The King’s Campaign – Diplomacy and Vassals Guide

This guide covers the Diplomacy system in The King’s Campaign, describing how it affects nations, what things affect diplomacy, and the actions you can take, with some additional information about vassals and how to interact with them.

Diplomatic Relations

The diplomacy system in The King’s Campaign centers around Diplomatic Relations.
All nations have Diplomatic Relations with each other nation.

In the Diplomacy window, accessed by the Chancellor adviser on the world map, your diplomatic relations are shown as a value ranging from -100 naar 100 above the nation’s portrait at the bottom of the Diplomacy window, with additional information shown for the currently selected nation in the main window.

Nations will declare war if diplomatic relations become too negative.

Nations will declare peace once diplomatic relations become positive.

The nation portraits in the diplomacy window show an icon if you are at war (crossed swords) or at peace. You can also see these icons on cities and armies on the world map, so you can tell at a glance who you are at war with.

Diplomatic relations can be affected by diplomatic actions you take or by who you attack or who attacks you – not just the nation you interact with, but other nations too based on their alliances.

Diplomatic Actions with other Nations

There are a number of diplomatic actions you can take with other nations, such as declaring war or suing for peace, and forging alliances of different types. These actions are found in the Diplomacy window, accessed by clicking on the Chancellor adviser on the world map, and then by clicking on the portrait of the nation you wish to interact with.

War

You can declare war upon any nation; Echter, it will affect your relations with other nations depending on their alliances.
Your vassal lords will begin attacking the cities of the nation with which you are at war.
The lords of the nation you have declared war upon will begin attacking your nation’s cities.

Vrede

You can sue for peace at a cost, putting an end to hostilities, and it may affect your relations with other nations depending on their alliances.
Your vassal lords will stop attacking the cities of the nation with which you are now at peace.
The lords of the nation you are at peace with will stop attacking your nation’s cities.

White Peace

You can call for a ceasefire, putting an end to hostilities, but it may affect your standing with your own lords.
Your vassal lords will stop attacking the cities of the nation with which you are now at peace.
The lords of the nation you are at peace with will stop attacking your nation’s cities.

Military Alliance

There are a number of benefits to forming a Military Alliance with another nation:

• Their armies may respond to a Call-to-Arms attack flags.
• It allows your army to train units at their city.
• You can add their nearby army as an ally for attack and defense battles.

Defensive Alliance

There are a number of benefits to forming a Defensive Alliance with another nation:

• Their armies may respond to Call-to-Arms defense flags.
• It allows your army to heal units at their city.
• You can add their nearby army as an ally for defense battles.

Trade Alliance

Your nations open up trade between your cities, and you will get extra trade income based on how many cities there are in that nation.

Diplomatic Actions with other Nations’ Lords

Sometimes you may not want to directly declare war or peace due to negative ramifications with other nations, so you might want to nudge a nation towards war or peace by influencing some of their lords.

The actions available to you with other nations’ lords are Send Gift, Hostile Intrigue, and Gift Territory.

Send Gift

Send a gift of silver in an attempt to improve diplomatic relations.
This may be useful if you want to push the nation closer towards suing for peace without suing for peace yourself.

Hostile Intrigue

Use silver to spread gossip and misinformation in an attempt to sabotage diplomatic relations.
This may be useful if you want to push the nation closer towards declaring war without declaring war yourself.

Gift Territory

Gift one of your towns or hamlets to another Lord.
This may be useful when an ally has lost a city and you recapture it. You could give it back to them to improve relations and help maintain a buffer between you and more hostile nations.

Diplomatic Actions with your Vassals

There are a number of actions you can take with your vassals in the Diplomacy window that focus on gifting or demanding silver or towns.

Send Gift

Send a gift of silver.
This can improve your vassals’ view of you.

Gift Territory

Gift one of your towns or hamlets to another Lord.
Giving one of your towns to a vassal will increase the chances of them creating armies and can provide a buffer between you and your enemies.

Demand Silver

The chosen lord will give you silver from their treasury, reducing standing with all lords.
If your treasury is running low, you could demand one of your vassals to give you silver, but it could sour their view of you.

Demand Town

Select a town that the lord will give to you, reducing standing with all lords.
If you need a particular town or are running out of cities, then you could demand one of your vassals to give you one of their towns, but it could sour their view of you.

Vassal Stances

There are three stances you can set for your vassals that dictate their behavior: Passive, Serve, and Free.

You can access them by clicking on one of your lords in the Diplomacy window, which is opened by clicking the Chancellor adviser on the world map.

Passive

This lord will not produce any armies and instead focus solely on developing their cities.
This is useful if you don’t want your vassals attacking so that you may do the attacking yourself.

Serve

This lord will produce armies at their cities and await your call to arms.
This is useful if you want to direct where your vassals send their armies.

Free

This lord is free to do whatever they choose.
This is useful if you don’t want to manage where your vassals attack but still want them to try to capture territory.

Oproep tot de wapens

You can direct the armies of your vassals and your allies, to some extent, by placing a Call-to-Arms flag on the world map.

To place a Call-to-Arms flag, double click on an area of the world map where you want the flag. You will then be prompted if you want to Defend or Attack the area. There is a small cost in silver to place the flag.

Defend the Area

Vassals with the Serve stance or nations with whom you have formed a Defensive Alliance may send armies to this flag.
Armies sent to this location will wait in the area until attacked.
This is useful for intercepting attacking armies or having an ally nearby that you can call upon when defending a city.

Attack the Area

Vassals with the Serve stance or nations with whom you have formed a Military Alliance may send armies to this flag.
Armies sent to this location will search for the nearest city they are at war with and attack them.
This is useful for having your vassals or allies capture cities, weakening the city’s defenses so you can attack yourself later, or having an ally nearby that you can call upon when attacking a city.