Home Trending Latest threads New posts Developer diaries

Taking the Empire from Within

Jump to latest Follow Reply
  • We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Crusader Kings II 69869 Bug Reports 19707 User Modifications 10588 Suggestions 5969 Tech Support 6362 After Action Reports
th3freakie

th3freakie

Commissar for a European People's Economy
75 Badges
Apr 23, 2004
5.943
5.654
vicentedelisboa.wordpress.com
  • For The Glory
The Makedon dynasty accomplished many things, it cannot be denied.

They have reconquered Sicily. They have reconquered the Dalmatian coast. They oversaw the recover of Africa and incorporated Bulgaria into the Empire. They have even turned Venice into a loyal servant of the realm. Not withstanding the loss of Georgia, it can be said that they saved the Empire.

Glory to the Makedons for that, but past glory isn't enough to sustain the Empire, and unfortunately that is all they have to offer right now. The attempted reconquest of Georgia was an embarrassing defeat, the Emperor is an idiot and his family numbers quickly thinning. The themes are chaotic and our enemies see the weakness as an opportunity.

Time has come for a new Dynasty to take the helm. Time has come for us Kontomytes to assume our God-mandated duty of saving Civilization and Christendom.

The subject, is how. How do you take an Empire from within, causing minimum damage?
 
It's best to have an ambitious character with good traits and stats, and a good spymaster. You can plot to get a claim on the Empire title, then once that succeeds you will need to plot to have yourself placed on the throne. If enough vassals like you better than the emperor, and you have over 100% of your liege's army size, you hit the intrigue option to demand installment of claimant. If your group is powerful enough, the Emperor will usually abdicate in favor of you. However, if the emperor has close to the army size of your group, or is just stubborn, he'll reject your claim and start a war.
 
Let it crumble, undermine the Emperor constantly, expand and build your powerbase, then demand elective, get elected, proceed to hunt down the previous dynasty and proclaim them extinct. Natural selection.
 
Enewald said:
The subject, is how. How do you take an Empire from within, causing minimum damage?
Click to expand...

Enewald said:
Let it crumble, undermine the Emperor constantly, expand and build your powerbase, then demand elective, get elected, proceed to hunt down the previous dynasty and proclaim them extinct. Natural selection.
Click to expand...

What would you have said if I asked for maximum damage? :D
 
Marry extensively into the imperial line in order to get claims, save up all that time to have a goodly-sized war thesaurion, and then put everything behind a decisive, mercenary-buttressed claim war for a claimant of your family with high diplomacy skill. It doesn't need to be your own self at the moment - that can wait until further intradynastic arrangements. I remember claiming the empire for my uncle as the Dalassenoi, and just made sure that in a few generations the imperial purple found its way to our side of the family.
 
Another option is to start a faction to lower Crown Authority and then one to institute Elective Monarchy.

Then start spending money and making alliances to get yourself elected.

At the very least, if you don't get elected it might pass to someone who's less of an idiot and you can bide your time.
 
th3freakie said:
The subject, is how. How do you take an Empire from within, causing minimum damage?
Click to expand...

Marriage,cloak and dagger. At least thats how I did it.

Once I reached duchy level, I had my diplomat increase relations constantly. At one point my character had a doughter and the emperor about 3-4 sons. The third in the line of was an imbecile and was the only one unmarried. With a heavy hurt I matriliniary married the girl and killed the rest of his sons. Then I switched to elective and made her son my successor. Then it was a matter of the imbecile dying.

I was really happy none of the children got the trait, and I married them all to genius/quick characters to expunge the trait.

Fun fact: That Imbecile, reconquered Sicily, the Balkans, Jerusalem and after my interference, incorporated Georgia.
 
Last edited:
Without using elective shenanigans, since there's just such a vast pool of electors it's unlikely you'll convince enough of them to like you in face of Born in the Purple and other buffs the emperor gets, you need to marry into the imperial clan such that you have at least a weak claim or even be the husband of a ruling empress and then just make sure it's your little boy who is heir or force a faction for your claim.

Alternatively, amass enough land to create a kingdom and keep expanding till you have enough to either outright usurp the title or make a faction for yourself without having a claim and have the strength to press it mostly yourself. This would be the long con.
 
I would be in favour of Classicists suggestion. Marry into the Emperors family, marry a lot of your Dynasty into their family and make sure the marriages give your dynastic family ERE claims. Eventually start to undermine the Makedons, try killing them off through plots. It isn't too hard making your wife/your dynasty members wife the Empress. If an empress is married normally her children will be of your dynasty. Those children will be the heirs to the Empire. You can at this point either wait for her death or plot to have her killed and you will have someone of your dynasty on the throne of the empire. Obviously your not going to claim the Empire directly from that, but if you change the Duchy succession laws to Seniority and kill your way to the Emperor being heir or Elective and electing your Emperor to be heir you can switch to becoming Emperor.. okay that was long winded, but I have done this strategy to become Emperor before now.

It won't work if the ERE has switched to Agnatic succession.
 
Thanks, everyone.

Two things mentioned here that do not know how to do and suspect might not be possible in the current patch:

Plot to get a claim on the Empire.
Faction to get yourself on the throne if you don't have a claim.

Is there are hidden pre-requisite for those that I cannot see?
 
Expand enough so that you alone are powerful enough to push through factions. Push through an elective faction and then push through a faction for yourself. Make sure you have tons of gold stacked for mercs if the Emperor would not agree. If you're very powerful he will most likely agree though. Factions to get yourself on the throne can only be made if you are an elector or if you have a claim on the Empire. Either way works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back