Households¶
Households are family units and their dependents: the majority of any settlement.
A Common Household averages roughly 8 to 10 people. When a settlement blueprint composes households aggregately ("15 Fisher Households"), leave the aggregate for population reference; compose a specific Common Household from this theme only when the party interacts with one directly.
Theme: Common Household¶
The everyday household of a settlement: farmer, artisan, fisher, laborer. The family lives together in a single dwelling and works the family trade. The Household Elder makes decisions and holds the strongbox key.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 1 Household Elder, 2 Adults, 3 Children | Personality, Dynamics, Size | Shack, House, or Manor |
| Average | 1 Household Elder, 4 Adults, 5 Children | Personality, Dynamics, Size | Shack, House, or Manor |
| Large | 1 Household Elder, 6 Adults, 8 Children | Personality, Dynamics, Size | Shack, House, or Manor |
Theme: Aristocratic Household¶
The domestic household of a noble family: the family itself plus its personal servants, retainers, and household staff. Lives at a Manor House (rural), a Townhouse (urban), the Great Keep of a Stronghold, or a Palace. A Chamberlain runs the domestic staff; Attendants serve the family in specialized roles (tutors, falconers, houndsmen, etc.); Servants keep the house; Household Knights swear service to the family. When a fortification is held on behalf of an absent Lord, its Warden or Castellan may stand in as Head of House.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modest | 1 Head of House, 2-3 immediate kin, 1 Chamberlain, 4-8 Servants | Personality, Dynamics | Manor House or Townhouse |
| Established | 1 Head of House, 4-6 immediate kin, 1 Chamberlain, 2-4 Attendants, 12-20 Servants, 2-4 Household Knights | Personality, Dynamics | Manor House, Townhouse, or Great Keep |
| Grand | 1 Head of House, 6-10 immediate kin, 1 Chamberlain, 4-8 Attendants, 30-60 Servants, 6-12 Household Knights | Personality, Dynamics | Palace, Great Keep, or grand Townhouse |
Details¶
Creatures¶
Adults. Grown children, siblings, and spouses. Use the Commoner stat block. Loot: day's earnings if intercepted.
Attendants. Higher-status household staff attached to individual family members or to specialized duties: personal valets or ladies-in-waiting, tutors for the children, a falconer, a houndsman, a family scribe, a chief steward's clerk. Ranked above the Servants; often trained in a craft or letters. Use the Professional stat block with proficiencies chosen by role. Loot: signet or badge of office (10 to 25 gp), day's earnings, personal effects; a scholar or tutor may carry books or letters.
Chamberlain. The head of the household staff, ranked above the Cook, valets, and other servants. Manages the daily running of the house, keeps the household accounts, hires and dismisses staff, receives visitors. Uses the Professional stat block with proficiencies in Insight, Persuasion, and calligrapher's supplies. Loot: ledger, keys to the household stores, signet or badge of office (25 gp), 3d10 gp coin purse.
Children. Non combatants. Use the Commoner stat block. Loot: none.
Household Elder. The family head at a Common Household. Makes decisions, holds the strongbox key. Uses the Professional stat block with proficiencies in Insight, History, plus one tool for the family trade. Loot: modest heirloom (1d100 gp), 3d10 gp saved coin, strongbox key.
Head of House. The senior member of an aristocratic family — a Lord, Lady, Knight, or other titled figure. Makes decisions, holds the household strongbox key, sits at the head of the table. Uses the Noble or Knight stat block. When a Court composes at the same place, the Head of House is the Court's Lord — same figure, two roles. See Rulers: Court (theme). Loot: signet or coronet (100-500 gp per rank), family heirloom, personal purse (5d10 to 5d100 gp per scale).
Household Knight. A knight sworn to the family's service, living on the family's hospitality. Distinct from the household's garrison or Household Guards; a Household Knight is an elevated retainer whose sword and honor belong to the Head of House. Uses the Knight stat block. Loot: sword, shield, kit, family badge (25 gp), personal purse (3d10 gp).
Servants. Household staff: cooks, maids, footmen, grooms, launderers, gardeners, kennelmen. Uses the Commoner stat block. Loot: livery (nominal), a few silver.
Features¶
Dynamics. The family's current situation. Pick or roll d8:
- Balanced — no active tension. Default.
- Succession — the Household Elder aging or ailing; one Adult is the scion positioning to take over. Other Adults choose sides.
- Feud — two branches at odds. A rival Household Elder is present. Marriages have fractured; kids caught in the middle.
- Debt — family owes a lender, gang, or faction. Named creditor and payment schedule.
- Broken — missing or dead member. Household Elder is a grandmother, uncle, etc. stepping in to replace.
- Alliance — bound to another household by marriage, oath, or trade. Terms binding and public.
- Scandal — public shame or open secret. Someone did something the neighbors know about.
- Ambition — rising family, upstart. Threatens established households.
Personality. Persistent trait. d6: 1 struggling (hungry, tense); 2 proud (chip on shoulder); 3 superstitious (reads the signs); 4 hardworking (rarely stops); 5 gossipy (knows every rumor); 6 clannish (defends kin fiercely).
Size. Distribution of household sizes across a settlement, and a d6 for picking a specific family's size.
| d6 | Size | People |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Small | 6 |
| 3-5 | Average | 10 |
| 6 | Large | 15 |
Locations¶
Great Keep. See Fortifications: Great Keep (theme). When an Aristocratic Household is housed at a Great Keep, the Household occupies the Great Keep's residential floors. No separate Household residence.
House. Modest household's dwelling. Plank walls, thatched roof, one main room with a hearth, sleeping loft above. Single door with iron latch; shutters on two windows. Loot: strongbox in the loft with 3d10 gp; heirloom kept here.
Manor. Wealthy household's dwelling. Two stories, multiple rooms, sometimes a servant at the entryway. Strong lock on the front door; shutters on ground floor windows. Loot: strongbox with 5d20 gp; family heirloom of some value; silver plate and tapestries.
Manor House. The country seat of an aristocratic family: a large house with a great hall, family apartments upstairs, servants' wing, kitchens and cellars, stables, and grounds. When a Court is seated here, see Rulers: Court's Manor House for the full description; otherwise the manor is a Knight's or minor titled family's holding.
Palace. See Rulers: Court (theme). An Aristocratic Household housed at a Palace is the domestic side of the Court. When the Court is instead housed at a fortification, no separate Palace needed.
Shack. Poor household's dwelling. One room, dirt floor, thatched roof. Latched door, no lock. Loot: a few coppers stashed under a stone.
Townhouse. A fine urban residence for a noble family: multi-story stone or timber, formal front hall, sitting rooms, private apartments upstairs, kitchen and servants' quarters below or in a rear wing, small formal garden, stables for the family's mounts. Common in a wealthy area of a Town or City. Loot: family heirlooms and portraits (250-1000 gp), silver plate (100 gp), tapestries; the strongbox with 5d100 gp; the head of house's private study contains letters, ledgers, contracts, family records.
Stat blocks used¶
Household draws on shared blocks.
- Commoner — SRD.
- Professional — new. Upgraded Commoner with proficiencies chosen by role.