So you want to mod a currently existing or create a new faith/religion? There is a lot of different things you can do with religions, but for starters we can check religion family.

Each religion belongs to a family. The three vanilla families are Abrahamic, Eastern and Pagan. For instance:

• Christianity and Islam are part of the Abrahamic Family
• Slavism and Tengrism are part of the Pagan Family
• Mulkhêrhili is a part of forces of evil Family

Religion families are located in \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\religion_families. For example, the forces of evil Family is defined as follows:

rf_forcesofevil = {
	is_pagan = yes
	piety_icon_group = "pagan"
	graphical_faith = "islamic_gfx"
	hostility_doctrine = forcesofevil_hostility_doctrine
	doctrine_background_icon = core_tenet_banner_blank.dds
} 

Below is a list of all parameters that can be set for religion families.

So when you are making new Religions and Reforms and want to change your faith icon, you need to have a pool of them in your Religious Family your part of. You need to add the code which shows all the faith icons under a Religious family file in the folder \RealmsInExile\LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\religions to determine what custom faiths that religious family can use.

Code List of all current Icons (List updated 2023-04-28);

Example on how it looks in the code for a religious family:

If you have followed these steps and added more code for faith icons for a religious family then it should be allowed to use more(or rather the ones that you specific added) faith icons

So we now know that each religion is part of a Family, but about the religion itself? Well, religions are located in the \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\religions folder. Each religion is defined within a txt file, and the faiths that belong to it are defined within that definition. Here is an example of a realms in exile religion:

Below is a list of all parameters that can be set for religions; WIP

Faiths are defined within the faith clause of a religion. They can overwrite default doctrines and graphics set for the whole religion. Here is an example of a fictional faith within the religion defined above.

Below is a list of all parameters that can be set for faiths; WIP

Below is a list of keys that you can have in the religions txt file that needs to be paired for localization(\LotRRealmsInExileDev\localization\english\religion and choice lotr_religion_gods_l_english yml file). Although you can use this as a reference, it is also possible to simply copy and paste this list from a vanilla file and add your own keys where needed. Although many items in the list are not relevant to many religions/faiths, they can simply be assigned to a key used by another more relevant item. (e.g. FertilityGodName in Christianity is given as "$christianity_high_god_name$" in the localization file):

HighGodName
HighGodNamePossessive
HighGodNameSheHe
HighGodHerselfHimself
HighGodHerHis
HighGodNameAlternate
HighGodNameAlternatePossessive
CreatorName
CreatorNamePossessive
CreatorSheHe
CreatorHerHis
CreatorHerHim
HealthGodName
HealthGodNamePossessive
HealthGodSheHe
HealthGodHerHis
HealthGodHerHim
FertilityGodName
FertilityGodNamePossessive
FertilityGodSheHe
FertilityGodHerHis
FertilityGodHerHim
WealthGodName
WealthGodNamePossessive
WealthGodSheHe
WealthGodHerHis
WealthGodHerHim
HouseholdGodName
HouseholdGodNamePossessive
HouseholdGodSheHe
HouseholdGodHerHis
HouseholdGodHerHim
FateGodName
FateGodNamePossessive
FateGodSheHe
FateGodHerHis
FateGodHerHim
KnowledgeGodName
KnowledgeGodNamePossessive
KnowledgeGodSheHe
KnowledgeGodHerHis
KnowledgeGodHerHim
WarGodName
WarGodNamePossessive
WarGodSheHe
WarGodHerHis
WarGodHerHim
TricksterGodName
TricksterGodNamePossessive
TricksterGodSheHe
TricksterGodHerHis
TricksterGodHerHim
NightGodName
NightGodNamePossessive
NightGodSheHe
NightGodHerHis
NightGodHerHim
WaterGodName
WaterGodNamePossessive
WaterGodSheHe
WaterGodHerHis
WaterGodHerHim
PantheonTerm
PantheonTermHasHave
GoodGodNames (list)
DevilName
DevilNamePossessive
DevilSheHe
DevilHerHis
DevilHerselfHimself
EvilGodNames (list)
HouseOfWorship
HouseOfWorshipPlural
ReligiousSymbol
ReligiousText
ReligiousHeadName
ReligiousHeadTitleName
DevoteeMale
DevoteeMalePlural
DevoteeFemalePlural
DevoteeNeuter
DevoteeNeuterPlural
PriestMale
PriestMalePlural
PriestFemale
PriestFemalePlural
PriestNeuter
PriestNeuterPlural
AltPriestTermPlural
BishopMale
BishopMalePlural
BishopFemale
BishopFemalePlural
BishopNeuter
BishopNeuterPlural
DivineRealm
PositiveAfterLife
NegativeAfterLife
DeathDeityName
DeathDeityNamePossessive
DeathDeitySheHe
DeathDeityHerHis
WitchGodName
WitchGodHerHis
WitchGodSheHe
WitchGodHerHim
WitchGodMistressMaster
WitchGodMotherFather
GHWName
GHWNamePlural

The localization clause in both faiths and religions provides key-value pairs for localization. However, this clause does not include object localization for the religion/faith itself and its basic properties. The following localization keys also need defining:

• <religion/faith_name>
• <religion/faith_name>_adj
• <religion/faith_name>_adherent
• <religion/faith_name>_adherent_plural
• <religion/faith_name>_desc

Go to the folder path \LotRRealmsInExileDev\localization\english\religion and choice the yml file for the religious family you wanna add, then fill in the basic properties described above.

No graphical modding is required to create a religion or faith, since there is an abundance of icons in the vanilla game, either in use by other religions or reserved for custom faiths. However, adding a new icon is very simple, if you feel that none of the vanilla icons are fitting for your religion. In the path /gfx/interface/icons/faith, create a new 100x100 dds file. The name of the file is how the icon is referred to in the religion file. (e.g. icon = lobbist will refer to /gfx/interface/icons/faith/lobbist.dds).

Custom holy sites can be added in a text document lotr_holy_sites.txt found in the \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\holy_sites folder. Each site is identified by a name, and contains information on the location of the site and the benefits (or potentially negatives) it brings.

orthanc = {
	county = c_isengard
	barony = b_orthanc
	character_modifier = {
		name = holy_site_orthanc_effect_name
		men_at_arms_maintenance = -0.1
	}
}

Below are the attributes which can be assigned to a holy site. Only the county is necessary. WIP

Holy sites Localization is found in the folder path \LotRRealmsInExileDev\localization\english\religion and then you open the yml file lotr_religion_holy_sites_l_english.yml with notepad++. The Holy sites Localization can use the following keys in localization:

• holy_site__name
• holy_site__effect_name
• holy_site__effects

Each tenet has an internal ID used to reference it within the game files, the folder path would be \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\doctrines and then open the txt file for the kind of tenet you want. In general, to get the tenet ID from its name:

1. Take the non-variant name (i.e. non-faith specific)
2. Turn all upper case letters into lower case (A...Z->a...z)
3. Replace all spaces ( ) with underscores (_)
4. Add tenet_ to the beginning

Tenets that do not fit the pattern above have been listed below:

Taken from https://ck3.paradoxwikis.com/Religions_modding

To Mod a tenet open one of the txt files in \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\religion\doctrines or create one yourself. Then add the line of code that seems fitting for what you want to create, either by self-knowledge or copying already existing ones. On the example bellow a syncretism tenet have been created for the forces of evil.

So with the creation of the example; tenet_dark_worship_syncretism we need to give it 2 localization's. open the folder path \LotRRealmsInExileDev\localization\english\religion and first choice the yml file lotr_religion_tenets_l_english.yml to open. Here you need to add/code in 2 keys

• tenet_modname_name:0 ""
• tenet_modname_desc:0 ""

the first one determined what name your tenet have and the second tell you what kind of description it will have.

The Second localization file we need to alter for the tenet_dark_worship_syncretism WIP

If you wanna create holy titles there is several steps needed to go threw.

Create the holy/titular title Go to the folder path \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\landed_titles and since the religious title is probably gonna be titular choice the txt file called 00_titular_titles.txt. And att the title you want to create, either by copying something similar in the mod or base game or check the ck3 Title modding.

Coat of Arms check Coat of Arms it's basically the same but in different files, for this Cult of Ulûkai title example it would end up here \LotRRealmsInExileDev\common\coat_of_arms\coat_of_arms with the choice of mountains_orc_coa.txt as shown in the example bellow.

Localization to localize your title go to folder path \LotRRealmsInExileDev\localization\english and choice the yml file lotr_titles_l_english.yml and name it respectively like the others, check example;

Tying your "holy" title a faith go to the faith that you want this title to represent and add the code key religious_head = Your_title like the example beneath.

Localizing the religious Title/Head Go to the Faith Localization and add the code key cult_of_the_ulukai_faith_head:0 "" then add name you want for the religious title within the "" , check example bellow.

Adding History for the title check Applying Titles to the Character and apply it in a fitting place, check example bellow.

With all this you should have a religious title that is present or can be formed by having 2 holy sites for your faith.