This article delves into the mechanics of family in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, specifically addressing how to adopt children in Bannerlord 2 and their impact on your clan and gameplay. While the game doesn’t offer a direct “adoption” feature, this article explores ways to expand your family through marriage, training, and strategic alliances, impacting your clan’s future.
Bannerlord 2 simulates medieval family structures. Your clan’s strength relies heavily on having capable family members to govern fiefs, lead armies, and eventually inherit leadership. Building a strong family is crucial for long-term success, and understanding the game’s mechanics surrounding family is paramount. Succession is determined by age, skills, and relationships.
The Core Absence of Direct Adoption
It’s important to understand that Bannerlord 2 doesn’t have a specific adoption mechanic like you might find in other RPGs. You cannot walk into a village and choose to adopt an orphan. The game focuses on biological offspring and family ties established through marriage. Therefore, “adoption” in the context of Bannerlord 2 is more about integrating individuals into your clan through strategic relationships and training.
Marriage is the primary way to grow your clan’s numbers.
Finding a Suitable Spouse
The first step is finding a suitable spouse for your player character or one of your clan members.
- Consider Skills and Traits: Look for characters with skills that complement your clan’s needs. For example, a character with high stewardship is valuable for governing towns, while a character with high leadership is ideal for leading armies.
- Check Clan Status and Power: Marrying into a powerful clan can bring political advantages and alliances. However, marrying into a weak clan might offer opportunities to gain influence.
- Evaluate Age: Consider the age of potential spouses. A younger spouse will likely contribute more to your clan’s future by bearing children and serving for a longer period.
- Use the Encyclopedia: The in-game encyclopedia is your best friend. Use it to find lords and ladies with specific skills, clan affiliations, and approximate ages.
Negotiating the Marriage
Once you’ve identified a suitable spouse, you’ll need to negotiate the marriage.
- Clan Tier Matters: Your clan’s tier significantly impacts your negotiating power. Higher tiers allow you to demand better terms.
- Money Talks: Be prepared to offer a dowry (or receive one, depending on the circumstances). The amount will depend on the relative power of the clans and the desirability of the marriage.
- Relationship Matters: Having a positive relationship with the potential spouse and their clan leader can improve your chances of a successful negotiation.
The Impact of Marriage on Your Clan
Successful marriages bring several benefits:
- Increased Clan Size: Obviously, marriages bring new members into your clan, increasing your pool of potential governors, commanders, and heirs.
- Political Alliances: Marriage can forge strong alliances with other clans, providing military support and political influence.
- Improved Clan Skills: By marrying characters with complementary skills, you can enhance your clan’s overall capabilities.
- Potential Offspring: The ultimate goal of marriage is to produce offspring who will inherit your clan’s legacy.
Since direct adoption isn’t possible, you must focus on training existing family members to ensure the clan’s future.
Identifying Promising Heirs
Not all family members are created equal. Identify those with the greatest potential and focus your efforts on developing their skills.
- Early Childhood: While children are young, focus on increasing their base stats through appropriate education options within the clan management screen.
- Teenage Years: As they reach their teens, assign them roles that will help them develop relevant skills. For example, send them to govern a castle or lead a small troop of soldiers.
- Observe Their Performance: Pay attention to how they perform in their assigned roles. Are they effective governors? Do they excel in combat? Use this information to guide their training further.
Focused Skill Development
Once you’ve identified promising heirs, tailor their training to maximize their potential.
- Assign Companions: Assign experienced companions as mentors to help them develop specific skills.
- Strategic Role Assignments: Give them increasingly challenging roles to test and develop their abilities.
- Combat Experience: Expose them to combat to improve their martial skills.
- Book Learning: Ensure they read books that enhance their skills in areas like stewardship, medicine, and engineering.
The Long-Term Benefits of Training
Investing in the training of your family members yields significant long-term benefits.
- Capable Leaders: Well-trained family members make effective leaders, ensuring the continued success of your clan.
- Improved Governance: Skilled governors can increase prosperity, reduce crime, and improve the loyalty of your fiefs.
- Stronger Armies: Competent commanders can lead your armies to victory, expanding your territory and influence.
- Clan Longevity: By ensuring a steady supply of capable heirs, you guarantee the survival and prosperity of your clan for generations to come.
While you can’t formally adopt other characters, you can strategically align with other clans and exert influence over their members, essentially incorporating their skills and assets into your own sphere of influence.
Building Strong Relationships
The foundation of any successful alliance is a strong relationship.
- Assist in Wars: Offer military assistance to allied clans during wars.
- Gift Fiefs: Giving away newly conquered fiefs to aligned clans will greatly improve their opinion of you.
- Support Political Decisions: Vote in favor of their proposals during kingdom decisions.
- Attend Celebrations: Attending feasts and tournaments hosted by allied clans can improve your relationship with their members.
Exerting Influence
Once you’ve established a strong relationship, you can begin to exert influence.
- Arrange Marriages: Arrange marriages between your clan members and members of allied clans to strengthen ties and consolidate power.
- Offer Positions: Offer positions in your kingdom or army to talented members of allied clans.
- Provide Resources: Offer financial or material assistance to help allied clans prosper.
The Impact of Strategic Alliances
Strategic alliances can provide many of the benefits of adoption without the formal process.
- Increased Military Strength: Allied clans can contribute troops to your armies, significantly increasing your military power.
- Political Influence: Allied clans can support your political agenda, helping you pass laws and gain influence in the kingdom.
- Access to Talent: By attracting talented members of allied clans to your service, you can expand your pool of skilled characters.
- Buffer Against Enemies: Allied clans can provide a buffer against enemy attacks, protecting your territory and resources.
From personal experience, I’ve found that focusing solely on combat skills when training family members is a common mistake. While martial prowess is essential, neglecting skills like stewardship and medicine can lead to significant problems in the long run. A balanced approach, tailored to each character’s strengths and weaknesses, is crucial for maximizing their potential. Pay special attention to training a family member in medicine. A skilled surgeon in your party can drastically reduce casualties during battles.
Another overlooked aspect is the importance of choosing the right spouses. Don’t just focus on their skills; consider their personality and compatibility with your clan’s values. A spouse who is disloyal or constantly scheming can destabilize your clan and create internal conflicts. I once married a clan member to a noblewoman with high intrigue, thinking her skills would be valuable. However, she spent most of her time plotting against my other family members, ultimately leading to a civil war within my kingdom.
Furthermore, I’ve discovered that gifting captured settlements to clans in need is a sure way to be well regarded.
I have spent countless hours playing Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, experimenting with different strategies and approaches to clan management. My insights are based on extensive gameplay experience and a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics.
While Bannerlord 2 lacks a specific in-game manual, the Mount & Blade Wiki ( https://mountandblade.fandom.com/wiki/Mount_%26_Blade_II:_Bannerlord ) offers a wealth of information on the game’s mechanics and features.
| Strategy | Method | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic Marriage | Choose spouses based on skills, clan power, and age. | Increases clan size, forges alliances, improves clan skills, and provides potential offspring. |
| Training | Identify promising heirs and tailor their training accordingly. | Develops capable leaders, improves governance, strengthens armies, and ensures clan longevity. |
| Alliances | Build strong relationships and exert influence. | Increases military strength, political influence, access to talent, and provides a buffer against enemies. |
Q: Can I adopt children in Bannerlord 2?
A: No, there is no direct adoption feature in the game. You can only expand your family through marriage and childbirth.
Q: How do I get more family members in Bannerlord 2?
A: The primary way is through marriage. Focus on finding suitable spouses for your clan members who will bear children.
Q: How do I train my children in Bannerlord 2?
A: Assign them roles that will help them develop relevant skills, such as governing fiefs or leading small troops of soldiers. Also, assign experienced companions as mentors.
Q: What are the benefits of having a large family in Bannerlord 2?
A: A larger family provides more potential governors, commanders, and heirs, ensuring the long-term success of your clan.
Q: How important are alliances in Bannerlord 2?
A: Alliances are crucial for military support, political influence, and access to talent. They can provide many of the benefits of adoption without the formal process.