Mount & Blade: Warband
Mount & Blade: Warband

Marriage & Family

Secure your legacy in Mount & Blade: Warband. Learn to find a spouse, gain valuable skills, and strengthen your faction through marriage and family.

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Marriage & Family

In the harsh lands of Calradia, securing your legacy and strengthening your faction through marriage is a vital strategic move. A well-chosen spouse can bring valuable skills, influence, and even new companions to your cause. This guide will walk you through the intricate process of finding a suitable partner and establishing your family.

Finding a Spouse

The search for a spouse begins by identifying eligible lords and ladies across Calradia. These individuals are typically found in castles and towns, often in the Lord's Hall or the local keep.

Identifying Potential Suitors/Suitresses

  • Check the Encyclopedia (N key): This is your primary tool for scouting potential partners. Navigate to the 'Heroes' tab and filter by 'Unmarried' and 'Female' or 'Male' as appropriate. You can also sort by skills to find individuals with desirable attributes like high Stewardship, Medicine, or Engineering.
  • Visit Faction Leaders: Speaking with faction leaders or prominent lords/ladies can sometimes reveal information about their unmarried relatives.
  • Attend Feasts: Feasts are excellent opportunities to meet multiple eligible individuals in one location. Keep an eye on the world map for feast announcements.

Building a Relationship

Once you've identified a potential partner, you'll need to build a positive relationship with them and their family. This involves several steps:

  1. Initial Introduction: Approach the individual in a town or castle and initiate dialogue.
  2. Completing Quests: Offer to complete quests for them or their family members. These can range from delivering messages to hunting down bandits. Successfully completing quests will significantly improve your relationship.
  3. Tournament Victories: Winning tournaments in their honor or in towns where they are present can impress them and their family, granting a relationship boost.
  4. Gifts (Optional): While not always necessary, offering valuable items as gifts can sometimes expedite the relationship-building process, especially if you're short on time.

The Proposal

Once your relationship with a potential spouse is sufficiently high (typically above +20), you can initiate a proposal. The process differs slightly depending on whether you are male or female.

For Male Characters

  1. Speak to the Lady: Approach the lady you wish to marry and select the dialogue option related to marriage.
  2. Gain Father's Permission: If she agrees in principle, you will then need to speak with her father (or guardian, if her father is deceased).
  3. Negotiate the Dowry: The father will typically demand a dowry. The amount varies based on the lady's renown, skills, and the father's wealth. Be prepared to pay a significant sum of Denars, often ranging from 5,000 to 20,000. Higher relationship with the father can reduce the demanded dowry.
  4. The Wedding: Once the dowry is paid, the wedding will take place immediately, and your new wife will join your party.

For Female Characters

  1. Speak to the Lord: Approach the lord you wish to marry and select the dialogue option related to marriage.
  2. Prove Your Worth: The lord may ask you to prove your worth, often by winning a tournament or completing a challenging quest.
  3. The Wedding: Upon successful completion of the task, the wedding will take place, and you will join his faction (if you are not already part of it).

Benefits of Marriage

Marriage offers numerous advantages that can significantly impact your campaign:

  • Spouse as a Companion: Your spouse can join your party as a powerful companion, often possessing high skills in areas like Tactics, Leadership, or healing (Surgery/First Aid). They can also be assigned as a party leader for a secondary party or governor of a settlement.
  • Children (Male Player Only): For male players, marriage can lead to the birth of children. These children will grow over time and can eventually become companions, lords, or ladies themselves, ensuring your lineage continues.
  • Faction Influence: Marrying into a powerful family can improve your standing within their faction and open up new political opportunities.
  • Skill Bonuses: Some spouses provide passive skill bonuses to your party or managed settlements.

Managing Your Family

Once married, your family becomes an integral part of your strategy.

  • Spouse Management: Your spouse can be assigned various roles:
    • In Party: They will fight alongside you and contribute their skills.
    • Governor: Assign them to a castle or town to manage its affairs, improving prosperity and security.
    • Party Leader: Equip them with troops and send them out to lead their own party, raiding enemies or defending your lands.
  • Raising Children: For male players, children will appear in your inventory as "Infant" and will age over time. While you have no direct control over their development, their presence ensures a future for your dynasty.

Strategically planning your marriage and managing your family can provide a significant long-term advantage, securing your legacy and strengthening your position in Calradia.