getting slaughtered in successions each and every time

[tcplotts]

seems like picking my poison so far is only resulted in, well, getting poisoned.

i finally got my second generation in good shape, have all of Ireland, everyone in line for the most part, and a decent son to inherit. So King 2 comes in, of course there's trouble, but this time, I say, I'm ready.

So the only problem is, as always, the vassals of the few counties I can't rule directly. I begin emptying out coffers to bribe 'em up. Not great, but everyone's pretty much positive with at least 35+.

My heir, however, didn't marry *his* son. I guess I could've arranged that? If I could have, I should have. So when King 2 starts, he has to marry his goofy ass kid, and the pickings are slim indeed. I pick some SPanish chick--always a risk, as they're even more intrinsically diabolical than the Irish--and things look okay. Until a vassal invites her to *his* court, and the stupid son follows.

Wtf? And I can't get them back, and the stats look like they don't hate me at all, but apparently I guess this is bidness.

So of course there's a vassal uprising with *every* vassal trying to get King 2 off and the next kid up to bat. They succeed by killing the king in battle. Grandson's on the throne, everyone in my old counties hates him--including, incidentally, me as a player--and then the counter revolt to get *him* off the throne with no heirs.

He dies quickly, and that's the end of the dynasty and pretty much the game, as I'm disugusted at this point.

What the heck happened there? Did spymaster miss a plot or seven? His like stat is 98, skill level 19. Everything triggered obviously by the invite to the grandson's wife, whom I couldn't get to return.

All of this, mind you, happened in mere minutes from beginning to end.

I'm about to give up in frustration with this thing. Seems every preparation the AI intentionally counters with an even more powerful screw of its own.

[rmdsc]

...Does your spymaster like you?

[tcplotts]

yes, he's at 98. but i just learned this isn't the result of a plot per se.
What I need to do was as soon as the king dies, to jam pause and sort everything out slowly and as long as it takes. the triggering mistake could have been avoided by giving gthe grandson a quick county so he doesn't leave. that keeps his wife with him, too.

problem comes from a clash of advice. i've seen people swear never to give land to heirs because then they try to usurp. others say give them just enough to prevent non-family vassals from forming a plot around them to usurp by taking them out of your court and pressing claims.

I'm just not sure. when i started, I gave land only to the heir. When I first hit Irish king, gave the heir a duchy, kept the rest except for Ormand, which is generally a basketcase anyway.

But kid then wants kingdom. The I tried splitting them over sons, and the non heir sons revolt against heir as soon as king dies.

this last time i didn't give any away to kids, but to members of my court with high likes and same culture, religion, etc.

One problem I identified is with changing crown law too quickly after my first kid took over the thrown. I went from low to medium crown authority, and that probably started the entire sequence of event. I was justnot stable enough yet to pull that one off, and I think that was my mistake. But Scottland was breathing down my neck and I foolishly went for the quick fix on levies instead. Normally I hire mercenaries, but I've noticed that when I need them for kingdom-level conflict, most are rented out already.

Sheesh.... this is one damn complicated and convoluted game. But I guess ya gotta grind until you get the recipes that work for ya. 55 hours in,and I still feel like a complete newb...

[rmdsc]

yes, he's at 98. but i just learned this isn't the result of a plot per se.
What I need to do was as soon as the king dies, to jam pause and sort everything out slowly and as long as it takes. the triggering mistake could have been avoided by giving gthe grandson a quick county so he doesn't leave. that keeps his wife with him, too.

You said he's in your vassal's court, you can still give him a county in that case. I don't see how that helps or changes anything though.

problem comes from a clash of advice. i've seen people swear never to give land to heirs because then they try to usurp. others say give them just enough to prevent non-family vassals from forming a plot around them to usurp by taking them out of your court and pressing claims.

Don't give land to potential pretenders, i.e. your heir's brothers. I tend to believe in keeping your direct heir home, because that way you have a greater control over your heir's heir, but it's not that much of an issue.

The I tried splitting them over sons, and the non heir sons revolt against heir as soon as king dies.

See above.

this last time i didn't give any away to kids, but to members of my court with high likes and same culture, religion, etc.

Search for Content nobles with your culture. Also it doesn't matter if they're in your court or not.

One problem I identified is with changing crown law too quickly after my first kid took over the thrown. I went from low to medium crown authority, and that probably started the entire sequence of event. I was justnot stable enough yet to pull that one off, and I think that was my mistake. But Scottland was breathing down my neck and I foolishly went for the quick fix on levies instead. Normally I hire mercenaries, but I've noticed that when I need them for kingdom-level conflict, most are rented out already.

Raising crown authority is a long term fix and a short term stab to yourself. Do it near the end of your reign, not early, because you don't really get any benefit from it by pissing your vassals off.

[tcplotts]

that last sentence I think sums it up for me. thanks.

[xcorps]

But I guess ya gotta grind until you get the recipes that work for ya

That's really the kicker.

Finding a way to play with relative confidence that you can control the chaos of marriages and successions is half the game, and then the game changes. Personally, I like very much the ruler creator. It's really a dynasty creator. You get to actually build the entire dynasty from scratch throughout the game. It's a very different experiance imo from the default game.

One thing that's hard to see when you're still learning how to manage your realm is that almost all of the decisions you make with your first ruler have a direct and lasting impact throughout the game. Changing crown authority is a good example. If you change it, you should do it with a ruler who has been on the throne a very long time and has enough "long reign" bonus to counter the malus, or at least keep his vassals from falling into negative opinion. Changing it with a new ruler creates a permanent malus that makes for a shaky rule. You spend so much time and effort putting out opinion fires that you can't set up your next ruler for an easy transition or expansion war.

[Mercadi]

Near the end of your reign it's time for some harsh actions. Rearranging of vassals that get too strong, making them revolt so that you can strip off their titles.
You can make different branches of your family dislike each other, by making them competitors for a piece of land (i.e. you can put your direct vassals into a duchy without making one the ruler of another, and let them be like spiders in a jar).
Can also make different branches of your family different cultures by assigning specific guardians to their heirs.
Try to see that they don't intermarry, you don't want to end up with a duke that controls 2/3 of your lands

[tcplotts]

all good advice. short lesson--let the old man do the dirty work after all the social capital has built up so your kid doesn't have to do it and make enemies out of the box.

really, i'm comfortable with everything now except distributing land outside myself and marriage and court management. After looking over how my first three attempts failed--all on succession issues--it's pretty clear that was what was biting me in the tush.

so I'll try again armed with new knowledge...heh heh. I'm not that far off from being competitive at this point, so a little more Irish time should do the trick.

[Wraith094]

Get Stewardship Kings. With 20+ Stewardship your demesne is usually around 7-8, and in a kingdom as small as Ireland that should be more than enough to put down even mass revolts by your remaining vassals.

[grumphie]

20 stewardship is 7-8? hell no. as a duke with 19 i have a demense of 13 max.

[TheStrangerOrg]

I reckon you have a highe stewardship steward and a high stewardship wife that is about 13

if its just the king its about 7-8

[rmdsc]

I reckon you have a highe stewardship steward and a high stewardship wife that is about 13

if its just the king its about 7-8

Depends on legalism, but a king with 20 stewardship should start at 9 without a wife.