Getting Started with Pathfinder: Kingmaker Modding

Pathfinder: Kingmaker modding shares UMM with Pillars of Eternity and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous — but the specific mods and the focus areas differ. Where WotR's community focuses on mythic-path balance and class rebalancing, Kingmaker's community focuses on kingdom management, the divisive subgame that drove many players away from a vanilla playthrough.

This guide walks the standard UMM install plus the kingdom-management mods most experienced Kingmaker modders recommend.

Step 1 — Confirm Enhanced Edition

Steam's default Kingmaker install is the Enhanced Edition (the 2.x patches plus DLC integration). Pre-EE mods are largely abandoned; use EE-compatible mods only.

Step 2 — Install Unity Mod Manager

Standard UMM install — same as Pillars and WotR. Download UMM, add Pathfinder: Kingmaker as a target, point at the install directory, click Install to patch UnityEngine.dll.

Confirm Ctrl+F10 opens UMM's menu in-game.

Step 3 — Install kingdom-management mods

Three near-essential picks if the kingdom system is your friction point:

• KingdomResolution — modifies kingdom event resolution. Faster, more deterministic, less RNG-frustrating. The single most-installed Kingmaker mod.
• BetterKingdomEvents or equivalent — tunes the random kingdom event generator.
• Bag of Tricks — Kingmaker's QoL menu. Despite the "cheats" framing, includes many bug fixes and pacing improvements.

Drop each into UMM's Mods tab.

Step 4 — Optional: install CallOfTheWild

CallOfTheWild is a major rebalancing mod that brings Kingmaker's class and feat balance closer to tabletop Pathfinder rules. It's substantial — significantly changes character options and combat — and not for everyone.

Install if you want a tabletop-faithful playthrough. Skip if you prefer Kingmaker's vanilla balance.

Step 5 — Configure in-game

Press Ctrl+F10. Each installed mod has a settings page. KingdomResolution in particular has a long list of toggles — spend a few minutes exploring before starting a campaign.

Step 6 — Save handling

Kingmaker's save format embeds kingdom state, character progression, and quest flags. Mid-save mod additions can:

• Cause kingdom-related mods to behave unpredictably until next turn
• Leave dangling references for content-additive mods
• Sometimes corrupt the save outright

Pragmatic rule: install mods before starting Chapter 2 (where the kingdom system unlocks). Don't add or remove kingdom-affecting mods mid-playthrough.

Common gotchas

• Enhanced Edition incompatibility. Pre-EE mods often don't work. Check the mod's last update date and EE-compatibility note.
• Mod loaded but kingdom UI looks broken. Often a kingdom-state-mod conflict. Try disabling one kingdom mod at a time.
• DLC compatibility. Some mods only support certain DLC combinations. Cross-reference your installed DLCs with the mod's notes.
• Game crashes on kingdom turn resolution. Most often a kingdom-event mod conflict. Remove the most recently added one and test.
• Companion-mod conflicts. Mods that add new companions sometimes conflict with mods that rebalance existing ones. Read mod descriptions carefully.

If you've finished Kingmaker and you're moving on to Wrath of the Righteous, the toolchain transfers directly — just different specific mods. See the WotR guide for that game's recommended mods.