No matter what you do in Crusader Kings 3, you’re going to need money to do it. Raising and supplying armies, fabricating claims, entertaining your court, or ransoming your heir, they are all going to cost you. Consequently, gold coin is an extremely valuable resource. So, how do we get more of it — and fast?
Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can earn more money in Crusader Kings 3. You’ll discover more as you play, but here are some foolproof methods to start rolling in coin sooner rather than later.
Collecting Taxes
As your realm grows in Crusader Kings 3, you’ll start to accumulate more taxes. Pressing the “F2” key or clicking the green crown near the top right of the screen will pull up your Realm menu, which gives you lots of information on how your domain makes money.
On the Domain tab of this menu, you can see how much each holding you control brings in in taxes.
On the Vassals tab, you can control how much you tax each of your vassals (provided you have any). Differences in religion, culture, and traits will also affect how much money comes in.
The Stewardship Skill
One of the main attributes that changes how much tax money you bring in is your Stewardship skill. Both your character’s stewardship rating and the rating of your Steward, a member of your small council, will change this amount.
Your Steward also has an action you can select from the Councilor menu called Collect Taxes that will increase the amount of taxes you collect by a certain percentage.
If your spouse has an especially adept Stewardship skill, you can have them help your Steward as well, increasing gains and potentially acquiring windfalls or boons, such as having extra money at the end of any given year.
Religious Holdings
Religious holdings operate a little differently, as they will only pay you taxes if your Religious Head (Realm Priest, Court Chaplain, etc.) has a positive opinion of you.
Look at your council and check the person in the top right. If their opinion of you is less than zero, you should probably start a Sway Scheme or find some other way to increase their opinion. Otherwise, you won’t make as much money as you should.
Government Type
Finally, taxes change depending on your government type. If you are a vassal, you will have a contract with your liege about how much you must pay them, and this can change due to a variety of factors.
If you are a Tribal government, the taxes vassals pay are based on the prestige of their liege. In a Clan government, it depends on how high a vassal’s opinion is of their liege.
Going to War
Going to war is expensive, but it can also raise a ton of money if you’re on the right side of it.
Besieging holdings and winning battles will give you coin and raise your prestige. Joining your liege’s wars and contributing to their war score will usually earn you a share of the profits.
Holy Wars and Crusades can earn you a ton of money if you perform well in them. Finally, taking VIP prisoners, like members of the royal family, and ransoming them back after the war is over can raise a lot of money.
How to Raid
One way to make some quick money is by raising your military levies as Raiders. To do this, open the military menu by pressing “F3” or clicking the red shield button on the right side of the screen.
Near the top of your military screen will be a button to Raise All As Raiders. If you meet the requirements to do so, you will be able to send your soldiers to nearby territories to lay siege to them, even if you aren’t at war. Complete the siege and return them home to disband, and they’ll have plenty of loot for you.
Make Improvements for Long Term Income
Improving the baronies, counties, duchies, kingdoms, and empires you control will cost a fair share of money, but it will start snowballing to further improve your dynasty down the line.
Building new holdings in territories you control will greatly increase your monthly income, and building or upgrading improvements is an essential tactic for succeeding in the later stages of Crusader Kings 3.
How to Construct a New Holding
Click on an empty territory you control, and an info panel will pop up for it. At the bottom of this panel, you will see a button that says “Construct New Holding.”
These are extremely expensive upgrades, but they will further improve your territories and give you a new title to play with.
you can choose to construct a castle (bailey) or a new town. Some improvements and upgrades overlap with baileys and towns, but each has unique improvements and upgrades worth exploring — some that provide more taxes.
Improving Holdings
If you click a territory that already has a holding (your main territory, for example, will always have one), you will see a ‘+’ icon near the bottom of the panel. That means there is space for an improvement, such as a farm or a war camp.
Click the symbol and a menu will appear showing the different improvements and their effects. Most increase your income, your levy size, or both. You can also upgrade existing improvements if your culture’s technology level is high enough or if you know a specific innovation.
Generally, you’ll want to spend money building up the territories that you and your heirs will always control. If you spend money building up the outskirts and newly conquered areas of your realm, they are just as likely to reap benefits for someone else down the line.
There are lots of other ways you can make money in Crusader Kings 3, too. Getting married, for example, usually gives you the option to collect money to help pay for the celebrations, and lots of random events can give you a chance to make some extra coin. If you need some more help with Crusader Kings 3, be sure to check out our growing hub for all sorts of tips and guides!
