How do families work in your Manor Lords settlements

As with any kind of city building or strategy game, population plays an important role in your gameplay. 

The basic population unit of Manor Lords is counted in families.

Family members

Like in real life, each family consists of multiple family members. There's mom and dad, sons and daughters, you get the idea. 

Each family lives in a Burgage Plot, or in simpler terms: a house with a yard. There are different tiers of housing, which will decide the level of the family as well. 

In total, a family will consume 1 food every month. The family will also need fuel, but this consume rate will vary according to the season.

From all the family members, only the male variety (fathers and sons) can join the militia. Good to know: if those were to die in battle, the whole family needs replacing. Apparently, wives and daughters are no good to run a household 😉

Tiers and work

At the time of writing there are three tiers of housing in Manor Lords settlements. The tier or level of the family is decided by the level of their housing.

Every workplace needs a family assigned to them for it to function. Do so, and members of the family will work there. Several production buildings produce goods to be sold on a market, for which you will need a different family to man the market stall. 

When upgrading a house to the second tier, you can construct an Artisan workshop at the house. In that case, the whole family will quit their original job and work from home. Ahead of their time, I tell ya 😁 

Keep in mind

Upgrading housing as well as raising a militia will be defining in the way your settlement works. 

Both actions are needed at certain points in the game. But keep in mind that either losing a family due to war or due to an Artisan upgrade will remove their hands from the general labour pool.

As general labour is often the backbone of your society, like timber or food production, families need to be replaced quickly to continue a steady economy.