Religion?

As a mod idea or as a feature of banner lord what does every one think about adding religious features, it all ways struck me as wired that theres next to no mention of religion let alone buildings, since you know religion was a really big deal back in medieval times. So i was think as either a feature in banner lord or as a mod we add religions these would behave a-lot like the existing factions, in some cases a religious faction could own villages, towns, and castles, and would have influence in different factions, example religions would be Christianity for rhodok, swadia, and the snow slavs (forgot there names), islam for the sultans, the old norse religion for the nords, and mixed for the khans (since in reality you were allowed to keep what ever tour religion was in the mongol hord) and influence of these religions will shift and change as well you could do jobs for them to increase your relation ship with them and so forth, they can also in the late game do things like call crusades or make temp alliances out of the factions that they are the main religion in, hell maybe the MC can become like the pope or some thing like that, so what do guys think of the idea.

From some of the names of minor characters in Bannerlord it would appear that religion does have a little more significance. The idea would be good and minor factions having their own cult like religion would be another interesting feature. The factions you are talking about are from Warband so not directly transferable. The Vlandians should be "Catholic Christian" and the Empire "Orthodox Christian". The Battanians should be either a Britannic "Christianity" or  a Celtic style religion. The Aserai should be "Islam" or "Zoroastrian". And the Sturgians could be pagan/germanic. The Khuzaits could "Tengri".  minor factions could also have their own religions for instance the Nordic faction as Norse. The Empire should have the choice to turn back to Hellenic religion/ the player's choice.

Difficult subject. To be honest I thought about religion in the game before, however more in relation to mods rather than to the actual native game.

Religion as a feature for a crusades mod or a Game of Thrones mod would totally make sense. In a Game of Thrones mod religion could be connected with the new perk system. For example one has the ability the inflame her/his weapon, if the character is a follower of the R'hllor religion. Taking inspiration from games like Total War, religion can also play a strategic role. Fore example: The majority of the inhabitants of a certain fief follow a different religion than your own. So the possibility of rioting is way higher. Random events of religious conflicts within your army or fiefs, where you have to make decisions on how you deal with them would also be interesting. How would you deal with a pogrom in one of your fiefs? Would you protect the persecuted minority or would you side with the persecutors? Perfect for mods similar to Anno Domini 1257 and crusader mods.

However regarding the native version of the game, I don't really believe that it fits to the lore. Even though M&B is based on real life medieval, it is still fictional. So we need fictional religions. Yet they should have real life role models. And that can be a little bit tricky. Take the Aserai as an example. According to the developers the Aserai are primarily based on late pre-Islamic Arabs, however many aspects of the Aeserai are inspired by early Islamic times. So they are between late pre-Islam and early post-Islam. And for the Arabs this was a time of massive religious change and diversity. Beside Islam as a somehow proto-socialist, religiously pluralistic, monotheistic movement, you have different forms of Christianity, Judaism, so called "pagan" religions and other monotheistic, "syncretic" movements. So should the game somehow reflect this diversity? Or should there be just one religion, based on either early Islam, the polytheistic Arab religions, Judaism etc. And how much should be fictional and how much should be "real"? I think the concept of religion is too difficult and too "alien" for the M&B lore. Yet it would perfectly fit into some mods.

This could be interesting, however unless it affects the game I doubt it would be a worthwhile addition. Ie in the AD 1257 you can leave your lord to go to fight in the holy land for a few months. But other than this I think it should be relegated to mods.

The most awe-inspiring moment that could be considered religious to a twenty-first century player of a medieval game that I had was during a naval battle in Viking Conquest:
  It was my fifth battle and I was doing story mode, so I had forgotten how to control the ships I was not in. I had some allies helping me with the attack, but our numbers were just a little ahead. Suddenly, the text started reading out that soldiers on my side of the battle were falling unconscious. I start to look around and on an allied ship, soldiers were stepping out of the boat into the ocean, walking five feet, and sinking into the water. All were single-file. Whatever weird ritual they were performing to Cthulhu worked, because the battle was won.

I've done some coding, so I am not complaining about it, but the original Mount and Blade had a bug where arrows froze in midair. In attempting to take a castle, my nephew found himself blocked by one such arrow. He did not want to risk falling off the ladder so he went through it and was knocked unconscious.

These are the miracles of the real creators of the game.

There is something beautifully human about wanting real creators making fake creators (I realize in the vast array of religions, some do not worship creators). In so many ways you have to satisfy these real creators (having to take the citadel after attacking a town, even though I went a charisma rather than fighting route (I had plenty of soldiers that would have been better at the job than myself)) and you don't get renown for gallantly being knocked unconscious during a battle (which happened in about all my battles, before finding out it was a bad thing). I don't know what point would be served by having to serve fake ones as well (I liked Viking Conquest, but the religion in its story mode was not a high point).

Spoiler for Viking Conquest:
The Berserkers in Viking Conquest are based off religion, but the Tamil Tigers had atheist suicide-bombers, so zealots do not need religion. 

Ughhhhhh, I think religion should be kept out of the game as much as possible, all it'll do is create problems more than it'll be made fun.

Captain Obvious said:

Ughhhhhh, I think religion should be kept out of the game as much as possible, all it'll do is create problems more than it'll be made fun.

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Same here.

I think that religion can bring a lot of interesting things to the table and it doesn't have to bring problems with it. Crusader Kings 2 is a pretty good example where multiple religions manage to be engaging and interesting. But that is of course supposed to be more of a realistic depiction of Europe.

I think as a middle ground, taking advantage of there being multiple cultures in the game(according to some of the policies for the different realms) and perhaps introducing some aspect of some religion to the culture, without saying that it is a religion thing might work.
Something with gameplay impact. Like perhaps the Aserai and Khuzaits practice polygamy which could alter how a character might persue marriage while a part of those nations for example.
And even if nothing like that gets it, it would be nice for the possibility to be there, it would be pretty good grounds for a mod.

Religion can be added only if certain quest lines are created for this, as well as any interesting ideas that do not affect the gameplay and the history of the game as a whole.

Developers can create their own religion and faith in the universe of Calradia.

For example, Sturgia is a belief in nature and the sun. The general idea is connected with the tribes who considered the sun - god. Wheat - land, and so on.

The Empire, for example, has some kind of holy temple in honor of Arenik.

If you create something interesting, it will be cool. But if you add for beauty, I would just create some kind of building that you can build in your city.

This is a very difficult topic, it can be embodied as in Total war Shogun 2. When there is religion, but it does not particularly affect.

Adding real life religions would not probably make much sense in the world of Calradia, but creating some religions inspired by real ones (but not too similar) would probably add an extra layer of immersion for the player. Creating some sort of Pantheon for the Empire, gods of nature for Battania and so on could be a nice touch.

Like I've said it before, I think it would be nice to have some religion mechanics to pave way for mods. One can argue we shouldn't have religion in Calradia, I honestly don't mind either way because I play mods mostly. But in historical mods, I see it as an essential part of it. To me, the ideal thing would be releasing a Religion DLC.

If not a mechanic, at least a superficial story and scenes would do the job. Some of the notables can be monk or priest whatever for example.

I want more randome issues, perhaps with religion some clans could rebel against because of religion and start some civil war. 

Jurgen said:

For example, Sturgia is a belief in nature and the sun. The general idea is connected with the tribes who considered the sun - god. Wheat - land, and so on.

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Or maybe in some one-eyed god? 

Keep it as vague as possible. The focus should be on medieval warfare and not on creating controversy as I don't think that Bannerlord needs that attention.

It would be cool to see one or two religious buildings in cities and have a few npcs in local priest clothes run around for immersion but that's about it.
As far as crusades and stuff there is already enough incentive for war in Calradia. In the end its all about grabbing land, be it a crusade or regular war so I don't see what difference it would make.

If they want to put in religion, they should make it a part of the game's systems that the player can interact with. Like in VC monasteries could give you quests, teach you to read or be looted for a ton of money, at the risk of pissing off the Christian lords.

Some easy ways to implement religion would be:
- religious leaders with a lot of influence. People listen to holy men. They could reside in courts, and not lead armies, but participate in politics otherwise. Preferably so that getting things done without their support is difficult.
-Religion-themed quests like investigating heresy or recovering holy items from infidels, or maybe even heavier stuff like saving members of a religious minority in a city from a massacre or being yourself accused of witchcraft/heresy and having to prove your innocence somehow.
-Religious minor factions. The skolderbroda and the Battanian wolf-men are already societies that have a whiff of paganism about them. This could be expanded and made more implicit.
-Religious NPC:s or even companions. Having a Friar Tuck in your retinue would provide for some fun on the road-dialogue.