Everything in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy: Dynasty gameplay trailer

Huge news for legacy players with big family trees

A new trailer for the upcoming Sims 4 Expansion Pack, Royalty & Legacy, explores the inner workings of the Dynasty mechanics coming to the game. Though a large portion of the DLC centers around the new Nobility career, it also has plenty of features dedicated to building long-lasting family legacies regardless of royal status, with the most recent trailer exploring elements like heirs and secret children.

Arriving Feb. 12, the Royalty & Legacy DLC is aiming for plenty of Sim drama. Noble Sims must curry favor with their subjects and build royal prestige, while also managing to avoid scandals. Sims can participate in duels to win a lover's hand or settle a feud, hold Grand Balls, and dig up dirt about their rivals to extort them. While family dynasties can tie into nobility, it's not a requirement — any family can become a Dynasty and start making a name for themselves. In fact, the new trailer showed that two iconic families, the Goths and the Landgraabs, will have their own Dynasties in the new Expansion Pack.

Building a Dynasty in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy

Players create their own Dynasties from scratch in a system fairly similar to the Clubs mechanic in Get Together. They can assign members, design a crest, and declare both the ideals — which are broader concepts, like valuing artistry — and the encouraged skills of Dynasty members. One Sim serves as the Dynasty head, possessing the ability to change its values, add or kick out members, and eventually declare an heir to take over after they're gone. However, if a Dynasty head isn't satisfactorily serving the group, they can be challenged for leadership by another member. If members of a Dynasty are unhappy enough, they also have the option to split off and form their own.

Dynasty prestige, unity, and family tree secrets

There are two measures of a successful Dynasty: Unity, which reflects how well members get along, and Prestige, which is raised by Sims acting in accordance with a Dynasty's values. A Sim in a Dynasty that values creativity, for example, can generate a bit of Prestige by painting or playing an instrument. Conversely, Sims that act against their Dynasty's values will lower the group's Prestige.

As a Dynasty racks up Prestige, they'll earn points that can be exchanged for perks, like Nepotism, which makes Sims get promoted faster at work. Forging connections with other Dynasties can earn Prestige, which can be made simpler with the Easier Alliances perk. Dynasties can also have rivals, and a successful sword duel against a member of a rival Dynasty can boost Prestige — of course, losing the fight will have the opposite effect.

Rivals can dig up dirt on other Dynasties through actions like researching their family tree, a feature which has been expanded in the DLC. Family trees now show more connections, including secret children, which can in turn lead to a Prestige-lowering scandal. Sims that discover scandals within a Dynasty can choose to keep their secret and form a trusted alliance, or extort them for power or money. As a form of damage control during scandalous situations, a disgraced member of a Dynasty can be declared an outcast, lessening the effect their actions have on Prestige — however, depending on the scandal, it may be too late to salvage the situation.

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The Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack for The Sims 4 arrives Feb. 12 across its various platrforms.