Popularity in Crusader

byZtolk and Merepatra

Things that affect Popularity

Popularity is affected by Non Scripted events which are those you can choose to use yourself and Scripted events which are those set into the scenario by the designer and cannot be avoided. Scripted Events in Crusader have the same popularity affect as those in Stronghold, with lions replacing wolves. Non Scripted events have had some major changes.

Non Scripted

Ale Coverage
Ale Coverage is doubled from what it was in Stronghold.

To get 2 Ale Coverage popularity point you need to supply each peasant with 2.3 flagons of ale per year, for 4 popularity points they want 4.6 flagons, for 6 points 6.9 flagons and for the maximum of 8 points they want 9.2 flagons. 1 Barrel of ale = 160 flagons of ale. Each Inn uses 276 flagons (1.725 barrels) of ale per year.

This means you need 1 Inn per 30 peasants to get the maximum +8 points, up to 40 peasants and 1 Inn you will get +6, up to 60 peasants and 1 Inn you will get +4 and up to 120 peasants and 1 Inn you will get +2.

If you have 2 Inns you get the points for double the number of peasants, eg up to 60 peasants at +8, for 3 Inns up to 90 peasants at +8 etc.

Religion
Religion has changed from how it was calculated in Stronghold. The coverage points have doubled and there is no longer a a penalty for people wanting larger religious buildings.

The coverage popularity bonus is based on the % of people in your city who are blessed. Less than 25% there is no effect, from 25-49% you get +2, from 50-74% +4, from 75-99% +6, 100% gets +8.

There is also a +1 bonus for a church, and +2 for a cathedral, for a cumulative value of +3 if you have both buildings.

Tax
Crusader has more tax levels than Stronghold did

Below is a table showing tax rates, the popularity effect of that rate and also how much gold you receive/pay per peasant per month at that rate.

Tax RatePopularity EffectGold per person per month
Generous Bribe+7-1.0
Large Bribe+5-0.8
Small Bribe+3-0.6
No Tax+10.0
Low Tax-20.6
Average Tax-40.8
High Tax-61.0
Mean Tax-81.2
Extortionate-121.4
Downright Cruel-161.6
Even Crueler-201.8
Crueler than Cruel-242.0

Food
Double Rations +8, Extra Rations +4, Normal Rations 0, Half Rations –4, No Rations –8.
2 types of food eaten +1, 3 types of food eaten +2, 4 types of food eaten +3

Crowding
If you have more peasants than you have housing available for then you get a crowding penalty. This is –2 for up to 7 people, -4 for 8-15 people, -6 for 16-23 people and so on with an increase of –2 for every 8 people.

Fear Factor
Each increase in your Fear Factor Pleasant raises your Popularity Rating by 1, each increase in your Fear Factor Cruel decreases your Popularity Rating by 1, to a maximum of 5 in each direction. The number of Good/Bad things needed to change your Fear Factor rating depends on population. For up to 15 people 1 Good Thing is sufficient to change the Fear Factor rating by 1, with another 1 needed for each rating change in the factor up to the maximum of Pleasant 5. From 16 to 31 people you will require 2 Good Things for each rating change, from 32 to 47 you will require 3 and so on, in increments of 16 people. The same applies to Bad Things. If you have a mix of Good and Bad Things then the difference between the amounts of each is what is counted.

Scripted Events

Positive –

Marriage
+8 per month for 3 months

Jester
+2 per month for 12 months

Travelling Fair
+16 per month for 3 months

Negative –

Plague
Immediate negative effect of –20. Then –6 maximum per month for up to 6 months. If you have apothecaries this can be reduced significantly, as they travel through your plagued area the negative number will reduce, with enough apothecaries I have had a city “plague free” i.e. no negative popularity effect remaining, after 2 months.

Lion Attack
Immediate negative effect of –20. Then –3 per month for 3 months or until all lions are killed.

Fire
–2 per month for up to 3 months or until the fire is completely out.

Bandits
–5 per month until bandits withdraw or are all killed.