Dominions 3: The Awakening/God Design/Dominion

Dominion represents the religious influence of a Pretender God. Each province in the world can be under the dominion of one Pretender God, or neutral. Dominion cannot overlap: you must drive out enemy Dominion in order to establish your own.

Conquering a province does not automatically give you dominion over it, or vice versa. Military control of a province and dominion over that province can help reinforce each other, but they are not the same thing.

Spreading Dominion

• Pretender Gods and, for most nations, Prophets automatically spread dominion by their presence.
• Temples automatically spread dominion for most nations.
• Most nations' priests can preach to reduce enemy dominion or increase friendly dominion.
• Priests of some nations can perform blood sacrifices in temples to spread the dominion of their Pretender God.
• Some magic items or magically summoned or constructed units also have an effect on dominion (either positive or negative).
• Some random events can affect dominion.

Effects of Dominion

• A Pretender God who has no dominion anywhere in the world is immediately eliminated from the game. This is sometimes called a Dominion Kill.
• Pretender Gods and Prophets receive bonuses to hit points, strength, and magic resistance in friendly dominion, and penalties in enemy dominion.
• All non-mindless troops receive a morale bonus in friendly dominion and a morale penalty in enemy dominion.
• Each Pretender God's dominion can affect the Scales of Dominion, which can have many effects on the province, changing its climate, social conditions, random events and even the effectiveness of magic in the province.
• Friendly dominion (that is, matching the province's current ruler) slightly decreases unrest. Enemy dominion slightly increases it.
• Some global enchantments take effect only in the dominion of the caster's Pretender God. The strength of the effect is often tied to the strength of dominion in a given province.
• Some nations' dominion also has other special effects such as scrying, causing disease or insanity, or even killing off the entire population and converting them into undead. These effects are tied to that particular nation and cannot be changed in god design.