Royal court
Food Taster
Food Taster is a court position in Crusader Kings III; its aptitude rests on Intrigue. At excellent aptitude it gives Enemy hostile scheme success chance -10%, Court grandeur baseline +3. Aptitude also comes from Gluttonous (+25), Comfort Eater (+15) and Lifestyle Herbalist (+25). Base salary 0.12 a month; revoking it costs 200 prestige. Patch 1.20.0.3, from game/common/court_positions/types/00_court_positions.txt.
Quick answers (3)
- What makes a good Food Taster in CK3?
- Intrigue Skill Intrigue × 3 (max 50), Gluttonous +25, Comfort Eater +15, Lifestyle Herbalist +25, Lifestyle Gardener +15, Trusting +15, Loyal +15, Inappetetic -50, Culinary Artists Cultural Tradition +20, Mettle Tested +30 and Learning the Ropes +10 (the game's aptitude breakdown, patch 1.20.0.3).
- What does the Food Taster give?
- Terrible: Court grandeur baseline +1; Poor: Enemy hostile scheme success chance -2%, Court grandeur baseline +1; Average: Enemy hostile scheme success chance -4%, Court grandeur baseline +2; Good: Enemy hostile scheme success chance -6%, Court grandeur baseline +2; Excellent: Enemy hostile scheme success chance -10%, Court grandeur baseline +3.
- What tasks can the Food Taster do?
- Brew Poisons and Keep an Ear to the Ground.
A Food Taster has the solemn duty to ensure that their Liege's plate never is touched by poison, and if some nefarious powder or liquid nevertheless makes it into the meal... Well, that's why the food taster has to taste the food before the meal begins.
What it gives you, by aptitude
The holder's aptitude (see below) sets the level: levels start at 20, 40, 60, 80.
Terriblebelow 20
Poor20+
Average40+
Good60+
Excellent80+
• Chance of stopping Poison Murder Schemes
What makes a good Food Taster
The game's own aptitude breakdown for this position — every part it adds up:
| Part | Aptitude |
|---|---|
| Intrigue Skill | Intrigue × 3 (max 50) |
| Gluttonous | +25 |
| Comfort Eater | +15 |
| Lifestyle Herbalist | +25 |
| Lifestyle Gardener | +15 |
| Trusting | +15 |
| Loyal | +15 |
| Inappetetic | -50 |
| Culinary Artists Cultural Tradition | +20 |
| Mettle Tested | +30 |
| Learning the Ropes | +10 |
The holder gets
Tasks
Brew Poisons
This character will spend their time behind the scenes, concocting poisons for use in schemes.
Keep an Ear to the Ground
This character will spend their time hiding behind curtains, listening intently for rumors and gossip.
Costs 0.05 prestige a month
Other rooms and names
The game picks the room by the ruler's government or culture.
Who may hire it (valid_position) (12 lines of game script)
is_landed_or_landless_administrative_or_theocratic = yes
trigger_if = {
limit = {
root.culture ?= {
has_cultural_parameter = better_food_tasters
}
}
highest_held_title_tier >= tier_duchy
}
trigger_else = {
highest_held_title_tier >= tier_kingdom
}As written in game/common/court_positions/types/00_court_positions.txt.
Who may hold it (valid_character) (5 lines of game script)
scope:employee = {
food_taster_validity_trigger = {
EMPLOYER = scope:liege
}
}As written in game/common/court_positions/types/00_court_positions.txt.
Shown when (is_shown) (12 lines of game script)
is_landed_or_landless_administrative_or_theocratic = yes
has_ep1_court_positions_dlc_trigger = yes
NOT = {
government_has_flag = government_is_nomadic
}
trigger_if = {
limit = {
is_ai = yes
highest_held_title_tier <= tier_county
}
always = no
}As written in game/common/court_positions/types/00_court_positions.txt.
Source: game/common/court_positions/types/00_court_positions.txt, common/court_positions/tasks, common/script_values and the English localisation, Crusader Kings III 1.20.0.3. Salary is the base before the realm-size and cultural-era multipliers.