Romance and Marriage

Romance and marriage are key elements of a successful gameplay. Without those, it is quite hard, to create a thriving dynasty, and as soon, as the Avatar will die without any decendants, the game will end. Therefore it is crucial, to found a family quite early on. Besides of marriage, the only other way of getting hold of children, is to  **Adopt an orphan**.

## Romance

In order to start a romance, the player has to select one of their adult family members (first their Avatar with `C` or `H`, later on one of their decendants). "Adult" means in the Middle Ages at least 15 years old. Then click on  **Romances and liaisons** to open the submenu. If this option is missing, you either have selected an employee, or a child.

Note, that not all options may be actually available for a specific family member. Those options are then left out in the menu. For example married family members do not have the option to  **Propose marriage** or to  **Marry** a second time. Family members without a lover are missing the  **End love affair**.

The first option in the submenu is  **Embark on a romance**. After clicking on it, the player has to select a candidate for the romance.

**Note**: Homosexual relations are *not* possible. Imagine, it's the Middle Ages after all!

After selecting a candidate, the family member tries to reach them and (if successful) opens the conversation. The player has three options to choose from, each displayed with a probability for being successful. If they hesitate too long, an option will be chosen automatically. May the attempt be successful or not, there will be a cooldown before the player can try this action again. In any case, the family member gains experience. A failure results in a temporary loss of charisma (family member emotionally hurt). A success leads to the addition of the candidate to the list of lovers.

**Note**: A family member may have multiple love affairs going at the same time.

**Hint 1**: Before embarking on a romance, the family member may craft and use a  **Flannel** in the family's residence, take a bath in a more advanced house, or take a bath at a barber, to increase the chances in love affairs.

**Hint 2**: In order to quickly access the family member and the candidate, press `CTRL & 0 to 9` when one of them is shown in the character menu. This way, you assign them a number, and are able to select them pressing `0 to 9`.

**Hint 3**: Buy the family member a  **Riding horse** at the market place. That way, they will reach their lover(s) quicker and easier, especially if the lovers are on horseback themselves.

## Courting

When the player chooses the second option from the menu  **Compliment someone**, a list of all love affairs will be displayed. The player has again to select a candidate from the list.

Below each name is a pink bar indicating how much affection this lover has already gained towards the family member. Successful compliments result in an increase of that value.

Later on, the next two options  **Sweet talk** and  **Kiss on the cheek** may also come handy. Always make sure, that the percentage of success is displayed in green (good) instead of white (average) or red (bad).

In addition to those actions, the family member can also give a present to the beloved one: They can craft a  **Bouquet of flowers** in the residence, or buy a  **Poem** at the market place - or even write it on their own in a scriptorium. Those two gifts boost the lover's affection quite a bit!

After putting the items into the inventory of the family member, another option appears at the end of the family member's main menu:  **Consumables**. Click it, select the desired item, and then the lover, the family member wants to give it to.

**Note:** Sometimes a lover is greyed out in the list. This means, that this character is currently not available, because they are inside of a building, talking to someone, waiting at a workshop, etc. Also, all actions do have cooldown times - some long, some short - until they are available again.

**Hint:** Sometimes a red heart shows up in the lover's character menu. This means, that the character has a romantic preference. What exactly it is, will be displayed, when the player hovers the mouse pointer over the heart. If the player guesses correctly, what's meant by those cryptic desires, and performs the right action, the chances will be higher. In addition, the lover's affection will be boosted more, than usual.

## Liaisons

Liaisons (=french for "connections") are more durable love affairs, also a connection between a married family member and a third person. The player first needs to knit a relationship (see above), click the button  **Embark on a liaison**, and then select one of the lovers. Make sure, to court enough in advance, otherwise the family member surely will fail here.

After a successful start, the next two options become available:  **Forbidden kiss** and  **Forbidden dance**. Although, the family member can earn a lot of experience from this, there is also a risk here. If the spouse finds out, there are really harsh consequences ...

The  **Ask a favour** button asks the family member's liaison to put in a good word for their dynasty with the liaison's family and neighbours. The relations between the two dynasties should improve by performing this action successfully.

The  **Exploit connections** button uses the liaison to shift some influence from their dynasty to your's.

The  **Manipulate liaison** button uses the feelings the liaison, to make them divulge family secrets. This will increase the player's influence and, in the process, they may also find evidence of criminal activity.

Finally, one of the last buttons in the row  **End love affair** can be used to break up with a romantic lover or a liaison. Some lovers will take this action very hard and react somehow ill-tempered.

## Marriage

Before getting married, the family member has to get engaged to one of their lovers or their liaisons by using the  **Propose marriage** button. The family member can only get engaged to **one** of their lovers at a time. If the player decides against a marriage after getting engaged, the family member first has to break up with the current fiance using  **End love affair** and then select another one.

Now the player has proceeded to the final step of the whole ordeal. The family member is finally able to  **Marry** their fiance. The player has the choice to cancel the wedding, or decide wether to invest gold for a  **Church Wedding**, or influence for an  **Instant Wedding**.

If you choose a  **Church Wedding**, and the fiance agrees, the family member runs off to the church and has to speak to the priest there, while the fiance continues with their own tasks. If the family member again chooses a  **Church Wedding** from the priest's options, and pays the desired sum, the priest will perform the ceremony.

If you vote for an  **Instant Wedding**, and the fiance agrees, the couple gets wedded directly on the street. A last confirmation to use up your influence for this, is all, the player has left to do.

**Note**: In the case, that the fiance belongs to another dynasty, there might be consequences, if the couple marries without the consent of their leader.

**Note also**: If the player uses  **Cancel action** for all available family members in advance, and sends them near or into the church, they will try to attend the ceremony.

Now, the player's family has gained another member, which may lead to exceeding the max number of family members, which is no problem. Both spouses get a buff from being just married in a church, but not for an instant wedding. Now might be the right time, to  **Produce offspring** ...

Romance and Marriage was last edited for version 1.0.4.

Romance and Marriage was last edited for version 1.0.4.