Presenting....:
SELIN
Spirituality Enhanced for Lux Invicta by Numahr
Note: "legacy" SELIN presentation accessible here in its 2nd, pre-The Old Gods version
Installation: Since its inception, SELIN is integrated in the game files, so there is no need to make a separate download.
Goal
SELIN aims to bring strategic depth and reinforced immersion to Lux Invicta's religions, by covering the whole scope of LI's amazing religious diversity with even depth and attention.
At the time of the release of SELIN, Lux Invicta included no less than 156 religions. This figure is 272 today, including 197 accessible in the initial game set-up. This mad religious set up has something epic in that it mixes well documented historical developments with crazy creativity in an unique blend.
Clearly the presence of so many spiritual constructs shows a world deeply infused by religion. However, before SELIN, it made no big difference to belong to one or another of these diverse religions. This was my immediate frustration when I played LI, as I wanted to "feel" the game differently depending on the faith of my character and of my empire.
Approach
It would be impossible to carefully design with equal depth features for 272 religions, some of them frankly less familiar to us than others. To tackle this issue, SELIN takes a systemic approach. A series of characteristics are granted in-game properties. Each religion is assigned characteristics. As a result, each religion receives an unique combination of features. At the core of these features are modifiers, impacting all aspects of the game depending on your religion's characteristics. The goal is that you will play different game each time you pick up a new religion.
Modifiers is where everything started. Starting with The Old Gods, SELIN has expanded with CK2's new features to encompass a much broader scope. Different religions have different Holy Orders, different Casus Belli, different Holy Sites, different heresy dynamics, etc.
Here is the scope of features integrated with SELIN. Each religion is uniquely defined along the following features (non exhaustive list):
- Head of Religion
None, Independent Head, Vassal Head, Ruler Head or Autocephaly
- Access to special Casus Belli
Some religions grant access to special Casus Belli such as Sacred War, Conversion War, Expansion War, Total War, Prepared Invasion or Liberation Wars. Costs and conditions for standard LI Casus Belli vary slightly. Some religions have a bonus at forging claims.
- Warfare
Potential Levy Size, Minimum and Maximum Levy from vassals differentiated by type of vassal, Modifiers to different types of troops and to morale when attacking and/or when defending homeland, Land organization, Fort level, Raiding ability, Defensive Attrition, Resilience to Defensive Attrition, Prestige lost at peace, Bonus to independence warscore, No malus for raised levies.
-> you will fight wars very differently if you are a Germanic Martial religion or if you are a Buddhist Statist religion...
- Holy Orders
Size and Composition tailored based on each religion's characteristics
- Reforming dynamic
A religion can be unreformed at start or pre-reformed. All unreformed religions can reform. Holy Sites are distributed for all religions, many of them being "shared", some of them being unique to each religion.
- Conversion & Heresies
Access to Missionaries, Conversion bonus, Resistance bonus, Vulnerability to heresies, Morale Authority modifiers
- Politics
Sectarianism*, Clanic authority-based politics*, Access to Slavery, Succession Laws, Inter-religious marriages, Aggression level, Short Reign Malus, Heir Selection, Gender Laws, Revolt Risk, Opinion modifiers towards various categories, Research
*: special Lux Invicta concepts, see SELIN Manual for more info
- Economy
Base Income generation, Vassal Taxation level differentiated by type of vassal, Build Time and Cost modifier
- Personal
Monthly authority (LI concept for prestige) and piety gain for rulers, attribute modifiers
The Matrix of Religions
This is SELIN's engine. It serves the purpose of defining unique features mentioned above for each and every religion present in Lux Invicta in a manageable and understandable manner. Basically each religion is defined by four mandatory characteristics + an optional one:
- It belongs to a Civilization;
- Its doctrine has a Status;
- It has a Soul.
(- Optionally, it may have an Ascendant, which is basically another Civilization with only 50% influence for modifiers and no impact on special features)
- It has a Mentality, which determines the religion's effectiveness at converting others and resisting conversion.
Typology of Religions
Each characteristic is related to a specific set of modifiers and features. For more info on what each characteristic entails, you may want to explore documents in the 2nd post.
Civilizations:
- Archaic
- Barbarian
- Buddhist
- Celtic
- Chinese
- Christian
- Gnostic
- Graeco-Roman
- Indian
- Islamic
- Jewish
- Mesoamerican
- Norse
- Persian
- Saharan
- Shamanic
- Steppe
Doctrinal status:
- Mainstream doctrine: Its doctrine is mainstream: it is recognized as one of the main doctrinal systems in its most legitimate form.
Characters of mainstream religions gain prestige and are generally well considered. Temples enjoy tax privileges (tax malus for rulers).
- Local Variation: Local Variation of a mainstream religious current, favouring social harmony over doctrinal purity.
Church does not like it but vassals do. More pragmatical (stewardship) but cynical characters.
- Heretical doctrine: Its doctrine is Heretical, openly challenging the supremacy of a mainstream doctrine, either through the pen or the sword.
Politics and economics are more challenging but the believers have overall personal bonii. These religions rely more on communities around temples and castles where heresies tend to flourish, and less so on cityfolk. They improve defences and fortifications. Levy growth bonus. Better military research.
Soul:
This is the most influential characteristic
- Statist: the faith is strongly infused with legitimation rethorics supporting political power, as the religion is instrumentalized by the Prince to strengthen its hold on society.
- Martial: heroic deeds on the battlefield are glorified as the finest sign of holiness.
- Populist: strives to achieve equality in this world, supporting the commoners against the privileged classes and doctrinal formalism.
- Scholarly: encourages critical study or creative interpretation of holy scriptures, natural and social phenomena to reach the Truth. Key doctrinal questions are open to contradictory debates among the clergy and believers.
- Messianic: believers see the state of the world as hopelessly flawed, but their divine-inspired deeds shall bring forth salvation in our time, against all odds!
- Traditional: the faith follows the ancient traditions of the commoners and local notables, and it has slowly evolved, if at all, throughout the recent era of troubles and turmoils.
- Clerical: the religion revolves around the many rules and rites set up by the clergy, which enjoys a privileged status in society and a large degree of autonomy from the Prince.
Mentality:
- Ancestral: Very weak at converting, strong at resisting conversions (concerns only and all unreformed religions).
- Bastion of the Faith: A somehow superior form of the Ancestral mentality with more self-consciousness. Weak at converting (but can send missionaries), very strong at resisting conversions.
- Proselyte: Strong at converting, vulnerable to conversions.
Spiritual challenges!
Suggestions for interesting LI games
(Work in Progress)
Thanks
Many have contributed to SELIN. Thanks go to:
- Futuregary for maintaining the module in my absence, co-designing many features and coding in new religions of the Eastern Expansion, DarkReborn for many great features, richvh and other councillors for support, ideas, feedback and bug-fixing
- ColonelWright, david3k, Jedrek, vyshan, Cèsar de Quart, conqueror, Furion Matsuya, herkles and many others for contributing to coding, drafting descriptions and researches.
- ... and of course Shaytana for creating this incredible mod and for the many discussions on the religions' background (the CREATOR)
SELIN
Spirituality Enhanced for Lux Invicta by Numahr
Note: "legacy" SELIN presentation accessible here in its 2nd, pre-The Old Gods version
Installation: Since its inception, SELIN is integrated in the game files, so there is no need to make a separate download.
Goal
SELIN aims to bring strategic depth and reinforced immersion to Lux Invicta's religions, by covering the whole scope of LI's amazing religious diversity with even depth and attention.
At the time of the release of SELIN, Lux Invicta included no less than 156 religions. This figure is 272 today, including 197 accessible in the initial game set-up. This mad religious set up has something epic in that it mixes well documented historical developments with crazy creativity in an unique blend.
Clearly the presence of so many spiritual constructs shows a world deeply infused by religion. However, before SELIN, it made no big difference to belong to one or another of these diverse religions. This was my immediate frustration when I played LI, as I wanted to "feel" the game differently depending on the faith of my character and of my empire.
Approach
It would be impossible to carefully design with equal depth features for 272 religions, some of them frankly less familiar to us than others. To tackle this issue, SELIN takes a systemic approach. A series of characteristics are granted in-game properties. Each religion is assigned characteristics. As a result, each religion receives an unique combination of features. At the core of these features are modifiers, impacting all aspects of the game depending on your religion's characteristics. The goal is that you will play different game each time you pick up a new religion.
Modifiers is where everything started. Starting with The Old Gods, SELIN has expanded with CK2's new features to encompass a much broader scope. Different religions have different Holy Orders, different Casus Belli, different Holy Sites, different heresy dynamics, etc.
Here is the scope of features integrated with SELIN. Each religion is uniquely defined along the following features (non exhaustive list):
- Head of Religion
None, Independent Head, Vassal Head, Ruler Head or Autocephaly
- Access to special Casus Belli
Some religions grant access to special Casus Belli such as Sacred War, Conversion War, Expansion War, Total War, Prepared Invasion or Liberation Wars. Costs and conditions for standard LI Casus Belli vary slightly. Some religions have a bonus at forging claims.
- Warfare
Potential Levy Size, Minimum and Maximum Levy from vassals differentiated by type of vassal, Modifiers to different types of troops and to morale when attacking and/or when defending homeland, Land organization, Fort level, Raiding ability, Defensive Attrition, Resilience to Defensive Attrition, Prestige lost at peace, Bonus to independence warscore, No malus for raised levies.
-> you will fight wars very differently if you are a Germanic Martial religion or if you are a Buddhist Statist religion...
- Holy Orders
Size and Composition tailored based on each religion's characteristics
- Reforming dynamic
A religion can be unreformed at start or pre-reformed. All unreformed religions can reform. Holy Sites are distributed for all religions, many of them being "shared", some of them being unique to each religion.
- Conversion & Heresies
Access to Missionaries, Conversion bonus, Resistance bonus, Vulnerability to heresies, Morale Authority modifiers
- Politics
Sectarianism*, Clanic authority-based politics*, Access to Slavery, Succession Laws, Inter-religious marriages, Aggression level, Short Reign Malus, Heir Selection, Gender Laws, Revolt Risk, Opinion modifiers towards various categories, Research
*: special Lux Invicta concepts, see SELIN Manual for more info
- Economy
Base Income generation, Vassal Taxation level differentiated by type of vassal, Build Time and Cost modifier
- Personal
Monthly authority (LI concept for prestige) and piety gain for rulers, attribute modifiers
The Matrix of Religions
This is SELIN's engine. It serves the purpose of defining unique features mentioned above for each and every religion present in Lux Invicta in a manageable and understandable manner. Basically each religion is defined by four mandatory characteristics + an optional one:
- It belongs to a Civilization;
- Its doctrine has a Status;
- It has a Soul.
(- Optionally, it may have an Ascendant, which is basically another Civilization with only 50% influence for modifiers and no impact on special features)
- It has a Mentality, which determines the religion's effectiveness at converting others and resisting conversion.
Typology of Religions
Each characteristic is related to a specific set of modifiers and features. For more info on what each characteristic entails, you may want to explore documents in the 2nd post.
Civilizations:
- Archaic
- Barbarian
- Buddhist
- Celtic
- Chinese
- Christian
- Gnostic
- Graeco-Roman
- Indian
- Islamic
- Jewish
- Mesoamerican
- Norse
- Persian
- Saharan
- Shamanic
- Steppe
Doctrinal status:
- Mainstream doctrine: Its doctrine is mainstream: it is recognized as one of the main doctrinal systems in its most legitimate form.
Characters of mainstream religions gain prestige and are generally well considered. Temples enjoy tax privileges (tax malus for rulers).
- Local Variation: Local Variation of a mainstream religious current, favouring social harmony over doctrinal purity.
Church does not like it but vassals do. More pragmatical (stewardship) but cynical characters.
- Heretical doctrine: Its doctrine is Heretical, openly challenging the supremacy of a mainstream doctrine, either through the pen or the sword.
Politics and economics are more challenging but the believers have overall personal bonii. These religions rely more on communities around temples and castles where heresies tend to flourish, and less so on cityfolk. They improve defences and fortifications. Levy growth bonus. Better military research.
Soul:
This is the most influential characteristic
- Statist: the faith is strongly infused with legitimation rethorics supporting political power, as the religion is instrumentalized by the Prince to strengthen its hold on society.
- Martial: heroic deeds on the battlefield are glorified as the finest sign of holiness.
- Populist: strives to achieve equality in this world, supporting the commoners against the privileged classes and doctrinal formalism.
- Scholarly: encourages critical study or creative interpretation of holy scriptures, natural and social phenomena to reach the Truth. Key doctrinal questions are open to contradictory debates among the clergy and believers.
- Messianic: believers see the state of the world as hopelessly flawed, but their divine-inspired deeds shall bring forth salvation in our time, against all odds!
- Traditional: the faith follows the ancient traditions of the commoners and local notables, and it has slowly evolved, if at all, throughout the recent era of troubles and turmoils.
- Clerical: the religion revolves around the many rules and rites set up by the clergy, which enjoys a privileged status in society and a large degree of autonomy from the Prince.
Mentality:
- Ancestral: Very weak at converting, strong at resisting conversions (concerns only and all unreformed religions).
- Bastion of the Faith: A somehow superior form of the Ancestral mentality with more self-consciousness. Weak at converting (but can send missionaries), very strong at resisting conversions.
- Proselyte: Strong at converting, vulnerable to conversions.
Spiritual challenges!
Suggestions for interesting LI games
(Work in Progress)
In the Levant...
- As Prince of Sabaa, give back to the Old Gods Almaqah and Ash-Shams their due; the Empire of Arabia!
- You worship the Kaaba in Mecca... as it is the siege of your God's presence on Earth, Hubal. Drive the heretical Mahometans far away from your holy place!
- True Islam has been distorted by the foul practices of the Sunni Caliph... Preserve Mahomet's authentic message, battle the Caliph over it and restore Islam to its original purity, as the leader of the Zahiri, Haruriyyah or Ash'ari sect! (all coming with different features justified by the specificities of each madhhab)
- Lead the Hashashins in battle and in covert actions! Your heretical messianic Qarmatian sect, infused with strong Persian influences, gives you the best assassins of the Levant, impregnable forts, a good recruitment system and fanatical soldiers who will happily die for you on your order. Your faith also gives you a taste for learning and a remarkable piety. Your neighbors fear and hate you... What are you waiting to strike first?!
- As a Yahianist Leader, will you be able to unite all these quarrelling religions through your messianic message? Your gnostic heretical messianic religion provides you with a steady supply of fanatical martyrs-to-be and an unrivalled piety...
- As ruler of the rationalist 'Ilm Islam, will you survive more militarist neighbours to become a beacon of enlightenment to the world, bringing forth a real "Renaissance" of the classical values when the prophet was discussing about the Love of Reason in passionate debates?
- As King of the last bastion of the Luwian religion, will you be able to keep alive and make prosper again the 2 millennia-old Hittite faith? Most call your religion archaic, but you only know what the true meaning of civilization is...
In the Orient...
- As a follower of Mazdak, will you be able to conduct your populist revolution and force true equality on this world? Petty or Grand rulers tend to hate you because of your revolutionary message, your provinces are self-ruled and you'd rather share the commoners' poverty, but your people is ready to die en masse for their precious liberty...
- As the leader of one of the Hindo-Hellen faiths, prove to the others that your own religious synthesis, created by your forefathers, is the superior one! All of them are close to each other, well suited for patient empire-building and cultural development, with slight differences in style depending on their Ascendants...
- As a Parthian worshipper of Angra Mainyu/Ahriman, you swore to release the Destructive Spirit on the lands of the meek worshipers of Ahura Mazda. Burn all the Zoroastrian clergy and the wicked heirs of the doomed Sassan clan in one holy Fire of Vengeance and Salvation!
- As a follower of the true Zoroastrian religion... your faith is your ally in re-building the empire. The clergy can provide you the necessary legitimacy to your ambitions. Will Cyrus the Great and Shapur II the Great recognize you as the restorer of the Persian Empire?
- As Prince of Sabaa, give back to the Old Gods Almaqah and Ash-Shams their due; the Empire of Arabia!
- You worship the Kaaba in Mecca... as it is the siege of your God's presence on Earth, Hubal. Drive the heretical Mahometans far away from your holy place!
- True Islam has been distorted by the foul practices of the Sunni Caliph... Preserve Mahomet's authentic message, battle the Caliph over it and restore Islam to its original purity, as the leader of the Zahiri, Haruriyyah or Ash'ari sect! (all coming with different features justified by the specificities of each madhhab)
- Lead the Hashashins in battle and in covert actions! Your heretical messianic Qarmatian sect, infused with strong Persian influences, gives you the best assassins of the Levant, impregnable forts, a good recruitment system and fanatical soldiers who will happily die for you on your order. Your faith also gives you a taste for learning and a remarkable piety. Your neighbors fear and hate you... What are you waiting to strike first?!
- As a Yahianist Leader, will you be able to unite all these quarrelling religions through your messianic message? Your gnostic heretical messianic religion provides you with a steady supply of fanatical martyrs-to-be and an unrivalled piety...
- As ruler of the rationalist 'Ilm Islam, will you survive more militarist neighbours to become a beacon of enlightenment to the world, bringing forth a real "Renaissance" of the classical values when the prophet was discussing about the Love of Reason in passionate debates?
- As King of the last bastion of the Luwian religion, will you be able to keep alive and make prosper again the 2 millennia-old Hittite faith? Most call your religion archaic, but you only know what the true meaning of civilization is...
In the Orient...
- As a follower of Mazdak, will you be able to conduct your populist revolution and force true equality on this world? Petty or Grand rulers tend to hate you because of your revolutionary message, your provinces are self-ruled and you'd rather share the commoners' poverty, but your people is ready to die en masse for their precious liberty...
- As the leader of one of the Hindo-Hellen faiths, prove to the others that your own religious synthesis, created by your forefathers, is the superior one! All of them are close to each other, well suited for patient empire-building and cultural development, with slight differences in style depending on their Ascendants...
- As a Parthian worshipper of Angra Mainyu/Ahriman, you swore to release the Destructive Spirit on the lands of the meek worshipers of Ahura Mazda. Burn all the Zoroastrian clergy and the wicked heirs of the doomed Sassan clan in one holy Fire of Vengeance and Salvation!
- As a follower of the true Zoroastrian religion... your faith is your ally in re-building the empire. The clergy can provide you the necessary legitimacy to your ambitions. Will Cyrus the Great and Shapur II the Great recognize you as the restorer of the Persian Empire?
Thanks
Many have contributed to SELIN. Thanks go to:
- Futuregary for maintaining the module in my absence, co-designing many features and coding in new religions of the Eastern Expansion, DarkReborn for many great features, richvh and other councillors for support, ideas, feedback and bug-fixing
- ColonelWright, david3k, Jedrek, vyshan, Cèsar de Quart, conqueror, Furion Matsuya, herkles and many others for contributing to coding, drafting descriptions and researches.
- ... and of course Shaytana for creating this incredible mod and for the many discussions on the religions' background (the CREATOR)
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