There are rich pirates in D'Hara

[Anaris]

Do note that currently, priests cannot command any paraphernalia, and the UI infrastructure to handle them simply does not exist.

[Alpha]

Do note that currently, priests cannot command any paraphernalia, and the UI infrastructure to handle them simply does not exist.

I thought they could have scouts, I guess not. That makes it way more difficult, and probably not worth it.

[Gustav Kuriga]

wow, no wonder most religions are empty state ones... you'd have to have a realm behind you in order for being a priest to be worth it.

[Penchant]

Before you can state that priests should be able to run around with large amounts of gold, you should ask yourself why bandits were put in place in the first place.

The ability to courier large amounts of gold around the map at little to no risk is not something to be desired. (Just think about it. If it was intended, then they wouldn't have bandits in the first place to prevent/discourage it.) Nobles traveling with units can be attacked, imprisoned, and have their gold stolen. Priests... cannot..

This last part is not true and quite the opposite. A unitless noble who was not a priest have it much easier for them to courier gold since priests can be arrested at any time while a unitless noble can only be arrested by chance from "patrols" after a turn and that only happens when there are large amount of enemy troops. While it is true priests can only be arrested by nobles their realm or of enemy realms, that is more than regular nobles and all of things you listed about what can happen to a traveling noble only happens from enemy realms.

[Vellos]

Nobles traveling with units can be attacked, imprisoned, and have their gold stolen. Priests... cannot.

Gonna stop you right there and just yell "Bull!@#$." Arresting priests is entirely possible. And priests can get attacked for preaching too. Because priests experience violence less frequently than warrior classes does not imply that we should implement new risks. Heck, both of my priest characters have been arrested and had their gold stolen (in Hireshmont's case this was quite a lot of gold) within the last few months. I'd wager the marginal risk of getting arrested and imprisoned is at least as high for a priest as a warrior class.

Priests CAN be threatened. I know of numerous instances of priests having been arrested, and many wars revolving around the issue. And an arrested priest can have his/her gold confiscated.

Thus, the risk already exists. The question is not "Should there be a risk to travel as a lone priest through possibly hostile territory with large amounts of gold?" Well, duh: and such a risk does already exist, and is highly credible, and frequently materializes, and evidently stems from and contributes to the game experience. Priests should not be, and nobody is saying they should be, invulnerable couriers. The question is: "Should the game have an automated extra risk, independent of any conflicts between players, generating additional risk?"

Maybe we think there should, but that needs justification in and of itself, and, vitally, needs justification over and above general assertions against risk-free behavior. It is not sufficient justification for the mechanic to state that there should be risk. There is risk: very serious risk. The question is why should risk materialize as arbitrary random variables without readily apparent connection to any player actions?

[Indirik]

A priest only risks arrest when traveling through a realm with which he is at war. He cannot be arrested by anyone else. (Your own realm notwithstanding.) A unitless noble risks being arrested while travelling through enemy regions, at a rather high rate. That makes traveling unitless through regions wifth whom you are war a very dangerous ordeal. Priests also have the advantage of mid-turn travel, and multi-region hops. And they vare not arrested while traveling, or by routine patrols. That means an active player-lead police unit must be there to intercept them. (So hero characters, and anyone not leading a police unit can't arrest them.) And a priest can be saved from arrest by their followers. All these put together means that a priest, even one at war with the realm, a *much* less risky undertaking than a unitless noble. (Just ask Allison about her dash through Terran.)

[Vellos]

A priest only risks arrest when traveling through a realm with which he is at war. He cannot be arrested by anyone else. (Your own realm notwithstanding.) A unitless noble risks being arrested while travelling through enemy regions, at a rather high rate. That makes traveling unitless through regions wifth whom you are war a very dangerous ordeal. Priests also have the advantage of mid-turn travel, and multi-region hops. And they vare not arrested while traveling, or by routine patrols. That means an active player-lead police unit must be there to intercept them. (So hero characters, and anyone not leading a police unit can't arrest them.) And a priest can be saved from arrest by their followers. All these put together means that a priest, even one at war with the realm, a *much* less risky undertaking than a unitless noble. (Just ask Allison about her dash through Terran.)

And yet strangely, priests get arrested *all the time.* I'll reiterate that I've personally had two arrests recently and hundreds of gold in confiscations. Aurvandil/Falkirkian Freestate also seem reasonably able to arrest priests at will.

[GoldPanda]

There is no report generated when a unitless noble is arrested by NPC patrols.

Arresting priests cause unrest in the local area and are generally more noticeable.

[Indirik]

The priests arrested in Falkirk and Aurvandil are poor examples. Neither priest was tying to hide or make a fast passage. They were both sitting in a region preaching. Sitting ducks. I think one was even in Aurvandil's capital.

[Telrunya]

And I don't think there were many followers there either.

[Carna]

And I'm fairly sure their nobles are encouraged to arrest any Priests they see as an active policy. At least that was how they operated unless they've changed dramatically in the last few months.

[Anaris]

And I'm fairly sure their nobles are encouraged to arrest any Priests they see as an active policy. At least that was how they operated unless they've changed dramatically in the last few months.

That's all very well, but, again, it's not possible to arrest foreign priests with whose realm you're not at war.

[Indirik]

Aurvandil/Falkirk also have the advantage of being willing to essentially ignore diplomacy, and declare war on anyone. Very few, if any, realms are willing to act in this manner. (I.e. declare war, arrest priest, and offer cease fire, all in the span of a couple hours.)

[Vellos]

Aurvandil/Falkirk also have the advantage of being willing to essentially ignore diplomacy, and declare war on anyone. Very few, if any, realms are willing to act in this manner. (I.e. declare war, arrest priest, and offer cease fire, all in the span of a couple hours.)

Okay. So if we discount every instance where a priest can be arrested, you're correct, priests can't be arrested.

....

[Indirik]

That is true. It's not what I said or implied, but it is certainly true.