Factions(i'm kinda new)

[jhhowell]

The main difference would be that the Vikings are a bigger threat in 867 than in 936. You'd know better than I would how troublesome Vikings are in 936. In 867 expect many different Norse rulers to be sailing around raiding you and launching county conquest wars any time West Francia looks weak, which it often does. The down side of rich lands is that people will want to steal your riches if given half a chance.

In 867 Boudewijn has Brugge, Yperen, and Gent, and two de jure provinces are not his vassals at all. In 936 Arnulf has Brugge, Yperen, Gent, and Artois, and has vassals in Guines and Boulougne.

Boudewijn already has three sons, Arnulf just has a daughter. Both are married to Karlings (van Vlanderens married to nearby monarchs was rather common), Boudewijn to the daughter of the King of West Francia, Arnulf to some sort of cousin it looks like.

Arnulf has Otto's Germany to think about in the future; Boudewijn has the 867 fractured landscape with a stronger Lotharingia, East Francia in a weaker position than Otto's Germany, etc.

Overall I'd say 936 is probably be safer bet. Though 867 would be more exciting, if you're into that kind of thing. I didn't look at 1066 but it was a fun game in the original CK (that was my final CK game, taking Flanders independent, recreating Lotharingia, and picking up the Kingdom of Burgundy as well). In this game a 1066 start means having to deal with the HRE on your border, since it won't conveniently implode like in CK. But maybe with the player helping out as Flanders, AI France wouldn't suck so much and could actually keep them in check? I don't know...

Another idea for a Flanders game in 867 would be to start somewhere in Scandinavia and conquer Flanders.

 

[YouWeiDe]

Okay. Might go for the 867 start. Actually it seems all the DLCs are on sale. So could actually get it all cheaper. If you don't mind I will write few hours later and ask about all the DLCs. I have way of life, conclave and legacy of Rome. I remember you mentioned some other ones but maybe later we can discuss alll of them. And which of them are not worth getting. As always thank you for your help

 

[YouWeiDe]

So which are worth getting and which are not? wiki has some basic info but I would like to hear your opinion.
Not really sure about these, maybe they have some good details:
The repairs due--i think it has some influence about culture and diseases?
Monks and mystics--is this the crazy one that allows you to become immortal?
Sword of Islam---muslim rulers+?
Sunset invasion
Rajas of India--indian rulers I guess
The Republic-no idea if playing as a Republic is any fun.
Charlemagne--anythhing great besides viceroys?
Horse lords--nomads?
Jade dragon-anything besides silk Road and China Central Asia?
Holy fury--isn't the old gods for pagans? This one people said here isn't great.

These in my opinion could be great:
The old gods--pagans. I think this one would be fun and it would also allo me to play as my home country ruler.
Sons of Abraham --papacy interaction

Edit: are all these dlc save file compatable?

 

[jhhowell]

This post and this post have good summaries from when I asked the same question six months ago.

For what it's worth, what I have that you currently don't is The Old Gods and The Horse Lords. Old Gods might still be free if you sign up for Paradox's newsletter. See what the Subscribe option at crusaderkings.com says for you. It doesn't say anything about a CK2 The Old Gods giveaway when I checked it just now, but I already did that six months ago so maybe that's why.

Horse Lords was randomly free during a Steam sale in May or June. The appealing features are the Silk Road, and making the central Asian nomads nomadic instead of tribal makes them stronger and less desirable to conquer, and thereby fixes the "Byzantium going nuts in Ukraine" problem one sometimes saw. I'm not totally opposed to trying a nomad game sometime, but it's not high on my to do list.

The Old Gods is well worth it. The 867 start is quite good, pagans and Zoroastrians are both a lot of fun. Everything about this DLC is beneficial to the game in my opinion, so it's highly recommended.

My "I might grab this someday, when I'm inclined to start that type of game" list is:

Republic, Rajas of India, Sword of Islam. Pretty self-explanatory. I haven't felt any pressing need to try playing a Merchant Republic, Indian realm, or Islamic realm yet, but I can see the appeal of doing so at some point.

Sons of Abraham and Jade Dragon are similar but a bit lower on the list, mostly because I feel I'm less likely to want to play a Jewish game or a game where interacting with China is relevant. I don't recall what the Catholic flavor part of SoA is, but I'm not very keen on playing Catholic games either so it's not that important to me. Horse Lords was at around this level on my list until that Steam sale giveaway.

My "I'd take it if they gave it away, but I don't see myself buying it" list is:

Charlemagne - have not heard good things about the 769 start. But viceroys are a useful mechanic to have in the game. Logically they should be in Legacy of Rome, but I don't think Paradox thought of the mechanic until well after LoR. And they need to have a mix of content in each DLC to try to have at least something appeal to most players (I really dislike Paradox's business model since around 2007).

Reaper's Due - doing more with plagues and illness seems like a nice idea (and of course topical these last eight months or so ) but from what I've read the implementation is not great. It also adds back the prosperity mechanic from the original CK (well, probably a somewhat different mechanic that sounds similar).

Sunset Invasion - it's ridiculously ahistorical, but I find it oddly amusing. Both for the payback of sorts for what Spain did to the Aztecs in the EU era, and for the symmetry of bringing a Mongol Horde scale of late game threat to the realms on the Atlantic coast. I gather my tolerant amusement for this DLC concept is not widely shared, though. And it's still just at the level of "Heh, that's pretty funny." rather than "I need this DLC!"

Which leaves my "I wouldn't take it if they gave it away" list:

Monks and Mystics - fantasy supernatural nonsense, has no place in a historical game. If Paradox would like to make a fantasy game, I'd be curious to see how it turns out, but CK2 is not the place for it. If you're the type of player who turns supernatural stuff on in the game rules, this might be of interest.

Holy Fury - the warrior society mechanic lets you super-power your character; if you see screenshots of characters with personal combat skill of 200+, that's what they're doing. Catholic flavor - meh, I don't play Catholics much. The custom pagan reformation mechanic would be neat, but I'm not inclined to put up with anime characters (as one person, I think Sunshine Moon, described the warrior society thing) to get it. A lot of people do like this one, so it really depends on what you want in the game and what you're interested in playing.

 

[YouWeiDe]

I think I will grab The old gods it seems like what I will want in the future. As well as Sons of Abraham because it allows you to get claims from the pope (according to the wiki https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Religious_head#Papal_favors). Sometimes it really takes forever for the chancellor to get the claim in the beginning. Hope they are not insanely hard to obtain. Should make my next game more interesting. Especially in 867start. =]

Not a huge fan of crazy fantasy stuff. Could be funny but not necessarily. Europe is completely enough without all those India or China DLCs too. Also more to my liking.

Will those two DLCs mess up my current game save files?

 

[jhhowell]

Will those two DLCs mess up my current game save files?

I don't know. Probably not, but backing up your save might be prudent just in case. SoA might be a bit risky in case the new Papal mechanics mess up the Pope in some way.

 

[YouWeiDe]

Okay. Pretty excited to play as a vassal. Well try at least. New experience, will possibly end with failure but doesn't matter. My old save has like 100years left and it's time to leave the nooby island.

 

[YouWeiDe]

not sure if you are interested but I will try to play as count hupold of Artois, vassal of Boudewijn. Could be interesting. My culture is German, but can I later to flip it to duch somehow once I for Frisia?

 

[jonjowett]

My culture is German, but can I later to flip it to duch somehow once I for Frisia?

Dutch culture is created via melting pot events. You will get the option to flip to the new culture if one of your counties flips due to melting pot. However, IIRC, this does not flip your family - this is why the Rajas DLC is useful (it includes a decision for you to convert to your capital's culture).

Dutch culture is formed by event from Frankish, Frisian, or Saxon provinces in the duchies of Holland, Gelre, Brabent, and Flanders. MTTH halved for all 3 cultures if province owner is Dutch.

 

[YouWeiDe]

playing as a vassal is rather easy, especially with asking for claims from the Pope. Few other questions...

is there any benefit to holding two duchy titles? you can hold two without penalty and it's okay when they are small like 3-4 counties. I know the capital duchy and the capital county gets levy and I think tax bonus. Does the second county you hold get anything or is it better to just have one duchy and just build there? I ask this because if you choose to start in let's say Holland you can hold the whole de jure territory of Frisia yourself because it's really tiny kingdom.

Another question about HRE. I have the decision to form it, but isn't succession law different there or it can also be hereditary empire. If not hereditary, then what's the succession law there and how to stay in control?

 

[jonjowett]

is there any benefit to holding two duchy titles?

If you are duke-tier and hold 2 or more duchies then you get +1 demesne size. (IE: You get the same size demesne as a king.)

When you're king-/emperor-tier, your 2 duchies don't necessarily need to cover your personal demesne. If you destroy your capital duchy, this gives you a free slot for a "temporary" duchy. (Eg. If you want to give your 3rd son a particular duchy when he turns 16 in 5 years' time then you can hold on to it for him with no penalty.)

In general, as a king/emperor, you gain maximum value by fully developing a large capital duchy and holding assorted other counties elsewhere (eg. SR trade posts). I guess you could choose for your "assorted other counties" to all be in the neighbouring duchy (indeed, I often do this early in the game before I've expanded) but it's just not efficient in the long term. As a European Christian, are you really going to give away the fantastic wealth from those two adjacent SR trade posts in Jerusalem? I think not.

Another question about HRE. I have the decision to form it, but isn't succession law different there or it can also be hereditary empire. If not hereditary, then what's the succession law there and how to stay in control?

If you form the HRE, the succession law is set to Princely Elective, where the 7 electors are chosen based on your capital county and start date. It's probably a good idea to hold one of the 7 titles personally, so that you are always an elector.

If you want to change the succession law then you first need to pass a load of absolutist realm laws. However, the +20 vassal limit is a good reason for not changing the succession law. (I haven't played as the HRE in ages, but the thought of princely elective + imperial administration is intriguing. +45 vassal limit!)

 

[starkwolf]

Not really the best at this game, but honestly Mercia is the only one I can play well (you have to get the DLC that lets you go all the way back to dark ages (or whatever it is called).

You aren't so big that vassals are difficult to keep track of, but you are big enough that none of your neighbors are really a serious threat either. So you can focus on preventing factions from forming and learning how to handle them when they do form.

 

[Yxklyx]

....

6. It is possible for the fabricate claim action to give a kingdom claim. According to the wiki it requires the Become King ambition to be active, which is clearly not relevant to your current game. You might manage to fabricate a duchy claim occasionally though. It's generally easier to find some character with the claim you want, invite them to your court, give them a county, and press their claim.

Just from personal experience, I don't think you can fabricate a kingdom claim from your liege using the Councillor. You CAN usually PLOT for a kingdom claim though.

 

[MrTheOldNotPresentYonoMan]

Hello everyone.

I got ck2 recently and got completely hooked on it(I know its not a new game). I only have legacy of Rome DLC for now.

My question is how to deal with factions? Every time my character dies I have a bunch of factions popping up. All my direct vasal dukes and kings join them and there's nothing I can do. I had several of them fire at the same time. I don't understand how to not let them grow?
Imprisoned dukes I guess cannot join factions? But do they still provide you with troops?
For example give my sons some land to help me expand and not to have unladed son penalty, I help them increase their territory and it worked great, then the kings dies, and the other two hate my guts, the AI also prefers them and creates a faction to make one of them a ruler. I could plot to kill them and it usually works ok ,unless i'm in regency and cannot plot to get rid of my siblings), and they have their own kids later on, then it becomes impossible...
I guess marrying daughters to foreign kings isn't a great option too? since they would have a claim on my land and try to kill me?
I tried keeping my vassals week, giving one county each and one of the counts becomes a duke. which in theory should make them weaker, but unless I have medium crown authority they will attack each other and increase their power and then rebel again me again, or join a faction with more power. This problem becomes even more annoying if I usurp another kingdom. Their inheritance laws are usually different, so its likely to lose the title, and they also don't have medium crown authority so they fight each other and not outside enemies. and I cannot increase the crown authority because all of them hate my guts. I guess this is how the game is supposed to be but still. I tried giving the king title away once I became emperor, but one duke got too powerful(the law did allow me to cancel his titles), usurped the seat of the king and declared independence. I tried making the vassals weaker , but that also kinda made them inactive they would fabricate claims or go to war(no max authority). So I kinda don't understand how to make everything go smoothly.

So how to control factions? If you can please give me advice about any other stuff I mentioned. I checked the wiki but someone's else advice might help me more.

Get all dlc than ck2 plus viet events and imperial court societies