Quick question

[Kobal2]

To paraphrase Nixon: when the God does it, that means it is not unethical

[Benly]

To put another perspective on it: if you succeed and become Pantokrator, it won't matter what crimes you have committed, as Your will becomes the absolute law of reality, Your followers are exalted above all others, and those who have died in Your service are rewarded eternally (or at least until the wheel turns again). If you fail, it also doesn't matter what crimes you have committed, because you are cast into Tartarus one way or another and your former followers can only hope for mercy from their new absolute master.

That said, this game does have heroes in the traditional fantasy-narrative sense, so it's not all hopeless. Usually you meet them liberating parts of your empire or raiding your slave pens to free your sacrifices.

[krpeters]

Originally Posted by thejeff

Even so, some hardships must be imposed for the greater good. In the real world it was common, the current debacle notwithstanding, to raise taxes to pay for wars.

I can't resist the temptation to go seriously off topic here

Often it is more common to pay for wars by printing money rather than raising taxes. Can we get a dominion mod which allows you to debase your currency?

[thejeff]

Difficult to do when you've got a gold based economy.
Which is not necessarily a good thing. Not being able to expand your money supply as your economy grows is bad. You wind up with serious deflation.

You can also finance your spending by borrowing, from abroad or from your citizens (war bonds, anyone?)

[rdonj]

Recruitable merchant commanders for everyone!

Edit: Just in case this is not clear, I am quite sure this is impossible to actually implement. So no, that won't be happening any time soon.