Religious Dedication: How does it work?

[Secret Master]

Hey guys,

I'm working through the review copy and enjoying myself. But I can't figure out how religious dedication works.

I am currently Christian, and there is only one other clan that is Christian. I have built churches in every part of my demesne and demolished the churches of other faiths. I have a fairly high score towards Christianity, but the other clan leader is the faction leader. The other clan has a dedication of 50 but has only built one 1 church. I only have a dedication of 10.8. My churches do not give me a higher score than the other clan's dedication.

For some reason, my clan has a higher dedication in all other religions, despite having been Christian for some time. I could leave the Christian faith and join another faith and be close to becoming the faction leader. (My vassals have built plenty of Shinto and Buddhist shrines.)

Obviously, the other clan has done something different, but what is their secret? The manual doesn't indicate what influences dedication. Given that I am one of the most powerful clans in all of Japan, and given that I have consistently supported Christianity since it got to Japan, I'd like to be the leader of my faction. But how?

If it makes any difference, there are no religious decisions to take and none that are even visible.

 

[Captain Gars]

Dedication takes into amount the number of buildings from the faction you've joined compared to buildings from the other two faiths. But it counts this for the whole clan not just your demesne. So your vassals need to build christian churches. You can't tell them to do this directly, but I've been told by the programmers that vassals who like you will build religious buildings of the same type as the faction you've joined. However the code for how and when they destroy already built constructions might need to be looked over.

 

[Secret Master]

That actually makes sense, Gars. A one province clan with a church will have a higher dedication due to lack of religious diversity. In the future, if I want to really be leader of the faction, I should burn down all religious buildings in provinces I annex and replace them before giving the provinces to vassals.

I wouldn't worry about the code needing work just yet. It seems balanced; I just wasn't clear on what the mechanic really was.

 

[Einigkeit]

In the future, if I want to really be leader of the faction, I should burn down all religious buildings in provinces I annex and replace them before giving the provinces to vassals.

I wonder if the vassal would keep the church or if they would replace it themselves. Surely there would be little incentive to replace it if that province is the vassal's only province, but what if that vassal already has several Buddhist or Shinto provinces under their control? Since they could use their Masters to increase the prosperity or defensiveness of their other provinces, they might tear it down and build something else if they have the money and the inkling. Not sure how the AI would handle that situation, though, so this is purely conjecture on my part.

 

[Secret Master]

Well, religious buildings aren't cheap, so I would hope the AI would think twice about trashing that nice new religious building I gave him.

 

[Einigkeit]

Well, religious buildings aren't cheap, so I would hope the AI would think twice about trashing that nice new religious building I gave him.

Which is why your theory would probably work.