How to manage a family in Norland

Succession in Norland is not a simple process. It is complex and requires packed planning and a choice of heir. This article covers strategies that you may use to ensure continuity through protection of your family line and growing of your family subject.

Passing of the crown

A named heir, usually denoted by a silver crown and the title "Successor" on his character profile, stands ready to inherit the throne when the king dies. This is not quite so straightforward, however. A lord can be disinherited from the throne and, in this case, several complications arise. Disinheritance can angry those disinherited, can help break apart family harmony, and may even lead to internal strife or worse yet, rebellion.

Succession may indeed be in the king's lifetime. This act bears enormous ramifications for foreign policy. A new monarch starts diplomatic relations anew with other kingdoms and the church. A new beginning can be especially helpful if the former ruler had made powerful enemies or had carried on with policies that have estranged foreign powers.

Transferring power or the right of succession is never an easy decision; it has to be meticulously thought over in light of all the possible domestic and international repercussions. For the convenience of the player, the game allows an easy way to do this. The player can click the "Action" button in his target individual's profile and then click the appropriate option in the "King" tab.

How to marry?

To secure the succession and stronger position of your kingdom, you should get married too. A heart symbol above the house of your family on the world map means there are some noblewomen available to get married. Now you can go to the main window of the settlement and click "Assign" to see all available candidates for marriage and statistics. Now you just have to be very attentive to attributes of the candidate for a proposal into your court.

When you have everything put together, simply pick a lord and offer to marry the lady to him. By no means does the bridegroom have to be the king; any "mere" lord will suffice. A groom will first lay eyes on his bride at the moment of his proposal, when he visits and rides back to your estate. The newcomer of your family will then enter your house, be present with the other lords on the top screen and be at your disposal.

Marriage-at-watch based on the woman's statistics and family status involves a price called a bride price. See table next to the heart symbol via the world map in the game for more details.

Strategic marriages give significant diplomatic returns. They may serve to improve the tensions existing between the kingdoms and open up even more room for cooperation. And to the tactician you will be, a useful political marriage becomes very vital in your foreign policy arsenal.

Marrying a woman- lord is the lone exception to this. While you will be given some cash for that, be prepared to lose a family member that may have to move to the kingdom of her husband. But this can still bring about enhanced diplomatic relations. In case your kingdom has many unmarried women, you can tactically marry them off as a form of political contacts .

How to have a child

The legacy of procreating continuity with the same bloodlines is one of the key foundations of noble dynasties. To guarantee the continuity of succession, noble couples produce children despite the condition in which their relationship stands. Childbearing strains the body and usually poses a problem to the expectant mother regarding her mobility. Childbirth-related deaths are also most common if the mother successfully delivers, thus introducing a new family member.

With the introduction of the lord interface, all newly born nobles are also represented by an icon in the interface. They have no skill levels since they are born, and they have to be acquired via the "Educate" option. The latter offers the possibility to educate any subject and to know, for each subject, the level of knowledge required. The quality and number of experience points now depend on the teacher; the better the teacher in his or her subject and the better his or her pedagogical skills are, then the more levels can be achieved by education.

Young nobles receive doubles experience per lesson up to the age of 21 in order to accelerate learning. Therefore, this means that early education is much effective for future leaders. Apart from the parents, a young noble can learn from other qualified people, who include hired lords, bishops, and visiting members of the court.

Noble children may be born with inherited traits and talents, and then change in personality as the child grows. For example, to be noble, his parents must address their child's happiness, in addition to his education. Below are some inborn advantages regarding talents. *.

Age restrictions prevent certain activities for young nobles. Until the age of six, the player can mostly just work their child's mind, that is, study. At six, they may start copying books, but truly useful tasks are not available until adulthood.

Freelance lords

Freelancers: Every so often as you travel artoher with the Holy Caravan one or two will approach you. If you seem to be running low of a noble family or just wish to hire them temporarily, at a cost of 10 days service they will join your band for ten days, and perform the same functions as your current lords.

Building a strong relationship between the freelancing lord and your ruler will help secure a more permanent arrangement. Once their relationship reaches 25 or higher, you are able to grant the lord a title - officially integrating them into your family.

Note the extremely rigid limit on the number of lords that can be present in any noble family. At most five at any time. This naturally gets to be a very significant restriction when your children become of age. A title not surrendered up on behalf of the incoming heir will take their leave from the family estate to go off freelancing.

Marry off your daughter to another kingdom, or strip the title of one of your family members. However, do keep in mind that if you were to strip a noble of their title, this may result in some bitter feelings and possible turmoil from your neighbors.

That's about it now in our How to Manage a Family in Norland guide, so we hope we have been as thorough as possible.