2. Religious power- We are agreed a realm/religious connection needs to exist.
State religion- Do we agree a state religion "option" should be available (required for theocracies?)? That option could be a "text only" option. It's just "FYI." Or, it could be more significant, with "state religion" creating automatic religious tensions, or maybe restrictions on running for elections or getting lordships? Maybe grant auto-claims to regions for full members?
Unresolved issue- Exactly what effect should a state religion have?
Religious diplomacy- Connected to state religion but not necessarily identical: make realms suffer for alliances with religious opponents of dominant religions in domestic territories. Unresolved issue is mostly coding.
I absolutely think this is a grand idea.
If declared, a state religion would automatically align all nobles within the realm to a religion. They would be free to role play just lip service to the faith, but they would officially be counted on its rolls. You don't like it? Find a new realm - hopefully one without a state religion. Peasants would still need to be converted by the clergy though - they breed like rabbits and this faith stuff is hard for them to understand since they can't read or write.
If the Crown attempts to change the state religion the rebellion mechanism kicks in. I'm sure that the text can be tweaked appropriately. If the nobility loses faith and wishes to do away with the state religion, they can form a rebellion.
State religions increase the unity of the realm, and as such should require fewer nobles to control the population. This could be accomplished by applying a bonus to both Production and Authority through the Lord's estate (instead of just setting one), providing a bonus for each estate wherever it decided to focus, reducing the overall units required for Production and Authority, or allowing Temples to act as additional estates within the region. To balance this, there is already the power that the Clergy wield over the faithful and the diplomatic issues already discussed.
Would you be willing to throw away an alliance for a secure border in order to increase your internal control? I guess that depends on the realm, which in my mind, makes for more interesting and varied team play.
