Hi everyone!
I've seen quite a few threads from folks with mayor packages recently expressing some confusion about what the mayor package means and what sort of settlement you are supposed to pick, so I wanted to try to clarify that for you, if I can.
Here's how the mayor title works: When a mayor title holder selects a settlement, regardless of its size, they will become the chief executive of that settlement. This means that they will control the majority vote in settlements with voting arrangements, or they will hold the right to administrate the settlement if it uses a different system.
Many seem to think that a mayor must choose a town or they will lose something from their package. The confusion here comes from the fact that the name of the title is "Mayor" and there is also an honorific in the game that uses the same word. The difference is that the honorific "Mayor" is only applied to the chief executive of a town, while the mayor title applies to any player that purchased the right to govern a settlement.
So in that sense it's true that the elders of a hamlet or village aren't called "mayors," but that also means the "mayor" honorific doesn't apply to city or capital level settlement chief executives either, since settlements of those sizes use different honorifics as well. If we were to say that Mayor title holders could only be "Mayors" it would mean that mayor titles could only pick towns, which we certainly never wanted.
In other words, it was never our intention that the mayor title in your inventory would explicitly apply only to towns. You can see this in the description of the title in your inventory:
As that screenshot shows you, what you gain with the mayor title is explicitly stated:
- You will name and govern a settlement
- You will receive a cloak showing your status as a mayor title holder and your family crest
- you will gain access to the crest making tool when it is available.
None of that changes no matter which size settlement you settle in. If you settle in a hamlet or village, you will become a elder with the majority vote in the settlement's council, giving you control over the settlement's political decisions. If you settle in a town you will become its "mayor" also giving you control over the settlement's political decisions. If you settle in a city you will become its magistrate, but again you will find yourself in control of the settlement's political decisions. And, finally, if you settle in a capital you will become its governor with, as you can probably guess at this point, control over its political decisions.
Each of these honorifics specify the same thing: You are governing the settlement.
However, while your personal benefits don't change based on the size of the settlement, the different settlement sizes do have different features associated with them. For example, the land management table is a feature of a town or larger sized settlement, so a mayor title holder that settles in a village or a hamlet will need to grow their settlement into a town to enable that feature.
What all of this boils down to in Domain and Settlement Selection is that a mayor can pick any sized settlement without losing anything from their package. There is, however, one rule that will restrict your choices: If the county you are picking your settlement from doesn't yet have a count you cannot pick the last Town+ sized settlement in the county. This does mean that in a county with two settlements, one town and one hamlet, a mayor could only pick the hamlet. But, on the other hand, it also means that in a county with a capital, a town, and 3 hamlets, nothing is stopping a mayor from picking the capital, and leaving the town for a potential count.
Hope that helps! :)
