Puppets are one of the biggest new features in the By God Alone expansion, and many players are confused by them. You make someone your Puppet, but then you can’t find where to give orders. In this guide, I’ll explain what CK3 Puppets are, where the Puppets tab is, and how to use them. I’ll also show you how to puppet the Pope.
In This Guide:
What Are Puppets in CK3?
In Crusader Kings III a Puppet is a character who performs certain actions for you. You choose the action, and your Puppet does it. The Puppet pays the cost and gets the consequences, not you. Puppets are a paid feature of By God Alone, so you need the DLC.
Crusader Kings III Puppet Types
The game has three puppet types:
- Realm Priest Puppet: which is your Court Chaplain.
- Clerical Ruler Puppet: which is a clergy member outside your realm. The Pope is one.
- Secular Ruler Puppet: a ruler forced to do your bidding. It can’t use actions that need clergy.
How to Get a Puppet in CK3
The target has to follow you out of trust or fear. To make it work, you need enough leverage over that person. Something like a hook, a very high Level of Devotion (for a Court Chaplain), friendship, being lovers, fear and family ties. Open the Intrigue window and go to the Puppets tab, which sits next to Hooks. Press the + button to add a puppet. Each type has its own requirements, and the tooltip shows what you’re missing:
- Realm Priest: reach Faithful devotion or higher, get a hook on the priest, or make him Intimidated.
- Clerical Ruler: a hook (strong for a king or above), jailing them, being their house head or superior, friendship, or love. A Terrified vassal also works.
- Secular Ruler: this is harder. You need leverage, like a strong hook or a target who fears you. You also need a matching role, such as Schemer with a hook, Seducer with a lover, Diplomat with an ally, or Gallant with your spouse.
Where Is the Puppets Tab?
It’s in the Intrigue window, next to the Hooks tab. This is where you add and manage your Puppets, but you can’t give orders from here. Many players got stuck on this on launch day.
How to Use a Puppet in Crusader Kings 3
You don’t use a Puppet from their own profile. You use them from the person you want to affect.
- Right-click the character you want to target.
- Look at the tabs on the left side of the interaction menu.
- Click the Puppet icon to act through your Puppet.
- Pick an action. Actions your Puppet can do have a Puppet banner on the button.
For example, to make your Puppet Pope seduce someone, right-click that person, switch to the Puppet tab and start the Seduce scheme.
What Can Puppets Do?
- Church actions: excommunication, holy sites, creating a faith or rite, clerical titles, cardinals, conversions and monastic vows. A clerical Puppet also lets you vote in Ecumenical Councils.
- Court actions: marriage, divorce, alliances, gifts and tributaries.
- Power actions: claims, schemes, imprisonment and wars.
Extras: some decisions and Great Projects.
How to Puppet the Pope
Yes, you can even puppet the pope and there are three ways to do it:
Option 1: Antipope
When you use the Declare an Antipope decision, your Court Chaplain or a theocratic vassal becomes the Antipope. They take your Rite, become a rival Head of Faith, and become your external clerical Puppet. You also get a weak hook on them.
The easiest route is to raise an Antipope and march on Rome. If your Antipope wins, he stays your Puppet and your Rite becomes the main Rite.
Option 2: Befriend him
One player got the Papal Bull achievement as Matilda of Tuscany (1066 start). They befriended Pope Alexander II, made him a Puppet, then right-clicked their husband and started a Seduce scheme through the Pope.
Option 3: Make your own candidate the Pope
Get your puppet chaplain elected Pope. One player made his brother Pope and said turning him into a puppet was even easier.
CK3 Papal Bull and Two Swords Achievements
The Two Swords asks for the Emperor and the Pope as your puppets at the same time.
Papal Bull asks you to make your puppet Pope sleep with your spouse. I tried this route with Matilda of Tuscany in 1066. Here’s what you should do:
- Divorce your husband right away.
- Take the Diplomacy lifestyle and the befriend perk, then befriend Pope Alexander II. High opinion isn’t enough, so you must be friends. Then make him your puppet.
- Marry a gay or bisexual man with the Lustful trait.
- Right-click your spouse, use the puppet icon, and start a Seduce scheme.
- Save two months before the scheme ends. A 5% chance means it will fail, and with a Lustful spouse you should see about 25–30%.
Limits You Should Know About Puppets
First Realm Priest Puppets are disabled if you use a Ministry or Kurultai.
Second Puppets work for non-Christian religions, but many Puppet actions, like cathedrals and cardinals, are Christian only. I tried to cover everything about Puppets in Crusader Kings 3. Have you been able to get a puppet and the two achievements? Share with us your experiences in the comments below.
