Raid & Trade

Dynamic Trade Routes opens up raiding or trading for all cultures with historically sensible rules.

• 1. Who can Raid & Trade?
  • 1.1. Who can Raid & Trade Across Water?
  • 1.2. Who can Navigate Major Rivers?
• 2. Who is Raidable?
  • 2.1. Getting a Sacking Event
    • 2.1.1. Enslaving the population
  • 2.2. Getting a Mint Raid Event
• 3. Who can Trade?
  • 3.1. Getting a Trade Event
    • 3.1.1. Trade Deals
    • 3.1.2. Trading Posts

CK3 game images used in this article are hyperlinks to navigate through the Crusader Kings III Wiki for appropriate explanations of game concepts.

1. Who can Raid & Trade?

To be able to  toggle the raid & trade button into active mode, a ruler needs to not be at war (hardcoded), and fulfill one of these conditions:

•  Have a Tribal government.
• Have a Republic government.
• Others need to have one of these:
  • Government has the flag Government Can Raid (only Tribal government has it, but mods can add it to any government).
  • Faith has doctrine parameter Faith Can Raid (like the Warmonger Tenet).
  • Dynasty has the Legacy of Piracy dynasty modifier.
  • Culture has the parameter Can Raid at Sea Even if Feudal (like the cultural tradition Practiced Pirates).
  •  Any Independent Ruler, if they have a:
    • Feudal government.
    • Clan government.
    • Theocracy government + Islam religion.
  •  Vassals, depending onGame Rule selected on game start:
    • • Historical (default): only with vasal contractSanctioned War Declaration.
      • Kingdom: vassal King or higher can always raid.
      • Duchy: vassal Duke or higher can always raid.
      • County: vassal Count or higher can always raid.

1.1. Who can Raid & Trade Across Water?

To be able to raid across water, a ruler has to meet one of these conditions:

• Appropriate Culture + Innovation + Tradition (Nordics kept raiding after the Tribal Era: Norwegian, Danish & Swedish in the Baltic; Norse in Britannia).
  1. North Germanic heritage
  2. Coastal Warriors (DLC Northern Lords).
  3. Innovation Longships.
• Legacy of Piracy dynasty modifier (DLC Northern Lords).
• Tradition Practiced Pirates (or any modded culture with the Cultural Parameter “culture_can_raid_at_sea_even_if_feudal”). Tradition made easier to Reform for:
  • Heritage Berber (Barbary Piracy).
  • Heritage Arabic (Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf Piracy). Maghrebi have it on game start.
  • Andalusian (Kretan and Mallorcan piracy).
  • Sindhi (Bawarij).
• Islam Religion plus Both of these conditions:
  1. Tradeport in itsCapital Province (=Realm Capital + Capital Barony)
  2. Capital County (within) one of these titles:
     • Kingdom of Ifriqiya (region dominated piracy in the Mediterranean for centuries). Includes Duchy of Bejaïa.
     •  Duchy of Mallorca (base for naval raids against Iberia, France)
     •  Duchy of Sicily (base for naval raids against Provence, Italy)
     •  Duchy of Krete (quintessential “corsair’s nest”)
     •  County of Soqotra (a haven for pirates).
     •  County of Uwal (Bahrain, a haven for pirates).
     •  Duchy of Sauvira (Muslim Bawarij from Sindh).
     • (Below this line are potential pirate havens, exploited throughout history though not systematically in the MA)
     •  Duchy of Cyprus.
     • Duchy of Aegean Islands.
     •  Duchy of Sardinia.
     •  Duchy of Corsica.
     •  Duchy of Konkana.
     •  Duchy of Chera Nadu (including Maldives)
     •  Duchy of Sinhala.
• Have a Republic government, if one of these conditions are met (should cover overseas trade by Venice, Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, Visby, Hansa…):
  • Tradeport in itsCapital Province (=Realm Capital + Capital Barony).
  • Coastal Realm (any county in the realm is coastal) andCulture has apropriate Innovation/Tradition (one of these):
    • Innovation Longships.
    •   Innovation African Canoes.
    • Tradition Seafarers.
    • Tradition Fishermen.
    • Tradition Maritime Mercantilism.
• Fulfilling All these conditions (adding random AI events and opportunity for player):
  1. Trait Reaver or Viking.
  2. Trait Expert Sailor (2) or higher.
  3. Appropriate Innovation/Tradition (one of these):
     • Innovation Longships.
     • Innovation African Canoes.
     • Coastal Warriors (DLC Northern Lords).
     • Seafarers.
     • Dexterous Fishermen.
     • Maritime Mercantilism.
•   Late Medieval cultural era and Both these conditions are met (representing late, “fluid”, small-scale piracy and slave-raiding):
  • Tradeport in itsCapital Province (=Realm Capital + Capital Barony)
  • Appropriate Innovation/Tradition (one of these):
    • Innovation Longships.
    • Innovation African Canoes.
    • Coastal Warriors (DLC Northern Lords).
    • Seafarers.
    • Dexterous Fishermen.
    • Maritime Mercantilism.

1.2. Who can navigate major rivers?

An army can navigate through major rivers if they have:

• Appropriate Culture Innovation or Tradition.
  1. Innovation Longships (added to Russian culture after Sviatoslav’s reign and his cultural & faith change from Norse Germanic to Russian Orthodox).
  2.  Innovation West African Canoes.
  3. Tradition Seafarers, or any modded culture with the Cultural Parameter “can_travel_along_rivers”.
• Legacy of Piracy dynasty modifier (DLC Northern Lords).

2. Who is Raidable?

For a holding to be raidable, the Raider and/or the Raided County Holder’s Top Liege have to meet these conditions:

• Raider’s  Culture:
  •  Not have the tradition Pacifism.
• Raider’s  Faith:
  • Not have the doctrine parameter Holy Wars Forbidden.
• Raider’s Government:
  • Tribals can raid anyone.
  • Republics can only raid other Republics (to represent the constant wars and raids between competing republics in the Mediterranean).
  • Other Governments must meet one of these conditions:
    • Raidable by Faith (one of these)
      • Raider has an Unreformed faith (disregard for faith hostility).
      • Raided Holder’s Top Liege has a faith considered Hostile or Evil by the Raider’s  Reformed faith.
    • Raidable by Culture in one of these Regions:
      • Raider Can Enslave in Africa by Culture + Raided Holder’s Top Liege’s Capital Province is in West or East Africa Region (frequent raids).
      • Raider Can Enslave in India by Culture + Raided Holder’s Top Liege’s Capital Province is in  India Region (cattle raids).
      • Raider Can Enslave in Britannia by Culture + Raided Holder’s Top Liege’s Capital Province is in Britannia (male warrior bands).

2.1. Getting a sacking Event

To get a chance of Sacking a County, these conditions have to be met:

• Raider ruler is Commanding the raiding army.
• The Raided Barony is the Capital Barony.
• The County has not Modifiers for being Recently Sacked, Recently Enslaved, Dies Robbed or  Dies Counterfeited.

The probability of getting a Sacking Event adds up the following factors:

• Base chance: +20%
• Pillage Legacies: +10%—+20%—+35%—+50%—+70% chance.
• Raider trait Reaver* or Viking: +30%
• Raider is of Specialized Slaver Culture: +25%
  •  Goidelic heritage (Irish certain, Scottish very likely raiders [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Welsh (still active in 1136).
  • Pictish.
  • Cumbrian (Northumbrians still raiding in 1065).
  • Anglo-Saxon.
  • North Germanic heritage (Vikings, but later also under Christianism)
  • Russian (dominate Northern Arch slavery trade).
  • Norman (Norse Tradition – Robert Giscard known for pillaging).
  • Maghrebi (Ifriqiya and West Mediterranean raids).
  •  Alan (Abkhazia known for its slave market).
  • Greek (Byzantium, common enslaver and slave trader).
  • Ethiopian (famous enslavers in the Horn of Africa [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Nubian (common sellers to Egypt [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Somali (common sellers to India [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Bedouin (at least early on [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Mogyer.
  • Butr (dominated slave trade through Sahara [CWHS2 2021]).
  • Mongol (at least in later bookmarks).
  •  Iberian heritage (endemic razzias against each other for centuries).
  • Turkic heritage (from Seljuks to the steppes).
  • Sindhi (Bawarij).
  • Kannada (from MA stone inscriptions, cattle-raids particularly prevalent in Karnataka (?) [Singh 2008]).
  • Tamil (from MA stone inscriptions, cattle-raids particularly prevalent in Tamil Nadu (?) [Singh 2008]).
• Raider has appropriate Culture Tradition: +20%
  • Practiced Pirates (Heritage Berber, Arabic, or culture Sindhi).
  • Konni Raids (Heritage Magyar, South Slavic, Vlach, & West Slavic).
  • Hirds (Heritage North Germanic, West Germanic, & Balto-Finnic)
  • Battlefield Looters (Heritage North Germanic).
• Raider Intrigue x 0.5 (e.g. Intrigue 10 = +5%).
• Raider Prowess x 0.2 (e.g. Prowess 10 = +2%).

*Reaver and Viking traits

Every time a ruler raids a holding as army commander a counter increases, and there is a chance with every raid to receive the Reaver trait:

• Base: +20%;
• Counter>10: +10%
• Counter>40: +20%
• Counter>50: +30%

Once the Reaver trait is received, the same process applies to receive the Viking trait.

2.1.1. Enslaving the population

The absolute Maximum Enslaveable Population for an army is equal to the Raider’s army size (e.g. if you have 4000 soldiers, you can enslave max. 4000 peasants).

The number of slaves taken will translate into -150% loss in  development-equivalent (e.g. enslaving 4000 peasants means killing an extra 2000 unusable/rowdy peasants in the fray, so a  development-equivalent loss of 6000 population).

Once a population is enslaved, your enslaver army (marked with ) must arrive to your realm for the slaves to be delivered, like any other loot.

2.1.1.a. Bringing Serfs to your Capital

The number of slaves taken will translate into 50%  development-equivalent gain for the Raider’s Capital County, due to a much less efficient workforce (e.g. enslaving 4000 peasants means contributing 2000 population in  development-equivalent gain).

The number of slaves taken will, however, contribute in full to the number of  Recent Serfs that counts towards a potential Slave Revolt malus, which in turn depends on the maximum number of serfs that the Raider’s culture is used to, as well as on the development of the Raider’s Capital County.

2.1.1.b. Selling (female/children) peasants as chattel slaves

The number of slaves (automatically sold on arrival) corresponding to the  Ruler that commanded the army during the raid depends on:

• Base number of slaves:
  • A count will get 1 peasant slave.
  • A duke will get 2 peasant slaves.
  • A king or higher will get 3 peasant slaves.
• Extra slaves if the number of slaves taken is greater than the raiding army size on arrival:
  • 66% chance of getting 1 extra peasant slave.
  • 33% chance of getting 2 extra peasant slave.

Landed Knights that form part of the army (usually AI only, unless using a modded version of the game) will receive:

• Base number of slaves:
  • A duke will get 1 peasant slave.
  • A king or higher will get 2 peasant slaves.
• Extra slaves if the number of slaves taken is greater than the raiding army size on arrival:
  • 50% chance of 0 extra slaves.
  • 50% chance of getting 1extrapeasant slave.

2.1.1.c. Defeating an Army of Slavers

If a Raider’s army which has taken peasants to be sold as slaves is defeated by the Raided Holder or any friendly army (same Realm, or non-Hostile Faith, or cannot enslave/be enslaved by Culture), those peasants will be returned home: the Raided County will change modifiers from Recently Enslaved to Returned Slaves, and its development will increase accordingly (e.g. if 4000 peasants were taken, 4000 development-equivalent will be gained; the development-equivalent lost from the extra 2000 peasants who were killed will not be recovered).

If the army defeating the Raider’s army is not friendly (Hostile Faith, Can Enslave by Culture), then the owner of that hostile army will instantly get those slaves to sell (regardless of the original intention for the enslaved population):

• 45% chance of getting 1peasant slave to sell.
• 36% chance of getting 2 peasant slaves to sell.
• 9% chance of getting 3 peasant slaves to sell.

2.2. Getting a Mint Raid Event

To get a chance of Robbing the Dies of a Mint, these conditions have to be met:

•  Raider ruler is  Commanding the raiding army.
• The Raided Barony has a Mint.
• The Raided Barony is Not theCapital Barony (in that case, the Raider can get the Sacking Event).
• The Raided Holder or any Liege or above have a Coin in circulation.
• The County has not Modifiers for being Recently Sacked, Recently Enslaved,  Dies Robbed or  Dies Counterfeited.

The chance of this event depends on:

• Barony Holder’s Intrigue x 2 (e.g. Intrigue 10 = -20%)
•  Barony Holder’s trait Mintmaster: -50% (the first thing they’ll do is protect the mint)
• Raider’s Stewardship x 2 (e.g. Stewardship 10 = +20%)
• Raider’s Greed x 0.25 (max. range -25% to +25%)
• Raider’s trait  Mintmaster: +50% (the first thing they’ll look for is the mint)

3. Who can Trade?

Raiding armies which cannot Raid a county (see conditions above) will attempt to Trade with the target County Holder or their Top Liege.

For the event to trigger, you need to have the DLC Northern Lords, and these conditions have to be met:

• Raider Government:
  • Tribal government: never.
  • Republic government: always except with other Republics (which are always considered hostile and will be raided).
  • Feudal,  Clan, or  Theocracy governments must meet certain conditions:
    •  Ruler is  Commanding the raiding army.
    • Raider did Not have this event in the past 50 days—representing the need to resupply goods to offer—unless they selected option d in the event (continue looking for trade options).
• The Raider’s army is Not in Combat (sometimes an army will engage directly a local or otherwise hostile army when they enter a foreign realm).
• Raider has Not Banned Strategic Exports (if they don’t share important resources, nobody wants to deal with them).

3.1. Getting a Trade Event

The probability of getting a Trade Event with a County Holder or their Top Liege adds up the following factors:

• Base chance: +10%
• Has  Republic government: +70% (almost certain event)
• Lifestyle Trader trait : +10%—+20%—+30% with increasing rank.
• Has cultural Tradition Maritime Mercantilism: +40%
• Has appropriate cultural Tradition: +25%
  •  Astute Diplomats.
  •  Parochialism.
  •  Republican Legacy.
• Diplomacy Skill x 2 (e.g. a Diplomacy 10 = +20%)
• Stewardship Skill x 0.5 (e.g. a Stewardship 10 = +5%)
• If the Target County is the Holder’s Capital County: +10%
• If the Target County is the Top Liege’sCapital County: +25%
• Raider’s Army Strength compared to County’s Eligible Settlement Value (= County Available Imports x 100):
  • If army strength is lesser: -50% (assumed to have not enough goods to offer).
  • If army strength is 2x or more of the settlement value: +10%
  • If army strength is 3x or more of the settlement value: +25%

Not getting a trade event in a non-raidable county will grant a bilateral Free Pass Truce for 180 days between the Raider and the County Holder’s Top Liege, which will preclude the possibility of triggering a trade event in the Top Liege’s realm for that period.

3.1.1. Trade Deal

Rulers can have only take part in one Trade Deal Truce as Trader (=main trading partner). However, any ruler can be the object of multiple Trade Deal Truces as Tradee (=passive trading partner).

A raider/trader can offer a Trade Deal to the County Holder or to their Top Liege (if they are different).

The chance of the AI ruler accepting a Trade Deal depends on:

• Base chance: +80% (AI ruler will usually prefer this option rather than a damaging Trading Post)
• Opinion of Trader (-100% to +100%)
• Is At War: +50% (ruler cannot afford to have county’s economy damaged by Trading Post)
• Diligent : +20%
• Diplomacy Skill < Trader’s: +25%
• Stewardship Skill < Trader’s: +15%

If a trade deal proposal is not accepted, a Trading Post will be automatically set up by the trader.

A Trade Deal Truce gives the  Trader access to 100% of the Resources of the Tradee, except for Strategic Resources if the Top Liege has Banned Strategic Exports.

Conversely, the same Trade Deal Truce gives the Tradee access to 50% of the Resources of the  Trader, except for Strategic Resources if the Top Liege has Banned Strategic Exports.

3.1.2. Trading Posts

A ruler can set up a Trade Post in a county instead of reaching a trade deal with the holder or their liege.

•  Trading Posts are permanent settlements set up by  Republics, so that their merchants can trade with a county’s resources. A Trading Post will deplete the  Resources of the county by -15%, and they will only disappear when a Republic enters into war, or when the trader dies or loses their primary title.
•  Trading Houses are temporary stations set up by other governments, to trade with the target county’s resources. A Trading House will deplete the Resources of the county by -40%, but they will disappear after 5 years, or when the trader dies.