How can i change the religion of my empire?

[guvidus]

I was wondering how can i change the religion of my nation and if it possible what factors should i take into consideration.
If, for example, i am playing ERE and i capture a Sasanid town with a Zoroastra temple in it and i make it my capital, the religion of my empire will/can change?
Or if i bribe a Sasanid family member into my faction and i make him Heir, when he will become Emperor the religion will change?

[I of the Storm]

Never thought about that, but it sounds interesting. Try it out and let us know...

And: welcome to the forums

[Stuperman]

you'd probably have to destroy all the non-zoroastrian religious buildings, kill off al family members that arn't zoroastrian (suicide missions). I don't know if you will ever be able to build zoroastrain temples though, having a zoroastrian leader will provide a small conversion bonus.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi and welcome guvidus,

If, for example, i am playing ERE and i capture a Sasanid town with a Zoroastra temple in it and i make it my capital, the religion of my empire will/can change?

In R:TW, sadly, your capital is only there to cause unrest - having a temple, any temple there, will, sadly, not effect the factions religion. However your faction still can convert, but it's very hard to do!

Religion is set by individual settlements. If there is a religious building in the province, then that is the settlement's official religion. If there is no temple, then the govenor's religion effects the settlement's chief diety. If there is no govenor and no temple, then the faction leader's religion is the settlement's default. So, your settlements, and your faction, could become Zoroastrian, but only if your faction leader is Zoroastrian, you have either a Zoroastrian govenor in the settlement or no govenor at all and you have no religious buildings in any province. Very hard to do, but, without modding, sadly, it's the only way to do it.

BTW, you wont get the option to build any temples other than the ones avaliable at the game's start.

Or if i bribe a Sasanid family member into my faction and i make him Heir, when he will become Emperor the religion will change?

As said above, it can change, but only if, as said, you have either a Zoroastrian govenor in a settlement or no govenor at all and you have no religious buildings in any of your province. Your relgious building selection will, unfortunately, never change. Sorry.

Hope this helps, cheers!

[econ21]

I doubt Roman characters can be Zoroastrian - I suspect they can only be pagan or Christian.

However, managing that religious division is a key issue when paying ERE and WRE. Your people will be happier if they are the same religion as their emperor and their governor (and their religious buildings and the neighbouring provinces. This means there is a prima facie case for having only one religion in your Empire.

You can convert the population by building the relevant religious buildings and stationing characters of the desired religion in an area. Look on the "further details" window for each settlement and it will tell you the gross % conversion to each religion per turn. One or two can have a very powerful conversion effect (e.g. if they have a holy relic or good traits).

In practice, I tend to go with the flow with religions. Whatever the majority want, I give them unless it is very even. For the Romans, pagans make better soldiers (the temples give combat bonuses) but Christians may be more content and pay more money. A mix can work.

That holds for Roman starting settlements - for conquered Zoroastrian ones, you probably want to convert them asap.