What the heck are cardinals/merchants for?

[cpt.mcnasty]

I played rome but I dont remember there being cardinals and merchants. Ive used diplomats and im guessing princesses are to marry people? although Id like that cleared up as well. Can any1 explain to me the purpose of these new characters?

[Dooz]

I'm sure the excellent, hefty manual that came with your copy of the game has something to say about them, no? If that doesn't suit your needs, the many threads and FAQ stickies will do the job just fine as well. It's good to look around before starting a new thread about commonly discussed things :2thumbsup: .

[IRONxMortlock]

Hi Cpt.McNasty and welcome to the forums!

I've yet to have much success with merchants but apparently they can make you some more money when you place them on a valuable resource. As they gain experience you can use them to attempt to take over another merchant's business and this is supposed to provide you with a hefty chunk of cash. People here have reported greater success when they use the merchants in pairs.

When you place priests and cardinals in lands with a different religion they will start to convert the populace. This way if you send them ahead of your army, you can make it easier for yourself to control a foreign city once your army captures it. Also, you can use these characters to attempt to remove heretics from your land. If you don't the heretics will slowly convert your population thus earning you disfavour with the papacy. Finally, I believe having many priests and cardinals improves your standing with the pope thus making it less likely he will send annoying inquisitors to your lands and more likely that he will ex-communicate another catholic nation should it attack you. I also understand that if you have some high piety cardinals you will stand a good chance of getting one these men elected as pope should the current one die.

Good luck and good games! :D