Families are the core foundation of Manor Lords but using them correctly is complex, requiring you to play chess with their lives so you all survive.
Population in Manor Lords is based on the Families in your region. During the early years of your reign, you’ll have a limited number to work with. Each family assigned to a job will have one primary worker with other members supporting them. All unassigned Families work on construction and/or managing your oxen to transport materials. Growing your population too quickly in Manor Lords, or not fast enough, can result in disaster.
How early game jobs and Families work in Manor Lords
During the first few years of establishing your region, there will be a shortage of Families compared to available jobs, requiring you to move them around like chess pieces on a board. Each season will require Families to focus on different aspects of Manor Lords for survival. Firewood and food, for example, are essentials needed for survival. But a logging camp only needs a family working it if there are enough logs for construction and fuel.
The same can be said for a Foraging Hut since you can only pick berries when in season. Mines are great for resources but can tax your labor by requiring families to dig for the resources available and turn them into something useful, like an Iron Mining Pit requiring a smithy and bloomery. Even a farmhouse can go without a family after the seeds have been sowed. And don’t forget about unassigned families for construction.
During the early stages of your Manor Lords playthrough, I recommend having two unassigned Families when constructing buildings.
As you keep growing your village and the population, be even more careful with how you assign jobs to Families in Manor Lords; additional people require more resources like food and fuel. During one of my prelaunch runs, I overpopulated my town, creating starvation that led to deaths and a massive shortage of essential resources.
How to manage Marketplace jobs for Families in Manor Lords
The growth of your village will trigger a notification that your people want a Marketplace to sell goods. A Marketplace is a double-edged sword in Manor Lords as it raises your Approval rating while permanently assigning Families jobs. You can remove a family from a job and their stall but at the cost of upsetting the population and creating an empty stall.
A Woodcutter’s Lodge, for example, will become a permanent job for a family. The family will have a Marketplace stall to sell firewood, which increases your fuel resources and cuts down on time wasted by having your people walk less to get the necessary goods they need.
The same is true for a Hunting Camp, using a stall at the Marketplace to sell food to the families in your village. But with each Manor Lords Marketplace stall, that’s one less available family you can flexibly move around.
How to manage Artisan jobs for Families in Manor Lords
Much like Marketplace jobs, Families can work from home through Artisan jobs. A growing population requires armor and additional food resources, which is where Artisan jobs play a factor. A family that becomes an Artisan household in Manor Lords is removed as a potential family to work a job. And this is where things get tricky.
Building Burgage Plots should accommodate for expansion and Artisan use, but that doesn’t mean you need to fill these roles right away. A backyard Artisan home growing Carrots can help with food, but the field takes time before producing results, reducing your family count that can get used for other jobs while they wait for the crops to grow. Blacksmiths are needed for making weapons and tools, but don’t bother assigning an Artisan family if you don’t have enough people in your village to form an adequate militia.
The first Artisan job I recommend assigning in Manor Lords is a Chicken Coup, followed by a blacksmith for spears. Other Artisan jobs can get assigned depending on what your focus is. A joiner’s workshop, for example, can make shields while also bringing in a regional income through trade from the trading post.
Does a Manor pull Families from the job pool in Manor Lords?
Building a manor improves your Approval rating while giving you additional power over the village but it also pulls Families from the potential job pool. For every structure placed on your manor plot, a family is needed, used as servants. Without at least four unassigned Manor Lord Families, I wouldn’t recommend building a manor.
