Feudal, clan, and tribal

The three governments in the early bookmarks

In the 867 and 1066 starts, the governments you meet in the base game are feudal, clan, and tribal. Learn those three before you worry about expansions. Your own government is on the realm screen. Your vassals can differ from you. Open one vassal and read it.

Feudal tax and levies come from the vassal contract. Open the contract before you change it. The contract sets the tax and the levies. The contract does.

Clan vassals pay taxes and levies through tax jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction has a tax collector, and the contribution follows that collector's aptitude. Opinion is one input to the aptitude. It is not its own tax scale. The jurisdiction screen shows the live contribution.

Tribal rulers spend prestige on many tribal actions. When a button asks for prestige, that is the currency that matters for the click. Read the button.

• Beginner start
• Warfare basics
• Domain and economy

Raiding, and leaving tribal rule

Raiding depends on the raid rule for that government and that faith. Tribal land is where new players usually go looking for a raid button, and the button is still a rule check. Open it. If the control is missing, this realm cannot raid under the current government and faith.

When you want to stop being tribal, look for two decisions: Adopt Feudal Ways and Adopt Clan Ways. The requirements are written on the decision. Meet the lines it prints. They are the current requirements.

Adopting feudal ways changes the tax story above. You move from prestige clicks toward vassal contracts. Adopting clan ways moves you toward tax jurisdictions. Pick the decision whose requirements you can meet, then reread the vassal screen after the change so you know what they owe.

• Faith and conversion

Administrative, nomadic, merchant, republic

Administrative government is part of Roads to Power, released Sep 24, 2024. The Steam line this hub uses is Byzantine politics, administrative government, and landless adventurers. This page names those features and stops. It does not add a score or an adventurer itinerary.

Nomadic government is part of Khans of the Steppe. The Culture page names that DLC, because hybrid cultures need Royal Court or Khans of the Steppe, and because nomadic rulers have a decision that creates a hybrid with random pillars and traditions. Khans of the Steppe is the DLC that adds nomadic government; check the Steam page for the current release status.

Merchant government and Republic government belong to Silk & Silver. Steam news on 19 Oct 2026 announced that expansion for 17 Nov 2026, with trade goods and two new bookmarks. On 30 Oct 2026 those governments were not live. Plan a campaign on that date with feudal, clan, tribal, administrative, or nomadic rule, and wait on the store for the other two.

The Silk and Silver guide sets out the merchant and republic governments announced for 17 Nov 2026: what is confirmed, and what the dev diaries still list as unbalanced.

Celestial government, part of All Under Heaven, builds on administrative rule and runs the Chinese hegemony. The hegemony guide covers Merit and the Dynastic Cycle.

• Hybrid culture
• Sources