Mastering Your Council: Optimize Your Rule in Crusader Kings 3

In the Crusader Kings franchise, the council has always played a crucial role. The latest installment, Crusader Kings 3, takes this even further by offering a wide range of interactions that allow players to modify their realm, armies, and court intrigues. However, the effectiveness of these interactions is heavily dependent on the councilors appointed by the player. The council in Crusader Kings 3 consists of five regular members, each representing a different skill, and the ruler's spouse, who has a less formal role. While it's ideal to have highly skilled councilors, there are valid reasons for players to consider appointing less competent vassals to these positions.

Council Jobs

To access their council, players can simply click on the council menu located on the right-hand side of the screen. The symbol for the council is an elegant azure chair, which can be found just below the military menu. Each council is made up of five members, whose titles may vary depending on the ruler's cultural background. These members include the Chancellor (Diplomacy), Marshal (Martial), Steward (Stewardship), Spymaster (Intrigue), and Realm Priest (Learning). Additionally, the ruler's primary spouse serves as the final member of the council, unless their religion or culture permits multiple spouses.

Council members have the flexibility to perform various job types on behalf of the ruler, with the option to switch between them as needed. If a job requires a target, players have the freedom to choose one. Although certain jobs may not have any valid targets, typically each council position offers at least two options that are always accessible. However, it's worth noting that councilors with a primary stat below 15 have a higher probability of triggering negative events while performing their duties, whereas those with a primary stat above 8 have a greater likelihood of causing positive outcomes. Additionally, the effectiveness of each council member's job performance is influenced by their individual stats, with the impact scaling accordingly with their level of skill.

Chancellor

The Chancellor represents their liege in interactions with vassals and with foreign leaders.

Foreign Affairs increases the favor of autonomous rulers, while Domestic Affairs focuses on improving the standing of direct vassals. The Integrate Title action expedites the process of bringing a duchy or kingdom under the ruler's direct control, and the Bestow Royal Favor option (exclusive to the Royal Court expansion) elevates the prestige and admiration of a particular vassal.

Marshal

Boosting Control in a county not only speeds up the process but also removes any Corruption modifiers. With the help of Train Commanders, Knights and Men-at-Arms can become more effective in battle. Additionally, Organize Army can increase garrison sizes while simultaneously reducing the cost of raised armies. For a more secure reign, the Marshal can also Manage Royal Guards in the Royal Court, which boosts the performance of Knights and lowers the risk of hostile schemes against the liege.

Steward

The Steward keeps track of the liege's finances and tax collection agents.

Spymaster

The options available in Crusader Kings II to manage your kingdom include replacing the county's Culture with your own, boosting the county's Development, increasing tax revenue, improving Cultural Acceptance, and convincing county owners to hand over land to their de jure liege. This last option can be especially helpful in streamlining your internal borders while avoiding excessive Tyranny.

The Spymaster's role involves detecting any potential risks to their ruler and aiding them in their own plans. The "Find Secrets" ability allows them to focus on a specific county and potentially uncover secrets about individuals residing there, which can then be shared with their liege. "Support Schemes" helps to increase the success rate of hostile schemes, while "Disrupt Schemes" works to prevent any hostile schemes against the liege from being successful.

Realm Priest

The Realm Priest (or Chaplain, or Allamah, etc.) advises the liege on spiritual matters and spreads their Faith across the realm.

The Fabricate Claim on County ability allows for the fabrication of a claim on any county within diplomatic range, with the possibility of occasionally producing claims on duchies instead. On the other hand, the Convert Faith in County ability will replace the Faith of the target county with the liege's Faith. Furthermore, the Religious Relations ability can increase Piety per month and enhance the Opinion of Theocratic rulers of the same Faith, including the Head of Faith. However, if the Faith follows the Lay Clergy Doctrine, this ability will instead boost the Opinion of all same-Faith characters by a smaller amount.

Spouse

The ruler's primary spouse has a unique role in the council as they do not take on regular jobs. Instead, they contribute a portion of their stats directly to the ruler. If players assign them to the "Assist Ruler" job, one-fifth of their stats will be added to the ruler. However, if players choose from the jobs "Court Politics," "Chivalry," "Manage Domain," "Court Intrigue," or "Patronage," the spouse will add one-half of one stat to the ruler. This bonus applies to all the tests and effects a ruler's stats have on their realm and during random events. Players can easily keep track of how much the spouse is contributing by checking the council menu or hovering over the ruler's stats and looking for the line "Assistance from Spouse."

How to Choose the Best Councilors

When selecting councilors, players should prioritize relevant skill over other abilities. In Crusader Kings 3, each councilor's job performance is only affected by one skill, so candidates with the highest relevant skill should be chosen. Additionally, it is important to consider vassal power levels and Opinions. The top five powerful vassals in the realm will always want a position on the council and may cause issues if not given one, leading to a -40 Opinion penalty towards their liege. Therefore, keeping powerful vassals content may take precedence over choosing the most competent councilor.

The difficulty in maintaining balance lies in the Realm Priest position, particularly for Theocratic Faiths where the religious and secular hierarchies are separate. This necessitates a Theocratic leader for the role, which often means sacrificing one of the top five vassals in the council. Furthermore, players may not even have the authority to appoint their own Realm Priests. However, if the powerful vassals are content with their liege, players have the freedom to select any direct vassal or courtier for the council, including family members residing in the player's court. While guests and prisoners cannot be chosen for the council, they may still be recruited and utilized.

One issue that arises with the council is the use of Hooks and feudal contracts by vassals to secure positions. Vassals can use Hooks to gain council positions, and once they do, the player ruler cannot remove them for a set period of time. Additionally, vassals can have "Council Rights: Guaranteed" included in their feudal contract, which functions similarly to a Hook and is passed down with the title. It's important to note that these special rights can persist even when a player usurps a title or vassalizes new subjects through war, so it's wise to review a vassal's feudal contract if they suddenly appear on the council. In some cases, a player ruler may end up on their liege's council if they possess a high skill or are too influential to ignore. While being on a council provides special bonuses, such as increased natural Dread, the benefits vary depending on the ruler's title level. Therefore, joining a liege's council can be advantageous, even if a player ruler intends to replace the vassal in the future.

Crusader Kings 3 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.