Council, how to pass laws and who to pick?

[Cybot]

Should i pick the powerfull vassals or the ones who agree with me the most (green hearth icon)
If the latter, what do i do about the -40 for not being on the council?

I want to pass laws, but nobody supports 'em! :(
Even my wife, who is on the council won't support a law to get to Late Administration.

[KG]

It depends on how you have your realm set up. I tend to make a few very powerful vassals, viceroys if possible, so I just need a NAP here, application of spymaster there, and maybe a few small feasts from Diplomacy focus and no faction can raise the numbers to pose a serious threat.

Then I can put whoever I want on the council - about half people who really like my ruler and the rest can just be whoever is competent. My gold reserve (you have one, right?) and shuffling people off the council (if a stinker gets too many favors) is plenty to make any votes go my way after that. The opinion boost from gifts go a long way compared to the price of buying a favor.

I prefer absolutism though.

P.S., the spymaster is always someone who likes my ruler a lot, usually isn't landed, and doesn't have too many of the dangerous personality traits. Rather have a 14 intrigue spymaster with +90 opinion than a 25 intrigue Envious Deceitful Master Schemer vassal spymaster.

[Cybot]

Thanks for the spymaster tip :)

The rest kind of went over my head, im still at a fairly basic understanding of this game lol. I have only played as regular Catholic Feudal counts, dukes and kings.

You pick the diplomacy option, and start carousing with your vassals?

And what do you mean with a gold reserve?

[jfoytek]

Simply Put,

If a Vassal is strong enough that you feel compleled to put him on the council for fear of him revolting then:
A) Maybe you let him get to strong
B) You probally should put him on the council

So I adhere to best man for the job unless for whatever reason I have created a super vassal that could threaten my power and he is unhappy.... Then I have a new Chancellor, why Chancellor?

A) Spymaster needs to be good at his job and happy to keep you and your family safe...
B) Steward Needs to be good as it nets income and helps the demesne.
C) Marshal Needs to be good at his job because he helps the nuclear deterent... IE your huge troop stack because hes amazing at martial so are you and your wife....
D) Priest - Needs to be good at his job to Prostelize and do cultural research....

Chancellor's jobs are definately powerful tools but there not mandatory jobs either...
So you can give that council position out and have him do nothing....
Certainly dont send him out to improve relations if he doesnt have the skill to do the job...

So to summarize:

Dont put yourself in the position you need to put a vassal on the council....
Always put the best mad for the job...
However if your in a pickle then the Chancelor job is the least vital for the good of the realm.

[jfoytek]

Originally posted by Cybot:

Thanks for the spymaster tip :)

The rest kind of went over my head, im still at a fairly basic understanding of this game lol. I have only played as regular Catholic Feudal counts, dukes and kings.

You pick the diplomacy option, and start carousing with your vassals?

And what do you mean with a gold reserve?

_______________________________________________

Diplomacy (I.E. Your Kingdoms overall Diplomacy total seen on your portrait)
is Your Diplomacy + 1/2 your wifes + your chancelor....

The higher that number is the better opinion the rest of the world has of you!

Also your Prestige and Piety as they increase with age give you an opinion boost with the rest of the world aswell so these two things added together can make some old rulers pretty beloved bye the world.....
_______________________________________________

Carousing is a Focus unlocked with the Way Of Life DLC
(Way of Life DLC is the unmistaken king of all DLC's most everyone agree's its the top of the list)

Anyway Carousing basically has your ruler invite people to a party where random events happen.
They are typically good events like one of the people you invite becoming a friend (+100) opinion.
This can be a very powerful tool to keep Vassals happy...
______________________________________________

Gold Reserve

Is simply put how much money you have extra on hand your not willing to spend because its your emergency fund for:

Mercenaries: To fight off a very powerful foe that is threatening to remove you from the game!

Your realm could be small and only have a few thousand troops or less... And if your targeted bye say the King of France with 12,000 troops you could find yourself in an impossible to win batttle unless of course you can hire

10,000 troops to make up the difference and put the smack down....

Bribing (Conclave Mechanic) Buy a Favor from your Privy Council member to force them to vote the way you do for 36 months.... Getting a certain law passed could be important...

[Cybot]

wow thanks, these are very detailed tips! :)

I guess i'll try to keep my vassals from being a threat to me, and go with the best man for the job then :D

[☭Woodsman☭]

it's very situational, really. In my current game, I'm a duke vassalized under a king, with my only "powerful" vassals being barons, mayors, and bishops. since they aren't counts they won't form factions or be a real threat so I don't have to settle for a 5 diplo Chancellor or whatever. Later on, as a king, if some some 3 duchy superduke wants a seat I'm probably gonna give it to him if I don't try to take him out.

[TCPippin]

Originally posted by jfoytek:

Chancellor's jobs are definately powerful tools but there not mandatory jobs either...
So you can give that council position out and have him do nothing....
Certainly dont send him out to improve relations if he doesnt have the skill to do the job...

Having someone do nothing is a waste. If he's bad, send him to fabricate claims on Iceland or Delhi or whatever, as far away from you as possible. So if/when the situation blows in his face and he gets imprisoned - you won't get hurt by the fallout, and you'll have one less powerful vassal to worry about (unless you're extremely unlucky, his heir won't have as much political clout. He might even be underage).
And if by some miracle he succeeds - you can just refuse to pay to proceed with fabrication and even get some free piety out of it.

[barracuda-rostigraben]

If you're having problems passing laws, make a note of who supports what and buy just enough favors to force the vote your way. Might have to put off the vote a few years to save up, depending on your financial situation and which vassals are willing to be bought off.

[Loquitran]

One thing i usually do to prevent my vassals from being too strong, is trying to revoke their titles.

It consists in doing the following steps:

Go to intrigue tab and see if you can plot to revoke a vassal's title.

If i'm not mistaken, you need 100% and at least one person backing you up.

Now you should be able to use the decision to claim his title, but he'll probably oppose, and you want him to do that. Since he opposed you, he will rebel against you(one tip, you can't normally raise armies before declaring wars, but since doing this isn't a declaration of war, you can leave your levies raised and crush your enemy with ease, you can even beforehand put the levies on the province of the vassal if you don't want to battle).

Crush him.

After that, you got the claim on his title but, since he revolted against you and this is considered treason, you have the right to imprison him without being considered a tyrant.

If he have another landed title, you can revoke it, since he is a traitor.

I usually do that to expand myself through claimants, giving them landed titles, pressing their claims and then, plotting to revoke their stuff, imprisioning them and revoking them lol

It's a little gamey, i admit, but doing this you can really manage easily your vassals strength.

[Cybot]

Originally posted by Loquitran:

One thing i usually do to prevent my vassals from being too strong, is trying to revoke their titles.

It consists in doing the following steps:

Go to intrigue tab and see if you can plot to revoke a vassal's title.

If i'm not mistaken, you need 100% and at least one person backing you up.

Now you should be able to use the decision to claim his title, but he'll probably oppose, and you want him to do that. Since he opposed you, he will rebel against you(one tip, you can't normally raise armies before declaring wars, but since doing this isn't a declaration of war, you can leave your levies raised and crush your enemy with ease, you can even beforehand put the levies on the province of the vassal if you don't want to battle).

Crush him.

After that, you got the claim on his title but, since he revolted against you and this is considered treason, you have the right to imprison him without being considered a tyrant.

If he have another landed title, you can revoke it, since he is a traitor.

I usually do that to expand myself through claimants, giving them landed titles, pressing their claims and then, plotting to revoke their stuff, imprisioning them and revoking them lol

It's a little gamey, i admit, but doing this you can really manage easily your vassals strength.

haha i love it, i tried something a bit similair but didn't know i coul raise my levies before so that is good to know :)

[Mentos]

I choose my councilors based on their loyalty, rank and the value of a given position to me at that time.

Usually the Steward position is given to whatever character has the highest stewardship (for more taxes) but in the event that the Spymaster position cannot be given to a vassal then I forfeit the tax gain and grant it to a strong vassal.

Typically Chancellor, and Marshal are granted to strong vassals, and the spymaster position is given to the strongest vassal, with the highest intrigue. But only if they like me, with an opinion of 50 or higher. If no one fits the bill, its given to the courtier with the highest intrigue and Steward is forfeited to a strong vassal.

I do not grant positions to anyone with malcontent unless granting it to them would change their loyalty OR I have absolute rule.

[al_x_ator2411]

All good advice here. If apart from Conclave you also own Reapers Due you can have even more wicked fun messing with vassals. Does a troublesome vassal demand a council position? Make him a Chancelor like jfoytek said but also send him for a job in a disease infested region. Smallpox is the best for an assured death but measles and consumption work too (most people usually survive the fevers).

And it's like they said, it's very situational. When you're really eager to pass a law you can put a few yesmen on the council (even worthless people) and you remove them after the passing of the law. Even if there are no yesmen, courtiers are very easier to bribe than dukes and kings. And right after succession the council is discontent so the councilors create factions anyway.

The court chaplain is also a position that can be easily used for yesmen. It can't be given to landed feudal lords and no bishop will ever be that powerful (unless you give them higher titles) so you can swap between available ones with more ease than the other positions. I usually put my court doctor in the position when they really love me.

Also, your spouse should not be a councilor unless she has insanely high attributes. That is because when she becomes a councilor, her stats are only counted once (while usually it's 1/2of spouse+coouncilor). If they really love you and you want them in the council, try the advisor position when available.

[Cybot]

Some very good tips and ideas here guys, appreciate it.

And yea my wife had 22 in stewardship i believe, so i just made he my steward. I didn't know about the disease stuff, i will try to use that aswell in the future :)

[Kaiser]

A balance between loyalist attitude and skill in their job. but you can have a bad chief chaplain,as learning stat doesnt matter much

[jfoytek]

Originally posted by Englandball:

A balance between loyalist attitude and skill in their job. but you can have a bad chief chaplain,as learning stat doesnt matter much

Your joking right?

Cultural Tech is possibly the most important of all techs in the game!
And Learning effects all techs!!! This is not a guy I would ever slack on!