There seems to be at least some interest for this game on giant bomb. Which is why I'm hoping that at least someone here is a hardcore CK fan. I pre-ordered and have been playing it for a bit and questions keep piling up. So I figured a game this advanced warranted a help topic.

I'll begin with some of my questions, and hopefully we can help each other out!

I started the game with two daughters so I want a son before my current character dies. How/where do I try to get more children? (Great potential for jokes here)

My court Chaplain died while in Rome on diplomatic relations. Is there any way to get more information on how a character died?

I'd also like some tips on what to focus on in the early game, I haven't been doing much of anything due to lack of wealth.

Thanks duders!

@Swoxx: Hello there. Yeah Im a bit of a Paradox fan and have played a fair amount of their games. I have a youtube channel as well and will be doing a series on CK2 very soon. I did a quick preview/quicklook here:

CK2 Quicklook - Tekk's Tavern

On your questions...

- The only thing you can do is make sure you have a wife. If your wife has the skull symbol on her portrait she is dead...get a new one. A young one at that to help your chances.

- I dont believe there is anyway to see how they died. This was a feature that was requested on Sengoku that used some similar systems etc.

- Early game it just depends on your situation. If you a decent King that has some areas...start out send your advisers out to research that can. Look for your weakest neighbor. Get your Consular to find a false claim so you can attack. Hover over your currency etc up on top right and see what factors are giving you minuses and work on changing those.

@Tekkor said:

- The only thing you can do is make sure you have a wife. If your wife has the skull symbol on her portrait she is dead...get a new one.

Hahaha

@Tekkor: Thanks for your answers dude, really helps to get a handle on things. I started as a small Count so I don't really have a lot of stuff at all, maybe I should've started with something that has a lower difficulty rating

I do have a wife and she is alive, so getting new children is just a random occurrence? Also, since my Chaplain died I have no one to replace him, How do I acquire more people in my realm to fill council spots?

I subscribed to your YT channel by the way!

And hey I watched your quick look, I'm Swedish, so leave Sweden alone!!

@Swoxx: Yeah for your first game your better off playing with a King somewhere. Take notice when your clicking on a country on the "county" or "province" your clicking on...some will be directly ruled by king while others will be ruled by appointed vassals etc. Pick one that has a king over it...usually easy to tell. Playing as a lower rank character is more of an advanced game to see if you can kinda come up into power etc.

As far as I know yes...it is random on the children. All you can do is have a ready and able wife and hope everyone isnt shooting blanks. =)

On your counsel screen (the first top right button)...you would just click the "appoint" button on the one that is vacant and it should bring up a list of applicants within your realm that are available. Looks for someone with a high stat number on "Learning". Also it is preferable that they "like" you with a green number as well, hehe. If there is nobody available because your a small duke or country etc...there is an option to "invite someone to court". For the life of me I cant think where that option is right this second. Perhaps under where you do Plots....but not sure.

@Tekkor: I'll look around, I only had one available in my realm with a really shitty learning stat. I'll see if I can't find the invite option. Thanks again!

@Swoxx said:

@Tekkor: I'll look around, I only had one available in my realm with a really shitty learning stat. I'll see if I can't find the invite option. Thanks again!

You can invite people to your court from the diplomacy screen IIRC. i.e. Find someone from another realm click on the little scroll icon next to their portrait, and I'm pretty sure that's where the option is, with the other stuff like arrange marriage etc.

Also there are some character traits that can really help and hinder the conceiving of a child. Such as some woman have lustful I think is one, or the other side is, I think I found someone who was celibate. Which would really put a spanner in the works if she was your wife.

@Laticsfan: I imagine it would! Thanks

Also, you may want to make sure that your wife doesn't have the "Chaste" flag. It lowers her fertility by 1000%.

If you can set your ambitions, (under the intrigue tab) sometimes you can pick "have a son" or "have a daughter" - I don't know if it increases your chances of having some sort of child or not, but you do get a bonus for having a child of the gender that you want. Otherwise, if your wife is chaste or into her mid-late 30s (so not as fertile as she could be) you can pick the ambition to see her dead and then invite enough people to your plot that the option to have her killed pops up. At which point, you just need to marry a younger woman.

Based on this thread, I kinda want to play CK2 now.

@MuttersomeTaxicab: It would seem I also have the option to straight up assassinate her, She isn't really a looker, maybe I'll find someone new.

@Ravenlight: You should!

@Ravenlight said:

Based on this thread, I kinda want to play CK2 now.

do it! it's super stable, super fast, super fun...

@Swoxx: Yeah, having her assassinated is always an option, but there's always the risk of getting caught and losing prestige. With "plots," if you can invite enough people that don't like her, it's usually an automatic success and there isn't really a hit to prestige or public opinion. Of course, if that plot is exposed, I guess there's still the possibility of being exposed, but I've not really encountered that.

@MuttersomeTaxicab: Just reading that post I know this is an awesome game!

@Animasta said:

@Ravenlight said:

Based on this thread, I kinda want to play CK2 now.

do it! it's super stable, super fast, super fun...

I like my video games like I like my women...

@Ravenlight said:

@Animasta said:

@Ravenlight said:

Based on this thread, I kinda want to play CK2 now.

do it! it's super stable, super fast, super fun...

I like my video games like I like my women...

Super easy?

@Swoxx said:

@Ravenlight said:

@Animasta said:

@Ravenlight said:

Based on this thread, I kinda want to play CK2 now.

do it! it's super stable, super fast, super fun...

I like my video games like I like my women...

Super easy?

Accurately simulating the entire economic system of a historical age as you 'data surf' your characters through them?

I wish france would stop impeding in Iberia... fuckers took the bottom half of it D:

I wish I would have better luck. 90% success chance of my plot to kill my wife...and I get discovered :/

I wish I would have better luck. 90% success chance of my plot to kill my wife...and I get discovered :/

Something I've found that's a bit different than CK1, at least as far as a wife goes, is that lustful / hedonist are not really the best traits anymore. I think the new 'best' trait is Midas Touched. It gives +15% fertility (vs. 20% for lustful), but brings with it a huge (9 points I think) boost to stewardship and a host of other bonuses. Keep in mind that now your wife contributes half her stats to her husband, so getting a wife with high stats is actually quite important now (I've had rulers with high 20s/30s in all their stats thanks to this). Another perk with this is when looking for a bride, just sort by age then by stewardship, and you wind up with the youngest Midas Touched ones at the very top.

Grey Emenance is another good one too, I don't think the top-tier martial or theology ones give fertility bonuses so might not be as desirable.

One last point is that any children you have can then be educated by her, and she can pass down those amazing stats to them, although I don't think there's any sort of bonus for raising your own kids like in CK1. If you already have somebody with great stats in your court this is less of a concern.

I was playing as the Duke of Munster. At some point, I create the Duchy of Leinster and gave it to my son, in hopes of expanding my dynasty. Eventually I died, and my realm passed to my son, who, it turns out, is a bit hopeless. Immediately two vassals rise against me, one of whom, the Count of Leinster seemed to only become a vassal when my first duke died (not sure how that happened).. The war starts to go badly, I call in some favours from Allies, and hire some mercs. They turned things around... until the treasury ran bare, and they defected to the Count of Leinster. I will lose the war, but, on the bright side, my useless character will be deposed in favour of his far more gifted son.

I regret changing the laws of succession from Gavelkind, since at least one of my first guy's 8 other kids over three wives would have got something, instead of useless Brian >:< Elsewhere in my game, England is a mess - the King of Norway conquered England, then died, splitting his realm between his sons. Eventually one of them overthrew the other, but England is in a constant state of civil war, with Dukes (all of whom are norse) starting wars of independence all over the place. The King of Scots, meanwhile, controls territory as far south as the English Midlands. Scotland conquering England would be amusing,

This game is incredibly absorbing. While leading my house to rack and ruin I've learnt quite a bit about the game, at least.

One last point is that any children you have can then be educated by her, and she can pass down those amazing stats to them, although I don't think there's any sort of bonus for raising your own kids like in CK1. If you already have somebody with great stats in your court this is less of a concern.

@deerokus

I regret changing the laws of succession from Gavelkind, since at least one of my first guy's 8 other kids over three wives would have got something, instead of useless Brian >:<

This game is incredibly absorbing. While leading my house to rack and ruin I've learnt quite a bit about the game, at least.

@MaFoLu said:

@Swoxx said:

I wish I would have better luck. 90% success chance of my plot to kill my wife...and I get discovered :/

That's what happens when you post about it on a message board... Trust me, I've been there.

Damn, good point.

I had completely missed the tutorial menu option by the way. That was very helpful. I also restarted as a king instead, Seems much easier to get a grasp on things that way.

Another way to deal with troublesome heirs: (from quartertothree.com)

How to kill off an unwanted heir in crusader kings 2:

I am playing an old king in ireland. My eldest son dies, and his first son becomes my new heir. I checked him out, and he had -75 relations with me without me having ever done anything to him. It turns out he had decided to become an orthodox heretic, and is quite zealous about it (which gives him -50 relations with Catholics). He also has some annoying traits that rubs me the king the wrong way.

I realise I don't want this guy becoming the next king. He looks like a big douche, he isn't even catholic, and the younger grandson (next in line) is more agreeable. I decide a good way to kill him off would be to make him hate me so much that he rebels (he is a count).

So, naturally, I make a move on his wife when she presents interest. I have a baby with her, and then I legitimise the bastard as the heir's official uncle. Apparently the "your wife just gave birth to your uncle" news did not go down well, as he is so pissed off at me at this point he rebels with his measly army. I beat him easily, throw him in prison, revoke his land title, give it to the bastard his wife had with me, execute him, and then to add posthumous salt to the wound marry his wife (we are in love, aww).

Problem solved!

Another way to deal with troublesome heirs: (from quartertothree.com)

How to kill off an unwanted heir in crusader kings 2:

I am playing an old king in ireland. My eldest son dies, and his first son becomes my new heir. I checked him out, and he had -75 relations with me without me having ever done anything to him. It turns out he had decided to become an orthodox heretic, and is quite zealous about it (which gives him -50 relations with Catholics). He also has some annoying traits that rubs me the king the wrong way.

I realise I don't want this guy becoming the next king. He looks like a big douche, he isn't even catholic, and the younger grandson (next in line) is more agreeable. I decide a good way to kill him off would be to make him hate me so much that he rebels (he is a count).

So, naturally, I make a move on his wife when she presents interest. I have a baby with her, and then I legitimise the bastard as the heir's official uncle. Apparently the "your wife just gave birth to your uncle" news did not go down well, as he is so pissed off at me at this point he rebels with his measly army. I beat him easily, throw him in prison, revoke his land title, give it to the bastard his wife had with me, execute him, and then to add posthumous salt to the wound marry his wife (we are in love, aww).

Problem solved!

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

@Jumanji

Another way to deal with troublesome heirs: (from quartertothree.com)

How to kill off an unwanted heir in crusader kings 2:

I am playing an old king in ireland. My eldest son dies, and his first son becomes my new heir. I checked him out, and he had -75 relations with me without me having ever done anything to him. It turns out he had decided to become an orthodox heretic, and is quite zealous about it (which gives him -50 relations with Catholics). He also has some annoying traits that rubs me the king the wrong way.

I realise I don't want this guy becoming the next king. He looks like a big douche, he isn't even catholic, and the younger grandson (next in line) is more agreeable. I decide a good way to kill him off would be to make him hate me so much that he rebels (he is a count).

So, naturally, I make a move on his wife when she presents interest. I have a baby with her, and then I legitimise the bastard as the heir's official uncle. Apparently the "your wife just gave birth to your uncle" news did not go down well, as he is so pissed off at me at this point he rebels with his measly army. I beat him easily, throw him in prison, revoke his land title, give it to the bastard his wife had with me, execute him, and then to add posthumous salt to the wound marry his wife (we are in love, aww).

Problem solved!

Oh fuck you, you just sold me this game!

Awesome.

So I went to war with norway. However I did not realize that I had to fabricate claims to get cassus belli for every county I wanted to take over, So I spent 8 years in a horrible bloody war only to end up with one strip of new land :| So caution to the warmongerers out there, make sure you have cassus belli for each county/province you intend to take over.

You don't always have to do that. If you just want a duchy or two you can usurp the title once you control half of the counties within the duchy. This costs some gold, so you will want to save up a little. You will then have legitimate ducal claims on all of the counties within that duchy (and these pass to your heirs). If want to conquer a Kingdom and don't have any legitimate claims, a good way is to find a disgruntled pretender to the throne, invite them to your court, and press their claim on their behalf. For example, I think if you start just after William the Conqueror's victory there is a pretender to the English throne in the court of Scotland whose claim you can press, if you fancy kicking some Sassenach arse. This guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_%C3%86theling

Would you recommend this game to someone who has never played a grand strategy game before? It looks really interesting, but I'm not sure if I should jump in with this one or not.

@PeasantAbuse: Try the demo. It is fully featured except that it only goes 20 years, and it's a relatively small download.

@Jumanji said:

@PeasantAbuse: Try the demo. It is fully featured except that it only goes 20 years, and it's a relatively small download.

Ah, of course. I always forget to check out demos on PC games, thanks.

@Swoxx: You need to spawn more Overlords.

@PeasantAbuse said:

@Jumanji said:

@PeasantAbuse: Try the demo. It is fully featured except that it only goes 20 years, and it's a relatively small download.

Ah, of course. I always forget to check out demos on PC games, thanks.

I'm the same way. I am conditioned to think of demos as horribly bastardized or meaninglessly unrepresentative of the final product... but like everything else about ck2, the demo is first rate and does exactly what it says on the tin.

Also if you're in need of a chaplain or the like, you can invite people from the Intrigue screen, I believe. (Where it says Invite Noble/Debutant...)