Stronghold Religion

Religion was a crucial part of life in medieval times and along with ale, food rations and 'Good Things' one of the mechanics with which the player can influence his popularity.

First off the player can observe the current religious situation in his castle by opening the religion panel from the advisor's report menu, there he can see the number of priests, percentage of blessed people, the bonus you are receiving to popularity as well as the next percentage milestone.

Blessings are given out by a priest. In order to get a priest, the player must place a religious building. These being the chapel, church and cathedral respectively.

Once a religious building has been placed, one of the peasants found around the keep's campfire will become a priest and begin blessing people. Blessing will wear off after some time and the priest must bless the person again. This means keeping a required percentage of your people blessed is a continuous process. The higher the percentage of blessed people the better, as milestones unlock a higher popularity bonus.

It is recommended to build a chapel not too far away from the campfire. This way, the priest will only have to travel a short distance between peasants yet to be blessed. If one decides to combine 'Good Things' with religion, it's also recommended to place them closer to religious buildings. This will result in people taking a break not far from religious sites, which will again reduce the distance a priest needs to travel before giving a blessing. Still in some cases the priests will have to travel a long distance to bless people no matter what, as quarries, mines, pitch rigs and farms are often located far away from the castle itself.

As the population of a castle grows, the percentage of blessed people will decline. This means it is necessary to construct more religious building, so more priests can keep the religious needs of the community satisfied. After some time, the population will ask for a church and later cathedral to be constructed. While these buildings are expensive, one shouldn't ignore the people, as you will suffer from -2 popularity until their demands are fulfilled.