There's an article on the blog that dives into this subject called Kingdom & Land Management, which you should read for answers to your questions. But to sum up:

Mayors are easiest to attain and can be done so through election.

Noble ranks are much harder to attain, and to do so requires a Casus Belli, of which there are 3 kinds:

• Wealth
• Fame
• Favor

Source: Kingdom & Land Management

Also, if you’re just looking to be an advisor, you need to join a community, work to build it, and be a trusted member. I know there are a few packages of “low birth” that have authority unrelated to what tier they bought.

There are definitely appointed positions you could vie for, like a steward or sheriff or advisor, but in those cases, trust is the required currency. You'll have to earn that.

Step 1: get rich

Step 2: start a religious cult and hire a PR man/woman

Step 3: secure some land and build statues of yourself

Step 4: promote nationalism and shut down any form of democracy while pushing your propaganda campaign

Step 5: sew seeds of doubt and incompetence within the current ruling class Step 6: discredit all that oppose you

Step 7: have a parade to show off all your military weapons including chromed out cars (or bejeweled horses) and weaponry (even if they are fake weapons, just make them look real)

Step 8: take over current king's military through infiltration while getting all independent mercenaries/security to follow you

Step 9: take over all educational facilities (or build your own) while putting your picture up in all buildings.

Step 10: build as much weaponry as you can and pass them out to all that follow you

Step 11: have several emotional yet powerful speeches/rallies. Repeat several points over and over and get a slogan/chant. Get everyone worked up in group think

Step 12: start you takeover through force.

Step 13: rule through fear

There won’t be elections most likely, it’s feudalism.

However, you can climb in several ways.

Getting fame or wealth for example.
A good first step could also be building your own settlement and expanding it to a town, then becoming mayor, and perhaps move your way up from there.

Or marry into power.

Posted By CrownHunter at

So I was wondering how one may go about advancing in politics and going from a commoner to gaining a rank of power within a kingdom. I'm sure some function differently, but to be honest I'm having a hard time picturing how to become a duke or duchess or king's advisor without having bought the position unless there are elections or kings/queens plan to rotate people out of their council. Can anyone shed insight on this? Sorry if it's a frequent question but there are so many posts I can't sift through them all to find a post about it. Thanks in advance for your help!

The game is planned to last for years. Power shifts will happen. Power shifts may happen slowly and go to those who work out and implement careful, long term plans.

Posted By Hieronymus at 04:13 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Noble ranks are much harder to attain, and to do so requires a Casus Belli, of which there are 3 kinds:

• Wealth
• Fame
• Favor

Worth noting that even if you can acquire a CB for each of these individually, you will likely need a combination of all three to successfully claim the title in the ensuing coup (fame might be important with the NPC's, favor to gain allies, and wealth to support an army).

Posted By zimmah at 07:47 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

There won’t be elections most likely, it’s feudalism.

From what I understand mayors will be elected, but it won't be democratic. Voting power there will essentially be related to the number of plots of land you own. Thus someone who owns at least 51% of the land will hold absolute decisive rights in a settlement and can elect themselves a mayor unopposed.

Posted By Beathan at 02:07 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By CrownHunter at

So I was wondering how one may go about advancing in politics and going from a commoner to gaining a rank of power within a kingdom. I'm sure some function differently, but to be honest I'm having a hard time picturing how to become a duke or duchess or king's advisor without having bought the position unless there are elections or kings/queens plan to rotate people out of their council. Can anyone shed insight on this? Sorry if it's a frequent question but there are so many posts I can't sift through them all to find a post about it. Thanks in advance for your help!

The game is planned to last for years. Power shifts will happen. Power shifts may happen slowly and go to those who work out and implement careful, long term plans.

Seeing how his very first post is about “how do I gain power/status” without first doing his own research I doubt he has the patience and capabilities, but I’d like him to prove me wrong if I am.

Posted By Boogie_Knight at 4:23 PM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Honestly, you could just kill everyone. Or pay to have everyone killed if you're not much of a "do-er".

This just makes you a criminal though, and neither does it replace anyone in power. If you kill them enough to permanently kill them they will still reclaim their title through their heir. And if you manage to perma kill the entire family line then the higher nobility will be the ones to appoint someone suitable to take their place. Only way to rise in the ranks legitimately is through a Casus Belli.

Crownhunter,

How can a penniless commoner rise from the gutter to the throne?

I see two paths. First, generate enough capital to outfit and crew a ship and become an explorer. Try to find a primitive, undeveloped, or uninhabited region (and I don’t know that there are any) and carve out a new kingdom.

Or

Become an active citizen in a city, with a parcel of land you own. Then engage in active local politics, while buying more parcels, with the goal of becoming mayor. As mayor, enhance the wealth and power of your city, while also increasing tensions with the count to gain a cause for conflict with them (while, if possible, ingratiating yourself with your duke). When you have the resources to succeed, claim the county. Rinse and repeat for the duchy and kingdom levels. This will be a very, very hard, multigenerational task.

Posted By ShadowTani at 09:51 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By Boogie_Knight at 4:23 PM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Honestly, you could just kill everyone. Or pay to have everyone killed if you're not much of a "do-er".

This just makes you a criminal though, and neither does it remove anyone from power. If you kill them enough to permanently kill them they will still reclaim their title through their heir. And if you manage to perma kill the entire family line then the higher nobility will be the ones to appoint someone suitable to take their place. Only way to rise in the ranks legitimately is through a Casus Belli.

He put it a little bluntly, but I gotta agree with Boogie. Obviously if you are mayor and want to be king, you would have a hell of a time murdering your way in one swoop. But lets say you want to ride a power vacuum up one step in the social hierarchy. Have a renowned group of assassins slaughter an entire family, and while you give your condolences at the funeral graciously accept to fulfill the now vacant position.

Posted By CrownHunter at 10:54 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By zimmah at 10:41 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By Beathan at 02:07 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By CrownHunter at

So I was wondering how one may go about advancing in politics and going from a commoner to gaining a rank of power within a kingdom. I'm sure some function differently, but to be honest I'm having a hard time picturing how to become a duke or duchess or king's advisor without having bought the position unless there are elections or kings/queens plan to rotate people out of their council. Can anyone shed insight on this? Sorry if it's a frequent question but there are so many posts I can't sift through them all to find a post about it. Thanks in advance for your help!

The game is planned to last for years. Power shifts will happen. Power shifts may happen slowly and go to those who work out and implement careful, long term plans.

Seeing how his very first post is about “how do I gain power/status” without first doing his own research I doubt he has the patience and capabilities, but I’d like him to prove me wrong if I am.

Interesting assumptions. I just know a role of power is what most interests me in this game (and almost every game I play for that matter), and why scour the forums for hours searching for posts with answers when I could just ask and get instant feedback? It's more efficiency than impatience.

I've also done decent research on my own already about the other mechanics of the game - I've followed it loosely for about 2 years now. This may be my first post but I'm absolutely not new to many aspects of this game.

Hasty assumptions could be your downfall if that was how quickly you assigned a judgement to me while knowing next to nothing about me. I gladly welcome you to prove me wrong as well! (All in good fun of course.)

Heh, good sport. Good luck in the dance.

Posted By ShadowTani at 11:51 AM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Posted By Boogie_Knight at 4:23 PM - Sat Oct 06 2018

Honestly, you could just kill everyone. Or pay to have everyone killed if you're not much of a "do-er".

This just makes you a criminal though, and neither does it replace anyone in power. If you kill them enough to permanently kill them they will still reclaim their title through their heir. And if you manage to perma kill the entire family line then the higher nobility will be the ones to appoint someone suitable to take their place. Only way to rise in the ranks legitimately is through a Casus Belli.

If you permakill all potential heirs the power vacuum mechanic will kick in, which is tribe-dependent. But either way the murderer will not simply rise to power unless he has a casus belli (or if the power vacuum mechanics work in his favor)