Crusader Kings II ~ Quick Answers

[jonjowett]

No, I owned Frisia first and won Norway in a crusade.

The de jure drift status is only updated every 1st Jan. Does it correct itself if you play until the next 1st Jan?

 

[neogamingo10]

Question: Why did my duchy of brabant is being Incorportated to the kingdom of Norway when I've had the kingdom of Frisia as my chosen kingdom the entire time?

View attachment 970872

Can provide more info if needed.

Solved the problem, I had a vassal with duel duchies and his main duchy was Iceland somehow, so the lands were becoming part of the Norwegian kingdom.

Thanks for the ideas though, folks.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Character/Realm Change

Situation: I was an Orthodox Duke vassal of a Sunni HRE Emperor. Catholic Bohemia declared a Holy War on the Emperor for my two-county duchy (de jure and de facto).

Expected Outcome: 1) HRE win or white peace; no change

2a) Bohemia wins; I become a Bohemian vassal (since as Orthodox, he could not holy war against me)​

2b) Bohemia wins; Bohemian king takes my land and game over (I consider more likely than 2a)​

​

Actual Outcome: 2c) Bohemia wins and king takes my counties; but I continue to play as my wife (same dynasty, Catholic countess in Bohemia)

Additional Information: On score screen, wife is listed as first ruler with the score and realm length being given to wife. (She is scored as ruling for over a century.) I had about five rulers before wife.

Was it a glitch or very obscure rule?

Thank you for reading and answering.

 

[jonjowett]

Character/Realm Change

Situation: I was an Orthodox Duke vassal of a Sunni HRE Emperor. Catholic Bohemia declared a Holy War on the Emperor for my two-county duchy (de jure and de facto).

Expected Outcome: 1) HRE win or white peace; no change

2a) Bohemia wins; I become a Bohemian vassal (since as Orthodox, he could not holy war against me)​

2b) Bohemia wins; Bohemian king takes my land and game over (I consider more likely than 2a)​

​

Actual Outcome: 2c) Bohemia wins and king takes my counties; but I continue to play as my wife (same dynasty, Catholic countess in Bohemia)

Additional Information: On score screen, wife is listed as first ruler with the score and realm length being given to wife. (She is scored as ruling for over a century.) I had about five rulers before wife.

Was it a glitch or very obscure rule?

Thank you for reading and answering.

The holy war outcome is a "very obscure rule". {Orthodox group} v {Catholic group} v {Nestorian group} characters can't declare holy wars on each other. However, if the attacker in a holy war is non-Muslim, he will personally take all holdings in the targeted duchy. (Muslims vassalise non-heretics.)

Continuing as your wife is normal gameplay - game overs suck, so the game tries to prevent it if possible, usually by switching you to a landed close relative. If your wife is of your dynasty, she always counts as a close relative, no matter how far removed she is in your family tree.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

To clarify,

Character/Realm Change

Situation: I was an Orthodox Duke vassal of a Sunni HRE Emperor. Catholic Bohemia declared a Holy War on the Emperor for my two-county duchy (de jure and de facto).

Expected Outcome: 1) HRE win or white peace; no change

2a) Bohemia wins; I become a Bohemian vassal (since as Orthodox, he could not holy war against me)​

2b) Bohemia wins; Bohemian king takes my land and game over (I consider more likely than 2a)​

​

Actual Outcome: 2c) Bohemia wins and king takes my counties; but I continue to play as my wife (same dynasty, Catholic countess in Bohemia)

Additional Information: On score screen, wife is listed as first ruler with the score and realm length being given to wife. (She is scored as ruling for over a century.) I had about five rulers before wife.

Was it a glitch or very obscure rule?

Thank you for reading and answering.

To add to and specifiy the above post of Jonjowett, your wife didn't lose any county, as she had been of the exact same religion as the attacker.
For you though being christian as orthodox doesn't suffice.

 

[TheRealRemus]

I looked into the code, and I think they might. However, the only way to know for sure is to test it out. (Make a backup save so you can revert if you're in ironman.)

Spoiler: details & reasoning

The relevant code for both feudal and holy order governments is set in ...\common\governments\feudal_governments.txt

Spoiler: full code for feudals

    feudal_government = {
        preferred_holdings = { CASTLE }
        allowed_holdings = {
            CASTLE
            FORT
            HOSPITAL
        }
        allowed_holdings_culture = { # Will not get the wrong government type penalty for tribes of the same culture
            TRIBAL
        }
        accepts_liege_governments = { # Gets the wrong religion modifier instead
            muslim_government
            theocratic_feudal_government
            chinese_imperial_government
        }
        free_revoke_on_governments_religion = { # Tribal vassals of other religions can have their titles revoked for free
            tribal_government
        }
        potential = {
            OR = {
                controls_religion = no
                religion_group = muslim
                has_religion_feature = religion_temporal_head
                AND = {
                    religion = norse_pagan_reformed
                    has_religion_features = no # Old saves, and campaigns without HF, need the Fylkirate to continue working
                }
            }
            NOT = {    religion_group = muslim    }
            NOT = { is_government_potential = roman_imperial_government }
            NOT = { is_government_potential = order_government }
            NAND = {
                culture_group = tibetan_group
                OR = {
                    religion = bon
                    religion = bon_reformed
                    religion = buddhist
                }
                higher_tier_than = BARON
            }
            NAND = {
                tier = EMPEROR
                primary_title = { has_title_flag = pretender_chinese_empire }
                OR = {
                    culture_group = chinese_group
                    culture = khitan
                    culture = tangut
                    culture = jurchen
                    has_character_flag = chinese_imperial_government_preserve
                }
            }
            is_patrician = no
        }
       
        color = { 91 133 207 }
       
        dukes_called_kings = yes
        barons_need_dynasty = yes

        can_build_tribal = no
       
        ignore_in_vassal_limit_calculation = {
            tribal_government
        }
        capital_move_delay = 600

        ## Modifiers
        court_size_modifier = 10
    }

Spoiler: full code for holy orders

    order_government = {
        preferred_holdings = { CASTLE }
        allowed_holdings = {
            CASTLE
            TEMPLE
            TRIBAL
            FORT
            HOSPITAL
        }
        accepts_liege_governments = {
            feudal_government
            muslim_government
            theocracy_government
            theocratic_feudal_government
            chinese_imperial_government
        }
        free_revoke_on_governments = {
            order_government
        }
        free_revoke_on_tiers = {
            BARON
        }

        forced_contract = {
            order_government
        }

        frame_suffix = "_order"
        title_prefix = "order_"

        potential = {
            OR = {
                holy_order = yes
                AND = {
                    any_liege = {
                        holy_order = yes
                        religion = ROOT
                    }
                    ai = yes
                    NAND = {
                        is_government_potential = merchant_republic_government
                        OR = {
                            tier = DUKE
                            is_patrician = yes
                        }
                        any_demesne_province = {
                            any_province_holding = {
                                OR = {
                                    AND = {
                                        tier = BARON
                                        holding_type = family_palace
                                    }
                                    AND = {
                                        NOT = {
                                            tier = BARON
                                        }
                                        holding_type = city
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        color = { 169 169 169 }

        have_gender_laws = no
        can_create_kingdoms = no
        can_create_empires = no
        can_imprison_without_reason = no
        can_revoke_without_reason = no
        dukes_called_kings = yes
        barons_need_dynasty = yes
        can_usurp_kingdoms_and_empires = no
        can_grant_kingdoms_and_empires_to_other_government = no
        can_be_granted_kingdoms_and_empires_by_other_government = no
        can_inherit = no
        free_retract_vassalage = yes
    }

I think these are the two crucial blocks:

1. Feudal goverment is invalid for characters who COULD be order government:

    feudal_government = {
...
        potential = {
...
            NOT = { is_government_potential = order_government }

2. Order government is valid for all AI non-MR vassals (direct or indirect) of holy orders

    order_government = {
...
        potential = {
            OR = {
                holy_order = yes
                AND = {
                    any_liege = { ##### Definition: "Scopes to all lieges a character has, regardless of how many tiers above."
                        holy_order = yes
                        religion = ROOT
                    }
                    ai = yes
                    ##### (Snip some complex conditions that boil down to "is not a merchant republic")
            }

So, in theory, when AI feudal characters become vassals of a holy order, their feudal government status will be revoked (#1) and they will be forced into order government (#2).

In theory, yes. In practice, they will need significant excess gold and piety.

Note that they cannot usurp kingdoms or empires. So, if you want them to form kingdoms, you need to ensure that those titles don't exist.



Are you blocked from firing your current spymaster for some reason? (Eg: You're in a regency and your spymaster is your regent.)

you were right, I gave him all the subjects and they simply switched their goverment type, huge relieve. Now I just got to wait till he formes the kingdom. I played a console game as holy order just to check if they can form kingdoms, I coudnt form it directley only taking the decision to form a custom kingdom worked, I hope theyll do that.

Next question:
How do I blow up the Abasid empire? its baisically the last Empire in the world. from Spain to India, with over 100k. Im Scandinavia and and got everything up to Sibir, minus France and Byzantine empire. Been at 100% threatlevel since day one, which is OK, I can grind up small Tags but one super Tag would take for eveeeer.
Sugestions?

 

[jonjowett]

To add to and specifiy the above post of Jonjowett, your wife didn't lose any county, as she had been of the exact same religion as the attacker.
For you though being christian as orthodox doesn't suffice.

If you check the original question carefully, the original character was Orthodox vassal of a Sunni HRE whereas his wife was the Catholic vassal of the independent Catholic kingdom of Bohemia. Both husband and wife were landed before the holy war.

The wife didn't lose any land in the holy war primarily because she was not on the defending side. (In fact, she was on the attacking side, but the same result would have occurred if she was neutral.)

The wife's religion had no impact on the result. (It would only have had an impact if she was on the defending side and her demesne was in the targeted duchy.)

 

[jonjowett]

Next question:
How do I blow up the Abasid empire? its baisically the last Empire in the world. from Spain to India, with over 100k. Im Scandinavia and and got everything up to Sibir, minus France and Byzantine empire. Been at 100% threatlevel since day one, which is OK, I can grind up small Tags but one super Tag would take for eveeeer.
Sugestions?

Do you have Jade Dragon? If so, get 5000 grace with China and ask them to dismantle the Abbasids, which will destroy all of the emperor's empire-tier titles. (This is by far the easiest method, since China will send a lot of troops and you can join as a secondary participant. However, the Abbasids often have 1-2 king-tier megavassals, so this may not be so effective.)

Do you have Holy Fury? If so, get the Alexander bloodline and use your once-per-lifetime invasion to take much more than one kingdom.

Are you willing to change culture and religion? If so, change them so that tribal invasions are allowed, invade, and take much more than one kingdom.

If all else fails, you can press kingdom claims to take/release one kingdom per war.

Note that you can reset truces by murdering the emperor. (Start with a plot-murder. If you're a good duellist and can't get the plot power above 150, make sure to include some gluttons etc so the plot will be discovered, then duel him and kill him in the duel.)

 

[TheRealRemus]

Do you have Jade Dragon? If so, get 5000 grace with China and ask them to dismantle the Abbasids, which will destroy all of the emperor's empire-tier titles. (This is by far the easiest method, since China will send a lot of troops and you can join as a secondary participant. However, the Abbasids often have 1-2 king-tier megavassals, so this may not be so effective.)

Do you have Holy Fury? If so, get the Alexander bloodline and use your once-per-lifetime invasion to take much more than one kingdom.

Are you willing to change culture and religion? If so, change them so that tribal invasions are allowed, invade, and take much more than one kingdom.

If all else fails, you can press kingdom claims to take/release one kingdom per war.

Note that you can reset truces by murdering the emperor. (Start with a plot-murder. If you're a good duellist and can't get the plot power above 150, make sure to include some gluttons etc so the plot will be discovered, then duel him and kill him in the duel.)

china just had a dynasty change and is in peril right now, they cant help.
I dont remember how to get the alexander blood, ive already have the blood of an conquerer and I do have a CB for a kingdom, im too big for invasion though.

How does revealing the plot allow me to duel? because that is what I would do, im currently playing the demon spawn and am unbeatable right now.

 

[jonjowett]

I dont remember how to get the alexander blood, ive already have the blood of an conquerer and dont have a CB for a kingdom, im too big for invasion either.

It's a rare event chain with fairly stringent requirements (see the wiki link above for exact requirements), but a large player empire shouldn't have any issues with it.

The invasion CB from the bloodline is different to the Prepared Invasion CB from being Germanic. In particular, there's no maximum realm size for the attacker. (Ditto if you get access to Tribal Invasion via religion+culture, because what actually happens in the game files is the bloodline allows you to use Tribal Invasion once per lifetime.)

How does revealing the plot allow me to duel? because that is what I would do, im currently playing the demon spawn and am unbeatable right now.

If you can duel (eg. warrior lodge, war focus, duelist bloodline) then you can always duel your rivals and your "foes".

"Foes" is a broad category that's not explicitly explained in-game and isn't easy to search for. (IIRC, it's based on the existence of certain opinion modifiers.) One example is: when a plot is revealed, the plotter and target become "foes", ie. if they can duel then they can duel each other.

So, it can sometimes actually be advantageous for your plot to be revealed!

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thank you @jonjowett and @Aardvark Bellay.

 

[TheRealRemus]

I want to do the legacy of the indo norse achievment, I do hold the empire of skandinavia, how would I do this? Achievment says I need a Kingdom as Primary title, meaning I cant be emperor of anytype? how do I lose my empire? It has Elective Gravelkind succesion, so I keep playing as the next elected emperor.

 

[TheRealRemus]

theres a another thing I want to do, I want to systematically make all other families with bloodlines go extinct, after all there can only be one, and thats me.
I try to gift as many temples to those familys as I can, so that these characters dont marry or inherit anything.
however after my recent GHW ive got tons of cities to give away as well, does being a mayor disinherit people? do they have a lower or bigger vertility bonus?

 

[MrKinich]

I want to do the legacy of the indo norse achievment, I do hold the empire of skandinavia, how would I do this? Achievment says I need a Kingdom as Primary title, meaning I cant be emperor of anytype? how do I lose my empire? It has Elective Gravelkind succesion, so I keep playing as the next elected emperor.

Not sure if not being an Emperor is really necessary, but if a member of another dynasty was elected, they would get the Empire & you’d keep lower titles (depending on exactly what succession laws you have & what the de-jure situation is). Switch to Elective (not Elective Gavelkind) ASAP & support a non-dynastic heir. Note that this will lose you some vassals.

theres a another thing I want to do, I want to systematically make all other families with bloodlines go extinct, after all there can only be one, and thats me.
I try to gift as many temples to those familys as I can, so that these characters dont marry or inherit anything.
however after my recent GHW ive got tons of cities to give away as well, does being a mayor disinherit people? do they have a lower or bigger vertility bonus?

Not sure if being a mayor disinherits, but it doesn’t give any sort of fertility modifier at all. Mayors *can* marry, but they rarely do.

 

[jonjowett]

I want to do the legacy of the indo norse achievment, I do hold the empire of skandinavia, how would I do this? Achievment says I need a Kingdom as Primary title, meaning I cant be emperor of anytype? how do I lose my empire? It has Elective Gravelkind succesion, so I keep playing as the next elected emperor.

Downgrading from emperor to king is tricky, especially as you need to cross to the other side of the map.

You can, however, downgrade from king/emperor to duke as any reformed religion by exploiting the Crusader State mechanic:

Spoiler: Change character via Crusader State

• Reform your religion, or convert to a reformed religion
  • If you reform your religion, you probably need to go Temporal with non-Peaceful nature (so that GHWs are enabled and you can choose the target). It's also probably a good idea to take Sons of Ragnarok, so that your beneficiary can launch a prepared invasion.
  • If you convert, Catholic is probably your best bet, because you can use piety to change the crusade target to whoever you wish.
• Identify your target duchy
  • Must be 100% controlled owned by one top liege (no holy order baronies).
  • The top liege must have enough land in a different kingdom so that he is a valid target for a crusade/jihad/GHW.
  • The top liege must be of a different religion and must be in your diplo range.
  • If you're intending to follow up with a Prepared Invasion of India, make sure it's a small duchy.
  • If you're tribal and create a crusader state in a region with castles, your beneficiary will almost certainly be autoconverted to feudal.
  • Double-check against the criteria on the wiki.
  • I recommend somewhere in Egypt - maybe Sinai?
• Choose your new character
  • Young, genius, strong, all your bloodlines, etc
  • Send him/her most but not all of your gold (save some for the war, and another 300 to set up the Crusader State)
• Move your troops close to the target duchy, so they are ready to attack immediately after declaring war
• Save & backup your save (just in case)
• Declare a GHW on the same top liege, but for a different de jure kingdom
  • Eg: If you're going for Sinai, the GHW should be for Jerusalem or similar
• Right-click on your chosen character and "Select as Crusade Beneficiary"
• Go to your target duchy, and siege every single holding asap. Assault everything!
  • You must siege the entire duchy personally, before your allied AI win the war.
  • You must have at least 300 gold and 500 prestige at this point.
• A few days after the duchy is 100% sieged, you will receive a popup asking you if you want to create a Crusader State for your beneficiary.
• Choose to play as your beneficiary.

If you choose a duchy on the Indian Ocean (eg. Sinai), your beneficiary will be able to launch boats there and conquer towards India.

If your beneficiary is Germanic, s/he will probably need to make one coastal conquest on the eastern edge of Arabia (eg. Socotra, Muscat) before being within diplomatic range of India (ie. able to launch a prepared invasion). If s/he is not Germanic, fabricate claims and island-hop to India, then holy war as usual.

 

[jhhowell]

Not sure if this is a bug or working as intended but very very confusing: playing Byzantines (or trying to, anyway), finished a long tedious civil war, but can't end it. The "Send" button on the peace screen indicates that the Byzantine Revolt needs to not have any provinces occupied by some guy I'd never heard of, who turns out to be the leader of a Sunni Revolt I hadn't noticed over in Sicily. So I need to march or sail an army way over there, deal with that dude (I'm not even sure I'm technically at war with him...), then rebuild war score with Byzantine Revolt to 100% (their army will be sieging something down, somewhere, while I'm busy)? Really?

In general, am I missing something about the Byzantines? There are so many dukes, the council power faction will always be at the threshold to fire. Which explains the constant civil wars we see with AI Byzantines. But that is not fun gameplay, at least for me. I wonder if the key is the viceroy game mechanic, locked behind an otherwise uninteresting DLC. Without Charlemagne I can't actually revoke duchies ("No" on the dialog when I try, even though Imperial Administration means there'd be no penalty if I could actually do it). Presumably viceroyalties are easier to revoke, which would make faction management much easier.

 

[jonjowett]

Not sure if this is a bug or working as intended but very very confusing: playing Byzantines (or trying to, anyway), finished a long tedious civil war, but can't end it. The "Send" button on the peace screen indicates that the Byzantine Revolt needs to not have any provinces occupied by some guy I'd never heard of, who turns out to be the leader of a Sunni Revolt I hadn't noticed over in Sicily. So I need to march or sail an army way over there, deal with that dude (I'm not even sure I'm technically at war with him...), then rebuild war score with Byzantine Revolt to 100% (their army will be sieging something down, somewhere, while I'm busy)? Really?

In general, am I missing something about the Byzantines? There are so many dukes, the council power faction will always be at the threshold to fire. Which explains the constant civil wars we see with AI Byzantines. But that is not fun gameplay, at least for me. I wonder if the key is the viceroy game mechanic, locked behind an otherwise uninteresting DLC. Without Charlemagne I can't actually revoke duchies ("No" on the dialog when I try, even though Imperial Administration means there'd be no penalty if I could actually do it). Presumably viceroyalties are easier to revoke, which would make faction management much easier.

It is normal that you have to resolve all occupations before you can peace out from a civil war. Think of it as showing that you are a good liege lord who protects his realm. If you're quick about it and have achieved the wargoal, then you shouldn't lose any significant warscore in the civil war (because achieving the wargoal gives you warscore that increases over time).

In my experience (with all DLCs), AI Byz normally has constant claimant/anti-tyranny civil wars. The problem isn't really the lack of tools (viceroyalties), it's that the AI is not good at vassal management. That said, viceroyalties do seem to help.

As a player in Byz, I recommend you take a one- or two-generation break from the emperor title to build up your personal demesne. Get yourself a small but rich kingdom somewhere, personally own every county (except perhaps for a de jure vassal MR), and focus on turning that kingdom into a powerhouse. (Serbia and Epirus are both decent choices. Thrace is a bad idea, because it's the empire capital. Greece is probably too big to be able to own all of it, and Anatolia is definitely too big.) When your personal levies + retinues are 30-50k, factions become trivial.

The only problem with this strategy is that the AI recognises your competence and will try to make you emperor asap...

 

[MrKinich]

Without Charlemagne I can't actually revoke duchies ("No" on the dialog when I try, even though Imperial Administration means there'd be no penalty if I could actually do it). Presumably viceroyalties are easier to revoke, which would make faction management much easier.

If you want to revoke a title & the AI says no, it doesn’t mean that it’s literally impossible to revoke that title, just that the AI won’t give it up without a fight.

If you were a reasonably powerful, wealthy duke, & your liege tried to take away your rightful, god-granted titles- while they’re mired in a civil war, no less- would you just give in? Especially if you thought you had a chance at victory?

 

[jhhowell]

If you want to revoke a title & the AI says no, it doesn’t mean that it’s literally impossible to revoke that title, just that the AI won’t give it up without a fight.

If you were a reasonably powerful, wealthy duke, & your liege tried to take away your rightful, god-granted titles- while they’re mired in a civil war, no less- would you just give in? Especially if you thought you had a chance at victory?

I'd be fine with triggering a small civil war this way. The "No" button was gray and not pressable, unfortunately, so it is literally impossible for the dukes in question. And the experiments in revoking were before the civil war triggered, as an effort to reduce the faction's power.

If you're quick about it and have achieved the wargoal, then you shouldn't lose any significant warscore in the civil war (because achieving the wargoal gives you warscore that increases over time).

I'm not clear on what the wargoal is for a Civil War to Increase Council Power. I don't see any ticking warscore, just battles and occupation. The revolt leader's capital was the first province I captured but it seems to be the same as any other province as far as warscore is concerned. That's why this war took 3+ years even though the outcome was never really in doubt.

So it sounds like starting a game as Emperor Basil is not a great plan, since he doesn't have that kind of overwhelming demesne. And counterintuitively had to destroy his Duke of Adrianopolis title to get rid of that -15 too many elector titles malus. Trebizond looks decent, with the Silk Road Trading Post. Is the idea to just keep the capital in your original duchy instead of moving to Constantinople, once you do become Emperor? That seems incredibly strange and ahistorical, but a powerful personal demesne means stacking your capital province and duchy, and you can't really do that with Constantinople and Thrace...

Btw, thanks for the advice in the other thread - personal command in the Bulgarian war (fittingly) and this civil war worked nicely to rank him up from Tough Soldier to Brilliant Strategist!

 

[jonjowett]

I'm not clear on what the wargoal is for a Civil War to Increase Council Power. I don't see any ticking warscore, just battles and occupation. The revolt leader's capital was the first province I captured but it seems to be the same as any other province as far as warscore is concerned. That's why this war took 3+ years even though the outcome was never really in doubt.

Hmm. I'm not super-familiar with CB modding, so I can't be sure, but it seems like increase_council_power_war doesn't have any ticking attributes. (I assumed it was "take capital" or some such, but I guess not!)

In that case, I suggest you get much more than 100% warscore from occupation and battles, so that you're still above 100% after you lose warscore due to being distracted by rebels.

---

So it sounds like starting a game as Emperor Basil is not a great plan, since he doesn't have that kind of overwhelming demesne. And counterintuitively had to destroy his Duke of Adrianopolis title to get rid of that -15 too many elector titles malus. Trebizond looks decent, with the Silk Road Trading Post. Is the idea to just keep the capital in your original duchy instead of moving to Constantinople, once you do become Emperor? That seems incredibly strange and ahistorical, but a powerful personal demesne means stacking your capital province and duchy, and you can't really do that with Constantinople and Thrace...

Yeah, in my Byz runs I rarely start as the emperor. (I tend to pick characters based on their dynastic CoA, and there are many many better options than the emperors.)

---

And yes, I tend to keep the capital in the original duchy in the provinces, instead of moving it to Constantinople. (With Great Walls and 5 personally-held castles in my provincial capital, naturally.) This is mainly because I deliberately do not want to remain emperor in the long term - for me, the joy of playing in an elective multi-dynastic system like Byz or the HRE is that you can retire for a while to get some gameplay variety, and re-emerge in the hour of greatest need.

Honestly, if vanilla ironman offered a way to take the empire title, beat everyone into shape, and then go back to my kingdom... then I'd be all over that. (And that does have some historical precedent... if you're willing to go back to the Roman Republic.) Unfortunately, if you want to to lose all of your empire titles while retaining everything else, then you need mods or the console.

---

The SR trade post in Trebizond is indeed a very tempting attraction, since it's very profitable and means you can always interact with China. (However, nearly everything in CK2 scales to your regular income, so you're still probably going to want to find a way to earn "irregular" income.)

Trebizond is also attractive because it was probably the last bastion of Rome to be conquered (several years after Constantinople in 1453).

If you wanted to maximise your regular income then probably the ultimate best demesne near Byz would be somewhere in the Levant, because there is an unbelievable density of SR trade posts. But of course, you can't start there, and the Muslims tend to object to Crusades...

---

Btw, thanks for the advice in the other thread - personal command in the Bulgarian war (fittingly) and this civil war worked nicely to rank him up from Tough Soldier to Brilliant Strategist!

Nice