User Guide

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tinguish between the other Christian religious
subtypes: Protestant, Reformed, and Orthodox.
France does not understand that there is a dif-
ference between “Sunni” and “Shiite” religious
subtypes, and simply treats them a “Muslim”.
Only a country with one of the Muslim reli-
gion’s subtypes would be able to recognise the
difference, but it would treat the four Christian
subtypes simply as “Christian”.
Your country’s official realm religion will
be shown on the banner at the top left of the
page. This is the same religion that is shown
on the first page of the interface in the Domes-
tic Overview. In addition to the unique game
play modifiers given by each religious subtype,
there are a number of important issues related
to your realm’s official religion. We’ll list them
here, and then look at each of them in turn.
• Your must decide how tolerant your coun
-
try will be towards each of the other reli-
gions in the world. This will affect the risk
of revolt in some of your provinces, as well
as your relationship with all of the other
countries in the world.
• In some cases, it may be possible for your
country to convert from one official realm
religion to another. Although this is highly
disruptive in the short term, there may be
long-term advantages to considering such
a change.
• You may be able to gain the title of "Sole
Defender of the Faith" for the religious
subtype that your realm officially supports.
While the cost of doing this is substantial,
it confers a number of special bonuses that
may make the price worthwhile.
• Your country will only be able to enter into
a royal marriage with another country that
has an official realm religion in the same
major religious group. We'll talk more
about royal marriages in the chapter on
Diplomacy.
• There are a number of special historical
events that you might receive if your coun-
try has a particular realm religion. Some
of these are beneficial, while others are
not. The series of events that pertain to
the Reformation are a good example of
this. We won't reveal any more about them
here since they are part of the "fun" you
are likely to encounter while playing the
game.
• You will only receive less tax income from
any province whose provincial religion
is not exactly the same religious subtype
as your official realm religion. The exact
amount of the penalty is reported in the
province's tax income tool tip.
• You will find it much harder to regain any
lost stability if you have a religiously di-
verse realm. Each province you own whose
provincial religion is not exactly the same
religious subtype as your realm religion
will cause an increase in the amount you
must invest to increase your stability, al-
though the penalty is not as large if a prov-
ince's religion is within the same major re-
ligious group.
You can eliminate these last two effects by
sending a missionary to attempt to convert any
province that you own. Although this can be
an expensive and time-consuming process, and
carries no guarantee of success, the advantages
of maintaining a religiously uniform country
will often make this a very worthwhile ven-
ture.
Religious Tolerance
Religious tolerance has two main areas of ef-
fect: the internal stability of your country, and
your ongoing relationship with the other coun-
tries in the world. Both of these are control-
led by a set of sliders that adjust how tolerant
your realm will be towards each of the world’s
religions.
Each religion that your country has en-
countered is represented by a slider in the Do-
mestic Religious interface. There is one slider
for each subtype in the same religious group as
your realm religion, and an additional slider for
each of the other major religious groups that
you have met. If you become aware of a previ-