Schemes

Introducing CK3 #04 - Schemes. One Proud Bavarian walks us through schemes in Crusader Kings 3. Understanding how to engage in cloak and dagger activities is essential to master the game!

Intrigue is one of the two paths to victory used in both the middle ages and the Crusader Kings series. It is the more indirect one, focusing on defeating other characters through subterfuge.

Schemes

Any character can be targeted with a scheme in accordance with the plans of the schemer. Each character can run one hostile scheme and one personal scheme at the same time, but a character cannot be targeted by a hostile scheme and a personal scheme simultaneously. Ongoing schemes can be canceled at any point.

Each scheme has a scheme power and each target of a scheme has a scheme resistance. Both are determined by the skill of the schemer and its target and both their spymasters. Every month a scheme has a chance of progressing one step, with the odds determined by the schemer’s scheme power and the target’s scheme resistance. Once the scheme finishes progressing it is executed with the current success chance, which determines whether the scheme succeeds or fails.

Various events can take place during a scheme.

Hostile schemes

Hostile schemes are executed in secret and have a secrecy value which determines whether the schemer will avoid being discovered when the scheme is executed or not. A high success chance increases the scheme's secrecy.

A character can run a second hostile scheme simultaneously if they have the Twice Schemed perk, or a 9 grandeur intrigue royal court (with royal courts DLC), for up to 3 simultaneous hostile schemes if they have both.

Scheme	Skill used	Agents	Max secrecy	Max success chance	Success effect	Secrecy effect	Requirements
Murder	Intrigue		95%	95%	Target is killed	Character only gains the Murder or Attempted Murder secret	None
Abduct	Intrigue		85%	85%	Target is imprisoned	Character is not accused of the Crime of kidnapping	Kidnapper perk
Fabricate Hook	Intrigue		95%	90%	Gain a Hook on the target	Can execute the Scheme again	Truth is Relative perk or  Vengeful trait against a Rival
Claim Throne	Learning		95%	90%	Gain Pressed Claim on the Liege's Primary Title	Do not lose a large amount of Prestige	Meritocracy perk

Being at war with someone grants -50 Success Chance to Murder schemes and -200 Success Chance to Abduction schemes.

Hostile schemes can have agents - characters who contribute to the scheme. Their skills contribute twice less than those of the schemer but they increase the scheme power based on how close they are to the target. Agents may join a scheme if they stand to gain something or dislike the target. They can also be bribed with  Gold to slightly increase their acceptance and a  Weak Hook will greatly increase it. Characters who are terrified of the scheme target will never become agents except through the use of a  Strong Hook. Agents will grant the following amount of success chance depending on their closeness to the target and their  Intrigue.

Closeness	Success chance
Spymaster	+75
Spouse	+50
Guardian	+50
Best Friend	+50
Friend	+30
Lover	+30
Concubine	+30

Closeness	Success chance
Court Physician	+30
Councilor	+25
Close Family	+20
Powerful Vassal	+15
Extended Family	+15
Nemesis	+15
Any other	+10

A scheming character is protected from discovery while the scheme progresses but its agents are not. If an agent is discovered the target will gain a +5 hostile scheme resistance modifier for 2 years.

Personal schemes

Personal schemes do not use secrecy or agents. A failure prevents the scheme from being used again on the same character and may cause additional penalties.

Scheme	Skill used	Success effect	Failure effect	Requirements
Sway	Diplomacy	95% chance to gain +25 Opinion with the target 5% chance to gain +30 Opinion with the target	2% chance to lose -10 Opinion with the target 2% chance to lose -10 Opinion with the target who gains +1  Intrigue and +8 Hostile Scheme Resistance for 5 years
Learn Language	Learning	Schemer learns the target's language	Can choose to only lose half progress at the cost of 35  Stress If schemer has the  Diplomat trait it can choose to gain +25 Opinion with the target	Target's language is not learned
Seduce	Intrigue	Gain +20 Opinion with the target If characters have opposite gender high chance of pregnancy If both characters have compatible sexuality target becomes a Lover Either character may gain a secret depending on faith doctrines	40% chance to lose -10 Opinion with the target 20% chance to gain the  Adulterer,  Fornicator,  Incestuous or  Sodomite trait if applicable 20% chance to lose -10 Opinion with the target and the  Adulterer,  Fornicator,  Incestuous or  Sodomite trait if applicable	Target's sexuality is compatible
Romance	Diplomacy	Target becomes a Soulmate	If the target does not have a Lover lose -10 Opinion with the target If the target has a Lover can attempt to kill either with 50% discovery chance	Both characters' sexuality is compatible
Befriend	Diplomacy	If the target is a Friend becomes Best Friend If the target is a Rival ends the rivalry If the target is a Faction Leader it disbands the Faction If the target is a member of a Faction it leaves the Faction	Lose -20 Opinion with the target If the target is a rival lose -15 Opinion with every courtier If the target is a Faction Leader gain +20 Faction Discontent If the target is a Spouse it exposes a random secret unless the schemer pays 100  Gold or has a Hook If the target is a Theocracy Vassal their realm capital loses -10  Control If the target is the Direct Liege lose -150  Prestige	Befriend Perk
Elope	Intrigue	Target joins the schemer court and marries them If either character is married it divorces their spouse	50% chance the Lovers secret becomes exposed	Target is Lover or Soulmate Target is unlanded Target is in a different court
Convert to Witchcraft	Learning	If target's faith has the Accepted witchcraft doctrine it gains the  Witch trait If target's faith has the Shunned or Crime witchcraft doctrine it gains the Is a Witch secret If either character has the Witch secret the other character discovers it	If schemer has the Witch secret and both characters are vassals of the same liege the liege discovers the secret	Witch trait or secret

Secrets

Characters acquire secrets when they do something that is a crime or frowned upon. Secrets can be discovered through random events or via the Find Secrets spymaster task. If a secret is discovered, the character who uncovered it has two options. One option is to expose the secret, which will apply negative effects upon the target based on the severity of the secret. The other option is to blackmail the target. If the target agrees to the blackmail, the character will gain a  Weak Hook if the secret is Shunned and a  Strong Hook if the secret is Criminal. If the target refuses, the secret will be exposed. Secrets can be shared with members of the same House if the Dynasty has the 4th Coterie legacy.

Secret	Severity	Description
Attempted to murder	Depends on who was the target	This character has attempted murder.
Murdered	Depends on who was the target	This character is a murderer.
Is a Cannibal	Depends on whether faith has the Ritual Cannibalism tenet	This character consumes human flesh.
Is a Deviant	Depends on the Deviancy crime doctrine	This character has a predilection for socially unacceptable acts.
Is a Sodomite	Depends on the Same-Sex Relations crime doctrine	This character engages in sexual intercourse with other men/women.
Is Incestuous	Depends on the Consanguinity marriage doctrine	This character has sexual relations with close family members.
Is a Non-Believer	Always Shunned	This character believes in a false god, or none at all.
Is a Witch	Depends on the Witchcraft crime doctrine	This character practices witchcraft.
Lover	Depends on the Adultery crime doctrines	This character is someone's illicit lover.
Is almost certainly an illegitimate child	Depends on the Bastardry marriage doctrine	This character's ancestry is in doubt.
Is an illegitimate child out of wedlock	Depends on the Bastardry marriage doctrine	This character is a bastard.

The Is an illegitimate child out of wedlock secret is removed if the real parents eventually join in marriage or concubinage.

Hooks

A hook represents that a character owes you a favor or that you can coerce them in some way. Hooks can be gained in a variety of ways and can be used to force a character to do something beneficial. They come in two varieties:

• A weak hook can only be used once. They cannot be used to force a character to become an agent in a Murder scheme.
• A strong hook can be used multiple times, with a cooldown between uses. It also prevents the character from joining factions, declaring war, imprisoning or demanding religious conversion from the character holding the hook. Having a strong hook over a Realm Priest forces them to pay maximum contribution.

Hook	Strength	Duration	Source	Can be fabricated
Blackmail (Weak)	Weak	10 years or until the secret is exposed	Blackmail character interaction over a secret which is a shunned practice
Favor	Weak	10 years	Random events Ransoming an imprisoned character for a favor Negotiating to release an imprisoned character for a favor Faction members who helped put claimant on the throne receive a hook on new liege Winning a war to gain a title for a character
House Head	Weak	Permanent	House Head over when a child is born
Indebted	Weak	10 years	Random events
Manipulation	Weak	10 years	Random events
Threatened	Weak	10 years	Random events
Blackmail (Strong)	Strong	Until the secret is exposed	Blackmail character interaction over a secret which is a criminal practice
Fabrication	Strong	10 years	Fabricate a Hook scheme
Loyalty	Strong	Permanent	Random events
Threatened Life	Strong	10 years	Fabricate a Hook scheme

Spending hooks

Hooks can be spent (used) in a variety of ways.

• By spending a hook, you can make it much more likely that a character will accept a marriage proposal, join your council, come to your court, join a faction of your choice, or vote for your preferred candidate in elective successions. With a strong hook these interactions may be forced outside of primary heir disadvantageous marriages.
• A liege can use a hook on a vassal to negotiate a feudal contract in their favor without incurring tyranny.
• A vassal can use a hook on their liege to negotiate a feudal contract in their favor at all.
• A vassal who has a hook on his liege can use the Demand Council Position character interaction.
• A vassal with a hook on his liege can declare war on other vassals of their liege, even if their crown authority would normally prohibit this.
• Though it is very difficult to get a hook on your Head of faith, doing so would ensure the head of faith agrees to any one request you might make (such as granting you a divorce or a claim on a title).
• A hook can be used to force the person to join a hostile scheme, such as a murder scheme. Weak hooks provide a moderate acceptance modifier, while strong hooks will force acceptance into the scheme.
• The tier 1 stewardship lifestyle perk "Golden Obligations" allows demanding payment for hooks, assuming the person you have a hook on has the money to pay for it.

References

Mechanics