Eldership is a succession form in which the ruler and the elders vote on any member of the ruling dynasty to be the next heir. The elders are selected from any non-imprisoned member of the realm, with preference given to age, abilities, roles, and previous positions as elders. If the elders are pleased with the current ruler, it is relatively easy to have any desired heir be selected. With Eldership it is relatively easy to maintain multiple kingdom and empire titles as the elders tend to vote for the same candidate for all titles.
Elder status
Elders can have one of three statuses: Ecstatic, Pleased, or Displeased. Random events will occur that can either be accepted or declined to improve or worsen an elder's opinion of the current ruler. These will typically change the elder's status to either ecstatic or displeased, depending on what was selected.
Ecstatic elders are more likely if the elder has the content trait, is a lover/friend of the ruler, has a job as chancellor, treasurer, or spiritual.
Displeased elder are more likely if the elder has the stubborn trait, is a rival, or has a negative opinion of the ruler.
Elder voting
Ecstatic elders will almost always vote for the candidate selected by the ruler.
Pleased elders will use their own judgement to select a desirable candidate, but will often still vote for the candidate selected by the ruler as long as it's a fitting candidate and they like the ruler. Their evaluation is similar to other succession laws (see Succession voting for details). Special preferences apply for Eldership:
- Elders prefer older candidates (but avoid voting for other Elders)
- Elders prefer candidates with high stewardship skill
- Opinion of candidate more important than other elective laws
- Opinion of ruler more important than other elective laws
Displeased elders almost always vote against the ruler's nominee. They will intentionally pick candidates with bad traits in order to spite the ruling dynasty.
Elder selection
Elders are automatically selected and are based on a number of criteria. There can be a maximum of seven elders for a realm at a given time. Characters are more likely to be selected as an elder if they: have the spiritual council position or chancellor position, was an elder for the previous ruler, have high learning scores, is the same religion and/or culture, is not a ruler, is not a child of the ruler, is not incapable, and of course is older.