New Player.... 24 hours of play, but I cannot understand why my sister is my heir

[hansvanderdrift]

I am starting a new game as the King of Brittany.

I start off by looking at my screen and notice something strange... Strange to me anyway.

I have a son, but my Heir is my sister?

The family tree shows my Mother is still alive, is this a factor?

This is the inheritance. I understand my sister has a weak claim, but why a direct heir?

 

[Keizer Harm]

What succession laws do you have? And have you tried rebooting the game?

 

[FifthMonarchy]

I am starting a new game as the Petty King of Brittany.



I start off by looking at my screen and notice something strange...


I have a son, but my Heir is my sister?

The family tree shows my Mother is still alive, is this a factor?


This is the inheritance. I understand my sister has a weak claim, but why a direct heir?

There's one start where you have a son but he's illegitimate, I'd check and see if it's that one (you can legitimise him so he becomes heir in the intrigue menu IIRC).
ETA Couldn't see your screenshots when I first read the thread for some reason, now I do and the black blood drop on the portrait does mean he's a bastard and it is the starting scenario I was remembering.

 

[Dragatus]

The most likely explanation is that the son is somehow disqualified from inheritance. The most likely causes are that he is a Bastard (right click his portrait to get the option to legalize him), he was given a bishopric (revoke the holding), or he joined a holy order (nothing you can do about this one).

Edit: The pictures you added make it clear. The males are bastards.

 

[CVDE]

Ah, to be a noob. I remember the days XD

Your sister is your heir because your son and brother are bastards. Bastard children and adults can't inherit any titles from their parents, unless legitimized.

You need to legitimize your bastard boy for him to be your rightful heir. You do this by right-clicking on him and hitting the "Legitimize Son" option, thus he will become a "Legitimize bastard".

 

[LemonMonk]

As other have said, he is a bastard and so is your brother. The blood icon in the top right of the portrait is darker and thinner, which I think means bastard (not played for some time).

I strongly suggest changing your succession to Primogeniture now, or you may regret it. Primogeniture is probably the best succession law, and if you decide on having more children, the current Gavelkind succession will lead you to losing direct control of land.

 

[OBRkenobi]

Your son is illegitimate (born out of wedlock) thus disqualified from succession. Right-click on his portrait and click the legitimise button.

 

[Orctavius]

Based on the black blood drop next to your son's portrait, he is a bastard and unable to inherit.

Edit: Oops, didn't see the other responses to this thread for some reason. Yes, what they said.

 

[Iron Chariots]

I don't know if anybody has said this yet, but your son is a bastard and needs to be legitimized.

 

[machina79]

Guys, his son is a bastard, right-click.

 

[Dr Gonzo]

Bastards!

 

[Bernard95]

For future reference:
Large red blood drop with border = member of your dynasty that is close family (brother, sister, parents, etc.)
Smaller red blood drop without border = member of your dynasty (kinsman)
Black blood drop = bastard of your dynasty

 

[Marinaliteyears]

And to add something everyone has not already said, your heir is also your sister because of the agnatic-cognatic inheretence law. This means in the case of no eligible male heirs, a female one is chosen instead, with your sister being the closest thing to a legitimate heir. (this means if you have a daughter, she will take precedence over your sister. but if you have a son after that, he would take precedence over both.)

Furthermore, being Gavelkind, your inheritance travels to the eldest in the direct line..at least, your main title does. if you have more then one kid, other titles divide among them. normally your sister wouldnt factor in, aside from the lack of your children.

And yes, as others have mentioned your son, despite being you son, is also a bastard, meaning your character had a child without his wife. (or with no wife.) You can legitimize him, if you want him to be your heir. (theoretically, if your sister is of your dynasty, she should be perfectly playable too, though unless she is in a matrilinial marriage, Or unmarried so that you can put her in one, any non-dynasty heirs of hers are a risk to your game.)

 

[Baron Badwolf]

As other have said, he is a bastard and so is your brother.

That's so mean! lol

 

[DPS]

BTW, you want to get your ruler married even if you legitimize your son and don't want any more kids. A ruler's wife's stats contribute to the realm's stats.

 

[CVDE]

Bastards!

Hordor!

 

[StarSword]

Just legitimize the bastard and THEN get married. No other kids, no wife = nobody to get mad at you for doing it. Plus there's a chance you might get the nickname "the Bastard" playing as him, which might be cool.

 

[Djaevlenselv]

Also change your Succession Law immediately to something that does not include the word 'Gavelkind'.

 

[Kumicho]

In addition to what everyone else has said, I'd advise you to get very familiar with mousing-over things that you don't understand because there's often a tool-tip that will explain things. So if you click on your son, one of his attributes will be "acknowledged bastard" (or something similar? can't remember), and it will tell you that he can't inherit if you mouse-over that little icon. It's in the box with all the other attributes like Strong, Kind, Craven, etc.