COMMUNITY - FORUMS - FAMILIES & NOBLE HOUSES
On surname choice and skills

So my original plan was to start out the game as a Ward of the State Neran, giving me the most flexibility in terms of raw stats. Now that I have purchased the Bloodline package so I could get Exposition access, I do believe Ward of the State is no longer an option. Thus I ask, when we choose our surnames, how will it work, in game terms?

I saw someone post that we'll be taking over an existing family, renaming them, and picking an NPC in the family to spark up, but will we know the family's inherent skills beforehand?

For those of us concerned with being able to do certain multiple-ability-dependant roles, will we have the tools necessary to create our own ideal starts, or are we expected to roll the dice and forge our future with the materials at hand?


12/16/2017 7:04:22 AM #1

Actually, you can be a ward with with Bloodline and the custom surname package. You start as a ward, you just happen to have your own surname.

I don't think they've gone into detail about knowing what NPCs can do, but you'd at least know their occupation so that you could figure out their most likely skill distribution.


12/16/2017 4:48:44 PM #2

Posted By Saebelorn at 01:04 AM - Sat Dec 16 2017

Actually, you can be a ward with with Bloodline and the custom surname package. You start as a ward, you just happen to have your own surname.

I don't think they've gone into detail about knowing what NPCs can do, but you'd at least know their occupation so that you could figure out their most likely skill distribution.

Good to know that you can still start as a Ward. Kind of counterintuitive since you're a land-owning Ward of the State, but it makes sense that SBS wouldn't restrict one of the starting options just because you have a certain package.

And yeah, I figured that at the very least you'd know the family's profession and can make inferences from there. The power gamer in me still would like to see an actual stat array to start, but the side of me excited for this game tells me to chill because this game is about way more than skill progression and power gaming.


12/20/2017 8:19:41 PM #3

This answers some of my questions about this situation. Thanks for posting.

1/29/2018 11:10:45 PM #4

I was curious about this too, if I get to pick a surname, I don't want it going to a family with a profession I don't want


2/5/2018 5:15:33 PM #5

I assume that the surname will go to a family you desire, skills are obtainable easily over time, and the old skills you have will dwindle. You can still make the person you desire, I just hope picking a family does not give me a bad starting reputation, at least with the NPC.


A mender of souls

2/6/2018 6:53:32 PM #6

During KoE we will be creating the recent history of Elyria up to exposition. So as we get closer to that point we will see how that plays out.

My assumption would be that we would elaborate our desire with our Surname and family and upon selection of the exact location we want our package to impact (aka what town I own in game or what family I will inhabit) the game would generate the existence of the family in a manner that fits our specifications as if they were there all along with the stat focus we wanted. This is all conjecture and not actually proven by the devs. As it stands, this topic hasn't been addressed yet because they likely haven't started working on the code to the degree they can speak confidently on what they can provide us.

As far as when this will be addressed, it really all hinges on when the developers start domain selection at the Baron level and populate the map with a self-sustained NPC population that we enter in on during KoE.

The most recent domain selection period that will come some time soon will stop at the County level because, while the map will be official at that point, what is actually procedurally generated on the map won't happen until closer to KoE when those systems are more detailed.

Domain Selection as a whole will happen rather early just so that recruitment for communities can be more specific and we can all know where we are on a map so we know who we are playing the dance of dynasties with (aka who our Queen/King is and who our neighbors will be).