Clan & Kingdom Management in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Ruling a kingdom is far more complex than leading a warband. You must balance the needs of your vassals, the loyalty of your subjects, and the ever-draining resource of Influence. This guide covers the essentials of keeping your empire from crumbling.

The Kingdom tab is your command center for politics and law.

The Pillars of Ruling

Effective management rests on three pillars, all accessible via the Kingdom Tab (K):

1. Influence: The currency you spend to vote, propose policies, and summon armies.

2. Loyalty: The happiness of your towns. If it drops too low, they will rebel.

3. Security: The safety of your lands from bandits and raids.

For a deep dive on generating political power, see our Influence & Policies guide.

Essential Policies

Before you recruit a single vassal, you should enact policies that stabilize your realm. The AI rarely votes for these, so pass them while you are the only clan in your kingdom (or the dictator).

• Forgiveness of Debts: +2 Loyalty to all settlements. Crucial to prevent rebellions in conquered towns of different cultures.

• Tribunes of the People: +1 Loyalty, but reduces tax income slightly. Worth it.

• Royal Guard: +60 Party Size for the ruler.

• Sacred Majesty: +3 Influence per day for the ruler.

Check our Kingdom Policies & Laws page for a tier list of all policies.

Fief Management & Distribution

When you conquer new land, you must decide who rules it.

Balancing prosperity and loyalty is key to a rich kingdom.

• Culture Matching: Always try to give a fief to a clan of the same culture (e.g., a Battanian town to a Battanian clan). Mismatched culture causes a -3 Loyalty penalty, which is a recipe for disaster.

• Strategic Clustering: Keep your own towns close together. This makes it easier to defend them and patrol for bandits.

• Food Supply: If a town is starving (often after a siege), buy hundreds of Grain from a village and sell it to the town market to replenish stocks instantly.

Learn more in Town Management and Managing Rebellions.

Vassals and Diplomacy

You cannot conquer Calradia alone. You need vassals to patrol, defend, and expand.

Recruiting Clans

You can persuade clan leaders from other kingdoms to defect to you. This requires high Charm and usually a large bribe (300k-1m+ denars).

• Tip: Look for clans with no fiefs; they are much cheaper to recruit.

Promoting Companions

If you are rich in Influence (500) and have a spare fief, you can promote a companion to a noble. They start a new Tier 2 clan. This is great for ensuring you have loyal vassals of the correct culture for your lands.

See Clan Management for details on building your own family and companions.

Crisis Handling

Things will go wrong. Here is how to fix them:

Declaring independence is just the beginning of your struggles.

• Rebellions: If a town rebels, you must besiege it again. Once retaken, appoint a governor of the same culture immediately and activate the "Festival and Games" project.

• Multi-Front Wars: If you are attacked by two kingdoms, check the Diplomacy tab. It is often worth paying 1000-2000 tribute/day to make peace with one so you can focus your entire army on destroying the other.

• Bankruptcy: If you run out of money, your troops desert. Always keep a war chest of at least 500k before starting a kingdom.

For advanced diplomatic moves, read War & Diplomacy Management and Starting Your Own Kingdom.