Diplomacy

Reputation & relations

Two numbers drive diplomacy, both running from -1 to +1. Your reputation is how trustworthy the whole world thinks you are. Relations are how each faction feels about you personally.

Drift over time

Every turn, relations and reputation drift a little towards a resting point. Good and bad deeds push them away from it; time pulls them back.

AI factions are also wary of other faiths: they drift towards Poor or Very Poor with other religions, and only towards So-so with their own.

What helps

What improves your standing:

• Gifts of money do nothing for your reputation and very little for relations. You'll usually have to wait for the AI to offer alliances and ceasefires.
• Sacking or exterminating a city only angers the Pope (when the victims are Catholic) - but it still counts as a hostile act against the owner.

Hostile acts

Hostile acts, and how far they push each side's opinion of you. "5% towards Abysmal" means the faction's opinion moves 5% of the remaining distance to Abysmal - repeated acts add up.

• Their enemies like you a bit more whenever you hurt them.
• On Very Hard, fast conquest also makes you a warmonger, which drags every faction's opinion down each turn.

When the AI attacks

When the AI decides to attack you (the campaign AI's rules):

• Trusted ally: an AI ally won't backstab you while it likes you at least So-so (-0.25) and your reputation is at least 0.3 (above Reliable).
• Until turn 70, allies are much less likely to attack you if your reputation is at least Mixed (about 0).
• Until turn 50, a stronger AI holds back from a weaker player whose reputation is at least Mixed.
• If you're already at war with one faction, a stronger neighbour with no other wars won't pile in before turn 100; with two wars, not before turn 150.
• Trusted allies won't attack you before turn 150. After that, a big ally (15+ settlements) that isn't at least 1.5x your strength may turn on you.
• A neighbour that dislikes you at Very Poor (-0.65) or worse, and has at least half your strength, attacks immediately.
• On Hard and Very Hard, AIs that aren't trusted allies are increasingly eager to attack the player.

Getting peace

• If an enemy's opinion of you is below Very Poor, it won't make peace at any price. This usually follows a war declaration or a captured settlement.
• To get there: stay in your own lands, release prisoners, avoid more hostile acts, and let time pull relations back up.
• Send a diplomat every turn - the AI sometimes accepts at random, or when it's much weaker or fighting too many wars.
• Catholic factions under a papal ceasefire order must accept peace with a Catholic player.
• Keep around 10,000 florins for buying peace when it's offered.
• Your enemy is far more willing to make peace once another faction attacks it.

By faction

Each faction has natural friends and rivals, and as it grows its neighbours turn against it. Pick a faction to see how others feel about it at each size, and which settlements are its sphere of influence.

Capturing a settlement outside your sphere of influence costs -0.1 reputation, sharply worsens the victim's opinion (12.5% towards Abysmal) and slightly worsens everyone else's. Inside it, conquest is seen as legitimate.

Religion & the Pope

Building and destroying religious buildings changes how each faith sees you. Values are added to relations (and your reputation) when the building is finished or destroyed.

Recruiting a priest: +0.01 with factions of your faith, -0.01 or -0.02 with the others.

The Pope

• Catholic players' relations with the Pope drift towards Good (+0.4); every non-Catholic drifts towards Abysmal.
• Papal missions: success +0.05 to +0.3, failure -0.05 to -0.5.
• A cardinal promoted +0.1, removed -0.1; voting for the elected Pope +0.2; your own cardinal elected +0.3.
• Excommunication: Pope -0.4, Catholic factions -0.1, Muslim and pagan factions +0.1.
• Attacking a Catholic faction (when it isn't excommunicated) angers the Pope: -0.1 for declaring war, -0.15 for sacking, -0.25 for exterminating.