Courtship, Marriage, Heirs, and Fidelity for OSR Domain Play

As your character invests themselves in the world through domain play, they might find it beneficial to find a spouse and produce an heir. The benefits of an heir will be largely determined by your GM, and the system. In my own game: after PC death, an heir with a surviving parent or a loyal, appointed regent to oversee the domain until they come of age allows the player to continue playing and managing their domain, while adventuring as a new character or a retainer. When they turn 13, they may begin to gain experience for ruling the domain (ACKS Campaign Rules), and after they turn 16, a player may choose to play as their heir. The process of producing an heir is as follows:

Courtship>Betrothal>Marriage>Procreation>Fidelity

Courtship

    To begin courtship, make a Reaction Roll. This roll is modified by the difference in Charisma Modifiers and the Difference of 6 mi hexes controlled by both parties, or their families. Example. Count Dewkoo controls 2 hexes but has a -1 charisma mod. Baroness von Agut's family controls only 1 hex, but she is remarkably beautiful, with a +2 charisma mod. Thus, when Dewkoo makes his intentions to court the Baroness, he makes the reaction roll with a -2 net bonus [(2-1) + (-1-2)].

Initial Reaction Roll to establish courtship:

2-: Slanders you to other women/men in town, -1 to all Courtship rolls in this location

3-5: No, and it wont happen

6-8: No, (seeing someone else/not a good time), try again in a month

9-11: Yes, courtship beings

12+: Enthusiastic yes, +1 morale bonus to subsequent reaction rolls

Max morale bonus: +1

Proposal Roll:

    At any time during courtship, you can propose. A reaction roll is made using the same results table as above, except any result of No ends the courtship.

    To increase the likelyhood of a yes, there are some things you can do. Spending a week of downtime and 100g on gifts, three times in one season, gives a +1 bonus to the roll. This bonus stacks up to 4 times, but only if earned over consecutive seasons.

    You can also gain a +1 to the reaction roll for a proposal gift worth at least 1000gp.

Max Morale Bonus: +2

Wedding

    As a dowry, the betrothed parents will give you 1d6*100 gold for every 6mi hex which they control, directly and through vassals (parents without land will give 5d10 gold).

    For the Wedding, roll d6+morale. On a 6+, your spouse had their dream wedding; gain a

+1 morale bonus.

    To increase the odds of providing a dream wedding; add +1 for every 1000gp spent on the wedding (100gp if parents are not landed). 

Max Morale Bonus: +3

Procreation:

    When you spend a week with your spouse roll a d4 and 1+Morale Bonus d8s. If a 1 is rolled on both the d4 and a d8, congratulations! You're expecting! In 9 months, roll a d6; on evens it's a girl, and on odds it's a boy.

    Roll stats for the the child when they turn 16 and become eligible as a PC. Add the higher of either parents modifier to the raw score of your offspring. For example:

    Roll-Mother-Father-Child

Str  12        0        +2      14

Int    9      +0         -1       9

Wis  11     +2         0      13

Dex   5     +1         0       6

Con  11      0        +1      12

Cha   8     +2        -1      10

    Additionally: See ACKS for rules on gaining experience for Domain Management. In that system, a ruler could gain levels proportional to the number of domains they and their vassals control.

Fidelity:

    The life of an adventurer (and a warlord, for that matter) consists of a lot of time away from home. This can be a strain on even the best relationships. With the exception of a defensive campaign or if your liege commands it, when your PC is away from their spouse for too long, there is a chance they will seek the comforts of another.

    Your PC can be apart from their spouse for a season(3 months) plus a number of months equal to their morale bonus. For each month beyond the limit, the morale bonus decreases by 1 and you make a reaction roll.

Add morale bonus & alignment mod (+1 if lawful, -1 if chaotic)

2-:  They are unfaithful, and with someone you know/an enemy to spite you.

3-5: They are unfaithful.

6-8: They they grow impatient at your absence.

9-11:They think only of you and the danger you must be in! +1 to morale bonus (net: 0)

12+: Distance makes the heart grow fonder! +2 to morale bonus (net: 1)

If both parties of the daliance are fertile, roll 1d4 & 1d8. On two 1s, they're expecting!

    Lost morale may be restored by spending a season with your family. Your GM might also come up with more adventurous opportunities to repair your marriage.