[Nagot Gick Fel]

Sandman said:
Blessable pretenders: Well, this all a bit theological,

Perhaps 'theological' is a bit too strong a word here - well, who knows, maybe Kristoffer teaches his students Dominions mythology in real life.

but surely it's not a simple question of personal faith

Personal? Where did I write 'personal'? Your words, not mine.

and sacrifice that confers blessability? What about void summons or those sacred dogs the Tuatha have? I'd say that it's as much a question of the society at large believing in the sanctity of certain units, not just the individual creatures themselves.

It's true we have two kinds of sacred units, the 'zelots' (flagellants, KotC, etc., who are usually recruitable units) and the 'divine beings' (like Angels, Celestial Servants, void monsters, etc., who are usually summoned - I'd put Cu Sidhe in this Category). I don't think many in a sane society would believe in the sanctity of flagellants, although they probably would believe in the sanctity of Angels.

So what? The 'zelot' types get their holy status from their own (personal) faith, and the 'divine' types from the faith of commoners who consider them as sacred - just like football aficionados put faith in the players of the team they support. I see no real difference here: one cause (faith), one effect (holiness).

And who does the society believe in more than anything? The pretender, that's who.

I think you look at all this the wrong way. Pretender gods draw their power from their own magic, and from their followers's beliefs. The blessing system is just a way for gods to grant their most devout followers a part of their power. Eg, a pretender skilled in fire magic will get bonuses to his attack rating, and so will his blessed troops. A pretender skilled in nature magic will regenerate faster when casting the apprioprate spell, and thus if he's skilled enough, his sacred troop may gain regenerative powers. The blessing effects may not always match spell effects, or abilities/stat bonuses gained from magic skills, for many obvious reasons - anyway it's also obvious the pretender is the source of these blessings. And now you want him to get a part of this gifted power back - to me it's just like you want to make the sun shine brighter by refecting its own light back with mirrors.

And BTW, I completely forgot to address this other point:

How about if pretenders (and maybe prophets) could derive extra power from bringing their priests into the battle? Maybe there could a special buff that priests could cast to help their deity, or a communionish effect that only worked between priest and god.

You're just asking for something that already exists in the game. Pretenders get extra power and buffs (in the form of stat increases) in provinces where lots of people believe in them (IOW, where their dominion is high).

Fortress Types: With regards to the Ulmish resource bonus, the way I would do it would be for there to be at least two Ulm-specific fortress types, which would grant the resource bonus, as well as being very good forts in their own right. But there'd also be other forts available, with their own specific bonuses.

Makes sense to me. Having to raise a full fortified city where you only need a watchtower is something I've always found... odd.