Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Kingdom Management Tips & Tricks

In this video I will attempt to share some knowledge and tips with you about the kingdom management aspect of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Hope this helps!

[@Perfidion]

Pro Tip: When you're first made Baron, make a hard save in the throne room BEFORE you do anything, and guard that save like it's your first-born child. That way you can start from scratch if you fuck everything up. (And you're probably going to fuck everything up the first time.) Then remember to make hard saves whenever you're faced with some potentially kingdom destroying catastrophe. You can usually dig yourself out of a hole as long as you don't dig that hole too deep. Owlcat really dropped the ball on this kingdom management thing. You're flying blind for the most part, and it's quite complicated in places. If they'd given you more information right out of the gate, it'd be a lot less frustrating. I mean, yeah, you can automate stuff if you really don't want to deal with running the kingdom, but you end up missing out on a lot of what makes the game special. If you want to figure out how one system relates to another system, you basically have to Google it or run the risk of borking your play-through by mismanaging stuff. I love Kingmaker, but getting a handle on kingdom management when you're a total greenhorn is a pain in the ass, and a lot of people probably noped out on finishing the game because of it.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Hey Wen! 10 months late on the reply, sorry bout that! :P But yeah, I pretty much agree with everything you're saying here. Well said! Unfortunately this aspect did turn a lot of people off mainly due (imo) to lack of tutorialization and explaning the mechanics. But if you do manage to not bork your playthrough (happened to me on my first run, well into The Bloom chapter, lost *all* that progress...), then you can have a REALLY fun adventure that includes the kingdom sim stuff too. Anyway, sorry again for the late reply but thank you for the well worded response and for watching the vid. Cheers! :)

[@MatthewBrown-yu1hs]

I consider borking up my first barony as good roleplaying, as I have no idea what I'm doing!! :)

[@VexenDmitri]

Yeah I bought this game for its tabletop roleplay and combat experience, not to to play Civilization so the kingdom management feature is a major gripe for me.

[@gmfreeman4211]

@@VexenDmitri It can be automated in the difficulty settings.

[@PolPot-ef1qq]

Definitely save scumming my way through kingdom management, ty.

[@tweehoek1]

Was a bit scared by all the stuff i could do so i went to look up a guide and ended here. You did a good job explaining what i was looking for! Thank you for the effort you put in the vid and have a great day!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Why thank you kindly, Tweehoek! Sorry about the late response but I appreciate the kindness and nice vibes u sent me, even 2 years later. Cheers! :)

[@TyrellzArt]

5 years later this videos still doin gods work lmao, thanks man!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Lol my pleasure TyrellzArt!! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@faithcontending16]

I totally botched up my kingdom first time around. And I loved it. I mean, you're an adventurer who's being thrown into a role that would be overwhelming in reality. I see people complaining about Kingdom management and getting swamped with events but I think that's part of the charm. Just like real life sometimes we have a lot going on and we have to really think about what our priorities are, choose to let some situations play out and hope for the best. And sometimes we make the wrong decision. We learn as we go. I have heard it said that you need to Google things to understand but I found that I could learn most of what I needed through careful attention to the dialogue. No, the game does not give you the best tutorial. But it also doesn't leave you completely blind.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Nice post Faith Contending! I agree actually, I learned 95% of kingdom management by either trial and error or just paying attention as much as I could. I enjoyed it too! I like when RPGs add different systems to the gameplay to mix things up a bit. That said I can't wait to try the new system in Wrath Of The Righteous! Just gotta get around to LPing it sometime. Thanks for the comment!

[@faithcontending16]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT agreed. I'm 100+ hours in and still haven't completed the game so WotR will be waiting. This has become one of my new favorites over the past few weeks. I've been playing since BG1&2, and have always enjoyed games in that line such as NWN, IWD, and later PoE. But the kingdom sim is a new level. The closest I think was probably Neverwinter Nights 2 or DA Inquisition when you manage your castle but it was nothing on this level. Thanks for the great video and the time and work you put in. I look forward to future adventures.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Aww thank YOU for the kind words and watching and commenting, faith! It means a lot. :) Onwards to more adventuers then!

[@dgbd9030]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT i was in the SAO wiki of Kayaba Akihiko, apperntly that character which created the game of SAO played wizardry and it influenced the development of the game, so i went to the wizardry wikipidea page and checked what is the newest game, searched its name on youtube and found your lets play (only watched the first episode), then checked the rest of your channel and its an RPG temple, we have a really similler taste in games (have you ever tried divinity original sin?). never stop doing what you love, and NEVER stop improving, its can be something like editing things neatly (like cutting the part where u can the see the recording program starting and other small things like that), and never give up on this channel like i see a lot of smaller creators do, if i found your channel throught this slightly complecated road, others will too, maby it will take for a super popular RPG game to come out and you to play it to get more recognition, but your channel will shine at the end of the day with enough effort. i also see you are uplodaing a lot, try making every upload a little better then the last or more special. u have enormous knowledge about a lot of rpg games, making toturials will get you some viewers and even subs, and it will be a good way to practice scripts and editing.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

@@dgbd9030 Thank you so much for the kind words!! I plan on keeping at this for awhile at least, still greatly enjoying sharing these RPGs with all of you!! :) Cheers and thanks again for the kindness!

[@Elliott1518]

Great video, lots of lessons learned the hard way. For such a great game the developers sure missed some marks.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Thanks David! Glad it helped. They did miss some tutorials in the kingdom management for sure.

[@yannosx]

Good tips. Matches my experience with it. Wish I knew all of this beforehand because my advisors lagged behind for a long time. Saving events until the end of the month and ranking up in the beginning is really key.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Yep, it took me a long time to figure it out but once you do it's really a breeze. Can't let your advisors lag behind and dealing with events just as they pop up as necessary. I was able to mostly adventure and the kingdom management didn't get in my way one bit, it was really quite enjoyable. Thanks for watching! :)

[@elwinkline6387]

People make out Kingdom Management for this game to be so awful and overwhelmingly confusing. It's actually quite fun and easy to understand. I am doing pretty much everything you discussed and glad to know I'm on the right track. I know this is a 5-year old video but I just started my first play-through and absolutely loving it.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Aw, thanks for the kind words and support elwinkline6387!! I appreciate ya bud. :) Glad also you are enjoying Kingmaker and are doing what I did in the video. That really makes my day that you were able to figure it out too, it really *is* quite enjoyable for me too when I played! :)

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

This video made me subscribe. Thank you. Almost 500 hrs in this game, and still am jnsure about Kingdom management. Ranking up, and taking new lands always worries me. For a long time, I was under the impression I had to do events with the proper amount of time remaining. If it had 1 day before failure, I wouldn't even do them, assuming the 7-20 days needed to be done before expiration

[@512TheWolf512]

At least this game solves the problem of gold being useless in RPGs due to items dropping from enemies killed

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Very true!! And that's always a good thing imo. :) Thanks for the watch and comment Wildfire! :)

[@kongchangfan2237]

Thanks for this introduction. I appreciate your relaxed style of explaining ;)

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Why thank YOU Kong Chang Fan for the kind words and for watching and commenting on my little video. Take care! :)

[@haveswordwilltravel]

This video is just what I needed. Thanks!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

My pleasure! Glad it helped u. Thanks for checking it out and for commenting! :)

[@brendanmckenna7613]

Thanks for making the video. I had a worried condition early on in the game, but an event let me clear it up due to a choice I made regarding taxes. I've heard that besides unique events like that, the only way to get your kingdom's condition up is to hold a feast for 1000 bp. Can you verify/validate that?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I believe that's true, but I think you have to be one more underneath than "worried". I could be wrong. But the 1000 BP feast means an instant boost back up one 'level' of happiness, that much is true. Also, it may seem like a large amount but you can buy BP from the seller in the capital after selling magical items you're not going to use. So it works out well that way. Hope that clears it up.

[@pa1nted]

I feel like you know a whole lot but this video is only semi-useful to someone who just got to the kingdom stage. i believe you on what i need to invest in but I still don't really get what is going on. can you do a more simplistic "explain it to me like im a 6 year old" starter guide video for the kingdom aspect of the game? the shorter the video the better, and more to the point and specific on what i should focus on in a "phase 1" kind of way, then maybe another short "phase 2" video on what to do once you get the initial priorities set up and have a ground level understanding. thanks!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Hello Famburgler. Sorry I couldn't get to make the videos you requested back then, I hope you were able to learn the ropes somewhere else perhaps. Anyway, thanks for watching regardless and leaving a comment, appreciate you!

[@robertlombardo8437]

Thanks for the advice. I look forward to making a barony that's a proper mix of a dwarven kingdom and surfacer society. The name of the Bluntaxe Dynasty shall long live within the halls of glory!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Sounds *amazing*, Robert! Thanks for the watch and cool comment! :)

[@dmitriiderugin3910]

Thanks for guide!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

No problem!

[@berlinerjunge]

Very helpful, thanks mate.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

My pleasure, berlinerjunge!! Thanks for stopping by!

[@Valkirth]

really excellent video,thumbs up :)

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Thank you very much, Valkirth! Cheers! :)

[@captainlcm]

"We are at worried, but I am not too worried." --- GAME GOD FLUENT

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

LOL!! I think that summarizes me as a person! Lol. Thanks for the watch and comment Michael! :)

[@jeffreym68]

Thanks so much! I have a question. I have no treasurer. None of my potential advisors show as options to fill the slot. Did I miss an encounter or activity that would have given me the treasurer advisor?

[@infinitechoices1641]

During the troll trouble chapter you wil find a gnome whom you can help. He can be your first treasurer if you please him.

[@jeffreym68]

@@infinitechoices1641 Thank you!

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Thank you for watching and commenting, all! :)

[@floridamancode_e2673]

Is there a way to lower your state of unrest? Bring it back from worried to serene?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

There is! You probably know this by now but there's a "Throw Feast" or something options which serves as a sort of 'emergency Reduce Unrest' action.

[@Dan-uf2vh]

researching curses is extremely ineffective use of time - do it in the later stages, you'll have the time if you start around chapter 4, even 5; as to why you should, it's up to you to figure that out but it won't break your game either (it affects a possible ending for which you must succeed with a lot of other stuff, including NOT having an active romance by the time of entering a certain end game portal)

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Interesting, Dan, thanks for that! I never did get that far, but I think I have my save files still to return to *someday*. Cheers for the watch and comment, friend!

[@1helluvaguy738]

Kingdom management in this game absolutely killed this game for me. The only way to upgrade your barony is to expand. But if all you’ve got is one puny village you should build up that power base first before striking out into new conquests. And I’ve read that setting it on AUTO you can still lose the game?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I don't think you can lose on Auto but I'm not entirely sure. Sorry to hear it was bothersome for you though, it was for many others as well. I think it needed much more tutorialization for one!

[@chestikov2011]

I was going to ask, i have just been crowned and have the oppurtunity to claim Glenborn etc etc. I have the offer to build Aldori sword schools, although it looks good i am not sure if stationing Aldori troops in my settlements is a wise move is it wise or an error ?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

See, that's the thing with this game, you really *don't* know and it's not all made clear by the game! Do you remember what you ended up doing?

[@chestikov2011]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT I remember not making decisions and just plodding on. I think it was near the end in that 'house' where you pass through the various rooms using the lamp. A mirror puzzle etc. I was so bored with buff, buff , buff FIGHT, I ended up sacking the game lol

[@eugenecoleman8525]

Even though this is my first play through and I'm still early on (3 regions), I feel like I'm doing ok and picked it up well enough. The biggest thing I'm having a problem with is BP, even spending my excess gold on it. It seems like to get more bp with trade and stuff I need BP to begin with lol, and that's mainly going towards buildings

[@eugenecoleman8525]

I think the other biggest thing I struggle with is what buildings I should be going for. The basic layout I think is easy enough, build this next to that, but after about 6 or so buildings I start struggling on what to build

[@Overlord0011]

I have something that I haven’t been able to find a definitive answer for yet. If you have a companion as an advisor, can you still take that companion with you and still get whatever assignment you assign them to done?

[@lordsathariel4384]

yes they will complete the assignment even if their in your party traveling with you

[@christianwhite8877]

I have a question is it Worth it to make the trolls become your vassal? I haven't started playing the game yet but I'm unsure if it's a good idea

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I'm actually not sure, Christian. Maybe since it's been 3 years since this comment you can tell us? Lol!

[@christianwhite8877]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT from looking into it what you get is trolls as part of your army at the cost of the best person for the minister (spy) position and either being unable to build in or visit the trolls land (I forget which of the 2 it is) In either case I'd say It's most likely not worth it (though it is worth noting (if I recall correctly) they do keep there word and become civilized while not eating humanoid races or killing without being given orders to do so)

[@maltimoto]

Is it actually possible to visit and walk around my city with my companions? Or is the Kingdom Management just a map?

[@faktorijele]

Yes, but is not that interesting

[@PolPot-ef1qq]

Thank you.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

You're very welcome!

[@RyanFGNM]

The thing I've learned is save scumming is your friend lol.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Always seems to help in the more difficult RPGs, doesn't it! lol! Thanks for the watch and comment Ryan!

[@doughbroNZ]

So, basically just engage as much as possible with the system?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

You got it! Although even then it could be very tricky due to lack of tutorials and explaining mechanics. I'm a year late but thank you for the watch and comment V GP!

[@Tsuburo01]

I love games with administration ......but this one is making me mad

[@mboy09]

Just out of curiosity, do you have some examples of other RPG games with an administrative side? Been looking for something like that for a while.

[@Soma874]

@@mboy09 'Pillars of eternity' has a small amount of management. Good game as well.

[@tomkotura3172]

Crusaders kings 3

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Thanks for the comments guys! Hmm, management in RPGs. I play so many RPGs that it's hard to remember a specific feature in each one unless I am currently thinking about or refreshed about that game. Sorry! (and sorry that I'm 3 years late on the response! Lol...)

[@juanpablocortestique2686]

How did you manage to get so many advisors? I have only like 5

[@christianwhite8877]

You rankup your kingdom stats to at least 3 each then you should have them all unlocked

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Good tip, Christian, thanks! Also, you need to find some characters "in the wilds" as well (I think, it's been awhile.)

[@Dan-uf2vh]

start by building in your capital ? NO! you should avoid spending build points early and focus on using your advisors and ranking; problems and later opportunities are they way to get points and you should only build special artisan buildings and teleporters / mage towers once you can; kingdom management starts to bloom only after acts 4/5

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Great tips again, Dan, thanks for leaving them!

[@carstenhansen5757]

How do you settle a city after you claimed an area?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Hi Carsten! Sorry about this but I don't actually remember! Haven't played in a few years, this one. Thanks for watching and commenting though! Hope u find out your answer soon. :)

[@carstenhansen5757]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT I found out. But thanks anyway. :)

[@FhargaZ]

I expanse my kibgdom too fast, and the advisors are pretty low, i will need to keep upgrading them.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

That is indeed a major key to keeping up with the chaos of kingdom simulation. Thanks for the cool comment and watch, FhargaZ!

[@tjproctor9067]

How do you get new territory to build another village

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Sorry TJ, it's been so long that I forgot!! LOL! Thanks for the comment tho! :)

[@davidschweitzer4369]

Projects or events? which are done first?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Well generally speaking I'd say projects. You want to do them early in the month and leave events for later in the month. But you have to be careful too, if you focus on too many projects events could pile up and cause trouble. Just make sure you're keeping up on the events and also leveling up your advisors (buildings give them more stats) so your advisors can handle the events as they get harder. Hope that helps!

[@davidschweitzer4369]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT Great help Thank You.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

@@davidschweitzer4369 you're welcome!

[@trueduke2515]

good job, i hope i don 't have a game over.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Thank you True Duke! A game over is definitely possible, I can't say it's not because this aspect of the game is under-explained and difficult at times to parse. Anyway, I also hope you didn't get a game over! Feel free to let me know how the playthrough went if you'd like. Cheers!

[@jokerbatman101]

how do you unlock it XD 200 h in this game and still nothing lol

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

The hundreds of hours just fly by in this one, lol!

[@sharksholdings5635]

how to open relations i dont get it i got only 5 advisers how to open all the positions

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

as the game goes on and u find more characters, the other advisor positions open. hope this helps! :)

[@colecook834]

How do you unlock the arcanist position.

[@christianwhite8877]

Rankup religion until it's rank 3 then you have it unlocked

[@colecook834]

@@christianwhite8877 thank you. I struggled with the city building

[@christianwhite8877]

Your welcome a few year's ago I watched a few playthrough's (but not all of them) so I know a good amount of things about it but I've forgotten some things like who are good people to be advisers and what position they should have as an adviser a few things like that but today I started my first playthrough

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Hello Christian! How did your first playthrough go after all? Curious about that. Thanks to both of you for watching and commenting on this kooky little video of mine! :)

[@RobertNugent]

Thanks for the info. Must say, I'm pretty triggered by the region border running along the bottom side of the lake. That makes no sense. "We control the whole lake, but not the beach on the bottom side." A real cartographer worth her weight would draw that border along the center of the lake. I.e.: a straight line from the bottom river inlet to the 'T' in Tuskwater then a straight line to the 'a' and then a straight line to the inlet of the Eastern river. Either that, or just erase the part along the beach. That works too.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Lol, hey, we all have our pet peeves right? And you are welcome for the info, my pleasure! Thanks for watching and commenting

[@pkeiths1594]

funny for me i loved t he game as much as baldergate... then the kingdom management started and good god its F***ing awful and now i hate it lol

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I enjoy it as much as Baldur's Gate but I actually like the kingdom management, lol. I like that it breaks up the typical adventuring with something different. Just takes time to learn though, keep at it!

[@lionfan96]

remember you can always go to the difficulty and have it automated.

[@ivangajtovich4655]

i really liked this game..but this stupid menagment made me to deinstall two times...why spoil such a good game with this confusion?

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I hear you, Ivan! LOTS of people agree with you, too. I personally also really liked the game.

[@Dan-uf2vh]

Worried --- Hope Will Prevail 😆 oh the irony

[@jakubjurcsik9143]

this was the worst management feature i have ever played... no explanation of anything... UI is super bad... billion loading screens (thank god i have SSD)... 12 button... 9 of them do nothing... most of the time you do something you dont even understand what outcome it would have if you fail.... you are unable to guess what should be your priorities and many time you come to an event that you alone would resolve pretty easily but you gotta use some under ranked advisor because the game wants you to... this "feature" almost made me uninstall the game... its horrible, boring, confusing and it has no possitive outcome... so there is rly no reason to do it in the first place... and at the end it could edn your 60+ hours playthrough because you were not able to manage this mess... rly stupid concept

[@humdrumfeast]

Jakub Jurcsik uh. You can turn it off if you’re an incompetent ruler.

[@humdrumfeast]

Milan Keprt just be smart and plan what you’re doing. The butthurt fan wrote the paragraph about how he can’t play because he refuses to learn. There’s a video here explaining how to work the system, and all he’s doing is bitching about his failures. That’s called focusing on the problem. And then better yet, he could even turn off the feature he hates so much and just play. No, the system isn’t perfect. No game is. Learn to play within the rules and limitations or accept that you suck and don’t want to get better.

[@shimgoody]

@@humdrumfeast he sucks but the feature also sucks and he is talking about the feature sucking. Which it does.

[@egoalter1276]

You cant plan, 4head. The game tells you fucking nothing. You can try and bumble by on intuition but it feels more like luck than a result of good planning. Also, randomized success chance on the kingdom events is an ungodly idiotic idea. It should have simply been a hard skill requirement for presed degrees of success or faliour. As it stands it plays like a final fantasy battle system, where a turn takes 2 hours of playtime, and there are no mechanics more complex than a skillcheck of a single atrribute. Imagine it this way. If the whole game was just the kingdom management, and its turnover rate was maybe a minute to a month at most, how good of a kingdom management game (or dare I say 4x?) that would have made for? Its a shame really, because the foundation is there, but the interaction of it all with the world was a bit botched.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Well, not saying I agree or share your guys' opinions on this, but thank you nonetheless for the comments!

[@ThunderKat]

D20 D15 +15... How hard is to put a %sucess chance on the right base on your choice and end of the story... We ain't gonna get smarter by repeating simple math equations in our brains you know, this D&D rules need to evolve and adjust to our times.

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

I'm actually gonna have to disagree on this one, I love those Dx dice rolling, nerdy tabletop RPG goodies! Lol! That said, I *definitely* do hear where you and other folks are coming from on stuff like this. Maybe modern RPGs need both options and we can select which type we want, or something like that.

[@The1PureEvil]

Dude what's with you ? Why you sound so depressing ?? This is a game tutorial i swear i'm not trolling or trying to be funny i got bored while watching you talk for two minutes without a slight of a good tip while you're speaking so slow as if you're trying to bored someone on purpose?? I swear to god now it's 2:40 and there is not one helpful thing I've received and i just started this game

[@Draven.G]

I legit got a laugh after reading this comment

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Sorry, Pure Evil, I'll do better next time! :D Cheers for the comments!

[@kanavkohli794]

just reached the place where it asks to make buildings for the first time, i am completely lost on what to build, another useless guide

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Sorry I couldn't help you better, Kanav! Hopefully you were able to glean the information from another source.

[@user-uc6kc8hn5s]

dont bother waste of time

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Why do you say that?

[@zizhaoxia6740]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT he can't be bothered with doing some basic management

[@nayrtnartsipacify]

arnold barnacle

[@GAMEGODFLUENT]

Yeah? Awesome! :P Thanks for the comment Nayr!

[@nayrtnartsipacify]

@@GAMEGODFLUENT no