Creating characters' children need style and common sense rather than rules thus this is only a quick guide to provide ideas.
Depending on the timing a healthy couple has 35-40% chance to conceive a child in a season. In the first year after a childbirth the chance is far less, you shouldn't roll at all. The chance is far less for older women, too. After 30 fertility reduces, women over 35-40 give birth more rarely (5-10% conceiving chance per season). However giving birth over 40 is not uncommon.
A man or woman has 2% chance to be infertile. Le's say half of these cases can be healed by magic. Only a few may know drogs which can prevent pregnancy which is a crime. Infertility is considered a punishment of God.
Childbirth complications has a 2% chance, the woman and/or the baby may die in this case. Both of them must roll an endurance test to survive, the woman's target number is 2, the baby's one is 0 (infants have a -5 age penalty!). In addition surviving the puerperal fever the mother must roll another endurance roll with the target number of 0. All of these are preventable or curable by spells.
Although it was considered a sin surplus children were sometimes exposed to die. Among nobles the girls were superfluous, peasants considered rather the number of their children.
Because of the tough conditions and diseases only half of the
children reached adulthood. 25% of newborns died before the age of one, but the
death rate reduced later. We can model this with a 25% disease chance in the
first year, 8% in the following 7 years and 1% from age of 9-18. Disease can be
survived with an endurance roll on target number 6.
If you want to avoid the depressing recording of child mortality, give less
childbirth chance like 15% per season.
It can be observed that children look more like one of their family members who are not always one of the parents, but also can be a grandparent, uncle or aunt as well. Determine randomly the person he/she resembles, for example roll a simple die and 1-3 means someone from the father's family, 4-6 someone from the maternal branch and 7-10 means equally. The child gets 2 virtues and 2 flaws and a personality trait from the person he or she resembles, and 1 virtue and 1 flaw from the other side. Curses can be inherited as well. If the child resembles equally he or she must get 1 virtue and 1 flaw from both of his or her parents. The scores of virtues and flaws are unimportant. The child of a magus who has the Gift may inherit hermetic virtues and flaws as well. Otherwise he or she should take supernatural virtues or flaws which are associated with the parent's magical nature. For example it's cool to take Enchantment for a Mentem specialist's child and Shapeshifter for a Bjornaer's child. You may spend the rest of the virtue and flaw points freely but their scores have to be balanced. It's worth to pay attention on the abilities as well, if the parents were strong for example, their child shall not be puny even being a magus.
Does the baby inherit the parents' Gift of magic? There aren't magical families in the books but there's a Mythic Lineage virtue and bearers are descendants of ancient supernatural beings or magi. The rulebook says they aren't uncommon. Thus the Gift must be inheritable with a reasonable chance. I would give 25% Gift inheritance in the case of one magus parent and 50% if both has the Gift. Magi rarely are able to teach magic their own children because at younger age when they can to conceive a child or gave birth they don't have Art scores of 5 in every Art to open the child's Arts correctly.
Ancestry and wealth thus the parent's wealth are given, you may spend on these only if the character has some personal property due some extra source. Children of magi may learn certain magical knowledge skills if they are educated by their parents.
Children of a player character should be played by another player because parent-child conflicts became possible. It's an additional link to the former stories, a good reason why a new character joins the covenant.
Created: 27.01.2003
Last modified: 05.07.2016