Here's some rules I cobbled together to flesh out the history of a noble title, specifically the number of previous titleholders.
I hope some of you will find this useful.
Hans
Noble title histories
Decide when the title was first created. E.g. the Duchy of Regina was created in 629; before that the Regina Cluster had been an (oversized) county under the dukes of Rhylanor.
Creation number
When a title is not passed on to a titleholder's heir (for whatever reason), the title is said to have become extinct. Sometimes the title is not used again, but in many cases it is. If the honor title Baron of Credo becomes extinct, it's quite likely that the Emperor will create another Baron of Credo eventually. When a high noble title becomes extinct, a new one is usually needed as soon as possible. The second time a title is created, it is said to be 'of the second creation'. Similarly for subsequent creations. Numbering of nobles begins anew when a title is created again. The new noble is said to be the first of the second creation. E.g. the Mudashiirs of Mora are duchesses of the second creation.
For every century after the title has been created, roll 2D. On a result of 2 or 3, the title has become extinct.
If the title predates the Civil War, make an extra roll. On a 2-4, the title became extinct during the Civil War. The extinction can be the result of the family being moved from one part of the Imperium to another during Arbellatra's post-war reshuffle.
If the title predates the Psionic Suppressions, make an extra roll. On a 2, the title became extinct during the suppressions.
If the title is located in a region strongly affected by one of the major Imperial conflicts, make an extra roll. On a 2-3, the title became extinct during that war. The 1FW and 2FW are considered part of the Civil War for this purpose. The 4FW was not a major conflict. 'Strongly affected' means 'having hostile fleets roaming the subsector'. E.g. Mora subsector was not strongly affected by the 5FW.
If a title becomes extinct during a century, randomly determine the year it happened.
Any and all of these rolls may be dropped if you have something specific in mind. E.g. if you want the titleholder's ancestor to have successfully concealed his psionic abilities during the Suppressions, just ignore that particular roll.
Duration of title
Clculate the time the title has existed in its current creation. E.g. if the title last became extinct in 845 and today is 1105, the title has now existed for 260 years.
Number of titleholders
Roll one die for each century, counting ones as threes on a second roll of 1-3, fives as four on a second roll of 1-3, and sixes as threes always. For the incomplete century, roll the die separately and multiply by the fraction of the century, rounding off. E.g. in the example above you'd roll two dice and then multiply the result of a third die by 60/100th and add that.
Alternatively, just divide the number of years by 33.33, rounding off. Or multiply the number of centuries by 3, rounding off.
The result is the number of titleholders before the present one.
Interpreting the result
A high number is easy to explain. The previous titleholders simply died or abdicated more frequently that on average. A low number could be due to long lives of titleholders (whether due to longevity genes, anagatica, or clean living). Or the title may have skipped a generation on occasion (going from grandparent to grandchild after 60 years instead of from parent to child after 30 years).
The age of the incumbent can be a useful fudge factor, e.g. he could be a young man who'd just recently inherited the title or a very old man who inherited it a century ago.
Decide when the title was first created. E.g. the Duchy of Regina was created in 629; before that the Regina Cluster had been an (oversized) county under the dukes of Rhylanor.
Creation number
When a title is not passed on to a titleholder's heir (for whatever reason), the title is said to have become extinct. Sometimes the title is not used again, but in many cases it is. If the honor title Baron of Credo becomes extinct, it's quite likely that the Emperor will create another Baron of Credo eventually. When a high noble title becomes extinct, a new one is usually needed as soon as possible. The second time a title is created, it is said to be 'of the second creation'. Similarly for subsequent creations. Numbering of nobles begins anew when a title is created again. The new noble is said to be the first of the second creation. E.g. the Mudashiirs of Mora are duchesses of the second creation.
For every century after the title has been created, roll 2D. On a result of 2 or 3, the title has become extinct.
If the title predates the Civil War, make an extra roll. On a 2-4, the title became extinct during the Civil War. The extinction can be the result of the family being moved from one part of the Imperium to another during Arbellatra's post-war reshuffle.
If the title predates the Psionic Suppressions, make an extra roll. On a 2, the title became extinct during the suppressions.
If the title is located in a region strongly affected by one of the major Imperial conflicts, make an extra roll. On a 2-3, the title became extinct during that war. The 1FW and 2FW are considered part of the Civil War for this purpose. The 4FW was not a major conflict. 'Strongly affected' means 'having hostile fleets roaming the subsector'. E.g. Mora subsector was not strongly affected by the 5FW.
If a title becomes extinct during a century, randomly determine the year it happened.
Any and all of these rolls may be dropped if you have something specific in mind. E.g. if you want the titleholder's ancestor to have successfully concealed his psionic abilities during the Suppressions, just ignore that particular roll.
Duration of title
Clculate the time the title has existed in its current creation. E.g. if the title last became extinct in 845 and today is 1105, the title has now existed for 260 years.
Number of titleholders
Roll one die for each century, counting ones as threes on a second roll of 1-3, fives as four on a second roll of 1-3, and sixes as threes always. For the incomplete century, roll the die separately and multiply by the fraction of the century, rounding off. E.g. in the example above you'd roll two dice and then multiply the result of a third die by 60/100th and add that.
Alternatively, just divide the number of years by 33.33, rounding off. Or multiply the number of centuries by 3, rounding off.
The result is the number of titleholders before the present one.
Interpreting the result
A high number is easy to explain. The previous titleholders simply died or abdicated more frequently that on average. A low number could be due to long lives of titleholders (whether due to longevity genes, anagatica, or clean living). Or the title may have skipped a generation on occasion (going from grandparent to grandchild after 60 years instead of from parent to child after 30 years).
The age of the incumbent can be a useful fudge factor, e.g. he could be a young man who'd just recently inherited the title or a very old man who inherited it a century ago.
Hans
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