Temple Location

[OmikronWarrior]

Every temple generates a "temple check," which has a chance of either improving the Dominion Score in the province its located, or choosing a random neighboring province and raising its dominion score or choosing a random neighboring province and... etc. etc.

So, yeah, Dominion spread does come from temples, so it makes sense to build temples along borders. However, a temple outside of a fortress is a huge target for opponents (though not the AI). Raiders, stealth troops, or regular armies if they get close enough, will attack the province and bye-bye 400 gold investment! Still, when it comes to pushing Dominion near borders, a small attachment of priests will work wonders.

[Ragnars Wolves]

So if you use a Jade knife...the 'extra temple checks' it gets will extend your domain from the place you sacrificed the Blood slave?

[Soyweiser]

Originally Posted by Ragnars Wolves

So if you use a Jade knife...the 'extra temple checks' it gets will extend your domain from the place you sacrificed the Blood slave?

Never checked this myself, but that was the common wisdom, yes.

[JonBrave]

Originally Posted by OmikronWarrior

Every temple generates a "temple check," which has a chance of either improving the Dominion Score in the province its located, or choosing a random neighboring province and raising its dominion score or choosing a random neighboring province and... etc. etc.

So, yeah, Dominion spread does come from temples, so it makes sense to build temples along borders.

Let's go through this in a touch more detail, if I may. Say that all of my owned provinces are already at my maximum dominion level. Does that mean that any successful checks bubble all the way out to my borders? And then at that point I might as well build a new temple back home, on that basis?

[LDiCesare]

Originally Posted by JonBrave

Let's go through this in a touch more detail, if I may. Say that all of my owned provinces are already at my maximum dominion level. Does that mean that any successful checks bubble all the way out to my borders? And then at that point I might as well build a new temple back home, on that basis?

Yes.

Once your dominion is maxed in the province with a temple, the temple check will necessarily expand outwards, so if your whole lands are at max dominion, you can pretty much build new temples wherever you like, they will spread far.
However, I don't think anyone has managed to provide a valid formula for how the temple checks expand outward and when they fail to expand.