New to CK3...where to begin at 867? (2024)

Hello everyone.

I am new to CK3 and i am trying to find out an interesting start to start my journey.
I am more of a warlike type of player, conquering lands by blood and sword , I really don't want to start as a king or emperor, i was looking more for a small start a county or a couple of them, maximum a duchy; what i mean is that i would prefer to work my way up the ladder.

A friend of mine that also has the game keeps mentioning the Vikings alot especially the ones around Norway and Sweden but i have no clue.
If you guys could give some suggestions, Vikings or not, i would be immensely appreciated, i'm also willing to play as someone that doesn't have only military conquest in his/her mind.

I recommend playing as anyone and just focus on learning the UI, really. Forget about "winning" for a little bit and really hunker down on trying to learn what all of the buttons do.

When you are ready, I don't recommend pagans, right away. You don't want to start as a viking like Haesteinn and find yourself at war with France in a few years just because you're a heathen. Try a nice safe vassal duke inside of Germany or something, perhaps.

How confident are you with the mechanics? I think Rurik Rurikid (over by St. Petersburg, Russia) is a good first character start since you're not neighboring a hostile kingdom right off the bat. The downside is he starts with a dutchy, so it's not quite as small of a start as you were asking for, but you have plenty of room to grow your empire.

Haesteinn is recommended a lot, but I had trouble playing him as my first non-tutorial character. You have to deal with a murder plot and know how to handle ruling counties that aren't your culture. Not an insurmountable position, just more to learn up front if you want to survive the first several years.

Troyen said:

How confident are you with the mechanics? I think Rurik Rurikid (over by St. Petersburg, Russia) is a good first character start since you're not neighboring a hostile kingdom right off the bat. The downside is he starts with a dutchy, so it's not quite as small of a start as you were asking for, but you have plenty of room to grow your empire.

Haesteinn is recommended a lot, but I had trouble playing him as my first non-tutorial character. You have to deal with a murder plot and know how to handle ruling counties that aren't your culture. Not an insurmountable position, just more to learn up front if you want to survive the first several years.

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Indeed those 2 were recommended to me before and they seem like strong characters, very strong even but as i was saying I am trying to start a little bit smaller

Voy said:

I think the most traditional choice for what you're after is Haesteinn in Western France, just under Brittany. I suggest conquering Sardinia first for the mine and then the world is your oyster. Quite literally, there are people who managed to become the Khan of Khans in Mongolia with this guy.

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I heard of that character but he seems very powerful from the get go...I'm trying to have a more humble start.

Splat1986 said:

I heard of that character but he seems very powerful from the get go...I'm trying to have a more humble start.

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I'd start as a count/duke in West Francia then, or possibly in byzantium. Pretty safe places, and not too much of a chance of it blowing up.

If vikings bother you in France, go inland

A_Dane said:

I'd start as a count/duke in West Francia then, or possibly in byzantium. Pretty safe places, and not too much of a chance of it blowing up.

If vikings bother you in France, go inland

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@A_Dane Thanks for the suggestion, I don't know if a nation like France has a flavor, or specific events because it's France but me living in Portugal and actually being born in France I think that it can be interesting for sure.

If I start as a count in France can i work my way up to be someone that the King trusts, conquer lands from other vassals in France?

Splat1986 said:

If I start as a count in France can i work my way up to be someone that the King trusts, conquer lands from other vassals in France?

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Yes, but for conquest within your own religion, you'll need claims. You can get these by marriage and inheritance, fabricating them with your bishop, asking the pope *very* nicely, or in some other ways.

Torredebelem said:

Play the tutorial first to get you aquainted with the base mechanics. Ireland is always a good place to start as it is packed with one province counts.

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Yeah i have to do that.

If you're looking for easy, I'd say Norway. Be a viking on the west coast. Almost every neighbor will only have one county, and you don't need to waste time fabricating claims, you can immediately go to war with anyone touching your borders and pretty quickly snowball. And you can raid, making lots of gold and getting prisoners to sell, recruit for marriage purposes to get more knights .... or sacrifice.

Strengths:
1) Quickly grow your territory.
2) Marrying your single female courtiers off (matrilineal marriage) is an easy way to get several powerful knights with 20 to 30 plus prowess.
3) Two holy sights are close by, and a third one is in England, making reforming your religion pretty easy compared to other starts.
4) Create a kingdom in record time.

Weaknesses:
1) Low and very slow development speed as a tribal government.
2) Can take 15 plus years to convert conquered territories over to your original unreformed religion.
3) Cant create new towns/castles/temples as a tribal government.
4) Will usually take a long time to switch over to feudal, so you can further improve territory and build towns/castles/temples.

Whenever I just want an easy relaxed game, that is my start. Sweden is the only real thorn in my side. Not so much that they are a threat, but because they are the cultural head for awhile and they research stupid stuff with their 2 in learning.

EDIT: I should point out, I don't have the Northern Lords DLC. So reults may vary if you do.

Splat1986 said:

I heard of that character but he seems very powerful from the get go...I'm trying to have a more humble start.

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Go for Harald Fairhair then in Vestfold. You'll have a time uniting Norway and then go on to create the North Sea Empire if you so wish.

Is there a particular reason you want to play in 867? I typically find 867 to be less interesting than 1066. 867 is good for tribals or the new Iranian Intermezzo. Although tribal play is usually too easy/fast that it's difficult to stay engaged beyond the first or second character.

1066 on the otherhand, there are more feudal and clan states, and they're starting to be resistent to tribal incursions due to tech and development. The feudal CB rules slow the game down and make you have to strategize more. Also many more characters are historical, or from historical dynasties and have intertwined relationships that make gameplay outside of war more engaging.

greatcratefrfr said:

Try somewhere in Yemen, you'll be fine until 1200.

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I imagine that will be because the Mongol Hordes are coming no?
Is there any way to defeat those?

Splat1986 said:

I imagine that will be because the Mongol Hordes are coming no?
Is there any way to defeat those?

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Make a large multi-empire empire, or stay a kingdom, submit and clean up the mess after they break up.

If you want to fight them, you need 500k troops if not more, and their military leaders are stupidly good so you can be stack wiped starting at even numbers.

Splat1986 said:

I imagine that will be because the Mongol Hordes are coming no?
Is there any way to defeat those?

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It is not easy. Safe to just swear fealty for a bit. There are people who can do it, but they are few.