I doubt they will go to war over jealousy. And It's not like picking a noble before picking all of them is like stealing a woman all the nobles are madly in love with. I'll let the other nobles join me too. If one noble joins me, the other nobles will start thinking it is a good idea. Then I'll have most of the nobles on my side or all of them, then nothing can stop me.

But not much one Tzar and a peasant can do unless that peasant is really a mercenary named Guts.
That would be the mage. One day, one of his spells went wrong and...he paid the price for his mistake.

Not the mage because you can't trust those guys....and you can't see what's coming from them.
Not the peasant, because loyalty alone won't get you much more.
Not the only crusader, because you are the new evil ..... let's kick him before he realizes.
Not the ranger or spy .. don't change what's working fine.

I'll go for the noble, not because of the trustworthiness obviously but to make him the target of other nobles' plot. The famous "making allies out of your ennemies' allies" and "kepp friends close, ennemies closer".

I'm in. Thanks for the giveaway :D

Edit : now I read the thread .... while the noble is winning on logic, we will lose on originality :).

Mage - Because there could have been so many fights that needed him for, and if I didn't have him I wouldn't be here today to carry on with my quests and to journey onward to many undiscovered lands.

- Holy crusader - I would appoint this man as my top General to lead my armies on the field of battle. His fervor and zeal would make him a fearless commander
- Mage - The mage would be my second in command. I would set up magic schools in my empire and become a beacon for magic education. This would give me an edge over other nations as my empire became a seat of learning and allowed me to setup an army of Mage soldiers.
- Peasant - I would appoint him to be the Captain of the Guard. His fidelity and devotion to me would make him a good bodyguard.
- One of the nobles - I would appoint my most loyal nobles as members of my cabinet to run the mundane affairs of the state.
- Ranger - I would appoint the Ranger as the head of the Military Academy to train my new recruits in the ways of cover and combat.
- Spy - The spymaster would be promoted to Director of the Secret Service, which would help me prolong my reign

Peasant, because I think he is the only one I could trust. The rest of the lot might be more interested in their own power than in mine, and might try to overthrow me or something similar.

The peasant is not only probably the most loyal and thankful to me, he would also have a very hard time forming alliances in the court against me.

Additionally, choosing a man from the people would show my underlings that I am on their side, that everyone in my kingdom has the chance to come to a position to power, and would buy me a lot of goodwill with the common people, which would also help me against enemies from within.

Not in but I would say the spy, because I don't need to be watching my back when he feels he's been slighted.

*God. With a capital "G" .

I have to go with mage.

Mages are often wise from many years of study and thought. Mages also can perform roles such as spying with ease (Using spells to see distant things) If he fought evil with me he is just as worthy as the crusader. Also mages inspire awe in the peasants, and the nobles if they ever want to seek power will view him with some worry. Also some mage stories show mages making gold with magic, as well as other things like enchanted weapons (which can be sold for lots and lots of gold). Mages are known for knowing what others do not. These secrets could warn me of future danger, and allow me to prepare for it in the best way. All in all the resources and knowledge a mage could bring makes him invaluable.

not in my universe

It's not. God with a capital G refers to a specific deity, aka the one the speaker believes in. If a member of one religion refers to a god of another, G isn't capitalized. So for example, Zeus was an ancient Greek god.

Actually it's not that cut and dried. TinyEs usage here is correct.

Well, the Holy Crusader, Mage, Ranger and Spy are out as their expertise is on the battlefield and they would lose what makes them great by being subjected to a bureaucratic job. Instead I give them promotions in their respective fields and make them part of my round table providing valuable insight and opinion as needed.
I publicly thank the noble for his part in the war and look forward to working with him again and maybe doing some under the table deals to show my appreciation if needed. It is politics after all.
The peasant has been a peasant his whole life despite being at my side for years and years? He saved my life, took no reward and remained a peasant even though the reward would have helped him and his family. At the end of the day, I retreat to my life of privilege and he goes home to his shanty and doesn't complain about his lot in life? Obviously, he is looking out for the kingdom and values the success of his community over any material gain for himself. He will make an excellent second-in-command.

This is not my kind of game as I don't like RTS in general so I did this for fun. But on the off-chance you pick me, I would re-gift it to another in this thread. Thank you.

Tried googling it for the past few minutes, all I could find was christian fundamentalist sites and militant atheist ones... God damn it !

Your google-fu is still weak my young padawan. Learn to search you must.