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Deus Vult! - Vatican Rules

Primate Religious Authorities

Religious Primacies in Deus Vult! will not be available for play. There will be one model available for interaction, however: The Roman Catholic Papacy. This NPC position is available to grant aid, expend resources, and help to the Catholic Nations of the game through a new Influence-Based system. Influence may be accrued with the Pope by various actions, and then may be bid to gain access to the various aids available.

Gaining Influence

The primary way to gain influence with the Roman Papacy is through the Vatican Increase Influence (VII) Religious Operation. The difficulty of this operation is increased, but players have ways to augment their chances on the attempt by undertaking actions on behalf of the Primacy or by granting the Vatican its traditional Religious dues. The list is as follows:

Tithes: Catholic Players may set a 1% tithe to the Roman Papacy. That percentage of their income is then redirected from them to the Papacy's coffers. That turn they receive a significant bonus to the II operation. Players may do this again on subsequent turns, increasing the percentage of tithe by 1% each time. However, once the Tithe is set, it can only be lowered by a Secret Order.

Sites: Traditionally, Primacies are able to construct religious sites within flock nations to increase the Primacy's income. In Deus Vult! players may do this on the Pope's behalf by using the standard Site Construction Rules. Churches, Abbeys, Monasteries, and Cathedrals may all be constructed. Each site successfully constructed adds a bonus to the next II action undertaken by the nation. Keep in mind that sites require leader actions and resources to construct. However, they will produce additional income for the Papacy which in turn is available as aid. These sites do not need to follow normal CCR restrictions. Instead, they are limited to Roman Catholic territories with a certain amount of population. Players are encouraged to name the sites after historical cathedrals or monastic orders when performing the construction actions.

Royals: Excess children in the family were often sent to the Papacy to both gain influence in Rome, and create a smoother transition of estate and power upon the father's death. Nations may undertake this practice by granting a son from the Royal Family list to the Vatican. The following restrictions apply: The son may not be currently married, the son may not be the current Heir-Apparent, and the son may not have been given an official position as a national leader. When transferred, these sons become a part of the Vatican bureaucracy, and in turn grant a bonus the nation's VII attempts for the duration of his service. This bonus increases as the leader moves to higher positions within the Vatican. The positions are as follows:

When a slot opens up, all leaders below that slot perform a modified Charisma Skill Check to attempt to win the open position. The leader with the highest level of success gains the slot and the new title. If no one passes the skill check, then a new leader is randomly generated.

Gold: Of course, gold spent on the Operation is always effective. In this case, it represents indulgences bought from the Papacy itself. This money must be linked to a specific VII Operation when it is undertaken, just like any normal operation.

Maximum Influence

The maximum Influence a Nation can retain, or bank, is the sum of the National Religious Strength, plus the total levels of Religious Sites within the Nation. A little known fact is that a high Religious Strength negatively impacts your Tech Point accrual. The more religious fervor in your nation, the more new discoveries and advances are distrusted. In return for taking a hit in the Tech Race, Religious Nations have more maximum pull with the Vatican. This allows those nations to be very competitive for the more lucrative Vatican gifts, such as Relics. Nations that wish to concentrate on Tech Accrual by lowering their Religious Strength, and still be competitive in the Influence game must build Religious Sites, which of course cut into their Regional and City Incomes. Note that there are certain population restrictions on where certain sites can be built:

Of course, sites may only be constructed in Roman Catholic locations. Should a location lose its Roman Catholic status, any sites are lost as well.

Bidding Influence

Players who accrue influence with the Papacy may spend it to gain access to the forms of aid available. Gifts of money and food, grants of government assistance, use of Papal Religious Operations, and access to Relics are major ways to do so. Players include in their orders what 'slot' of aid they wish to bid for and list how many Influence Points they wish to use. If they dedicate the highest number of Influence Points to the slot they cash in their points and gain access to the aid on the following turn. Players who lost the bid on the aid slot do not expend their bid points, and are free to use them on following turns on other bids.

If there is a tie in bid amounts, and there are not enough slots to go to each of the tied bidders, then none of the tied bidders are successful. Instead, the minimum bid for the category increases by 1. If, in a given turn, there is more supply then demand (More available slots then there were bidders) then the minimum bid will decrease by one. Bid limits can reach a minimum of one, but have no theoretical maximum.

Note that a given nation may only bid once per category. This means that while a nation my place bids on five different categories, they could not place separate bids for each slot within the Gold Share category in a given turn

When bidding on Religious, Intelligence, or Assassin Operations, players must indicate what Operation is to be run on the turn after the successful bid. Players may expend their own Gold on the Operation to increase the odds of success, though may not assign any national bonus points. Vatican Bonus Points will be assigned proportionally to all Ops run during the turn, with any extra Bonus Points being assigned randomly.

Vatican Resources

Half of any remaining GP are used to increase the Papacy's internal statistics, eventually resulting in increased operations and government stats made available. Those slots will be added to the above list as they increase. The other half of the remaining resources are saved and stored, to be added to the following turn's available amounts.

The Papal States

Latium and Rome are controlled by the Vatican Directly. Diplomacy actions against both locations will fail. If either location is conquered or destroyed by force, an automatic Holy War will be issued by the Pope with the goal of rescuing the city and region from their attackers.

Investiture of Cardinals

An historical point of conflict between the Vatican and European Kingdoms was the appointment, or investiture, of Cardinals. These Cardinals had a direct say on many of the matters of the church, not to mention the fact that they were in the direct line for the Papacy itself. In Deus Vult! players may attempt to invest one of their royal males in any new Cathedral they build. If they are successful, the appointment is accepted. If they are unsuccessful, then the Papacy appoints a Cardinal instead. Either way, this appointment lasts for the life of the of the given Cardinal. Once that Cardinal dies, the player again has the opportunity to Invest one of his own family members. A timely assassination might open that window early, but be warned that if caught, the Pope may respond.

Invest Cardinal
Type: Leader Action
Stat: Special
Code: INV
Cost: 10 APs
Requirement: Must be undertaken at a Cathedral by the National Ruler [K, Q or E]. Must choose a non-active, unmarried unmarried Roman Catholic male for the Investiture.

The Ruler attempts to appoint one of his royal family members as a Cardinal in one of the Cathedrals within the Nation. The Skill Check is actually performed using the Average of the King's and the Appointee's Charisma Ratings. Extra Time and Bribery may be spent to increase the odds of success. Note that this leader is not removed from the Royal Family list, unlike leaders sent directly to the Vatican. Also note this may only be undertaken when there is not a sitting Cardinal in the Cathedral. A Cardinal Leader is no longer eligible for Heir-Apparent status or for Royal Marriages.

Invested Cardinals under Vatican Control are eligible for replacement through Papal Bulls.

Current Vatican Leaders