Once you get the hang of it, CK2 really isn't that hard. A lot of things happen outside your sphere of influence or simply on their own, like mayors upgrading their towns and such.
Basically the first steps in each game should be
- Check your count/duke/king and his stats. Is he married? Does he have a male heir?
- Check your vassals. Do they hate you? Why? Hover over the number to see the modifiers. Send your Chaplain or Steward to appease them if possible or just eat
the tyranny penalty and imprison/banish them.
- Check your council and see if you can replace someone with a courtier that has better stats. Usually the starting council has all the decent people already but it doesn't hurt to check once in a while.
After that you can look around your little realm. The main ways of getting claims, and thus a reason for war and conquest, on your neighbors are:
- Fabrications, which your steward can do. They cost gold and prestige, however.
- Pressable claims from someone in your court. You can search for people with claims and invite them into your realm, or offer them a matrilinear marriage as incentive.
- Inherited claims from a relative. Sometimes you can get lucky and inherit a distant cousin or whatever and get his claims. I don't yet understand the system completely myself.
