Alexander is the spiritual leader…

[DeckerdJames]

It would be good if Alexander were to be considered his own spiritual leader of his nation, and so he doesn’t earn a great prophet ever. Instead, he gets a special ability.

He gets plus one faith for every military unit that he has. That represents their faith in him.

I propose that as an enhancement to him. Do you think it’s going to make him too strong?

 

[BlueWildRye]

I'm certainly not one to talk here, but don't you need a great prophet to found a religion? Would Alexander then be incapable of founding a religion (like Mvemba a Nzinga), or would he have his own way of doing so? Once again, I'm not the one to answer your question of whether your proposed ability is too strong or not, although +1 faith per military unit definitely seems like a lot. You do have an interesting concept, though.

 

[DeckerdJames]

no, I don’t like the idea that he can’t have a religion. That idea sounded better at the time.

 

[Monene]

You could give him the ability to gain great prophet points for each military unit, in any case it becomes faith after obtaining the prophet

 

[Evie]

Why, though? Alexander isn't especially tied to the development of religion, other than being deified (a status shared with a number of other leaders in the game).

 

[Patine]

It would be good if Alexander were to be considered his own spiritual leader of his nation, and so he doesn’t earn a great prophet ever. Instead, he gets a special ability.

He gets plus one faith for every military unit that he has. That represents their faith in him.

I propose that as an enhancement to him. Do you think it’s going to make him too strong?

Cribbed right from Age of Empires 1's expansion Rise of Rome, conceptually, more or less. But it's very weak and dubious. Alexander was very much a Greek Polytheist, and even compared himself to Achilles and Hypastpis to Patraclus. He didn't even create a formal cult around himself, like Caligula did. He even consulted the Oracle of Delphi. He was no different than Pericles or Leonidas, in this way.

 

[Oberinspektor Derrick]

You could give him the ability to gain great prophet points for each military unit, in any case it becomes faith after obtaining the prophet

That's incredibly broken and very bad design, as it would get an extreme edge in gpp generation and make any other civ obsolete for fast religion purposes. Russia is already too strong at it, and this is just far beyond that even.

 

[Monene]

You can give him faith for victories in combat, in addition, conquered cities adopt his religion and of course, he adopts the pantheon or beliefs of all those who are part of his extensive empire.

 

[Patine]

You can give him faith for victories in combat, in addition, conquered cities adopt his religion and of course, he adopts the pantheon or beliefs of all those who are part of his extensive empire.

Again, why would he need his own special mechanic, or warrant it?

 

[Monene]

Because Alexander the Great was more than just a conqueror; he managed to make people admire him as a liberating demigod and always maintained respect for the beliefs of other peoples. This tolerance allowed for the development of Hellenistic syncretism.

 

[Monene]

and not only did he respect them, he promoted them, created temples and made sacrifices in honor of those gods

 

[Patine]

and not only did he respect them, he promoted them, created temples and made sacrifices in honor of those gods

Because Alexander the Great was more than just a conqueror; he managed to make people admire him as a liberating demigod and always maintained respect for the beliefs of other peoples. This tolerance allowed for the development of Hellenistic syncretism.

It sounds more like modern revisionist fandom of him than anything solidly justifiable. And, his, "respect for the beliefs of other peoples," was only for religions he had a cultural and personal respect for, like Mesopotamian and Egyptian Polytheism. His views of Judaism, Zoroastrian, and South Asian Pantheist religions were known to be much less flattering. But, at the end of the day, right up until the lowly mosquito succeeded where many, many warriors had failed, he was an adherent of Greek Polytheism, and did not even maintain a formal practicing Royal Cult around himself.

 

[Monene]

In many cases, it's not what the leader does that matters, but what his followers do for him. They worshipped him; many Greeks still worship him today. The point of the skill is to show that love or blind faith in their leader.

 

[Patine]

In many cases, it's not what the leader does that matters, but what his followers do for him. They worshipped him; many Greeks still worship him today. The point of the skill is to show that love or blind faith in their leader.

I don't believe it's nearly enough to justify a completely different mechanic around religion.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

In many cases, it's not what the leader does that matters, but what his followers do for him. They worshipped him; many Greeks still worship him today. The point of the skill is to show that love or blind faith in their leader.

You could say that for a majority of leaders in the game. I like Alexander the Great too, but I don't think he needs an ability around religion/faith. You could say the same thing happened with Genghis Khan, but does that warrant GPP for every cavalry unit?

 

[Monene]

If the unit has a minimum requirement of 2 promotions, I don't see why not.

 

[Monene]

In the Mongol case, they added the best of the conquered peoples; an ability that allowed them to use units from conquered civilizations wouldn't hurt. And compared to the Greek case, adding pantheons isn't the same as adding religions. Pantheons don't fight each other; religions did a lot of damage to the cohesion of the Mongol Empire.