Pagan denominations

Topic

Religions

Christian denominations

Catholic

Protestant

Reformed

Orthodox

Coptic

Anglican

Hussite

Muslim denominations

Sunni

Shia

Ibadi

Eastern denominations

Mahayana

Theravada

Vajrayana

Confucian

Shinto

Pagan denominations

Animist

Fetishist

Totemist

Inti

Mayan

Nahuatl

Tengri

Norse

Alcheringa

Dharmic denominations

Hindu

Sikh

Additional denominations

Jewish

Zoroastrian

Crusader Kings II denominations

Animist

Animism is the belief that the world is habited by a number of supernatural spiritual beings without any separation of the mundane and spiritual worlds. Spirits may inhabit anything from mountains to lightening depending on the location of the worshippers.
In the game Animist religion is as a label for a wide range of beliefs from South America to Africa or Indonesia.

All Animist nations receive:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• −1 National unrest
• Possible heresies: Snake Clan

All Animist provinces receive

• +2% Local missionary strength

Fetishist

Fetishism covers a very wide range of indigenous African religions. These religions often feature a veneration for ancestors, use of magic and traditional medicine.
In the game most of Africa is classified as Fetishist.

All Fetishist nations receive:

• +2 Tolerance of heathens
• +1 Diplomatic reputation
• Possible heresies: Goat Skull

All Fetishist provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

Cults

Fetishist nations each choose a cult to follow every time a new ruler takes charge of the nation. The cult provides unique bonus modifiers and events until the ruler dies. Each fetishist nation starts the game with three cults available to them, the exact options depend on the nation's starting location. Additional cults beyond the initial three are unlocked via battling, bordering and allying nations of various religious groups or Fetishist nations of a different technology group. Owning a province of a different religion also enables the associated cult.

The available cults and their bonuses are:

Cult	Unlocked by interaction with	Bonus
Buddhadharma	Buddhist/Confucian/Shinto	−10% Development cost
Christianity	Christianity	+25% Domestic trade power
Enkai	Fetishist (Madagascar)	+15% Manpower recovery speed
Waaq	Fetishist (Madagascar)	−2 National unrest
Zanahary	Fetishist (Madagascar)	−0.05 Monthly war exhaustion
Cwezi	Fetishist (Southern Africa)	+20% Improve relations
Mlira	Fetishist (Southern Africa)	+2 Tolerance of the true faith
Mwari	Fetishist (Southern Africa)	+2.5% Discipline
Nyame	Fetishist (Western Africa)	+1 Diplomatic reputation
Roog	Fetishist (Western Africa)	−15% Land attrition
Yemoja	Fetishist (Western Africa)	−15% Naval maintenance modifier
Sanatana Dharma	Hindu/Sikh	+10% Goods produced modifier
Teotl	Nahuatl/Mayan	+5% Morale of armies
Islam	Islam	+10% Institution spread
Haymanot	Jewish	−10% Advisor cost
Freyja	Norse	+2 Tolerance of heathens
Mazdayasna	Zoroastrian	+2 Merchants

• Fetishist (Madagascar) = Sakalava, Imerina, Betsimisaraka, Mahafaly
• Fetishist (Southern Africa) = Loango, Kongo, Luba, Buha, Mutapa, Maravi, etc.
• Fetishist (Western Africa) = Mossi, Oyo, Benin, Kano, Zazzau, etc.

Totemist

Totemistic belief teaches that every individual has a spiritual kinship with an animal, the totem. Those who share a totem animal form clans, and consider one-another family.
In the game Totemism is the state religion of all North American Native states and it is present in most of the North American continent.

All Totemist nations receive:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• −1 National unrest
• Possible heresies: Bear Spirit

All Totemist provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

With the Leviathan DLC Totemist nations may add previous leaders, whether they died or were voted out, to their collection of totems. On being appointed each new Totemist leader gains only one (1) personality trait unlike other nations that generally gain three (3) over time. Luckily this deficit of having only one trait is offset by:

• doubling the effect (the "level bonus") of that trait, with some material exceptions relative to other non-Totemist nations as seen in the tables below and
• the fact that Totemist leaders only receive positive traits.

Once the leader becomes an ancestor the nation can make that leader's one personality trait a permanent feature of the religion using the Religion interface tab. There are ten (10) ancestor slots and adding one costs a base of 400 Diplomatic points and can not be undone. Although leaders may frequently share the same trait the ancestor slots can only have one type of each bonus; no duplicates are allowed.

The permanent nature of these ancestor modifiers could make Totemist a powerful religion, however, it is very RNG dependent based on two key components:

• Assuming a leader typically rules 30-40 years, it could take 300+ years to fill all the slots. This can be mitigated by making each leader a general and always having them lead a battle or siege forts which may drastically reduce their longevity. Note that all leader deaths still cause stability losses, whether they die in battle or not.
• Totemist leaders luckily gain only a positive trait, yet there are nearly 30 positive traits in-game and many will of course repeat for different leaders. Hence between their longevity and the gods of chance it may take a long time to add the player's preferred traits/modifiers to the ancestor slots.

For game balancing reasons the effects of some traits are not doubled relative to other nation's leader traits. The tables below compare the final bonus effects for Totemist nations vs other nations.

Common trait bonuses that double (or are at least higher)

Trait bonus	Totemist	Generally
Idea cost	−10%	−5%
Spy network construction	+40%	+30%
Liberty desire in subjects	−10%	−5%
Missionary strength	+2%	+1%
Technology cost	−10%	−5%
Trade efficiency	+20%	+10%
Goods produced modifier	+20%	+10%
Diplomatic reputation	+2	+1
Improve relations	+40%	+20%
Land leader maneuver	+2	+1
Land leader shock	+2	+1
Discipline	+10%	+5%
Morale of armies	+10%	+5%
Construction cost	−20%	−10%
National tax modifier	+20%	+10%
Mercenary maintenance	−40%	−25%
Yearly army tradition decay	−2%	−1%

Trait bonuses that are the same as (or similar to) other nations

Trait bonus	Totemist	Generally
National unrest	−2	−2
War exhaustion	−0.05	−0.05
Advisor cost	−20%	−20%
Stability cost	−10%	−10%
Aggressive expansion impact	−10%	−10%
Foreign spy detection	+20%	+20%
Monthly autonomy change	−0.05	−0.05
Years of separatism	−4	−5

Tengri

Tengri is the chief deity of one of the oldest Turkic or Mongol Shamanist religions.
In the game this religion covers a wide variety of Siberian and Manchurian Shamanism practiced by the states that start in North Asia.

By default, all Tengri nations receive:

• +25% Cavalry to infantry ratio
• −20% Regiment cost
• Possible heresies: Old Tengri

Secondary religion

Tengri is a syncretic faith; a Tengri nation can pick a secondary religion through the Religion screen. Without a secondary religion selected, the above bonuses apply; but selecting one will replace them with new ones associated with the selected religion. A religion is eligible for selection if the country either owns or borders a province of that religion. Changing secondary religion costs 50 Prestige and can be done once every 10 years.

Choosing a secondary religion will have the following effects:

• The provinces that are Tengri and the secondary religion will be counted as the true faith for purposes of tolerance.
• Neighbouring countries that are either Tengri or the secondary religion will see the country as having the same religion (Same Religion +25)
• Countries that are not Tengri or the second religion will see the country as a different religion (Different Religion −10)

The available secondary religions and their bonuses are:

Christian religions

Catholic:

• +1 Possible advisors
• +1 Diplomatic reputation

Hussite:

• −2.5% Shock damage received

Protestant:

• −10% Idea cost

Reformed:

• −1 National unrest
• −10% Advisor cost

Orthodox:

• +10 Global settler increase
• +1 Tolerance of the true faith

Coptic:

• +10% Defensiveness
• +10% Siege ability

Anglican

• −10% Idea cost

Muslim religions

Sunni:

• +10% Trade efficiency
• +100% Chance of new heir

Shia:

• +5% Morale of armies
• −10% Advisor cost

Ibadi:

• −10% Advisor cost
• −10% Ship cost

Eastern religions

Theravada:

• −10% Development cost
• +1 Diplomats

Vajrayana:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• +1 Yearly horde unity

Mahayana:

• +10% National tax modifier
• +2 Tolerance of heathens

Confucian:

• −10% Stability cost modifier
• −10% Administrative technology cost

Shinto:

• −1 National unrest
• +5% Discipline

Dharmic religions

Hindu:

• +1 Tolerance of heretics
• +2 Tolerance of heathens

Sikh:

• −1 National unrest
• +5% Morale of armies

Pagan religions

Alcheringa:

• +2 Attrition for enemies
• +10% Shock damage

Animist:

• +2 Tolerance of the true faith
• +25% Looting speed

Fetishist:

• +2 Tolerance of the true faith
• +25% Looting speed

Totemist:

• +2 Tolerance of the true faith
• +25% Looting speed

Inti:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• −0.05 Monthly autonomy change

Nahuatl:

• +20% Razing power gain
• +5% Morale of armies

Mayan:

• −10% Stability cost modifier
• +1 Possible advisors

Norse:

• −10% Mercenary maintenance
• +20% Galley combat ability

Jewish religions

Jewish:

• −10% Advisor cost
• +1 Possible advisors

Zoroastrian religions

Zoroastrian:

• +1 Merchants
• +1 Tolerance of the true faith

Note: If you use the Converter, you will be able to use other religions as your secondary one.

Mesoamerican and South American religions

(Without DLC these religions still exist, but have no unique mechanics.)

The Mayan, Inti and Nahuatl religions each have a mechanic to reach five religious reforms. When the last reform is passed and the country borders a province that is a core of a non-primitive nation that has embraced Feudalism (typically a bordering colonial nation but could also be an animist nation), it will be able to reform its religion, getting a technology boost (which brings it up to 80% of the neighboring nation’s technology level in each category) and gaining the permanent benefit of the religious reforms. Reforming the religion immediately grants all the institutions that the bordering province had. You also adopt the government type of the neighbour, and become a duchy.

Note it's best that the neighbor has passed at least its first government reform - hence a Tier 2 reform: For example, a Mayan Ryuku could reform to a Steppe Nomad. Also, for others to become Mayan, Inti or Nahuatl, they must be of pagan believe - say Animist - and then get a 100% positive war score against say the Mayans. During the settlement arrangement they must "surrender" rather than demanding from them and "offer" to embrace their religion; the Mayans will be forced to accept. However, in each of these cases your total province war score must be less than 100%;therefore give some land to your vassals before you enter the war.

Inti

Inti religion covers a wide range of disparate Andean faiths with many common features. Inti itself is the name of the sun god that the Inca empire promoted over all the other local Huacas.
In the game most of the Andes start out with the Inti religion.

The Inti faith is about maintaining the authority of the Sapa Inca by having the people worship him as a God. Inti nations have an authority value that goes up from owning vast stretches of territory, and goes down when the autonomy of a province the country owns increases (either from manually increasing it, being forced to by rebels, or choosing to do so in an event). Authority ranges between 0 and 100. It is also affected by a number of unique events added for the Inti religion.

All Inti countries also receive:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• −0.05 Monthly autonomy change
• Possible heresies: Huaca Worshippers

All Inti provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

Each point of authority gives:

	−0.1%0	Stability cost modifier
	−0.02%	National unrest
	+15%.00	Clergy influence

Authority is gained and lost as follows:

• Yearly authority: +0.02 * total development
• Authority from autonomy: −0.2 or +0.2 per point of autonomy raised or lowered respectively

The standard action of raising autonomy in a province will raise autonomy by 25 and will give −5 authority, while lowering autonomy by 25 will give +5 authority.

An Inti state that has 100 authority, is at peace, has positive stability, no rebel-controlled provinces, and owns at least 10 provinces can pass a religious reform, but doing so will remove all their authority and spark a civil war as a pretender exploits the loss of authority to attempt to seize the throne for themselves. After all, every reformer is challenged if they go too far. If these rebels enforce their demands, two religious reforms are lost, greatly setting back the country's progress towards reforming the religion.

Upon reforming the religion, the bonuses from authority (the stability cost and national unrest reduction) will be lost, so it does not matter what level authority is at before reforming the religion. The reform bonuses listed below will remain for the rest of the game, however.

The available reforms are:

• Organized Recruitment: +10% Manpower recovery speed
• Yana Lords: +10% Morale of armies
• Reform the Cult of Inti: +0.5 Yearly legitimacy, +0.5 Yearly devotion
• Expanded Mitma Policy: +1 Colonists (provinces adjacent to colonies are auto explored)
• Reform the Bureaucracy: −10% Core creation cost

When the last reform is passed and the country borders a nation that has embraced Feudalism, it will be able to reform the religion, getting 80% of the neighbor's tech level, all institutions that the neighbor has embraced, and gaining the permanent benefit of the religious reforms.

After reforming the religion, the player's monarch power cap will be reduced in accordance with the number of institutions gained, e.g. if the player has gained all institutions currently available, the cap will be reduced to 999 for each type of monarch power. Excess monarch points above the new monarch power cap will not be lost immediately, but they may be lost after the first expenditure of monarch points of each type.

For example: suppose that a player has stockpiled 2000 admin power, and spends 500 admin power to research a new technology immediately after reforming their religion. The player's admin power stockpile may immediately drop to the new monarch power cap (999 if the player has acquired all institutions), resulting in the loss of several hundred monarch points. This behavior applies individually to each type of monarch power. The new cap will be applied to the admin power stockpile after the first expenditure of admin power, but the diplomatic & military monarch power stockpiles will be unaffected until points of those type have been spent.

Reforming the religion will also remove restrictions on gold production, which will substantially increase the player's income immediately after reform.

Mayan

Mayan religion covers a range of Mesoamerican polytheistic traditions inherited from the older Mayan civilizations. While the names differ the pantheon and many traditions are quite similar to the Nahuatl religion.
In the game the Yucatan Peninsula and the former lands of the League of Mayapan starts out with Mayan religion.

For a Mayan nation to pass a reform, they will need to be at peace, have no rebel-controlled provinces, no overextension, positive stability, and own at least 20 provinces.

All Mayan countries also receive:

• +1 Tolerance of the true faith
• +1 Possible advisors
• Possible heresies: Tenocelome

All Mayan provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

Upon passing a reform, a Maya state will lose cores by releasing nations or giving provinces to existing nations and lose all subjects, shrinking to a size of 15 provinces + 1 provinces per already passed reform. Exact provinces released are determined by culture, religion and distance to capital. When the last reform is passed and the country borders a nation that has embraced Feudalism, it will be able to reform the religion, getting a tech boost and gaining the permanent benefit of the religious reforms.

Typically this means a bordering colonial power, but could also be any country which embraced Feudalism after it was developed in a province.

Note that when converting from an advanced nation to a primitive one (by force-converting on yourself as an animist nation in a 100% peace offer) be sure to have saved up a large war chest before converting since primitive economies suffer many penalties. This means you will suffer large revenue losses during your reform campaign until the final reform is done and you become advanced again. Also, during this phase you will have a limited access to ships and sailors. So each time a ship is at sea it will reduce the existing pool of sailors which only replenishment by 5 per month meaning that you should only engage in few or easy navy battles or risk losing your fleet (since without sailors the ship damage cannot be repaired). This threat is only remedied once the religion is reformed.

Available reforms are:

• A Unified Army: −10% Land maintenance modifier
• Central Arbitration: −2 National unrest
• Central Armories: +10% Infantry combat ability
• Tribal Expansion: +1 Colonists (provinces adjacent to colonies are auto explored)
• Reform the Bureaucracy: −20% Core creation cost

Nahuatl

Nahuatl religion is a range of Mesoamerican polytheistic traditions. While the Pantheon and many concepts are quite similar to the Mayan religion the Nahuas or Aztecs assign a much higher importance on the need for human sacrifice in order to survive each new cosmic cycle.
In the game most of the area around modern central Mexico starts out with Nahuatl religion.

Each Nahuatl state has a ticking Doom value that increases every year at a base rate of one Doom per owned province. High Doom increases technology costs and idea costs and should the value ever reach 100 the Nahuatl state will be forced into taking drastic measures to avert Doomsday. The ruling family will be sacrificed, killing the ruling monarch and heir and replacing them with a 0/0/0 ruler. In addition, all of the country's monarch power is lost and any and all subject states break away as the nation descends into chaos. As if that wasn’t enough, if the doomed state has gained any religious reforms, up to two of these will be lost. Therefore, do not let Doom get to a 100% or your hard won reforms will be lost; keep very few, high development provinces until you pass the 5th and final reform.

All Nahuatl countries also receive:

• −2 National unrest
• +10% Morale of armies
• Possible heresies: Tenocelome

All Nahuatl provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

Each point in Doom gives:

	+0.5%	Technology cost
	+0.2%	Idea cost
	−1.0%	Aggressive expansion impact

To avert Doomsday, Nahuatl states have a few options. The ‘Flower Wars’ Casus Belli gives them the ability to declare war on their neighbours freely while occupying provinces and fighting battles will result in Doom being reduced as they secure captives to send to the gods. If just warring with neighbours isn’t sufficient, a Nahuatl state can also sacrifice ruling monarchs and adult heirs in their vassal states. Doing so will reduce Doom by an amount equal to the total skills of that monarch or heir, but will anger all subject states and make them more likely to seek independence. There is a 3-year cooldown before you can sacrifice another ruler/heir from any country. Nahuatl can declare war during regency.

Doom is gained and lost as follows:

• Yearly doom increase: +1 per province owned
• Yearly doom reduction: −20% per reform passed
• Immediate doom decrease from occupying a province: −0.05 per province development
• Immediate doom decrease from battle: −1 per 1000 men killed
• Immediate doom decrease from sacrifice: −1 per skill level of character sacrificed
  • Sacrificing a subject's ruler raises the subject's liberty desire by +25.
  • Sacrificing a subject's heir raises the subject's liberty desire by +20.

Additionally, doom does not increase for subject countries.

For the country to get out of this cycle of war and sacrifice, it will need to reform the religion. Enacting a reform requires having at least 5 vassal states, no rebel-controlled provinces, positive stability, and less than 50 Doom. When enacted, Doom will increase by 25, stability drops by 1, and all of your subject states will declare independence (which creates a one-way truce), forcing the country to go to war to bring them back into the fold (due to a bug in versions 1.28 and 1.29, not all subjects will declare independence). Furthermore, each reform decreases the rate at which the country accumulates Doom by 20% from the base rate. Enacting all five reforms effectively stops Doom from increasing every year, although it can still increase through special events.

Available reforms are:

• Open up Sumptuary Restrictions: −0.05 Monthly war exhaustion
• Extend Pochteca Obligations: +1 Diplomatic relations
• Warrior Ranks: +5% Discipline
• Tribal Expansion: +1 Colonists (provinces adjacent to colonies are auto explored)
• Legal Reform: −20% Stability cost modifier

Once the country has passed all five reforms, the religion can be reformed as soon as the country borders a non-primitive nation that has embraced Feudalism. Typically this means a bordering colonial power, but could also be an animist nation which has developed the institution and embraced it. Reforming the religion brings the country up to 80% of that nation's technology level and it also permanently disables the Doom mechanic. (This means that whenever a trigger, such as an event's conditions, asks whether the country has doom, a reformed Nahuatl country does not.)

When converting from an advanced nation to a primitive one (by force-converting on yourself as an animist nation in a 100% peace offer) be sure to have saved up a large war chest before converting since primitive economies suffer many penalties. This means you will suffer large revenue losses during your reform campaign until the final reform is done and you become advanced again. Also, during this phase you will have no access to ships or sailors. So each time a ship is at sea it will reduce the existing pool of sailors without replenishment meaning that you should only engage in few or easy navy battles or risk losing your fleet (since without sailors the ship damage cannot be repaired). This threat is only remedied once the religion is reformed.

Norse

Norse religion is the polytheistic traditional belief system of the Scandinavian peoples.
By 1444 the Norse religion was long gone and exists in no provinces or countries.

There are normally no Norse provinces or countries in any game start, although a Norse state can appear in a Random New World if "fantasy" elements are enabled. With the Nation Designer it is possible to make a custom Norse nation, and it is possible to import Germanic religion countries from Crusader Kings II using that game's Europa Universalis IV Save Converter DLC. They have no specific decisions or events.

All Norse countries also receive:

• +10% Land force limit modifier
• +10% Naval force limit modifier
• Possible heresies: Old Norse

All Norse provinces receive:

• +2% Local missionary strength

With the Wealth of Nations DLC enabled, Norse rulers are allowed to pick their deity through the religion screen. This choice lasts for the life of the ruler or until an event changes it. A Norse republic chooses a new deity every time a new leader is elected (4–8 years depending on republic type and choice). Such countries can rapidly change their stats to adjust to game circumstances.

Each deity comes with two to three bonuses to the nation:

Freya:

• +10% National tax modifier
• +10% National manpower modifier

Tor:

• +1 Land leader shock
• +10% Fort defense

Odin:

• −10% Core-creation cost
• +0.1 Yearly horde unity
• +0.1 Yearly legitimacy

Tyr:

• +10% National sailors modifier
• +5% Discipline

Njord:

• +10% Trade efficiency
• +10% Goods produced modifier

Snotra:

• −10% Construction cost
• −5% Technology cost

Alcheringa

The Dreamtime is the religious and cultural worldview of the Aboriginal Australians. The Dreamtime simultaneously describes a time before the existence of the material world and also a separate plane of existence in parallel with the material world. Shamans are said to be able to contact the Dreamtime, and traces of the Dreaming are found all across the world.

All Alcheringa nations receive:

• +1 Diplomatic reputation
• -5% Shock damage received

Cults

Like fetishist, alcheringa nations each choose a cult (story) to follow every time a new ruler takes charge of the nation. The cult provides unique bonus modifiers and events until the ruler dies. Each alcheringa nation starts the game with three cults available to them: The Ancestors, Erathipa and Crow ( Palawa also starts with Moinee and Adnoartina). Additional cults beyond the initial three are unlocked by completing various missions unique to nations following the alcheringa religion, and bordering nations of different religions. .

The available cults and their bonuses are:

Cult	Bonus
The Ancestors	−2 National unrest
Baiame	+1 Colonist +10 Global settler increase
Lumaluma	−5% Core-creation cost −15% Aggressive expansion impact
Crow	+5% Movement speed +10% Morale of armies
Dharmic Dreaming	+3 Tolerance of heathens +2 Tolerance of heretics
Djunkgao Sisters	−10% Shipbuilding time +1 Naval combat bonus off owned coast
Erathipa	−10% Construction cost −5% Development cost
Islamic Dreaming	+1 Merchant +10% Domestic trade power
Adnoartina	+5% Discipline +10% Prestige from land battles
Moinee	−5% Technology cost
The Rainbow Serpent	+1 Monthly administrative power +1 Monthly diplomatic power +1 Monthly military power
The Spirits	+1 Missionary +1% Missionary strength
Wagyl	+2 Diplomatic relations +0.1 imperial mandate

References

Mechanics

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology

Defense

Fort • Zone of control