Priest Game Upgrades

[Gildre]

Title: Priest Game Upgrades

Summary: Some minor improvements to further integrate priests and religions into the realms: Offer morale "blessings" to units to raise morale, allow priests to gain honour/prestige.

Details: I did a search for this first, and it seems both were talked about years ago (circa 2011) but nothing really came of it as far as approved or rejected. If there was a more recent discussion, I couldn't find it and I apologize.

First, the blessings: Allow a priest to bless the unit of any noble who is a follower of their religion. This would simply give the unit a small morale boost based on the priest's Oratory skill.

Second, in much the same way as Courtiers, when priests do their Religion actions, give them hon/pres every once in a while.

Benefits: Blessings: This would further integrate religion and priests into the realm. Armies would actively want priests around, especially on long-range missions where morale begins to become a problem. People would be able to see a result from their chosen deity, rather than just fancy words. This is a huge problem IMO with the current priest game, as there is very little buy-in from game mechanics.

Hon/pres gain: Generally speaking, the higher hon/pres a character has, they are afforded more respect in a realm. Given that high religious positions in history have always been prestigious, it makes sense that priests in game would gain it as well.

Possible Downsides/Exploits: The blessing mechanic would have to be scaled so that it doesn't become OP. While a priest with 100% Oratory should be able to make significant improvements to an armies morale, a single priest should never ben able to completely restore an army's morale.

[Zakky]

I actually like this blessing idea. I think if you are already at 100%, you should go a bit higher or prevent the likeliness of your men ditching the field from panic would also be a nice way to go if you don't want to touch the morale part.

Also, units should go with their lord's religion. If they are blessed by a religion that your noble is not a part of, then you should lose morale instead. Or giving a chance of priest getting beaten up.

As for pagans, they won't benefit at all.

[Anaris]

Also, units should go with their lord's religion.

Which Lord?

If I recruit 30 infantry from Xavax, and 20 from Leibo, and 20 from Isadril, and those are all different religions, which religion should they follow?

Better to just have it be generic.

[Gildre]

The unit should just follow the same religion as their Noble. It would be an unnecessary pain in the butt if you have to calculate how prevalent a religion is in each region and then assign troops originating from that region a preferred religion. Way too complicated a process for a small game mechanic.

If a noble follows your religion and you bless their unit: boost morale
If a noble is a pagan or different religion: chance of getting beaten up

Nice and simple. I don't think it needs to be as complicated as 12 infantry are religion x and 16 are religion y.

[Zakky]

Which Lord?

If I recruit 30 infantry from Xavax, and 20 from Leibo, and 20 from Isadril, and those are all different religions, which religion should they follow?

Better to just have it be generic.

Sorry. Made a mistake. I mean the unit owner not a lord.

[Medron Pryde]

I like this idea.  :)

[Matthew Runyon]

I like it too.  Might also think about some cohesion (more religiously unified unit = better cohesion) along with the morale.  Heck, might even just scavenge the code for entertainment options.  Which might allow for different sermon options, though this is probably overcomplicating things, heh.