Build your religion!

[Fenrir]

Okay so I love the idea of spiritualism in space. Religion is a staple of human history and it's a MASSIVE element of Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, as well as other Paradox games. I just find spiritualism to be rather underwhelming in Stellaris. Playing a spiritualist empire basically boils down to better unity structures, psychic soldiers, and gambling with the shroud (which is in itself a rather underwhelming gimmick once you've had you're first experience with it).

For a long time I've really wanted to see an expansion pack that adds the ability to build your own religion. I even designed how I think it should be done. The system in itself should be identical to how you build your race (choose a series of traits). The only difference I'd say is instead of having some traits cost more points and some return points I would make it so that they all just cost a flat 1, but that's a personal preferance thing. Let me know what you think and feel free to add your own ideas.

Spiritualist empires (fanatical or normal) can choose 3 traits for their religion. Materialists can only choose 1 trait but they can access the unique "atheist culture" trait which grants an extra +10% to all sciences and a flat +3 to both minerals and energy to make up for their lack of options (and it keeps in line with the materialist theme). All other ethics (militarist, xenophobe, etc) can choose 2 traits or they can access the "secular government" trait which grants +10% to all sciences and +1 to energy/minerals, but it requires both of their trait picks to use.

Examples of religious traits

*Monotheism: +3 unity generation
*Polytheism: +5% happiness
*Centralized church: +10% spiritualist ethic attraction
*Vows of poverty: -0.2 consumer goods cost per population
*Blood gods: +10% army damage
*Fanatacism: +10% rate of fire
*Pilgrimage: +20% migration speed
*Divine Interpretation: -15% edict cost
*Promised Land (new edict): Declare a planet a Promised Land. Effect lasts 20 years. Migration attraction +50%, growth rate +10%, construction speed halved, and capitol building produces +1 unity. Edict costs 400 Influence.

Edit: Forgot to mention I also think it'd be cool if you could convert other empires to your religion similar to the vassal/tributary system, complete with some kind of reward for how far spread your state religion is. This should reward should apply in a smaller degree to empires that have embraced a foreign religion. Like, if you founded a religion that has two other followers, you should gain a bonus for that but the followers recieve the same bonus at 25% value

[Tabby3456]

this is funny because all spiritualist hate synthetics in stellaris ... why?
like they could have diffrent opinions about artifical intelligence.

there on my "ethics to hate list" and its and number 2 next to fanatic xenophobe

[molari]

While I love the idea of differentiation or customisation of religion for Spiritualist empires, I think Stellaris in general needs to get away from its '+5% to Happiness' style mindset for realising the evocative ideas and flavour it presents. I'd rather have my spiritual space-shrimps feel truly unique - worshipping a Leviathan, committing planet-wide suicide, going on a pilgrimage to a black hole, and other bonkers sci-fi stuff, rather than having yet another way to make slight incremental improvements to my consumer goods cost.

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by molari:

While I love the idea of differentiation or customisation of religion for Spiritualist empires, I think Stellaris in general needs to get away from its '+5% to Happiness' style mindset for realising the evocative ideas and flavour it presents. I'd rather have my spiritual space-shrimps feel truly unique - worshipping a Leviathan, committing planet-wide suicide, going on a pilgrimage to a black hole, and other bonkers sci-fi stuff, rather than having yet another way to make slight incremental improvements to my consumer goods cost.

Not a bad argument I just tend to prefer stuff like +5% happiness myself. With that said, being able to have a leviathan worship option would be awesome

[Jimib4158]

yea sounds like a good idea for an expansion....can you mode you could write your own maybe?


yea i suggested bigger ships somehow too


yea i love my robot race....no other race does tho :/....which suxs

[Bdeslaurs]

Originally posted by Tabby 3456:

this is funny because all spiritualist hate synthetics in stellaris ... why?
like they could have diffrent opinions about artifical intelligence.

Ethic in stellaris comes in pair for simple but important ideology chose, like pacifist and militarist.
Spirituality is opposition to materialist because in the game they represent a belief in the supernatural.
That being said, the spirituality ethic of stellaris comes with a belief of the theory of souls, sapient machine kind of contradicts that belief.

[Paradox Engine]

01 unfriend request

[Daryl]

As a survivor of an ethnic cleansing done by a religious group in 1998
I support your idea,
we shouldnt censor the possibilities of the positives and the negatives of what religious pursuits can lead to

o uo

[Paradox Engine]

^02 unfriend request

[Weeb Lad]

01_Terminate_Discussion

[Sarkin]

right one Suicide cult that abducts children coming right up. Western culture in a nutshell.

[Ozymandias]

Ultimately, in my opinion, there is a lack of variety and flavor for government types across the board. While there is a wide binary spectrum available, there are considerable limitations for that model such as the ones you mentioned.

How about a civilization who worships a machine god? Is that the ultimate paradox?

Hardly, it's been done a thousand times in a dozen different mediums. Rather, the suggestion that such a thing could not exist is merely one such limitation of this binary model.

In the meantime, I suggest you roleplay a megachurch:

The Coctrice species has always been conceited with greed and jealousy throughout their cultural maturation. What they lack in strength, they make up for in persistent sales tactics and schemes. It is with an almost religious fervor that they seek to close sales, coerce customers, and corner the market.

Once a humorous scheme devised to relieve foolish Cockles from their hard earned wealth, the Council of Cockle has grown into a massive worldwide megachurch encompassing the entire planet. Founded by the visionary Feathers of Brown, the Council directs the evolution of the species along a semi-financially-dependent journey towards enlightenment.

Ambitious Cockles who actively participate in this now totally honest journey receive a once in a lifetime opportunity for expedited shipping, but only if they order now! Call 1-800-BIG-HOPE for this once in a lifetime transformation! Cure the plague! Life forever! Find true love!

[Jewbacca]

Sounds interesting, but if you give such advantage to spiritualist, then you should be forced to give disadvantage, or give advantage to other ethos. My idea would be give a new menu for religion, if you use spiritualist etho. Fanatic spiritualist start with 1 point, and normal spiritualist start with 0. Disadvantages gives point like for racial traits.

Example disadvantages:
Answers everything.: (Reduce all research output by 10% cannot be used, if primary race is intelligent) Let's face it. The christian church tried to hold back many technology, and ideas when it went against their own ideas, or interest.

Machines are soulles.: (hates machine intelligences, and outlaws all kind of robots, and synths) It currently exists as default, but now it would be an option.

Fanatic intolerant.: (cannot use with egalitarian etho, and needs to be fanatic spiritualist). Increases spiritualist ethnic attraction by 200%, but kills pop randomly that isn't part of your religion each year, and reduces happines of pops with other religion, or no religion by 50. IT CAN EXTINCT PLANETS!

Intolerant.: (reduce happines of peoples with other religions, or no religion by 25)

Breeding controll.: (reduces pop growth speed by 20% cannot used with banned contraception benefit). This religion strictly demands when to breed, and who can breed.

Determined pacifists.: (reduce happines by 20 during offensive war, disables insult and rival diplomacy options, must have pacifist etho, increases happines by 10 during peace)

Fanatic warmonger.: (reduce happines by 10 during peace, and increases happines by 20 during war, need militarist, or xenophobe etho) Dismantling machines automatically gives the war bonus on target planet, but 20% of the machine pops, but minimum 1 will be killed even if the process is canceled. That machine pop dismantling will simply not stop, and cannot be stopped.

New edict costs 0 influence (can only used for fanatic warmonger): Inner battles. Kills 20% of planet's population, but minimum 1 pop. Can only used if there are 2 pop present at least. Simulate during war happines. Lasts 20 years.

[Jimib4158]

yea this religion add-on would sound interesting...im sure someone will mod it if stellaris doesnt actually make a add-on

[Briggs]

Originally posted by molari:

While I love the idea of differentiation or customisation of religion for Spiritualist empires, I think Stellaris in general needs to get away from its '+5% to Happiness' style mindset for realising the evocative ideas and flavour it presents. I'd rather have my spiritual space-shrimps feel truly unique - worshipping a Leviathan, committing planet-wide suicide, going on a pilgrimage to a black hole, and other bonkers sci-fi stuff, rather than having yet another way to make slight incremental improvements to my consumer goods cost.

This mod may be for your:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=960993460

[Army Pea]

I think there are some great ideas here and would really like to see space religion get its own DLC