So some of you guys are not even cool with seeing fake religions only loosely inspired by real world beliefs? I find that genuinely weird.
It's a shame...but that's where the world seems to be heading to. It's no secret that subjects like religion can't even be openly discussed anymore because people are scared to be honest, offend someone and then take flak from the SJW, who blame religion and everything else as a cause of violence - but fail to realize(or admit) that all this behaviour is inherent to our species.
Gamewise, this subject pops in every now and then. I'm sure there's a decent demand, however at this stage, I don't think TW will mess with it, which is a shame. It would at least lay the foundations for the modders work on something more complex. Here are some ideas I've mentioned before about modding Christianity for instance :
Religion would be a great opportunity to take diplomacy and politics to the next level, because it would be yet another variable to consider while deciding what to do next. In Warband, and even the historical mods, factions just declare war pretty much at will and that's not really fun for most people I suppose. But emulating an institution like the Church is very difficult, for it was a such an unique entity; it's not like we can create a faction with the Pope as ruler, give fiefs to the bishops, and voila. I'm thinking of things like:
-For instance, the player would be able to tax the clergymen as they see fit(once you hold a fief). Exempt them from any, and you will keep them happy, improving the relations and receiving special troops (like Templars) but you will be poorer. High taxes would generate less levies from the clergy fiefs for you and decrease your reputation with them; if desperate for gold, you could bleed them dry, but you might even get excommunicated...and then the other Christian factions could take the opportunity to declare war on you!
-The Pope could play a major role in wars, demanding peace between 2 Christian factions under his discretion. But if you have good relations with him, you can use the opportunity to get out a difficult spot. Or they could declare a Crusade on a faction messing with his interests.
-Donating land/valuables to the Church would be an excellent goldsink, in exchange for some favour, like influence(Piety?), which could be used in the same way as influence does, but with the clergy.
-Churches/Monasteries : Having a good relation with them could grant you sanctuary if you are in trouble; it could be a center of learning (you could find some rare books in their library to increase your skills/attributes or get a learned friar as a companion) or have an infirmary if there'll be diseases; a smithy, or even provide some beer from their brewery. Or you could plunder their relics and get rich, but then they would refuse to let you in and take advantage of their facilities. And obviously, considering you wouldn't face any resistance from the brothers...
-Holy Relics - this was common practice in medieval armies, they took those to battle and improved their morale(say, a 10% bonus). But if defeated, they could risk losing the relics
-If different religions would be in the game, there should be a tag for each character, specifying their religion; those tags would in turn stipulate conditions such as :
1) X companion follows religion A, but won't serve a commander who follows religion B(but may get a bonus, or accepts a lower wage if the religion is also A)
2) Some quests could only be offered by someone following religion A/can only be taken if you follow religion A
3) Some troops could have food/drinks and even weapons restrictions
4) Some religions wouldn't allow characters to bet
Granted, some ideas are very CKish, but I think they got it right most of the time and I believe the majority of the community wants some of their ideas in Bannerlord.
