I’ve always found the patrols to be massive money makers. I don’t care what I get paid before or after, I negotiate the per head fee as high as I can. Then Bandit raiders, young orcs, etc. are getting me 100+ / head! Plus the noble doesn’t care where you take the heads. I wander all over the map. I’ll finish the patrol w/ 50 or more heads, and Ka-CHING!! Those crowns just pile up!
Edit: Getting a noble house to like you is very helpful as their big citadels usually have weapon and armor smiths.
In a single player game, there's no such thing as cheating. It's merely "creative manipulation of the default settings"!
