One idea that I've been thinking of is Papal Authority, and seeing if that can tie into the reformation. At the start of the game I'd imagine Papal Authority would be between 50 and 75 percent of it's maximum, being damaged from the Babylonian captivity and the great western schism. Corruption during this time weakened the Church's Authority, such corruption included simony, and the sale of indulgences, and could be modeled by events or decisions. But if a player is smart and controls events well enough he might be able to grow Papal Authority and save the Church from itself.



The Curia being controlled by an outside country could also weaken it's authority. The most notable example would probably be Rodrigo Borgia, played by the fantastic Jeremy Irons in the Showtime TV Series the Borgias. Rodrigo Borgia, or Pope Alexander VI was a Spanish Bishop, notable for having recognized children, and granting them power positions in the Church. As a side note, he brokered the Treaty of Tordesillas, so it might be cool if having Curia Control was a constraint on having that Treaty be enacted in game. It could serve as a neat mechanic to have the benefits of being curia controller scale with a new variable called Papal Authority. And it would have a built-in negative feedback if the curia was controlled for too long by some power other than the Papacy.



And maybe the reformation should be triggered by Reform Desire getting higher than Papal Authority. Just a thought.



It would also be great if the Printing Press institution didn't explicitly favor Protestants, and maybe showed up at it's historic time. I really don't know what paradox was thinking with that one.

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