Hi I'm new to the forum/game

Register your game here at the forums, and you can then see the GoT mod subforum. The mod subforums requires the registeration of a CK2 key.

CD key's probably necessary for registering the game on the forum, which gives you access to all the subforums, like bug reports, tech support, and mods.

It... might be wise to learn to play the game first before trying mods, especially if you're brand new to these types of games. There's an incredibly hefty learning curve to pretty much all of the Paradox grand strategy games, and they can be plenty overwhelming the first time you play them.

Hello there Freeman,

The learning curve actually isn't very steep with crusader kings, so I suppose you'll be doing fine. If you have any problems with the terminology, just visit the quick answers thread here on this forum, there's a lot of helpful people who will try to explain.

Also, if you're wondering about where to start your first game... don't listen to those people who suggest "tutorial island" Ireland. It is boring as sin, and early gameplay mainly consists of waiting. Try one of the medium-sized duchies in France or Germany, where you'll be under the protection of the king, but still able to expand inside his realm by conquest or marriage.

Again, if you have questions, people on here are happy to help you. It's a usually very supportive community.

regards,

Make sure the videos are recent - gameplay has changed over time due to patches etc.

I played my first game as the king of Poland in 1066 and I'd say that's a decent start. You're stronger than any of your neighbors except the HRE who won't usually attack you, and your realm isn't so big as to be hard to manage. Plus, you have a young character with great stats.

There's a lot of things you can do but often not much that you need to do. To start off:

- Look at your council. You probably automatically got the best choices picked for you, but hit each appoint button anyway and see if there are any higher skill candidates
- Make sure the spymaster likes you. Better to choose a lower skill one that likes you than a higher skill one that will murder you.
- Check your alliances in your character tab. If you have a reasonably strong ally outside the realm (Boleslaw starts with a Russian ally because of his wife) then you can put the diplomat councillor (I forget the name - chancellor maybe?) on their capital to improve relations and make it more likely they'll accept calls to arms
- Marshal "Train Troops" in your capital. As you grow large you'll want to change this to researching, but for the start that's the best choice.
- Steward to raise taxes in your capital
- spymaster Scheme in your capital if you're worried about plots, or Study Technology in Constantinople
- Court priest to improve religious relationships in Rome (for the Pope).

Make sure you're married & find a wife if you aren't. I may have forgotten something, but if I haven't then you can start time ticking and wait for a chance to invade someone weaker than you. Your pagan neighbors get major defensive advantages, but if your ally helps and you wait until they attack each other you might be able to successfully holy war the small Pomeranian dukes (save first!).

For your very first game I'd suggest Ireland. There's nobody near by to attack you (don't worry about England) and there are plenty of small little counts for you to absorb into your own realm.

Ireland is a bit of a dull start; you will, I believe, learn most by picking the king of Castille, from where you can start plots, claim wars and holy wars quickly.

It is pretty intimidating at first, isn't it? I tried getting my lady to play with me, but the tutorial scared her off :laugh:

hdghg's advice is pretty sound. Don't worry too much about "winning" your first few games, and just try things out to see where they get you.

One thing that really helped me out is to pick a small goal, and try to accomplish it. Something like "become duke or whatevria". Something simple, something not too dangerous. Trying to figure out how to accomplish that goal with the tools you have is a good way to learn about claims, how to get them, inheritances, marriages, and so much more, without having to sit through a textbook.

how to choose a good wife (how to know what stats to look for, which country she should be from, how to avoid prestige penalties for marrying a courtier etc etc )

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Don't stress the prestige too much. There's only 3 things you really need to look for in a wife:
-If she has any claims, or is the daughter of someone who has titles you want
-If marrying her will give you any alliances (with someone big enough to help you and not so far away that they won't bother)
-If she has good stats, or traits like Genius, Strong, Quick, etc.

Prestige is easily gained through so many things. A small marriage penalty is worth a potential ally or effective First Lady.

Freeman76 said:

Thanks for tips, I tried some of them out. Now don't get me wrong when I say this, as I see this game as an investment and am determined to learn it (I bought the DLC collection + Old Gods yesterday even though I'm struggling to learn it) but F**K!!!! I think I actually am missing something as far as the overall picture goes. I don't have the sense of who does what, what effects what etc etc, and even after playing for 20 hours I don't feel in control of any aspect of what I'm doing, apart from fabricating claims lol. Is there a real base level tutorial anywhere that actually explains the relationships between people, and the way they effect each other.

A good example is I noticed my heir was a kinsman, but I have a son. I went into the laws, and tried to nominate my son as heir, but he was only a pretender after I done this. I just have no idea wtf is going on half the time. What does it then mean if a kinsman inherits my title rather than my son. This is one tiny aspect of what I mean. Ive watched many tutorials now, but they assume a basic knowledge of this medieval set up and how things link together, which is the part im missing.

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Maybe you should play multiplayer. That way, an experienced player can answer your questions while you play.

Honestly, the only way to learn the game is to jump in and play. Play as a vassal Duke your first game (an HRE Duke in the 1,066 start is ideal), so that you can muck around and see what happens. Learn marriage mechanics, claiming, warring, catholic mechanics, holy warring, crusading, managing vassals, being a vassal, etc.

There's no quick "How-To" for CK2, but the best tutorial is clocking 30 hours randomly and learning by doing.

Freeman76 said:

A good example is I noticed my heir was a kinsman, but I have a son. I went into the laws, and tried to nominate my son as heir, but he was only a pretender after I done this. I just have no idea wtf is going on half the time. What does it then mean if a kinsman inherits my title rather than my son. This is one tiny aspect of what I mean. Ive watched many tutorials now, but they assume a basic knowledge of this medieval set up and how things link together, which is the part im missing.

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It sounds like you're on Elective Succession (Or Tanistry, which is Elective but only for your kin/dynasty). Which means not only do you have to elect your son, but you have to convince your vassals/fellow nobles to also elect him (Through managing your opinion modifiers; make them all like you and they'll vote your way).

Of course, it doesn't matter if your kin inherits instead of your son. You'll play as whoever is listed as your heir (Providing they're of the same dynasty), which is determined by your Succession type (Elective/Tanistry: Everyone gets a vote, Primogeniture: Oldest son inherits all, Ultimogeniture: Youngest son inherits all, Gavelkind: Lands [Demense] is split among all sons, Seniority: Eldest kinsman inherits all). Of course, it also takes into consideration the gender law as well (From Agnatic, only men can inherit, to Agnatic-Cognatic, women can inherit if there's no men, to Cognatic, only women can inherit [Available for Basque culture and Cathar religion]).

Then there's religion modifiers for determined which Succession law you can use. Pagans ONLY get Gavelkind, and Muslims ONLY get Open (Strongest son inherits [Land your favourite, ignore the rest]).

Like I said. Muck around. The best learning process is to actively try and do things wrong and see how long it takes to get a gameover.

Colpo said:

to Cognatic, only women can inherit [Available for Basque culture and Cathar religion]).

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Cognatic actually only means there's no preference towards either sex. In Primogeniture, firstborn inherits, no matter if woman or man, and so on.

Rotkohl said:

Cognatic actually only means there's no preference towards either sex. In Primogeniture, firstborn inherits, no matter if woman or man, and so on.

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I confused myself. :laugh: You're right of course!

Mind you, I play with the HIP mods, which also gives me access to Enatic-Cognatic (Women > Men), and Absolute Enatic (Women only). That's the source of my confusion. :laugh:

It happens

Otherwise, your advice is very sound.
OP - just mess around, you will get the game in no time. If you have any specific questions, come to the forums and ask, we're always here. (kind of sad, actually)

Also, as Colpo and I said, play as a duke in your first games, don't fall into the Irish count-trap of mind-blowing boringness.

Kill all the babies.