Income
| King's Purse | 2,500 florins every turn for every faction (+500 for the player on Easy). It's a big share of a small realm's income and matters less as you grow. |
|---|---|
| Settlements | Taxes, trade, farming and mining from each settlement, shown in the finance panel. |
| The AI's advantage | AI factions get an extra 4,000 a turn on Hard and 7,000 on Very Hard. |
Treasury theft above 20,000
At the start of each of your turns, part of a large treasury simply disappears ("stolen by servants"). The charges stack: with 70,000 florins you lose 2,000 + 8,000 + 15,000 = 25,000.
| Treasury above | Lost each turn |
|---|---|
| 20,000 | 2,000 |
| 40,000 | + 8,000 |
| 60,000 | + 15,000 |
| 100,000 | + 30,000 |
| 200,000 | + 100,000 |
Exemptions
Some factions lose a charge for the rest of the game after a historical event:
| Charge removed | For | After the event |
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 | Pisa | Fiorino d'oro (~1242-1262) |
| 20,000 | Venice | Ducato (~1247-1272) |
| 20,000 | Byzantium | Adelphopoiesis (~1241-1252) |
| 20,000 | Catholic factions (not Eastern European) | Bardi and Peruzzi Operations Expand (~1272-1302) |
| 20,000 | All Catholic factions | Kremnica Mint (~1314-1332) |
| 40,000 | Southern European factions | Banco dei Medici (~1392-1412) |
| 40,000 | Northern European factions | Fugger Banking Family (~1412-1432) |
A full treasury also tempts your nobles: governors in settlements can turn Generous, Corrupt or Embezzler while you hold over 30,000 late in the game, or over 60,000 at any time.
Armies without a general
On Hard and Very Hard, an army led by a captain (no general in it) costs money every turn it ends outside a settlement. Put a general in charge, or keep captain-led armies in towns.
| Captain's army ends the turn… | Cost |
|---|---|
| In enemy lands | 2,000 / turn |
| In your own lands | 1,000 / turn |
Army supply (Very Hard)
On Very Hard, the general leading an army pays for supplies whenever it's away from your lands. Generals with logistics or engineering skills pay less. The cost shows up as a trait on the general and a message at the start of your turn, never in the finance panel.
| Situation | Skilled general | Some skill | No skill |
|---|---|---|---|
| In enemy lands | 250 (Logistical Expert) | 500 (Logistical skill, advanced Military Education or a Military Engineer) | 1,000 |
| Besieging | 1,500 (Good Engineer, Siege Engineer, or advanced Military Education) | – | 2,000 |
| At sea | 500 (Logistical skill, or your leader has Maritime Interests) | – | 1,000 |
- Siege costs replace the travel cost; they don't add to it.
- Free in your own lands, on a crusade or jihad, and for every general except the one in command.
- Taking a settlement by assault, or losing a battle, resets the cost.
- Pagan factions (Lithuania, Cumans) pay a flat 250 on the move and 1,500 when besieging.
New leader or heir
When your faction leader dies, the new one pays for the funeral, court offices and gifts; a newly named heir costs a smaller amount. Nothing is charged under 5 settlements. Pagan factions pay less.
| Factions | 5-10 settlements | 11+ settlements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| any difficulty | Easy / Medium | Hard | Very Hard | ||
| Abbasids, Aragon, Byzantium, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Great Seljuks, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Kievan Rus, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Moors, Norway, Novgorod, Pisa, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Sicily, Spain, Sultanate of Rum, Venice, Zengids | New leader | 1,209 | 2,418 | 3,627 | 4,836 |
| New heir | 605 | 1,210 | 1,815 | 2,420 | |
| Cumans, Lithuania | New leader | 603 | 1,206 | 1,809 | 2,412 |
| New heir | 302 | 604 | 906 | 1,208 | |
Moving the capital
Moving your capital costs, by difficulty and number of settlements:
| Your realm | Medium | Hard | Very Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-10 settlements | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 |
| 11-19 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 |
| 20+ | 4,000 | 8,000 | 16,000 |
Free on Easy.
Debt
Start a turn below -500 florins - first warning.
Still below -500 next turn - second warning.
A third turn in debt - every unit marked "Mercenary disband" leaves, including some regular troops of your own faction.
Each turn in debt, your king may lose Authority, generals may become Miserly or disgusted with the king's finances, and armies' campaign morale stops recovering in settlements.
Tips
- Keep a reserve of a few thousand florins. Weddings, adoptions, funerals and events all cost money you can't plan for.
- Don't sit above 20,000 for long unless you're saving for something, like the 20,000 a coronation needs.
- On Hard and up, give every field army a general.
- On Very Hard, check the commanding general's traits before a long campaign or siege.