How do you deal with the Pope?

[Emperor_Palpy]

I have a few options(there are probably more):
1. Do everything the often annoying old man says
2. Pay him off
3. Go crusading as much as possible(kind of goes with #1)
4. The last, not least, and often my favorite option: Did someone mention assassination?

Just curious to know

[Lost Crusader]

I do all this, except #4. I try to ally with him instead.

[zeuxis the mighty]

try to be his ally as soon as you can (send a diplomat right away no matter ho far away you are). With a papal allegiance you can do pretty much whatever you want for a while. Also, Make tons of priests the more priests you have the more likely it is that you will get cardinals and then elect your own pope.

[imb39changedmyusername]

i ahve a fairly healthy relationship with the pope. I think the pope is always homosexual so i always leave one general unmarried, just in case CA put something in they didnt tell us about..... so far the pope hasnt shown any interest in the unmarried generals....

[Monsieur Alphonse]

i ahve a fairly healthy relationship with the pope. I think the pope is always homosexual so i always leave one general unmarried, just in case CA put something in they didnt tell us about..... so far the pope hasnt shown any interest in the unmarried generals....

Sometimes the pope is secretly female

What to do:
1. Try to get an alliance. Every one that attacks you is excommed and an easy target to a crusade.
2. Offer him money per turn (+/- 100 per turn)
3. Try to capture regions in one turn (spies or ballistas). Next turn he will order a stop to the fight and naturally you obey him.
4. If I disobey him and capture the region I give him part of the loot. Usually 5000 is enough to make you his darling again.
5. Build Churches. A cathedral gives one extra cross on the pope o meter.

[antaeus]

3. Try to capture regions in one turn (spies or ballistas). Next turn he will order a stop to the fight and naturally you obey him.

this is good, or attack and when you get told to stop do so, then leave your armies in deliberately antagonistic places so you get attacked by your enemy and they get excommunicated.

[NobleNick]

...What to do:
1. Try to get an alliance. Every one that attacks you is excommed and an easy target to a crusade.
2. Offer him money per turn (+/- 100 per turn)
3. Try to capture regions in one turn (spies or ballistas). Next turn he will order a stop to the fight and naturally you obey him.
4. If I disobey him and capture the region I give him part of the loot. Usually 5000 is enough to make you his darling again.
5. Build Churches. A cathedral gives one extra cross on the pope o meter.

I can personally vouch that Items 2, 3 and 5 have worked for me.

A lot of people say that 100/turn gifted to the Pope works for them. I am always doing naughty things, so I gift 300/turn in the mid to late game. I expect an increase of one cross every 1 to 2 turns when doing this (as long as I am not also doing something naughty in those same turns). When playing as Catholic, I keep a diplomat stationed at the Papal States 100% of the time, for this sole task. This is the single most cost effective thing you can do.

Taking a region in one turn (that means have siege equipment in the stack before it attacks) is essential to getting your way with out ticking off the Grand Papa too much. I like to carry it a step farther, and wipe out entire factions in one turn: If a faction has 4 settlements, send out 4 stacks with siege equipment, to simultaneously take all 4 settlements before end of turn. The faction is destroyed, and no one is left to complain to His Pompousness.

Build churches like mad, until you get to where you can pump out cathedrals. The Pope loves cathedrals.

In addition to these, I have another thing I do: I build lots of priests, from the most highly upgraded churches I can, and send them on mission to Islamic states. Eventually I get enough cardinals into the school to elect my own Pope (best) or to get a Pope favorably disposed towards me. WHatever you do, review the electorates carefully, and make sure you vote for the winning Pope.

[Lost Crusader]

i ahve a fairly healthy relationship with the pope. I think the pope is always homosexual so i always leave one general unmarried, just in case CA put something in they didnt tell us about..... so far the pope hasnt shown any interest in the unmarried generals....

+rep

[Bob The Fearless]

This is one area I really struggle with in this game.

In my current Spanish campaign I'm not doing to bad, building churches and churning out priests etc.

I seem to struggle with improving priests so they can get into the college etc.

Generally try to keep the old guy onside but it normally doesn't work out that way.

[vonKrysiak]

This is one area I really struggle with in this game.

In my current Spanish campaign I'm not doing to bad, building churches and churning out priests etc.

I seem to struggle with improving priests so they can get into the college etc.

Generally try to keep the old guy onside but it normally doesn't work out that way.

Best way to get really good priests is to send them to convert muslim provinces - just send them to marocco or any other moorish provinces and you are sorted

[pwijnands]

This is one area I really struggle with in this game.

In my current Spanish campaign I'm not doing to bad, building churches and churning out priests etc.

I seem to struggle with improving priests so they can get into the college etc.

Generally try to keep the old guy onside but it normally doesn't work out that way.

Build the highest level cathedral as soon as you can in a designated city and use that to train all your priest and therefore also attracting the theologians guild (preferably the guild headquarters). Your priests will start out with a lot more piety and get ancillaries.
To increase the rate at which you attract the theologians guild, try denouncing heretics/witches (and getting your guys in the cardinal seats).

[Bob The Fearless]

VonKrysiak & Pwijnands, thanks for your comments guys

Currently have only enough priests to cover my provenices so they are busy trying to get those to 90% plus before being sent further afield.

Have maxed out church building for now, do have a couple of regions about to upgrade though.

Currently on a crusade now to Eygpt, but still no increase in crosses etc.

Maybe I just need to sit tight for a little while longer and see how things progress.

[antaeus]

set up a hundred gold a turn tribute indefinitely, after about 5 turns you'll never have any trouble with him and the papal states will be your most loyal allies.

crusade... not crusade... wont matter. after a hundred years of payments... your rep with the papal states will be virtually impossible to damage.

[~Beren~]

I always followed the Pope in my campaigns.

Never really bothered me.

[SteelKnight]

Kiss his butt!

[Don in the North]

what i like to do is keep rome infested with spies and/or with assassins killing his buildings.

cuz eventually, sometimes often, the city will revolt and that keeps him really busy for a few turns , especially if his army is off doing something its not supposed to be doing, like conquering lands.

i find that in this period hes less likely to give you b/s missions cept for crusades, which are the whim of other nations.

by gifting him a 50 or 100 per turn tribute for say 100 turns that will allow you to get away with the spy/assassin stuff, maybe skip a few pointless crusades

[The Bronze boy]

You dont have to deal with the pope, if you are the POPE!, cept being excommunicated in vannila as pope is a bit wired, oh well I suppose being able to do whatever you want is fun, while the pope just sits their...with his harem of choirboys

[Old Geezer]

I have been playing a Byzantine campaign for 45 turns and miss the Pope already. No Pope means no crusades and no cheap crusaders and no free upkeep and no fast transport to the target and no increased experience and no increased chivalry and no glory! One just has to budget for him: you don't even have to tithe to keep him happy. Also he can help keep other factions from repeatedly attacking you because some of them don't want to be excommunicated. "Playing the Pope" is a game within the game. I just love giving him Bagdad just before the Mongols or Timmuirds show up.

[Samir]

How do you deal with the Pope?

well either in some dark side street or we meet in the backdoor room of some brothel. Usually he pays me off quiet good, but there was a time when one of his homies tried to pull of a Kansas City Shove on me and I had to pop him...

[Old Geezer]

I thought I had the Pope figured out but in my present Byzantine Kingdoms retrofit campaign he comes and offers and alliance on turn 52 just after I took Ragusa, Venice's last city. I am still in shock. I thought the Pope was more likely to have a Muslim ally.