none works.

Secondly how does one declare war? I cannot even declare war on pagans from my action window since no such option exists!

Please help!!

To load a saved game:
Click on the Saved Game you want to load in the box in the lower left corner of the "single player" screen. A list of the kingdoms should appear in the upper centre of the screen. Above this list should be three large shields. These are, from left to right, the Kingdoms, Duchies, and Counties present in the saved game you have selected. To load, for example, a Duchy, click on the middle one of the three large shields to bring up a list of Duchies. Click on the duchy you wish to load. An image of the Duchy, along with the Titles held by the ruler, and a portrait of the ruler should appear in the upper right window. Now click start, in the lower right.

To declare war:
Find the country you wish to declare war on on the map. Click on the shield of that country, situated in the capital province of that country. Alternatively, click on any province they own, and then click on their shield, which should appear in the top left of the screen. This will bring up a list of actions you can take with that country. Declare War will be here. It may be greyed out if the country is not a religious enemy, and you do not have a valid claim on them. You can gain claims through the "grab title" and "usurp title" options on the list. You will only be able to take your claims in a war, unless the target is a religious enemy.

[schmuttah]

damn, i cant build anything, is it because my efficency is 0 or is it a bug ?

[Veldmaarschalk]

damn, i cant build anything, is it because my efficency is 0 or is it a bug ?

It is because your efficiency is 0

Get it up to least 80% or you might get a crazed king pretty soon

You can't keep all the land yourself, every ruler has a demesne limit, which is based on his tier (count/duke/king) and intrigue value

Count
intriguevalue*0.5*0.5

duke
intriguevalue*0.5*1.0

king
intriguevalue*0.5*2.0

Byzantine emperor bonus (if it is your primary title)
intriguevalue*0.5*2.0*2.0

So if a character has a intriguevalue of 8 (just his own, not from his spymaster) the demesnelimit is
Count = 2
Duke = 4
King = 8
Byzantine emperor = 16


There are centurybonuses, like f.e. after 1100 you get +1

And there is a culture bonus for the Mongol culture of +1000, so if you have a ruler with Mongol culture (very unlikely to happen) you can control 1000 provinces yourself

If you go over your demesnelimit you will start to lose efficiency

EDIT
You can find out your demenselimit by hoovering your mouse over the place where it says how many gold you have on the top of the screen

[schmuttah]

okej, thanks.

I always had my effiency around 100%, but in my last game all the little vassals made an uproar so i tried to play a newstrategy, screw the vassals

[jtfris]

okej, thanks.

I always had my effiency around 100%, but in my last game all the little vassals made an uproar so i tried to play a newstrategy, screw the vassals

I have an efficiency of 100% and 242 gold, but I can't build a forestry...Is there a reason?

[Veldmaarschalk]

I have an efficiency of 100% and 242 gold, but I can't build a forestry...Is there a reason?

You can't built everything in all provinces anymore, it depends on the terraintype

[jtfris]

You can't built everything in all provinces anymore, it depends on the terraintype

Where is the breakdown of what can be built in provinces by terrain type listed?