User Guide

36
Prestige affects…
• The chance that you will gain new territories through dynastic succession.
• The chance that a diplomatic proposal you send to another county will be accepted.
• The cost and monthly salary of any court advisors you hire.
• The rate at which your relationship value with other countries changes each month.
• The rate at which new diplomats become available in your diplomat pool.
• The chance that one of your merchants will be able to establish and maintain a share of the market in a
center of trade.
• The chance that one of your colonists will succeed when attempting to establish or enlarge a colony.
• The morale of your armies and navies.
• The chance that you will be able to successfully influence one of the seven cardinals of the curia when at
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tempting to gain control of the Holy See.
Prestige is gained by…
• Winning battles.
• Winning a war (when you demand peace, or an
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other country surrenders to you).
• Gaining a new vassal, becoming the leader of a
personal union, forming a new royal marriage, or
creating a new alliance.
• Establishing a new colony.
• Hiring a philosopher to serve as one of your court
advisors.
• Adopting certain national ideas that increase
your prestige on a monthly basis.
Prestige is lost by…
• Losing battles
• Losing a war (when you surrender to an enemy,
either voluntarily or by force).
• Losing a vassal, union, royal marriage or having
an alliance dissolve.
• Having your capital occupied by an enemy
(monthly loss).
• Having one of your colonies destroyed.
• Having one of your diplomatic proposals rejected
by another country.
• Failing in an attempt to influence a cardinal.
The national ranking should not be mis-
taken as a measure of military might. It is quite
possible for the most powerful and dangerous
country in the world to be ranked much lower
than a realm that has achieved success in other
areas but is relatively weak. In other words, do
not use this as a basis for determining whether
a country might be an easy or difficult oppo-
nent in a war. It is a measure of “game victory”,
not clout.
Special Political Bodies
There are two symbols that might ap-
pear superimposed on the green banner
in the overview. If you are currently the
Holy Roman Emperor, you will see the
Imperial seal; if you currently enjoy the
majority support of the cardinals of the
Holy See, you will see the Papal arms
symbol. These symbols are reminders
that you hold a position of considerable power
and are enjoying the extra benefits of that of-
fice. Details of this are found in the separate
section of the manual on Special Political Bod-
ies.
National Religion
Just below the drape, at the right edge of the
interface, you’ll see a symbol showing your
country’s current official religion. We will look
at the way that Europa Universalis III
models the various religions of the world
when we talk about the “Religion” tab a
bit later in this chapter. On the Overview
screen, the national religion symbol only
serves as a reminder of your official state
religion.
Reputation
The lower half of the Domestic Over-