Can I have DREAD Gen. w/out executed all the time?

[Nazrack]

I've recently taken to splitting my family tree. Causing the royal line to be chivalrous, and a bastard cousin branch to be the dreadful group, however their piety usually suffers, and they're executed by inquisitors.

Can putting spies/priests/assassins w/ the generals help, or bribing the pope constantly to maintain perfect... Are there any places the inquisitors cannot reach me, such as moving all these generals deep into Gaza, etc.

Or, can there be such a thing as a Pious Dreadful general. How would one achieve that. Thanks.

Lastly, I notice even the inquisitors have piety. Is there a formula, such as, so long as the gen's piety is equal or higher then that of the inquisitor, heck... the inquisitor should be outcast. haha. Thanks again.

[TinCow]

The question in the title is different from the question in your body, so I'll answer them both as best I'm able.

Yes, you can have a high dread general without executing all the time, but it is largely based on luck. First, make sure you always continue the battle when the enemy is fleeing, as that will give you some points. The rest will have to come about various city management traits, which are largely out of your control. So, yes, it's possible, but you might not be able to 'force' the guy into dread if the game doesn't start him down that road on its own.

Yes, you can have a high dread and a high piety general. I'm currently playing a game as the Turks and my Sultan has 9 dread and 8 piety. I boosted my dread by always chasing routers, executing prisoners every single time, using assassins multiple times per turn, and taxing the living daylights out of my cities. I boosted my piety by going on 3 successful Jihads, which gave several piety traits and several piety retinue. They also gave a whole bunch of chivalry, but since my dread was so ridiculously high (something like 15 or 16), even a large chivalry boost couldn't drop it lower. However, to combine both of your questions, I doubt you could get a high dread and high piety general without executing.

[Nazrack]

I meant being executed by the Inquis. It's easy to get dread. But how do you keep the general alive? Can you be executed via heresy whilst inside a town, or is it only in the coutryside. I know they can't get you in the water, but a lot of good that does.

My question was, can I have a Dreadful general, without constantly getting executed by the papacy?

[Nazrack]

If I put a priest/ishop in with my army, will that increase the generals piety? I'm trying to get a very dreadful, very pious general to start a family line of like-children. I've heard tax the hell out of your citizens... but if my general is in the field... etc.

what would you experts suggest to increase both piety and dread simultaneously, so as to be a feared leader, but not be destroyed by the church.

... guess i could always play as a muslim. no chance of getting executed by an inquisitor there, and i can't be excomm.

[TinCow]

My recommendation would be to have him participate in as many crusades as possible, while executing all prisoners and massacring all settlements. Just one successful Crusade will bump his piety up pretty high. A second one will probably make him a saint. As long as you're evil in all other circumstances, you should be able to maintain high dread, despite the chivalry from crusading.

[DukeKent]

I agree with TinCow on High Dread, and Piety.

As to the :furious3: ridiculous inquisitors. The easiest solution is to play as an Orthodox faction, or Islamic faction. I am really enjoying playing as the Turks right now. I use the 9 unit box on inquisitors if they come into sight. Surround the inquisitor with a unit on all sides (including corners) then put a unit on top of him. Since I generally kick butt in M2TW against the AI. Nothing is more dangerous than inquisitors to my factions plans. Inquisitors are just plain ridiculous, and should be removed from the game. In fact the Pope, Inquisitors, reputation, and diplomacy are borked in M2TW and got real old, real fast. At least we got killer eye candy :laugh4:
FYI: The 9 unit box also works against other agents such as spys, assassins, priests, and merchants. Doesn't matter what type of unit you use, even peasants will do. If the terrain is right it may not even require 9 units.

[Marquis of Roland]

If all else fails put him on a ship, I don't think inquisitors can get them there.

[TevashSzat]

In my mind, using the 9 unit box is the same as ordering your soldiers to arrest an agent and execute it. If an inquisitor became to eager to burn royal family members in the middle ages, he would not be alowed to wander around killing more people

[Ciaran]

Regarding Chivalry and Dread, I believe the King´s rating is influenced not only by his own actions, but also those of his subordinates.
My current Emperor for instance started out with three Chivalry, but once he got Emperor, his rating degraded, and right now he has two Dread. I doubt it´s only because of assassins and spies, although that might have had some influence (how is one supposed to do without spies?); but I had to exterminate a couple of heathen cities, although I always assign generals who have a dread history anyways to taking cities (and chivalrious ones to castles).

[Lorenzo_H]

I have a general with 10 Chivalry. He is a "Grand Crusader" so thats why.