The cult is the engine. Manage it wrong and the crusades starve.
Faith first
Faith is the score that opens rituals and keeps followers working. It rises when followers are happy and your rules match their life, and falls when they suffer or disagree.
Commandments
Commandments are rules you set. Followers who break them lose faith. Set rules you can enforce: if you cannot keep followers from fighting, do not ban fighting.
Rituals
Rituals are big swings. A faith ritual lifts a slipping cult; a purge removes a problem follower. Each costs something, so spend it on a real dip, not a small one.
The turn
Followers turn when faith stays low. A turned follower spreads doubt. Catch it early with food and a faith ritual before it spreads.
The follower guide covers who to recruit and who to sacrifice. The two together decide the cult’s shape.
Faith, food, and beds
Faith is the meter that keeps the cult working; sermons, decorations, and rituals raise it, neglect drops it. Food must be cooked and served, not left raw — a hungry follower loses faith and can revolt. Beds house followers; without enough, new recruits lower overall faith. The doctrine tree you pick (afterlife beliefs, farming laws) shapes daily output, so choose doctrines that match your loop.
Recruit versus sacrifice
Recruit early for labor; sacrifice only when you need a specific ritual resource or to remove a troublemaker. A cult of all sacrifices has no one to farm. The follower guide lists traits, so you can keep the useful ones and drop the dead weight without guessing.