New to AGOT-mod, some Duke-tier ruler questions

[Matthias_Wlkp]

Great mod! I really love the idea and the execution, but I'm struggling a little to break through the learning curve, even though I have like 300hrs on vanilla CK2.

My usual play style is to start as a vassal or independent Duke that struggled in real life (i.e. Duke of Grater Poland, Petty King of Brittany, Duke of Socotra, etc.), and then blob here and there, ending up as a decent kingdom or even an empire.

I tried to do something similar as Hightowers in the first bookmark, but apparently gathering military power here is somewhat different than what I was used to. I started by assassinating one of the baron tier vassals in my county capital to take over his barony, as he had no heirs - which worked, but then I got an event, that I should give it to someone else - apart from the opinion malus against the "rightful heir", should I be worried about anything else?

Even though my king has fairly high stewardship (around 12 IIRC) I can only have 3 holdings - should I expect smaller personal demense throughout the game?

Is growth by claims (landing claimants, fabricating claims, marriage) working the same way as in vanilla? Are there any other useful CBs that a Duke-tier ruler can use?

Last bun not least - does it make sense at all to play (or learn to play) this mod like I used to play, or should I start with one of the Lord Paramounts?

Maybe you guys can recommend any good video tutorials for this mod?

 

[Rifal]

One lord
One castle.

If you want you could try the sub mod Free Realms witch breaks the world up in much smaller pieces, or you could try your hand as one of the interesting characters in the scenarios

 

[Matthias_Wlkp]

Ok, so I tried again as Hightowers immediately after Aegon's conquest and it's going better.

I'm trying to take over Lordships and High Lordships to give them away to my kinsmen in hope, that they will at some point help me to take over the Reach. So far I succeded (probably?) 3 times:
- One count-level vassal tried to scheme against me, so I arrested him. He demanded trial by combat with his son-in-law as champion. The Gods were on my side and the champion died. I sent the vassal to the Wall. The county was taken over by his childless daughter, which accepted regular betrothal to one of my kin.
- My heir's wife had a weak claim for Arbor. At some point, high lord of Arbor got imprisoned and I succesfully pressed the claim. I expect my grandson to inherit both
- I managed to invite one of the Tarlys with strong claims to their High Lordship - the guy was young, married and had with two daughters. At some point I arrested one of my vassals and he demanded trial by combad as well, with a very strong champion (tournament winner). I chose the Tarly claimant who - as expected - lost. His daughters inherited the claim, I betrothed one of them to one of my grandsons and pressed the claim. One more for the Hightowers .

Does this make any sense? I would normally try to figure this out myself, but I don't have more that a couple of hours per week for CK2...

 

[Nothrazim]

Yes, seems to be working ordinarily. Off the top of my head, i am not sure how that kind of scheming would work with the Lord Paramount titles, and especially not with trying to fuddle into a claim on the throne itself, but mostly it works as ordinary. I do think that demesne limit is a little bit lower than vanilla, though it should be noted that typically all rulers only hold 1-2 titles in this game, especially on later starts.
To note when you send someone to the wall, is that you essentially just force the title onto the next-in-line, even bastards being eligible if neccessary if i recall correctly. You never get their title; maybe if they have absolutely no possible heirs i guess.

 

[Matthias_Wlkp]

Unfortunately, the outcomes of my scheming did not go as planned... None of the betrothals worked - they were rejected when asked to marry. However the Arbor claim worked and my ruler's son will inherit both Oldtown and Arbor. Some of the Turly girls somehow got claims for the whole Reach, but looking at the strength of the Tyrells, I don't see how I will be able to press these claims... For the moment I'm discouraged from playing on, as it is far different from vanilla and I don't have that much time to figure out how to enjoy this mod...

I also tried playing as Littlefinger, and just for fun, I was trying to make everyone love me and put me on the throne. I immediately betrothed Daenerys Targeryen . I was carousing all the time to make the Lord Paramount Arryn love me to give me high lordship of that area and in the mean time scheming to make one of the neighboring lordships to be inherited by the ruler (and maybe being given it later). At some point, Lord Arryn died, and I discovered that I'm the Regent, as the Lord Paramount is underage. WOW! That's nice. What's more, the former queen is my lover and happily joined my court... OK... So, just for fun, I strarted murdering all subsequent kings (with 35 intrigue it was no that difficult, with 1-2 accomplices I got over 200% strength). After killing 5-6 subsequent rulers (only one was of age), I noticed it's not going anywhere and gave up.

Maybe I'll try some other time.