Quote Originally Posted by Privateerkev
Say I'm a Count and supply a knight with a private army to conquer Provice X. The Knight conquers Province X and it becomes mine. Then, I give Province X to the Knight and he becomes a Baronet. Then, if the Baronet dies, he can just give Province X to anyone in the game? As long as it is in his will? IC, I think I would be very pissed off if that happened. That land would be mine, conquered by my vassel, using my army.
Yes, he could do that. I would be pissed IC as well, but it's no different than hereditary rule. For better or for worse, the Baronet owns the land, the Count does not. The Baronet is the local Lord and his word is law to the local people. He also has the right of hereditary rule. His eldest son will inherit unless disowned, etc. No other nobleman can influence this directly. History is replete with examples of high-ranking nobles and Kings being mightily irked by the heirs of some of their vassals/competitors lands. Inheritance has always been a prickly thing, because it occurs after a person dies and thus puts them beyond the reach of direct influence. Thus it has always been a way for a bitter vassal to get even with a Lord that he disliked, even if he was unwilling to defy him in life.

If you want your vassal to name you the heir to his lands, then you had best make him happy. Either that or march over there and kick him out.

Quote Originally Posted by Privateerkev
This leads me to a second question. Can you leave things in your will for avatars that do not exist yet? Like when Ansehelm had the convoluted Franconian heir fiasco? I don't think you should be able to. Maybe a rule that says you can only leave things in a will for an avatar currently controlled by another player. Otherwise, you might have people leaving themselves things in wills so their new avatar can get a "leg up".
An interesting question and one we should explore some more. On the one hand, requiring such a thing will simplify the game, which is good. On the other hand, allowing an under-age avatar to be the heir opens up some political possibilities that might be interesting. For instance if Duke Nukem names his son, Nukem Jr, as his heir, but Nukem Jr is only 5 years old when Duke Nukem dies, the Duke's lands will be owned by an avatar that has not yet spawned. This makes them ripe for easy conquest and manipulation by other players, since Nukem Jr. won't appear on the scene to control things directly for some time. Perhaps a Regent would be named to control the province, or perhaps someone else would assume the position by marching his army into the settlement. That would then make an interesting situation when Nukem Jr. came of age and wanted his lands turned over to him.

Of course, that would only be interesting if Nukem Jr. was played by someone. Perhaps allow the Will to name an heir who is underage, but only if they are already assigned to a player.