Starting in 867

[Splat]

Hello everyone.
I know that we can find OP characters as Haesteinn from the get go but for now let's put him aside.
I am looking to get back into the game after a long break and most of my time in CK3 was done in 1066 starting date.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me good/interesting starts for 867 as a count or as a duke, I don't want to start as a King or Emperor but to work my way up.

[Tebeas]

Attempt to unite Slavia starting as one of the Polish vassals. Not really challenging when you get the hang of it yet I had a bunch of fun in that region due to Norse raids.

[Splat]

Originally posted by Tebeas:

Attempt to unite Slavia starting as one of the Polish vassals. Not really challenging when you get the hang of it yet I had a bunch of fun in that region due to Norse raids.

Hey there @Tebeas thank you for the recommendation, really, that seems a interesting one.
If you have more please let me know.

[Grimbert]

Dyre 'the Stranger' Oskyldr, Jarl (High Chieftain) of Könugarðr (Kyiv).
Starts with genius. I've not checked in on him in a while so things might have changed.
There are some good suggestions on the Wiki [ck3.paradoxwikis.com]

[DemonicSquid]

Iberian struggle is really fun in 867. Start as any of the counts in Galicia, try to marry one of your liege's family, and secure a power base. Try not to get wiped out by the non-christians before you are ready to make your moves and gradually conquer Iberia turning it christian. (Count of Monterrei is a good pick for a custom character as he has no family to mess your court up later)

Same kind of thing with Persia, more opportunity to play as a one-of-a-kind count there - nice selection of different religions and cultures.

A mongol count on the eastern edge of the map is also fun if you enjoy map painting.

[Splat]

Originally posted by DemonicSquid:

Iberian struggle is really fun in 867. Start as any of the counts in Galicia, try to marry one of your liege's family, and secure a power base. Try not to get wiped out by the non-christians before you are ready to make your moves and gradually conquer Iberia turning it christian. (Count of Monterrei is a good pick for a custom character as he has no family to mess your court up later)

Same kind of thing with Persia, more opportunity to play as a one-of-a-kind count there - nice selection of different religions and cultures.

A mongol count on the eastern edge of the map is also fun if you enjoy map painting.

Hey there @DemonicSquid thank you for that.

If i may ask as you mentioned a mongol count on the east part of the map, who would that be?

[Splat]

Originally posted by Grimbert:

Dyre 'the Stranger' Oskyldr, Jarl (High Chieftain) of Könugarðr (Kyiv).
Starts with genius. I've not checked in on him in a while so things might have changed.
There are some good suggestions on the Wiki [ck3.paradoxwikis.com]

Thank you

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Originally posted by Splat:

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me good/interesting starts for 867 as a count or as a duke, I don't want to start as a King or Emperor but to work my way up.

If you're not lookin for OP but wanna start at the bottom, Count Giselbert of Brabant is perfect. He's as Vanilla as it gets.
He has 3/4 counties of Brabant so can be a Duke(take Antwerp, u dont need a Vassal)
He is 44 and starts with 1 full Intrigue tree.(i like to re-roll til he gets Schemer & can run 2 Kidnaps at once...unless he has great traits, then reset perks once he gets 'Groomed to Rule' perk-theres easily 1000pts of Diplo Huts close-by.
He has 2 sons-17 & 16-so u can start your eugenics on turn 1. Son #1 can always take out son #2 at succession. Giselbert will rarely live 20+ yrs.
Convert your 2 French counties to Dutch & You control the Dutch innovations.
His Liege is King of Lotharingia, who is also Liege to Aachen & Cologne. It shouldnt take long for your Heir to be sittin back on his Palace porch lookin at his new Cathedral across the river, raking in the Renown, Development & gold.
From there the Kingdom of Frisia is easily within your grasp & farmland everywhere

[cap-boulanger]

I've had fun with the Jarl (Viking equivalent of duke) of Upplond (in east-central Sweden)... he starts out with a fairly strong position so you can expand quickly. Creating the Kingdom of Sweden in one lifetime is pretty easy.

Another option is Sri Lanka, starts out with the whole island so it's fairly easy to defend (there's only one land crossing), and a couple of the close mainland provinces have 5+ holdings so can become a very powerful base... if you grab them before the AI builds them up!

[Solitus]

I am also returning to CK3 (albeit on an older version) and I am forgoing my usual region of the world and starting as Bohemia with a different religion than the slavic one. You're a duke, with a spectacular capital duchy and a unique silver mine building in one of your counties that give you the income to fight off the catholics to your west and the pagans to your east.

[Abacus]

Ghat has always been my favorite.

Has several counties.

Various directions to expand.

Can create a duchy from the start. Helpful when playing tall.

Will have 3-4 spawned buildings throughout his counties at start (you want military over economy. It's kinda random.)

A religion that is more taxes foreign rulers more in their realm, while you have several options nearby. You can stack up extra cash by taking advantage.

[ShadowFox]

Chiefdom of Gotland is a fun very very small start if you don't mind being tribal its a single county start but that single county is also a duchy since it is an island. It's located east of sweden and north west of lithuania

[Elriadon]

Duke Kolo of Wuluhai, a vassal of the Guiyi kingdom located on the eastern edge of the map. What makes him unique is that he and his duchy are the only ones on the map who are adherents of the Nestorian branch of Christianity. So, focus on that and try to spread Christianity in the far east!

[Elon's Musk]

Polish start is pretty fun in 867. That's what I went with in my first game so far. United the West Slavs in my first lifetime and am about to die and now I need to figure out how to make my heir succeed.

[Elriadon]

Another fun one is the Chief of one of the Canary Islands (located off the coast of West Africa). If you unite all the islands under your rule, you get a special decision to create a Kingdom of the Canary Islands upon completing some prerequisites. It's also easy to reform the faith they start with, since two of the holy sites are located on the Canary Islands and the third one can be acquired rather easily by conquering one random county in either Iberia or North Africa. Plus you are very safe, since no one's really gonna invade or raid you.

[Splat]

Originally posted by Simply B:

Ghat has always been my favorite.

Has several counties.

Various directions to expand.

Can create a duchy from the start. Helpful when playing tall.

Will have 3-4 spawned buildings throughout his counties at start (you want military over economy. It's kinda random.)

A religion that is more taxes foreign rulers more in their realm, while you have several options nearby. You can stack up extra cash by taking advantage.

Who or what is Ghat?