Conception

I suppose conception and pregnancy could be modeled after the A&A rules for disease (not that pregnancy is a disease), with a fairly low stability and three stages of improvement (for the trimesters), resulting in delivery.

hm.

That doesn't really work the same- what happens if they don't improve or get worse? Are they going to carry the pregnancy for years?
also it seems to me that at minimum the chance of stillbirth for the first trimester should be incorporated with the possibility of conception, since women in the middle ages were generally not aware they were pregnant until the second trimester (sometimes menstruations and ovulation would cease due to disease or malnutrition, so it was not considered reliable, and while there were tests they were wildly inaccurate)

This may or may not work. I'm not sure about some of the Ease factors.

I don't want this to be too grim. Hope it isn't.

Conception and Pregnancy Rules (other than fiat):

To Conceive: Assuming an opportunity to conceive, a conception may follow. This is determined as a test against an Ease Factor of 12. The potential mother and father’s Staminas (representing overall health) are totaled and modified by living condition, age modifier, and any other medical factors the storyguide considers relevant (such as Emotional State, A&A p. 43; health or disease; or supernatural influences).

Stamina of mother + Stamina of father + age modifier of mother and father + living condition modifier + other factors + Stress die vs Ease 12.

Check each Season a couple cohabitate, assuming they are not abstaining. If one or the other partner pursues other opportunities, check for the relevant couple. If a couple is not cohabitating for the whole season, modify by -3 for one month’s absence or -5 for two months’ absence or a single encounter. A frequently sexually active woman may also conceive; in this case the father might be assumed to have modifiers of 0.

Age Modifier:

Age Up To 25: +3

Age 26–30: +1

Age 31–35: 0

Age 36–40: -1

Age 41–45: -3

Age 46–50: -5

Around age 50 women experience decreased fertility and will eventually halt fertility altogether. Men may continue to father children at a -5 modifier until natural death or an event imposes sterility, such as a longevity ritual.

Once a woman is pregnant, she must carry to term. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and is divided into trimesters, each one Season in length. Each Season of pregnancy the mother rolls against an Ease Factor of 9, using the same formula as for conception, but with no factors for the father (the father’s physical role is ended). This roll occurs at no particular time in the Season, but may be triggered by a profound emotional or physical shock (SG discretion).

If the trimester roll fails, a Crisis develops. Resolve as a Disease Crisis. If the Crisis enters a terminal phase, the mother survives but the pregnancy fails. A first trimester failure is a miscarriage; a second trimester failure is a stillbirth; a third trimester failure is a premature delivery. A stillbirth results in a delivery event in days or weeks, but the child is born dead or so early that death is rapid. A premature delivery is an early delivery of a child that may survive, with labor beginning a simple die roll / 2 weeks early. For premature deliveries, follow the childbirth rules under Midwifery, A&A p. 62, but the labor Wound Recover is considered a Heavy Wound and the baby starts with one Fatigue level.

If the pregnancy comes to term, assume labor begins three season after the start of the pregnancy plus or minus a few days: roll a simple die; if the result is even labor begins early by a number of days equal to the die result, if odd, late by that number of days, with 0 being on schedule within a day or two.

(Edited to add non-cohabiting couplings and due dates)

One point- odds of conceiving for a tryst as opposed to cohabitating (also rules for prostitutes conceiving should possibly be incorporated)

Edited.

If this were being published I would suggest adding something about non-cohabitating but frequent partners should be considered to be the same as cohabitating for 2 of 3 months, and perhaps a bonus for trying extra hard of +1 with a -2 modifier to study sources, labor points or lab totals.

Current Version of these rules, for the couple of people interested:

Conception and Pregnancy Rules

To Conceive: Assuming an opportunity to conceive, a conception may follow. This is determined as a test against an Ease Factor of 12. The potential mother and father’s Staminas (representing overall health) are totaled and modified by living condition, age modifier, and any other medical factors the storyguide considers relevant (such as Emotional State, A&A p. 43; health or disease; or supernatural influences).

Ease factor for conception: 12

Stress roll + Man's Stamina + Woman's Stamina + Man's Age Factor + Woman's Age Factor + Environment + Food Security and Water + Emotional State and Support + Other Factors Per SG

Check each Season a couple cohabitate, assuming they are not abstaining. If one or the other partner pursues other opportunities, check for the relevant couple. If a couple is not cohabitating for the whole season, modify by -3 for one month’s absence or -5 for two months’ absence or a single encounter. A frequently sexually active woman may also conceive; in this case the father might be assumed to have modifiers of 0.

If the conception roll totals 18 or more, the woman has conceived twins; on a 21 or more, identical twins, otherwise fraternal.

On a botch the conception will result in a child with a birth defect. If the fetus is born it will have a physical Flaw as part of its essential nature, such as Blind, Deaf, Missing Limb, or some other serious issue, which cannot be cured by medicine or Hermetic magic.

Age Modifier for Women:

Age Up To 25: +3

Age 26–30: +1

Age 31–35: 0

Age 36–40: -1

Age 41–45: -3

Age 46–50: -5

Age 51+: N/A

Age Modifier for Men:

Age Up To 25: +3

Age 26–30: +2

Age 31–35: +1

Age 36–40: +0

Age 41–45: -1

Age 46–50: -3

Age 51+: -5

1st trimester the Ease factor is 9; 2nd trimester 6, 3rd trimester 3.

Stress roll + Woman's Stamina + Woman's Age Factor + Environment + Food Security and Water + Emotional State and Domestic Support + Other Factors Per SG

Environment =

Living conditions (pg 170)

If suffering frequent banditry -2

If war or siege -5

Food Security:

Abundance = +3

Surplus = +1

Average = 0

Shortage = -1

Famine = -3

Water:

Enough = +1

Average = 0

Shortage = -1

Drought = -3

Emotional State of Couple:

Marital Bliss: +3

Domestic Satisfaction: +1

Normal: 0

Difficulty: -1

Strife: -3

Domestic Support:

Positive: +1

Indifferent: 0

Negative: -1

Around age 50 women experience decreased fertility and will eventually halt fertility altogether. Men may continue to father children at a -5 modifier until natural death or an event imposes sterility, such as a longevity ritual.

Once a woman is pregnant, she must carry to term. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and is divided into trimesters, each one Season in length. Test for complications each trimester, and if the mother suffers a disease, wound, or other profound physical or emotional shock the Storyguide considers complicating for the pregnancy. Test against an Ease factor of 9 the first trimester, 6 the second, and 3 the third. These are all stress tests.

If the term roll fails, a Crisis develops. Resolve as a Disease Crisis. If the Crisis enters a terminal phase, the mother survives but the pregnancy fails.

A first trimester failure is a miscarriage; a second trimester failure is a stillbirth; a third trimester failure is a premature delivery. A stillbirth results in a delivery event in days or weeks, but the child is born dead or so early that death is rapid. A premature delivery is an early delivery of a child that may survive, with labor beginning a simple die roll / 2 weeks early. For premature deliveries, follow the childbirth rules under Midwifery, A&A p. 62, but the labor Wound Recovery is considered a Heavy Wound and the baby starts with one Fatigue level. Such early births often result in frail or small children and adults, with appropriate Flaws.

If the pregnancy comes to term, assume labor begins three season after the start of the pregnancy plus or minus a few days: roll a simple die; if the result is even labor begins early by a number of days equal to the die result, if odd, late by that number of days, with 0 being on schedule within a day or two.

These rules are currently being tested in play:

A couple has been active, and

1st Season: +5 overall, total 11, no conception.
2nd Season: +5 overall, total 19, conception of fraternal twins
1st Trimester: Miscarriage of one. Retained the other.
Not yet to 2nd Trimester.