Family
This info might be out of date.
Please proceed with caution while we work on getting it updated.
September 2024
Contents
Mating Offer
Mating can only be requested when the following conditions have been met:
- Both characters are at least 20 years old
- Both characters are not incapable
- Both characters are not from the same account
- Neither character has an unhealed or permanent groin injury
- Both characters are from the same race.
- Both characters are in the same location
- Both characters are not infertile (the age of which is 25% subtracted from the race lifespan)
- It has been at least 10 real days since the last mating between the two specific characters. (This does not affect mating with other characters)
When selected a request is sent to the other character through an alert that they can accept if both characters are in the same location or reject. The requester is notified of their response via a private blue message shared between them and the recipient, and a mating cooldown is set if accepted.
A mating will technically fail if the bearer is already waiting for a child (with the same or a different genetic partner) when a mate offer is accepted, but one will never know if this happens before a child is born, making the other genetic contributor unclear.
Attempting multiple matings does nothing to increase probability. The bearer will not know if it was fully successful until a child is spawned with them in 3 to 6 days' time, even though they may be in receipt of the pink sensing the possibility of life at the top of their UI. See Gestation for further information.
Genetics
The genetics of a child are decided by averaging the skill levels of the parents, while attributes are set for base levels with racial bonuses. This means that characters interested in a strong family bloodline will want to look for mates with equal or better skills.
Children learn at the same rate as adults but they drive down the pace of projects; any effort that would have been completed in that hour is halved when any child is present on the project. A child can be spawned with natural magic, the base chance of receiving this is 10%, but if the parents of the child have magic (natural only) it increases the chance of inheritance. If one parent has magic, it's a 50% chance the child will have magic, but if both parents have magic the child will have 100% chance to inherit.
Please note the type of magic is not inherited, only the chance of having the skill. Also, Magical Parents have a lower fertility rate.
Inbreeding
If the parents of a child are too closely related, there is a chance they will be mechanically defined as “inbred". This may occur if the parents are within two vertical steps (parents or grandparents) or two horizontal steps (siblings, cousin) of the same family branch. The chance for cousins to produce an inbred child is 50%. All other relations listed above result in a 100% chance of producing an inbred child.
If a child is inbred, they will begin with the lowest possible stats (no benefit from genetic inheritance or from racial bonus). Additionally, one attribute (and all of its related skills) will forever be stunted at its lowest level (it cannot gain experience). Finally, the child will only receive the basic 10% chance to have magical ability, regardless of whether one or both parents have magic. An inbred child is indicated by looking at the Character menu near the racial description, other characters cannot see this status. The attribute and its associated skills which have been stunted will be indicated on the character skills sheet as having grey labels.
Gestation
The waiting period between an attempted mating and child arrival lasts 72 hours. If your initial mating was successful, you will see a light red/pink message at the top of the screen about sensing life, which will count down the hours until the arrival. This status will appear after a quarter of the gestation period has passed, so if you do not see it around the 24-hour mark, then the mating failed and you will have to try again after the 10 day cooldown period or with another partner. If you do see the sensing life status, it means that the initial mating was successful, however, depending on various factors the life could still be lost. This can happen if the tier didn't have any suitable children waiting to be spawned to begin with, and/or if no appropriate players join the tier following a related demand notification. If that happens, you won't know until the end of the gestation that it has failed. At this point, a child will not appear, and a red failure message will post saying the life was lost.
If the bearer goes into hibernation, the gestation will transfer to the other mechanically involved individual.
Child Arrival
The spawning of a child occurs 72 hours after a successful mating and is announced with a global post noting the racial birth flavour text. They will always arrive in the same location of the bearer (even while on a road or in a full vehicle), and the bearing character will be able to see who their child is via a label on the child's description. Children will have an indication of their bearer when they spawn, via their first event which notes their bearer's description and name. Only bearers can set the true name of a child (the child may rename themselves when they are 18); others will nickname them, which is just a name your own character knows the other character by. Once the child has spawned, it is the equivalent of a 5-year-old physically and mentally. Children will always arrive slightly hungry. You cannot be born to parents on your own account.
If the gestation has transferred due to hibernation, the tierborn will receive the new bearer's description and name, not the original. The new bearer also receives all primary parent privileges mentioned above.
| Race | Spawn Type | Max Children Per Spawning |
|---|---|---|
| Avian | Hatch from Eggs | 3 |
| Daemon | Emerge from a Great Flame | 2 |
| Fae | From a Wood Totem | 5 |
| Folk | From Soil and Clay | 5 |
| Golem | Formed from Rocks | 1 |
| Kobold | Out of Black Ooze | 5 |
| Naga | Hatch from Eggs | 3 |
| Therian | Emerge from a Swirling Green Blue Portal | 3 |
Child Behavior
Children are limited in the following behavior:
- Children cannot kill an incapable person.
- Children cannot start their own projects.
- Children slow down project progress by 50%.
- Children are able to be dragged by their guardians at any time (others must make them incapable first), or by other members in a group they are part of.
- Children are able to be turned around on the road by their guardians as if they're incapable if they are within the normal road interaction limitations.
- Children cannot drag anyone.
- Children cannot heal grievous injuries.
- Children cannot bring other children into existence.
- Children can only turn around whilst travelling if there is no adult present on a cart or mount with them, or if they are not on either.
- Child limitations lift at age 14.
Child Queue
From a technical standpoint, the lines for children to be born are all separated by race. Characters will sit in line and will wait for a breeding pair of a specific race to be ready for a child. When that happens, the game will match the child to the parents based on their place in line. When character to be born is fully matched to parents, it locks them into the birth with a message saying "spawning imminent" at which point you are unable to remove yourself from the tier. See adoption if you are born post "lock-in" but no longer have the time to commit to this role. In some circumstances, a child character will be skipped for matching, such as if the child account is the same as the parents, or if the accounts of the parents are being avoided by the child account.
Guardianship
The biological birthing parent of a child character can assign any other character as a guardian for their child. This other guardian can not be reassigned ever under any condition, so be careful. This will give the other character, if they accept, full parental abilities to the child forever.
There is no limit to how many children you can accept guardianship of, there are also no gender or race restrictions.
The child must be present on tile for the guardian to be able to accept, but the child has no say in it.