I've read quite a few topics on these forums about this matter but they are a bit old so I starting a new that touches on a different point. Since the wife is expected to run the manor using her stewardship, what would be the consequences if the player insists on hiring a professional steward? Would she be insulted? Would she have any say on the matter? Note that I said, the player, not the PK. My players started asking why having a wife as a steward when they can just hire a steward with 1d6+10 Stewardship and be done with it?

I've read quite a few topics on these forums about this matter but they are a bit old so I starting a new that touches on a different point. Since the wife is expected to run the manor using her stewardship, what would be the consequences if the player insists on hiring a professional steward? Would she be insulted? Would she have any say on the matter? Note that I said, the player, not the PK. My players started asking why having a wife as a steward when they can just hire a steward with 1d6+10 Stewardship and be done with it?


The starting skill for a steward is 2d6+5. And you have to spend £1 finding him and £1 / year as a salary. So in short, you are making a £1 / year loss from your manor. That is an excellent reason right there to let the wife do it.

Sure, the wife might be poor in Stewardship, so then it sucks a bit. Generally, in our campaign, the eldest daughters of vassal knights, who are expected to marry other vassal knights, are trained in Stewardship and usually have 10 or so as a starting value. However, she will get better with experience (in our campaign, +2 per year until the skill is 10, +1 after that until 15, and then 1d6: 1 = +1). Those increases would apply to a hired steward as well.

Greg is on record for saying that hiring a professional steward and keeping your wife from exercising the rightful control over the manorial management would be a grave insult to your wife and her family. A sign of distrust. We are not quite as stern in our campaign, but it does sideline the wife from her main occupation and might make her bored and resentful, easier prey for dalliances with charming bards or visiting knights... And of course, you are faced with a constant expense for maintaining that steward.

Hope this answered your question?

Not much to add to the reply of Morien.
I do not see the trade off between the maybe +2 on the skill vs the extra cost. (With an average of skill 12 vs maybe a skill of the young wife of 10).
And if a player feels the need to do this I would feel obliged as a GM to at least send in some rumors of what the wife is up to in her spare time and when the husband is away. This can range from some lusty encounters with knights or horror with commoners, or maybe she is dabbling in some of the darker arts? On the other hand she may be a shrewd politician and get you into some nasty troubles.

In my game hiring an expert steward who is not family is also bad for your relationship with your subjects. So using your wife helps in that regard.