私生子

A bastard is a child conceived outside of marriage or concubinage. Bastards are born with the mother's culture, religion, and caste.

Bastards who are identified as such are born with the trait, making them unable to inherit from either parent, and preventing them from passing on either parent's dynasty.

Bastards can be declared legitimate by either parent. A becomes a permanent member of the dynasty of the legitimizing parent, and is allowed to inherit from both parents. Muslims are not allowed to legitimize bastards and their Open succession does not exclude bastards.

Pregnancy

Pregnancies resulting in bastard children can be started by lovers, based on normal fertility mechanics, but with lower chances than for even secondary spouses. Women can also become pregnant in events. The most reliable way to become pregnant is with repeated tumbles (but not taking lovers) in the Seduction focus.

While unmarried

If an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, she loses 50 prestige and 50 piety, and the biological father is known at the time of birth.

While married

If a married woman secretly becomes pregnant with another man's child, the husband may search for the identity of the biological father. This event chain occurs during pregnancy, and determines whether the "known father" is the husband (making the child a secret "cuckoo bastard") or the biological father.

The husband's chance to suspect is 0% if , 100% if , and 25% otherwise. A husband who suspects then chooses whether to investigate; AI husbands who are paranoid or are very likely to do so. The investigation can succeed or fail in several ways; overall, the outcome depends on the intrigue skill and traits of both the husband and wife. Finally, if the investigation fails, he has the option to confront his wife, and is guaranteed to do so if paranoid. In this confrontation, the wife can choose to disclose her affair or leave him frustrated.

Thus, wives who wish to cuckold their husbands should marry trusting husbands, or at least ensure they have much better intrigue skill and traits. Wives who wish to produce known bastards should marry paranoid husbands. Wives who want maximum control should marry paranoid but low-intrigue husbands.

Birth

If the biological father is known at birth, he receives an event letting him choose between:

• Make the child a of his dynasty.
• Acknowledge the child as his . The child will temporarily be of the father's dynasty (until the child has children of his own via a patrilineal marriage) and can be legitimized by either parent later.
• Denounce the child. The child will no longer have a known father. The child immediately is the founder of a new dynasty (?), and can be legitimized by the mother later.

AI fathers who are and tend toward the higher options. Christians tend toward the lower options, as do all fathers when the child is a girl. Only men above 50 with no living sons are likely to choose the legitimize option.

If the father dies during the pregnancy, the unborn child gets claims on the father's titles. The child is temporarily a member of the mother's dynasty (until the child has children of his own via a patrilineal marriage), and can be legitimized later.

Legitimization after birth

Any known parent can legitimize a child by selecting the "Legitimize" interaction in the child's menu. The child must be a vassal or below of the parent, and the parent must be able to spend 20 piety. This brings the child permanently into the legitimizing parent's dynasty. This interaction is the only way for a mother to legitimize a child into her dynasty. AI parents do not do this.

Two rare events allow parents to legitimize adult sons, but without correcting the son's dynasty. In event 76015, a parent can legitimize a random son. In event 76020, a man with no sinful traits can ask his father for legitimization.

私生子创建新的家族

一个有孩子的私生子将创建一个新的家族。因此，如果您要使孩子合法化，最好在私生子生出孙子之前使其合法化。

如果您不能使孩子合法化或决定不让孩子合法化，则可能要阻止他们结婚，以确保不会出现非本家族的继承人。

阻止他们结婚的一种方法是授予他们一个城市。（由于种姓制度，印度人可能很难使用这种方法。）

基督徒和祆教教徒也可以通过授予他教堂阻止他结婚，甚至可以废除他们现有的婚姻。 借助，基督徒也可以命令朝臣们宣誓。

识别亲生父亲

有两种方法可以识别出私生子（包括鸠占鹊巢的私生子）的亲生父亲。 密谋生活重心可用于识别成年人的亲生父亲。 使用charinfo 控制台指令会在工具提示中显示亲生父亲的姓名。 角色的外表（"文化外观"）也会暗示他们的已知父亲可能不是他们的亲生父亲。