Your Noble Life - 1 - Baby to Child

I've made my own set of rules to guide my nobility through life. Most rules regard heritage, economics and administration, although nobility naturally takes easier on this than real royals do. Most of this can be used regardless of series (TS4, TS3, TS2). Here is the first of four guides based on a noble person's life stage.

In your first year you will be more interested in that bottle of milk than your rank in the line of successors.

Not too serious, but not totally useless , either...


Babies
Yup, there are rules ticking in the second you are born! Hey, they are only tiny bundles of joy, even in a noble family - give them a break! Right, but a noble House gets children for a reason: They want to secure heirs for the house and the peerage(s), and the earlier they get a certain number of children, the better! The second the peer dies, it will be too late affecting anything regarding successors, and back in the old days the peer could practically die in the next war he attended. Nobility also wants to build strong alliances within the very top of society by having enough children to marry off into other noble families. How your parents build that network will make a huge difference to future generations of your House. Besides, being totally childless might be seen as a failure by some, and who wants to be a tragedy?

So, if you are a baby born into nobility:

Accept that you are a token for political or social purposes, but also a token representing love, joy and a deep affection for family trees.

You become a central member of the House right away, and if you are the first born, it normally means that your mother will proceed from "Secondary relation" to "Central member" of the House, simply because there is now a blood line to the Head of House. If you were born within marriage, you will get a number in line of successors. You will also get a specific rank in succession to the peerage(s), but only if you are legit. Children conceived outside marriage (socially counted from showing the baby bump, but legally from date of birth) are not legit heirs to anything peerage-ish or House-ish. , Your gender makes no difference when it comes to Head of House, but some peerages do require a male Peer. Born non-legit you will still be considered heir to private properties, though, and you can be given a courtesy title. Just not become Head of House which normally is the one who inherits the top peerage of the house. Anyway, hopefully your father and mother held back long enough...

If your father is a Duke, you will get your courtesy title at birth. Basically all sons get the title Lord of the dukedom, and daughters get the title Lady. One son, normally the oldest, will get the courtesy title of Baron no later than on his 15th birthday, indicating he is 1st in line to the peerage. You will not be *title of peerage*, i.e. Lord of Meadows, but Lord Meadows or just Lord Abraham Saxor. There are specific rules for courtesy titles vs ordinary peerage titles, but you should not need to worry about that while you are a minor. Most dukes give the Baron title to the first son at birth, while others prefer to see their sons' personality before they decide, which can be valuable if the peerage or house holds certain requirements and traditions regarding career, skills and such. A Duke can not arrange the total order of successors, but can rank his own sons if done before the oldest turns 15. Such adjustments are very rare, though, so if you have no older brother, you can trust that one day you will grab it all.

If your father is a Baron by peerage, you will also get your courtesy title at birth. Sons get title Lord, while daughters get the Lady title. Your title states that you are in line of successors to the barony. However, if your father's Baron title is a courtesy title he is not the actual Peer, and it will be up to the peer whether you get a courtesy title or not, and when you get it.

If your father is a Lord (or mother a Lady of a low nobility gender neutral peerage), you don't get any title at birth, but you will get a social title (Mister/Miss) on your 15th birthday. Even so, some tend to use your social title much earlier than they should, by referring to you as "Mister Christoph Butterblub", but never "Mister of Moonchester" - because your Mister or Miss title is not really connected to the peerage, it's more a way to tell others that you are the child of (and heir to) a Lord or Lady. Which will make you more attractive to some.

In my Region 12 (and beyond) all dukedoms and baronies require a male peer, meaning you will not get those courtesy titles by birth if your father is not the peer or your mother is the Duchess or Baroness through widow rights. Time of birth counts, so if the Duke or Baron dies just before you are born, sorry - but no title for you as there will now be another Peer of the peerage - someone who is not your father. Such a new Peer might be generous and give you a title eventually, but you should not take that for granted as a new peer will normally focus on a different family tree branch.

Being born after your parent's death is not a problem for becoming the Head of House, if there is no older sibling to grab that possibility. If you are the first born, your mother must show a belly bump at the day of death, though.

In my community a baby born into nobility will automatically gain some fame, depending on your title. This fame level will be frozen for as long as you reside the House's main property, but will start fading the day you move out (campus years excluded). Any baby born with the max social score (6) will also start life with 1 fame star (top social status indicates a rich/powerful family) regardless of titles. This latter star will fade though, and will normally be gone before you are old enough to understand what fame is all about...

Toddlers
If you are a toddler, your nobility life will probably result in better toys and more skill building than other toddlers. Your parents might spend skill building time with you, especially your mother who normally stays at home administrating the house and sometimes the servants, but there might also be a live-in Governess, employee or relative, tending to your needs, skills and manners.

Only if you are first in line of Successors to a high nobility House, your father will be in charge of your raising.

In case you wonder, as a toddler you have no specific rights, beyond what your title might give you when it comes to inheriting the peerage. Your birthdays might be more fun, but maybe not. You are mainly seen as a soon-to-become.

Children
When you reach childhood you will experience that the tiresome focus on skill building continues, now moving on to skills that will last life long. Logic (Mental), Physics (Motor) and Piano playing (Creativity) are popular in these circles, but also Manners get a bigger focus. Your parents or Governess will also help with your schoolwork and school projects. Normally the Sovereign of the house will focus on training the main heir, or the father might train sons while mother/Governess tends to daughters. In large households there might also be an Aunt or Uncle to assist, or you have older siblings who can practice their Parenting skills on you...

If you are a boy, you will normally wear short trousers until you are 8. This might depend on location and traditions. As a city Lord you might start with pants already when starting school (aged 5). If you prefer pink over blue, don't even think of it - unless you have 3 older brothers.

If you are a girl, you will wear a dress for any public occasion, but might wear shorts or pants when playing at home. It turns out that these rules tend to get more strict if your grandparents still reside the main property of the peerage.

A wealthier House might open you a bank account when you enter childhood, where they will deposit a good sum of Simoleons, §10.000 being the norm. Some might rather keep building your balance (on birthdays) until you reach Young Adult. The money shall not be touched until you grow up, but the idea is to learn you some economics from watching those interests grow year by year. A silly tradition, but there is always room for some silliness...

As the child of a noble house you will most likely attend after school activities. This might be your first lesson telling you that your courtesy title alone won't make life easier, you will need to put in some efforts just like the other kids. However, just because you attend after school art or drama class, don't expect your parents to suggest you a career as Painter or Actor. They probably have more noble plans for you.

Because most castles and greater manors will have a fenced in garden, there is a bigger chance that you (especially as first born) get your very own puppy! Don't expect to be the one deciding its name, though...

Feel free to add more life stage related rules, chores and benefits in a comment below :)

This series consists of 4 posts*:
Your Noble Life - Baby to Child
Your Noble Life - Teenagers
Your Noble Life - Young Adult to Adult
Your Noble Life - Elders to Afterlife

* All tagged Nobility and How I Play