Bastard
From Crusaderkings
Game Description: The character is a bastard, meaning that he or she was born outside wedlock or has been disinherited. They are regarded as dirty and a manifestation of sin. Consequently, they were shunned and invited hostility to those who discovered this about them. They were also exempt from primogeniture laws and rarely received inheritance.
Practical Description: This character is an illegitimate child. Though a great many nobles sired bastards in the Middle Ages, they were looked down upon by noble society and typically stood no claim to inherit their noble parent's titles or lands. This did not stop several notable bastards from establishing their own fiefdoms. Indeed, the lack of prospects of obtaining land and title through inheritance drove many to seek their own fortunes through military adventuring. Notables examples are William the Conqueror and Bohemond I of Antioch. A bastard ruler will typically have some difficulty with his vassals, because of both the strong negative reaction modifiers and the constant drain on prestige.
While bastard offspring are prohibited from inheritance under most systems, Elective Law can be used to bypass this by investing the desired son with enough titles and lands to move him to the head of the succession line. Additionally, there is an event chain which can be used to legitimate a bastard child. Alternately, there is an event which can fire if a bastard child has a significant amount of title and prestige, in which the bastard child declares themself legitimate.
Psychology: Bastards tend to get along well with other "outcast" character traits such as Clubfoot, Excommunicated, Heretic and Hunchback. They also like characters who are innately good-hearted (Merciful, Chaste, Generous, Temperate). They dislike Lustful characters, probably due to their own origins as products of lust, as well as characters who embody what they perceive as the hypocritical elements of the chivalric society (Just, Proud, Inbred) and a strong dislike for the religious system that provides the rationale for discrimination against them (all clerical traits, Zealous).
