Population
Basics
Population also known as people, inhabitants.
Population lives in your country, produces geld and can be recruited to fill your army. Population grows by itself (Terra is a fertile world): population growth is based on current population, and its relative distance from max population. Your population cannot drop below zero.
- Minimum population growth is 50 pop/turn + Current pop*0.015 (i.e. 1.5% growth percentage)
- There are game effects that can alter the growth percentage (hidden upkeep).
- When population approaches max population (within 90-100%), the growth percentage decreases
- When max population is reached, growth is zero.
Population is consumed to upkeep certain units, heroes and magic (most 
, some 
, some 
) and by recruiting. Some army-units occupy part of your population space (recruits and mercenaries).
- Population is housed in buildings and even wilderness can house a small population. Forts and Towns hold most people/acre. Farmland is essential because it produces food. You'll need both farms and towns to support population, in a balance of roughly 3:1 (see Status Report) This ratio can be effected by enchantments/uniques/heroes.
- Population is a pillageable resource.
Game features affecting Population
- Wine of the Three Whips (lesser item), increases current population by 10% of your "current population" after 1 turn is spent (the turn to use the item).
- Book of Prophecy (lesser item) steals target's population and restores your 'current population' by the same amount.
- Official List of Demands (lesser item) can destroy population.
- Rotten Food (lesser item) can destroy population.
- Pipes of the Sewer (lesser item) can destroy population.
- Some Uniques reduce your base incomes (e.g. hidden upkeep).
- Some Uniques will destroy population each turn.
- Black Sabbath (black) - takes 666 pop and increases m.p., effectively reduces base population income by 1/3 (hidden upkeep).
- Blood Ritual (black) - produces Ghouls and consumes population for 'upkeep'.
- Call Lightning (red) - Destroys population each turn spent under the enchantment.
- Death and Decay (black) - Destroys population and Buildings each turn.
- Summon Locust Swarm (green) - Decreases Farm output, lowering maximum population.
- Black Death (black) - Epidemic, Destroys Population each turn, reduces Population Income to "0", Consumes Population for 'upkeep'.
- Weather Summoning (green) - Increase Farm "Food" output.
- Nature's Favor (green) - Increase Farm "Food" output.
- Love and Peace (white) - Increase Population Income.
- Volcano Eruption - destroys Population, Buildings, Units, and Geld.
- Wish - Can randomly generate a moderate amount of population.
- Shepherdess ability "Peace with Nature" Increases farm output.
- Lucifer favour and most favour reduces army upkeep, including pop upkeep (by 10% resp. 20%)
- Lucifer disfavour and hatred increases army upkeep, including pop upkeep (by 10% resp. 20%)
- Nature's Favor increases geld and population income.
- Nature's Disfavor decreases geld and population income.
- Pillaging will steal items, geld, and Population from the target kingdom, and destroy additional population.
Pop Spiral
- A population spiral (pop spiral) is the situation that you have so many pop-eating units, that each turn you spend, you lose more pop, and you are in danger of hitting zero pop. You should get rid of part of the pop eating army (failed pillages, battles), and thereafter recover your population to a decent percentage of max population (90% of max).
An obvious, but over-looked fact. To have babies, you need parents. If you experience a population spiral and lose much population and but finally get yourself out of the -pop income, you might notice that no mattter how many farms and towns you build, the income is just not going up. Think of it this way, the population you already have is old and doesn't produce as many babies as new population would. So a factor in what increases your pop income, is well your pop income. If you start out with a income of 44 people a turn, don't worry, it will eventually get back up there. Helpful items are Books of Prophecy to get some extra thousand people. This might get your pop income to a few hundred a turn, but in around 20 turns, you'll be in the thousands. So your going to need new people to make babies, so go get those books to get yourself out of pop spirals.
Zero Pop
'Zero Pop' is the case when you have no population left.
In the case of fully depleting your population, complete stacks of population consuming units may disband themselves (in random order: you may be able to keep supporting some of your smaller stacks). Also as a cascading effect, your geld income will approach zero for quite some turns.
This is a severe crisis, because zero pop means zero geld income, means eating you savings... and at zero savings: you lose your buildings including forts and ultimately this is game over.
