I have been writing down some thought and ideas of how I would like to approach one of the major parts of the game: life. Specifically I have been thinking how people born, grow up, form a family and eventually die. It’s lots to tackle and I think will take quite a long time to have even the basic skeleton down. Even figuring out where to start has proven to be somewhat a problem.
Beginning
To be born, one needs parents, at least to a some degree. And they need to be in somewhere same area for a chance of pregnancy to occur. As usual, there probably is going to be some bonuses and maluses in action here. For example, it’s harder to get pregnant the older you are. And easier to get pregnant if you’re madly in love.
As interesting as it would be to model political intrigue and powerplay around unborn heirs, I’m going to leave it to another time. Same with genes and such. There’s plans, but they are going to be implemented way, way later.
Early years
First two or three years are probably pretty boring for the player to play. Babies don’t really have agency in the grand scheme of things, so if there’s anything to do, it’s in the form of special events.
Childhood
At the age of three, most of the playing is still in form of special events that shape childs personality, traits and skills. If such a young child is ruler, there’s going to be regency in place. Player can try to affect things, giving orders and making demands, but they’re still mostly in the mercy of whims of their regent.
Guardians
Around age of six starts the formal training. Child is assigned teacher, who is in charge of their training. Choice of the teacher will affect on what kind of special events will trigger in this phase and also affect on personality of the child.
Adulthood
Depending on the culture and local laws, around 16 to 21 years of age the adulthood begins. This is where the person has full agency and can make their own choices. They might stay in their parents’ court (if nobility), workship (if craftsmen) or similar, or they might decide to search for their fortune and start adventuring.
This is also the phase where they might gain their own holdings and start to rule over them.
Marriage
Marriages can be either arranged by parents or sought out by the person itself. Betrothal is powerful diplomatic tool, so especially in case of the nobels the parents often arrange the marriage. In any case, when couple is married, a question of where to live comes into play. It could be place of either one’s parents or either one’s own holding. In extreme cases (both are equal level rulers), they might choose to live in their respective capitols.
When marriage is formed, decision is made in whose dynasty the possible children will be part of. This affects on future inheritance and succession and thus is important part to decide.
The end
Eventually the person will die. It might be of natural causes or it might be a violent one. In any case, when person dies, their holdings, titles and earthly possessions must be given to someone. This process is governed by succession and inheritance laws. Primamy heir of the person will be the next person player will take control of when their own character dies. So arranging laws and succession to your advantage is big part of the game.
In closing
List of things to design and implement is pretty long. In truth, it’s quite scary amount of work to do, but also very interesting. I probably will start from the marriage part and continue from there, trying to build a very barebones skeleton that can be fleshed out later.