Faith is one of the four pillars of empire (alongside economy, military, and politics). It produces tangible mechanical effects (gifts), gates a victory path (Religious / Divine Influence), and drives a unique form of hybrid warfare (missionary attacks).
Faith is generated by:
- Temples and sanctuaries — base generation.
- Sacred sites — passive (stone circles, cairns, sky temples).
- Festivals and rites — periodic events (feast cycle for Cairnveil, drum festivals for Red Earth).
- Priests — population class, multiplies temple output.
- Wonders — culture-signature wonders generate large faith.
Faith is consumed by:
- Divine overrides — short-term blessings or curses.
- Missionary deployments.
- Fanatic suppression.
- Divine unit summoning (avatars, creatures, blessings).
¶ Gods and divine favor
Each culture has 6 gods, each with one gift (passive bonus). 10 cultures × 6 = 60 gods total. Examples:
- Hroth Stormfather (Fjordborn) — ships move faster, suffer less storm damage.
- Asha Sun-Queen (Sun Dune) — units resist heat and desert attrition.
- Shen Thousand Wheels (Jade Lotus) — workshops, roads, and siege engines build faster.
- Kondo Iron-Drummer (Red Earth) — signal drums and smithing speed.
- Painted Fox of Many Trails (Thunder Lodge) — scouts, envoys, adoption events.
See pantheon by culture for the full 60-god roster.
Each god in your sphere has a Belief Tier (0–V) measured in favor points:
| Tier |
Threshold |
Unlocks |
| 0 |
0 |
None — token reverence. |
| I |
25 |
Gift activates at low strength. |
| II |
80 |
Gift at full strength. |
| III |
160 |
Religious infrastructure unlocks (advanced rites). |
| IV |
280 |
Divine units unlockable (avatar / creature / blessing). |
| V |
420 |
State-God status — unlocks the Wonder + the divine override. |
Tier V is the gate to the Religious / Divine Influence Victory.
Belief gain sources:
- Per-temple per-month belief tick.
- Successful missionary conversions.
- Festival completions.
- Sacred-site preservation.
- Avatar / Creature kills (battle witness).
Belief decay sources:
- Neglect (no priests, no temple).
- Successful enemy missionary attacks.
- Witnessed treaty breaks (god disapproves).
- Civilian unrest in temple districts.
- Sanctuary — base temple. Generates faith.
- Temple — Tier 2. Boosts belief gain.
- Grand Temple / Sky Temple / Druid Grove / Ancestor Cairn — culture-specific. Tier 3, gates priests.
- Sacred site — non-buildable map feature; preserve to reap belief.
- Pilgrimage road — connects sacred sites; Phase 2.
Priests are a population class (see society). They:
- Multiply temple faith output.
- Train missionaries.
- Cast festival rites.
- Counter Fanatics.
Priest cap is gated by temple count + governance form. Theocracy governance maximizes priest cap.
A form of hybrid war. You deploy missionaries against an enemy's cities to:
- Convert population (raises your belief tier in their region).
- Polarize their society (raises Fanatic risk).
- Damage their belief tiers (drops their gifts).
The defending player can:
- Train counter-missionaries (Priest class).
- Build counter-intel buildings (where applicable).
- Petition their gods for divine override.
Missionary attacks are attribution-tiered — a successful long-running missionary campaign sharpens attribution and (eventually) becomes diplomatically actionable.
When religious polarization passes a threshold in a city, Fanatics emerge as a civilian class. They:
- Refuse normal labor.
- Raise unrest.
- Can revolt — toppling the local leader.
- Can be weaponized — converted into rebel armies aligned with their preferred god (often the missionary's god).
Counter: priests + festivals to dilute polarization, or Fanatic suppression (faith-cost) for a temporary fix.
At Belief Tier V + Wonder + State God status, you can summon a divine unit per god — one of three forms:
- Avatar — unique, one-of-a-kind named hero. Highest stats; permadeath consequence.
- Creature — multiple summonable; mid-tier stats; persistent.
- Blessing — area-effect buff; no unit; periodic recharge.
The form is per-god, design-fixed. See gods & avatars.
Divine Influence accumulates from:
- Belief tier sums across your sphere.
- Avatar / Creature kills witnessed.
- Wonder completion.
- State-God Wonder Bastion completion.
When your alliance's Divine Influence crosses the victory threshold and you hold for the timer, you win.
Sources: faith_system.md, gods_and_avatars.md, cultures.md §Shared religion rule, rts_divine_system_design_table.xlsx.