And when you're not scheming or waging war, you need to build up your personal holdings, pass laws giving you more troops or taxes from your vassals, and maybe swat down some vikings raiding your coasts. And perhaps you need to bribe the most outraged vassals after your part in that 'accident' comes out. A powerful duke who absolutely won't be mollified by anything you do might also meet a tragic end in an 'accident'. But you will also be busy with realm management, like placating your powerful vassals so that they don't start factions to overthrow you, crushing peasant revolts, or dealing with heresies popping up in parts of your kingdom. In that case, you might still try to expand, waging holy wars against heathen neighbors, or perhaps pressing your claim to the neighboring kingdom you inherited from your mother. Or your character is already a powerful ruler. And you can also try to schmooze up to your liege, so that they may appoint you to their council, or even grant you some titles. And if the wife-to-be is low in the line of succession, a few strategic assassinations can work wonders. Or you can marry your heir to a woman in the line of succession to some lands so that your grandchild(ren) inherit those provinces.

Or you can try to kidnap a wealthy noble so you can get a big ransom. Or by scheming to kill a vassal and his family so that you can inherit his holding. You then try to advance your family's fortune, for example by fabricating claims on neighboring counties that you can then try to press in a war. You can pick the lowly count of Cambridge, vassal of the English king, or play as the mighty Byzantine Emperor.

You take the role of a noble dynasty and lead them through plagues, war, and intrigue to power and fortune. Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game set in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia from 867 or 1066 to 1453.

Crusader kings 2 too many held duchies