crusader kings 2 what to do with prisoners

The fourth part of our Crusader Kings two guide focuses on alliances and relationships.

In the fourth part of this guide, I'm going to comprehend the Opinion system that creates relationships betwixt characters, the nearly impressive component of Crusader Kings 2. I'll too discuss how marriage works, and how it's used to create alliances, which should comprehend the bulk of the moment-to-moment decisions y'all'll be making in the game. I'll also embrace Tutoring children and how Traits work, as well equally Intrigue.

Equally ever, this guide is intended to be read and played in order, and then I'll exist carrying on with my Aquitaine game. The other parts of the guide can be found here:

Part Ane: Introduction and Interface

Part Two: Laws and Factions

Part Three: Diplomacy and War

Part Iv: Relationships and Marriages

Office V: Long-Term Planning

Alliances

Maintaining a web of alliances can be critical to winning wars, and eventually you'll at least have to defend yourself. Then let's check out who our allies are. Click on your character portrait, and down at the bottom, you'll run into five info tabs, like Family or Vassals. Allies is 1 of those…and nosotros have zero. That's non good.

In Crusader Kings II, alliances don't come from a diplomatic interaction between friendly leaders, as they exercise in most strategy games. Instead, alliances are based purely on people. Alliances only come through matrimony. If a leader, or their siblings or their children ally a leader, sibling, or child, that comes with an alliance. (Worth noting: as before long as that marriage is not to the leader/sibling/kid anymore, the alliance is off. So if you marry your girl to another duke who is removed in a civil war, the alliance with that duchy no longer exists.)

And so let's start working on marriages. In my game, I have three daughters now. Yours will virtually certainly be different, just the procedure is the same, and so this should piece of work with any kid your character happens to have. I'k going to click on the 2nd daughter, five-year-old Elena de Poitou. Underneath the bare "Hubby" marker is a push button which shows a pair of rings, and can be used to Arrange Betrothal. Click it.

This opens a menu of potential spouses, very like to the one we used to adjust our council earlier. Similar that carte, this one is ordinarily sorted in the manner that we want, so you'll rarely need to worry nigh sorting it once again. In this example, it'due south by character power. So Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Counts, etc will appear first on the listing, followed past their children. Here's the of import thing: a blue flag on the lesser right of their portrait indicates that marriage will lead to an alliance.

So what are we looking for in our alliance? Showtime, we want someone of equal of greater power—a Knuckles or a King is most likely. 2nd, we want someone shut to the states, so they'll be quicker and more likely to respond to whatsoever call to arms we may make. That one'due south trickier, and being able to see information technology easily depends on your grasp of medieval geography, which isn't exactly super common. And so let'southward say you're scrolling through this listing and you see that y'all tin can have an alliance with Samos or Somerset or Anjou. One way to find out where these places are is to click on the shields in those characters' rows.

Alternately, Crusader Kings II shows the characters' culture adjacent to them, and those are easier to remember. Looking at Elena, nosotros can see that she's of the Occitan culture. That'south southern France. Central French republic is Frankish. Northern France is Norman (although the Normans did become into England, so that's more complicated). Northern Spain would be Catalan. Meanwhile, someone who's Greek is well-nigh certainly nowhere near where we are.

In this case, Geoffroy of Anjou, son of its duke, offers an brotherhood with a beau French duke who happens to be direct north of us, and as a bonus, he's the aforementioned age every bit Elena is. This is a perfect match. So click on him, and you lot'll be taken directly to the necessary diplomacy screen, where you just send the message and can await a quick credence. At present, when Elena and Geoffroy both turn xvi, they'll be married. The brotherhood will just occur when the wedlock does.

Betrothing your siblings/children early has some risks and rewards. Patently, if yous look at the potential spouses early on and often, yous can pick and choose the best. Yet, the longer yous wait, the more likely their family is to fall upon difficult times. If Geoffroy's family is no longer in ability by the fourth dimension both characters are of age, you lot have a marriage of less political use. You tin can cancel the engagement, only you'll make enemies doing so. For myself, I tend to expect until the children come of age and go for the firsthand brotherhood, merely Betrothals can all the same be very effective

One other of import note: your spouse'south statistics are halved, then added to the leader'south overall statistics (which, along with Council bonuses, tin can be seen in parentheses side by side to their individual statistics on the character screen.) Thus sometimes you'll want to suit marriages to effective characters, or you'll choose i brotherhood over another because of the stats.

Matrilineal Matrimony

You may be wondering why I chose the second daughter and non the eldest daughter for the initial marriage example. That'southward because, as a woman who's in line to go powerful in the patriarchal globe of medieval Europe, she has to piece of work nether different rules.

Here's the problem: as a full general rule, children inherit their male parent's family unit name. Since Crusader Kings 2 is a game based on family ability, if your family unit loses its power, you lose the game. Thus, if you're playing a female graphic symbol whose children inherit their male parent'due south name and your lands, you lose the game.

The mode around that is to take a matrilineal union, which, as the name implies, allows the family line to come up from the mother. Permit'southward get to our heir, Aines, to check out how this works. Click her betrothal rings just equally with Elena. Detect the Matrilineal Wedlock checkbox in the center toward the peak. It should exist checked automatically, since Aines is the heir, merely if not, check it yourself.

Y'all're going to take fewer potential marriages in a Matrilineal Marriage. These are generally going to be characters who are unlikely to inherit, but there's still a surprisingly decent ingather, including the Duke of Bohemia'due south (well-nigh powerful vassal in the Holy Roman Empire) son. On the off take a chance that your heir finds herself in a non-matrilineal matrimony, and her heir is a fellow member of another family unit, your all-time promise is to modify your succession laws to Election. You can also try to assassinate the heirs until they end up somewhere else, or divorce/assassinate your spouse and endeavour to have new children, so figure out a way to ensure they inherit.

Simply even with the alliances, y'all notwithstanding have to maintain relationships with your allies. If they don't like you lot, they won't join in your wars. And so how do relationships work?

Relationships and Opinions

Most of what's been discussed and so far in this guide is conventional strategy game stuff. What sets Crusader Kings II apart; what makes it special, is that it'southward nigh people and their relationships. You're not only guiding a nation through its growth, you're managing dozens or even hundreds of unlike characters and how they think of yous and each other—their Opinions.

In Crusader Kings 2, Opinions are bilateral and transparent. That means that 2 characters tin can have entirely different relationships with one another. Bilateral ways that you might like your wife, while your wife hates you. And transparent means that you can e'er run into the status of those relationships.

But let's frame that in elementary, pragmatic form: yous need your vassals to similar you. Why? There are 3 important reasons. Beginning, the more they like yous, the less probable they are to plot and insubordinate confronting you. 2nd, the more they like you, the more troops they'll provide in their levies. Tertiary, the more they similar, the more likely they are to vote for the laws you suggest. The last may be the least of import, but it'south actually one of the easiest means to see where you're having bug.

Click on Laws. That revenue enhancement we wanted to heighten back in the 2d section? Well, it's stuck—we only have 13 votes of 35 full. To the correct of that notification is a tiny button that allows you to open up the list of opponents to the law. Clicking on that will open up a list of vassals who don't similar you plenty to vote for your laws.

Practise that, and you'll come across some other list of people. (On the off chance that your laws aren't still in limbo, for whatever reason, you tin yet check Vassal relationships by clicking on your grapheme's portrait, so on the Vassal tab toward the bottom.) Observe how all of these vassals have blood-red, negative numbers in the lower left of their portraits. Those represent how much they dislike you! And the less they similar you, the less likely they are to vote for your laws. So we demand to better those relationships.

Hover your mouse over one of the numbers to run into exactly why your relationship with that character is what it is. Here nosotros're looking at Aldebert, the Count of Perigord. Aldebert'due south got a mildly negative relationship with Duke Guilherm. You tin can run across that he likes you for things similar having crushed a revolt, but he dislikes you for your curt reign and raised levies. Both of those will slowly go abroad—the levies faster than the Brusque Reign, unless you declare another aggressive war. So Aldebert will, somewhen, be on our side, and isn't worth worrying about.

Permit'south await at the next guy on the list, Pierre-Bernat, the Count of our newly-acquired province of Foix. Observe that he didn't have vassals raised in our final war, which makes sense, since he was on the other side. Notwithstanding, he has two huge penalties which help requite him a very poor -81 relationship with you. The big 1 is that he has the Ambitious trait, which is an instant -50 to his relationship with you. This makes sense. Aggressive nobles volition ever dislike their liege lord. Too, he "Desires the Duchy of Gascogne." This relates to his ambition—as a count in Gascogne, he believes he ought to be Duke of Gascogne.

Correct-click on his portrait and open diplomacy with him. You have the choice to "Grant Landed Title" for the Duchy of Gascogne. This would make Pierre-Bernat very happy, simply there's just one small problem. You are a Duke, and you would exist promoting him to Duke. Since he would be the same rank as you lot, he would no longer be your vassal. That's the contrary of what we want!

If yous ever go a king, granting duchies to aggressive counts is a superb way to make them your allies. Here, it's a superb way to dismantle your ability.

Sometimes you lot'll see a drop-down indicating that a vassal has a sure percentage chance to rebel against yous. That percent directly relates to their human relationship with you, so if yous can, it's usually wisest to give them gifts and titles until they're no longer a rebellion threat.

Improving Private Relationships

In that location are several ways to meliorate relationships with other characters, peculiarly your vassals. Some are targeted straight at sure individuals, some should improve relations with everyone within your lands.

Honorary titles are 1 of the simplest and cheapest mechanisms for improving relationships with individual lords. Let's go dorsum to Aldebert of Perigord, at the meridian of the listing. He's very, very close to liking you, so granting him an honorary title should nudge him in the right direction. Right-click to open up diplomacy with him, then choose Honor Honorary Title. Near every title in the game (except for a few insulting ones) grant an immediate 10-15 positive bonus to the relationship. Then make Aldebert the Master of the Chase!

Another quick mode to ameliorate relationships with some other grapheme is to send them money. Click on the Send Gift option in affairs to see how much gold you have to spend to receive how much positive influence. Note that sending gifts is the only manner to consistently improve relationships with characters who are non your vassals.

Improving Vassal Relationships Generally

There are a few ways to improve your relationships with all your vassals at once. Click on the Intrigue tab, with the dagger and envelope, to see several of them.

Cheque out the listing of Decisions in the center of the Intrigue menu. Scroll down a fleck, and you'll see options similar Agree a Feast, Concord a Summer Fair, or Get on a K Chase. All of these are methods for spending a bit of money to slightly impress all of your vassals. I find feasts to exist simple and safe, and so choose that. If your option is greyed out, hover over the question marking to see why—information technology's probably just that you need to wait until Nov.

Click on the feast Determination, and let some time pass. First, you'll have a few options to spend money on amusement and nutrient. And so, you'll transport out the invitations, and a few characters will be jerks and decline. Once the feast starts, yous may go a few more decisions, or at least notifications, for friendships made, rude vassals, or fifty-fifty a lover to take.

Once information technology ends, however, you lot can run into the benefits—a +5 relationship beyond the board for a year counters the Short Reign and Vassal Levies fairly nicely. And +v diplomacy bonus can have all sorts of side benefits.

Hither'southward another style to assistance await proficient in the optics of your vassals: showing mercy. Since Count Robert of Auvergne rebelled and we defeated him, he'south been hanging out in our prison. He'southward still a count, but he'south not exactly your all-time friend, being backside bars and all. And so go to the Intrigue menu, click on Prisoners, and right-click to open up diplomacy. Click on Release from Prison.

The menu will note that your vassals volition note your mercy, leading to an all-embracing improvement of relationships by +10. That's good. Count Robert will also exist quite happy to exist out of prison without whatever problem, and then his relationship to y'all will improve dramatically.

See that +38 where it used to be -8? That'southward a dainty bonus. And information technology's a pragmatic bonus—yous won't have to wait too long see Count Robert modify his vote to approve of your tax increment.

Prisoners

Dealing with prisoners is an occasionally rewarding, occasionally annoying part of the game. To see your prisoners, click on the Intrigue push, then the Prisoners tab. Next to each prisoner are three buttons for dealing with them, but opening Diplomacy with them offers four choices, so I find that I usually use that unless I know what I want.

Releasing a prisoner, as we've seen, slightly improves relationships with the people in the prisoner's lands, as well equally significantly improving your relationship with the prisoner him/herself. Ransoming the prisoner doesn't improve relations, but it does give you gold: ten-15 for non-landed nobles, 25 for baron-level nobles, 75 for count-level nobles, and you should be so lucky to capture dukes and above. They tin't always pay, but it's very nice when they do.

Alternately, you tin can dispose of the nobles. If they've betrayed yous, you can exercise so without or with minimal penalisation. If not, your vassals will detest you more than. Executing a prisoner will, obviously, kill him or her, and it will transfer their lands immediately to their lawful heir. Banishing a prisoner sends him or her abroad, and it confiscates their titles and money for your character, making it the virtually self-serving selection, if you tin can get away with information technology.

Yous should also have the adventure to Revoke Title on a prisoner. You can only do this once for justly imprisoned vassals (so if they take two counties you can only take one) and they remain a prisoner, and they'll detest you lot, only yous become that title.

Occasionally your Court Chaplain volition decide to embrace a heresy, which should lead direct to his imprisonment via pop-up menu (you can join him as a heretic, but this is a terrible thought for many reasons). Discover how information technology says his religion is "Fraticelli" with a deviant scarlet cross next to it. Once he's in prison, yous can open up his diplomacy screen, and need that he convert back to Catholicism. This usually works, and releases him, only if not, hey, you tin get some ransom coin, mercy points, or an execution for a meddlesome priest.

Imprisonment

From time to time you lot'll see a drop-down maxim that you can imprison one of your vassals. This is because they're engaging in an illegal plot, and your spymaster has happened to uncover it. If you click on the push, yous'll be taken to affairs with that character. The odds of arresting them versus them starting a rebellion are shown. Taking that risk can be a keen manner to save a meddlesome vassal of some of their ability base, only usually you'll want to just end the plot.

To practise that, click on the End Plot button. If the vassal likes you, they should do it automatically. If not, yous may need to make them like you, with honorary titles, real titles, or gold. If that gets to exist too much—or if they're just ambitious jerks—you may have to apply the stick instead of the carrot, and suck upwardly that possible ceremonious war.

The larger your lands, the less of import these plots go—why should you care if some Mayor wants to kill his wife when you're the King of France? Information technology's worth checking out the plots and imprisonments every bit they come for a while, until you're comfortable enough with skipping them.

Oh, and one more affair—if your Spymaster happens to be role of a plot, he's not going to tell y'all near it. Be careful putting powerful, ambitious vassals who dislike you in that part. But what kind of plots tin can you pull off?

Intrigue

Let's head dorsum to the Intrigue screen, which we've dealt with for prisoners and decisions. On the peak office of that, you accept the option to cull a plot, so click that. Plots are the secret schemes of each noble (compared to Factions, which are the the public schemes).

Right at present, Guilhem only has ane Plot to choose from, which is normal for characters who don't have certain Traits like "Ambitious". The one he does have is "See Duchess Matheode of Aquitaine dead". Duchess of Aquitaine? Hey, that'south your wife! In the world of Crusaders Kings 2, no matter how uncreative and comfortable your characters, they can all the same dream of killing of their spouse.

Remember from our expect at Alliances that Matheode doesn't happen to be giving us whatsoever political reward, so killing her might serve a purpose. I'll allow you decide if you want to pull the trigger on the Plot (I tend not to, considering I'm a goody-goody in games), simply we'll go through the motions first.

Plots take percentages, where you need to hit certain marks to have the best chances of succeeding. Right at present nosotros're at 36.six%, which isn't expert.. You too have to take at to the lowest degree i Backer for a Plot—you can't practice it yourself. So let'south add a Backer or three. Once you've selected the Plot, there's a petty circumvolve with a + that lets you lot invite people to the Plot. Click information technology.

You'll now exist taken to yet some other character selection bill of fare, which includes everyone who might interested in having Matheode killed. Near of then take a thumbs downwardly, meaning they're against it. A few accept a thumbs upwards. You tin can hover the mouse over the thumb to encounter why and, if yous're shut, maybe tip them to your side with a gift or two via diplomacy. But for now, my Spymaster will add together 42% to my plot coming off, and so I'm going to click him, and Invite To Plot. Then I'll head back to the Intrigue screen and add a couple vassals lower down the listing, which should put me in a higher place 100%.

From there, nosotros wait a few days until these vassals bring together in my scheme, and and so information technology'll start working automatically. (Information technology used to be that you had to option a Decision like the feast, but that appears to have changed.) One problem—the more people you lot take in your plot, the more likely one is to blab most it and ruin everything. Failure is entirely possible.

As you lot've noticed, I'm not terribly excited well-nigh this plot anyhow, so it's disappointing that information technology's the just one available to me. Multifariousness of intrigue bachelor to characters hinges on Traits, which are an attribute of the game well worth checking out.

Traits

Click on your character's portrait, then check out the line of icons below his stats on the heart correct of the screen. You'll run into that he's a Flamboyant Schemer, for example, as well as Greedy and Wroth. Notation especially that he'due south Content, which tends to prevent him from having plots. Y'all'll likewise be able to see
that each of these Traits has effects on his statistics, like Wroth giving him a better Martial skill but damaging more cerebral skills.

Every bit you've looked through relationships with other characters, you may have noticed that some personality Traits cause conflicts. Hither's Matheode'southward relationship to Guilherm, for example. She's obviously pissed off that he plotted to impale her, yes, but also notation that because she'southward Patient, the opposite of Wroth, she'southward got a slight intrinsic dislike of Guilherm.

Sometimes you lot'll get pop-ups that might requite you the opportunity to change a Trait, or only that it's changed. But for the almost part, Traits are set in childhood, which is the last thing the main component of the game this guide needs to deal with.

Tutoring

Between the ages of six and sixteen, children in Crusader Kings Ii require a tutor/guardian. When you need to assign one, you'll get a dropdown from the top. Our second daughter is about to turn half dozen, then this should happen soon. Children are more likely to have on the Traits and statistics of their guardians.

Click on the notification and you'll become taken to the diplomacy menu. Click on Educate Child. You should see your face to the pinnacle left of hers, indicating that she'southward a child in your courtroom, and that you want to brainwash her with someone else in your court. (Yes, you can endeavor to conform a tutor from another court, but information technology'south usually more frustrating than information technology's worth.) Click on the empty portrait wearisome and yous'll encounter a listing of characters who can be Elena'south Guardian.

Choosing tutors is one of the times when you lot'll desire to fiddle with the character pick screen sorting the most, because there are lots of different reasons to choose different grapheme types. Allow's go through them:

You: There are two master benefits to picking yourself. First, you get to guide the kid to develop how y'all desire them to more directly. Want them to be Brutal and Wroth? Deceitful and Diplomatic? Shy and Humble? These are within your power, with some randomness. Second, it's also kinda fun to deal with the childhood issues through the game menus, like what to do when you discover that the kid has a stutter.

Someone Effective: Since your electric current grapheme's stats aren't the greatest, if you desire your kid to be really good, yous should endeavour to get her taught by someone who'southward smart and strong. The top pick here, Count Hughes, has four really skilful stats. So does Mayor Alias, who's third on the listing. It is past no means a guarantee that they'll railroad train Elena to exist equally potent or smart, but the odds are better. Clicking on the icons in a higher place those stats can sort by the statistics. For case, sometimes I like to accept younger brothers and railroad train them specifically for the Martial trait, and so that they'll exist great military leaders without being a threat to take over from the rightful heir.

Someone Ineffective: Remember dorsum in the Laws section, when nosotros discussed the problems with Gavelkind succession and the fact that the younger siblings of our heir were going to break away with their ain duchy? That's still the case in this game, so rather than train our future rival Elena to be a stiff ruler, it might exist better to find someone who will make her weak, and allow us to retake her lands easily.

Someone who needs a relationship improvement: Crusader Kings II keeps this a niggling flake under the hood, only it's in that location: anyone whom you trust with one of your children/siblings to brainwash will like y'all better. Information technology's a +twenty boost, so information technology won't change the entire game, but it tin can help a lot. Click on the quill on the far left to sort the characters past their human relationship with y'all, or click on the crown next to that to sort them by most powerful to least powerful.

I've sorted past worst human relationship hither, and yous'll come across that Count Pierre-Bernat of Foix likes u.s.a. the least, with -57. Bumping that to -37 with Elena won't hurt, nor are his stats anything too strong that we should worry almost it. I would selection him in this case.

The Pope and Excommunication

Earlier I wrap up the master part of this guide, there's one final push button to click. On the correct-hand side of the menus on the top left is the Religion push. That'll have you lot to meet some information nearly Pope Alexander Two and the church building as a whole. Here, you tin exercise your Free Investiture by appointing successors for your bishops (something I never did, still, it could be useful for removing troublesome sons from the succession wars).

In face, nigh of the interactions you lot'll have with the Pope come via other means. Ane of the Decisions you lot can make on the Intrigue screen is to Buy an Indulgence, which will spend coin to improve your human relationship with the Pope (it's much cheaper than the conventional Send Gift) often. With a better relationship, y'all tin asking a divorce, for instance, or request that a rival exist excommunicated.

Excommunication is i of the most subtly powerful tools in the game. The excommunicated character immediately suffers a big hit to his relationship with every Catholic, and it too grants those Catholics an immediate Causus Belli. While this may be possible to survive for a while, whatsoever excommunicated ruler will generally exist on the defensive.

If you get excommunicated, you can patch it up by going to the Intrigue carte du jour and asking for Penance. This is extremely expensive, but fortunately, it's fairly rare.

Conclusion

With that, we've covered near of the major events and actions that you need to play and empathise Crusader Kings II at a basic level. I recommend playing for a while, peradventure consulting this guide, and getting a good feel for the rhythm of the game before moving onto Long-Term Planning. Or, if y'all're the sort of person who believes you need the large picture to sympathize the details, well, y'all probably already clicked on that.

Bask the game!

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Source: https://gameranx.com/features/id/15274/article/crusader-kings-2-guide-pt-4-alliances-and-relationships/

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