That's a lot of questions bro.

You can roleplay if you want to. It would be fun to do so.

The church won't be involved at all because this game has its own religions. I might be wrong but there currently isn't a lot of information on what a Marriage will look like or where it will be held. But I know that it involves contracts.

Someone else can try and answer the rest of your questions but I don't think anyone knows if you can just find a child out while exploring. IMO Survival mechanics still apply to NPC's so I doubt it.

Marriage is a contract and anything that follows is entirely up to the individuals that create the contract.

Maybe you have a ceremony, maybe you just keep petering on

I think I read that you would need to reach a level of familiarity with the NPC before you can expect them to agree to marry you or to sign a child contract. No just walking up to them and getting a kid immediately. :)

Getting another player to sign a contract may be easier, but there still may be systems in place to prevent it until you know each other (for example, not until you know them well enough to see their name plate).

I do know that in order to sign a child contract, the party that will get the child (e.g. you) has to have a room ready for the child. And as far as I know, we won't get to choose the sex of the child.

What we know about marriage: Player marriages will involve a contract. They can take place between any, and any number of, willing parties. If there is NPC marriage (SBS appears to have changed their minds on this a few times so far), it will likely involve a certain amount of wooing, then signing a contract. Contracts between NPC's and players must be offered by the NPC, since player-player contracts can be more complex, and it would be too easy for players to cheat NPC's.

What we know about having children: Whoever will be caring for the child must have a room and some starting items for the child. A man and woman sign a child contract. Neither can have more than one child per in-game year. The child will randomly inherit a set of genes from each parent. The player who will be caring for the child will choose which genes are dominant/recessive (I believe there will be the option for one reroll of the inherited genes). Some genes might be linked into groups where your choice is between one group or the other. I've heard that the child will show up as an eight-year-old one week after the contract is signed, but I can't remember where that information came from.

This is what I know... IF you find someone you want to have a child with then you need to woo that person and try to get them to say yes. The actual deed is done by contract. However if you want to roleplay the entire courtship and honeymoon then by all means do so. By my understanding contracts do not need to be sanctioned by the church so unless you are roleplaying then a church wedding is not necessary. Now in order to have a child you must first own (rent/occupy) a house with an extra room, one room per child so without a spare room a child is not possible. Can you find a child on a quest? Interesting concept... Unless the child is lost is part of a deeper story line then I would think no. A small child in the woods would, in my opinion, not last long, they would either starve to death, die of dehydration, or become food. There will be inns where you can flirt, eat, celebrate, though I am not sure how romantic it would be. And yes there will be rooms for rent if you are into that sort of roleplay, however I feel that you will still need to have a house with an extra room for the upcoming child and you will still need to make a contract to generate a child code. Having or making a child, in my opinion will be fairly easy. Getting someone to say yes may be a little harder as they will become part of your family unless you use the local prostitutes in the area. However to find someone special, someone to bind your soul with may be much more of a challenge. It may take you a couple of lifetimes to actually find your perfect soulmate in my humble opinion.

Posted By Woogawoman at 6:44 PM - Mon May 01 2017

I do know that in order to sign a child contract, the party that will get the child (e.g. you) has to have a room ready for the child.

What? No unplanned children?

Muh realism!

Sad!

/s

Heard mention of having harems, would these all need to be under contract? Would be interesting to see the internal struggle with kings (or queen) and the story behind these harems.

Posted By Apaukolypse at 02:43 AM - Fri May 05 2017

What? No unplanned children?

Muh realism!

Sad!

/s

But theyre not humans they could reproduce when they want and not when they dont

Posted By Woogawoman at 3:44 PM - Mon May 01 2017

I think I read that you would need to reach a level of familiarity with the NPC before you can expect them to agree to marry you or to sign a child contract. No just walking up to them and getting a kid immediately. :)

Getting another player to sign a contract may be easier, but there still may be systems in place to prevent it until you know each other (for example, not until you know them well enough to see their name plate).

I do know that in order to sign a child contract, the party that will get the child (e.g. you) has to have a room ready for the child. And as far as I know, we won't get to choose the sex of the child.

So, I might wake up male? OMG!

Now I'm wonder what will happen if two players were to fall for the same NPC. Who will the NPC choose?

Posted By Valenicus at 10:17 PM - Sun Jun 18 2017

Now I'm wonder what will happen if two players were to fall for the same NPC. Who will the NPC choose?

We know that NPC behavior is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs and a system/engine based favor system. As I understand it if you help save an NPC from a monster and in doing so fulfill the need for safety you would gain favor points with that npc and make them like you more. This favor would determine how likely the NPC is to do things for you such as passing on property to you if they are your parent, possibly giving you a discount on their wares if a merchant or marrying you / having a child.

To me the NPC would likely choose the player that best helps meet their needs and who they simply like best. Each NPC will be different so there will likely be different thresholds depending on their social status, their wealth, their goals (touched on in the last QA) and their current needs. Given all this we can expect marrying a player would likely be far easier.

That's really interesting.

Thank you for the detailed answer.

I really like the answers here. Makes for a really good section of the game that means very much to many players