Demanding Pretender.

[HoneyBadger]

Definitely not an auto-win...it wouldn't be thematic, in my opinion, but maybe the Pretender bestows a level of Holy magic on a random Commander, or the Pretender gains a powerful Second Shape, or forges a random artifact, or creates a new magic site.

Maybe it could be like a role-playing game, where the objectives are things your Hero or Heroes specifically have to perform, and as they do, they develope in power over time.

And it wouldn't even really have to be coded in. It could be part of a scenario, or even a MP where each nation gets a random objective, and then the host distributes the awards upon completion by modifying the in game map.

[Loren]

I like the idea but it needs some tinkering.

How about a new nation. Temple checks produce local dominion but do *NOT* spread it to other provinces.

Instead, you get a series of tasks. There are always a few outstanding, when one is completed another takes it's place. Each task has a number of temple checks associated with it, completing the task grants that many temple checks at the location where it was completed.