Need help on misc. Titles, Ranks, and other Names.

[DDK]

Even I have to admit that not *everything* that came out for 2nd ed. rimmed and it is with this in mind that I recommend the Castle Guide and the Arms and Equipment Guide for 2nd ed. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding a copy as there were plenty made (AFAIK), or at least I didn't have much trouble and my 2nd hand purchasing options are VERY limited.

Both give some great background material in a roleplaying context and so serve as excellent reference sources for DM's who want a little authenticity in their medieval games.

Another avenue I recommend is GURPS source books. Most of them are rather well done (especially the ones by SJohn and Sean Punch) and are designed for this very purpose; that purpose being to provide you with source material regardless of what system you use.

 

[Maldur]

pendragon books or ArsMagica might have source material on this. I know pendragon has.

 

[Deadguy]

Just to add a couple of points.

Who works the docks?: well an alternative name for them is longshoremen. It's actually relatively recent in origin but it sounds older!

Dukes: derived, as others have said, from the Roman title dux bellorum, it was a strictly military title originally, though as always, in trouble times a military leader has a lot of influence. In England, it fell out of use, and was reintroduced originally to provide titles to reward members of the blood royal (i.e. of the royal family). But the titles quickly passed outside the blood royal, as ways to support loyal followers.

As a general note about titles, don't get too hung up on them. Some cultures thrived on them (think of the complex structure of the Byzantine court), but in most mediaeval places, a title meant a great deal less than the person who wielded the power. A mere Baron might have the king's ear, whilst a mighty Earl was actually a weak man with poor lands and envious neighbours. It's these relationships that really matter, not the title that a man bears.

 

[CaptainCalico]

However, if you want to run amuck with the whole title thing check out heraldica.org , scroll down to the bottom right corner where it says "Royalty, Nobility, Chivalry". Lots of good info.

 

[Fenros]

Thankyou everyone for the awesome in-depth responses and thoughts. Also all the back history behind the titles helped too. I have also bookmarked the links given as well.

This helps me out greatly. Its a pet peeve of mine where I'm narrating and I say something like, "....and then you leave the main throne room and meet with the.....the......guy who takes care of running the castle guy.....person......"

Now I can say, "....and then you leave the main throne room and meet with the steward."

Also, now I know more about how specialty stores. Rather than clumsily saying there's an "Adventurer's Shop" or whatever. Although I wasn't really doing that exactly before, but pretty close to it. Although it might be argued that in a world where there are plenty of those who have the profession as adventurers, then maybe there would be such a store.

Anyways, thanks for all the help.

 

[LGodamus]

The only one I can give you an one hundred percent answer on is #8......2000 feet is where hills end and mountains begin

 

[s/LaSH]

Re: Re: Re: Need help on misc. Titles, Ranks, and other Names.

Sorry but this is incorrect. A duke need not have royal blood. There are tons of non royal dukes on the continent and even in Britian there are non royal dukes, in fact most are not royal.

Truth indeed. One of my ancestors was appointed Duke of Brittany by the King of France simply because of his command of local industry (he jumped ship in New Zealand when he heard about the latest revolution sometime in the early 19th century). No royal blood needed, except at the top.

And lest we forget, that whole royal blood thing only started a dozen-odd centuries ago with people who were very good at conquering... they themselves had no innate blood-right, unless you believe in some form of manifest destiny.

That is all. Happy new year in... one hour ten.

 

[Azure Trance]

The Duke is the title, the Duchy is the land, and the Ducat is the money.

Don't forget for some flavor you can make your titles ethnic sounding; german, russian, western european ...

 

[Agback]

The only one I can give you an one hundred percent answer on is #8......2000 feet is where hills end and mountains begin

That's a modern definition-- and a technical one to boot. A great many eminences were named mounts in the Middle Ages (and continue to be called mounts) that were much shorter. St Michael's Mount, for instance. Or the Mount of Olives.

Regards,


Agback

 

[MythandLore]

Hello... --these are assuming that I'm running a Euro-centric English medieval style world (so I'm not using Csar, Herzog, Daimyo, etc.)

1.) Okay, what is a Duke?

Meanings change depending on the time frame you look at.
But duke comes from ducere "to lead", to lead is to be a leader so they are literally leaders of the noblity under the monarch.
He's a Man that is below a monarch in power but above almost all others and was granded his power from the monarch, he need not be royal but he can be, a prince can be a duke but a duke does not make a prince.

Does he rule subsections of a King's kingdom?

He is appointed his own land to rule over as sovereign.

By the way, what's a Magistrate exactly?

Magistrate comes from magister "master", official entrusted with administration of the laws, wether over a nation or a small orginazation.

2.) The military: What are the rank names?

There are pretty much an endless amount, when you think about it they're just made up.

I may know the modern usage in the Army like private, corporal, lieutenant, captain, etc....but what about for fantasy setting?

For fantasy? Just make up something that sounds suited to the part like Master Sergeant or Lieutenant-at-arms

What is the common foot soldier called?

Mid ages? a Pawn, maybe if your in a bad mood a peon.

And all the ranks in between?

Depends on where and when. A good start would be Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, General.

If there is a cavalry unit, does the leader of the cavalry unit use a different cavalry specific rank/title?

Most of the time no, the major diffrence is between land base and naval.

For instance, what's a Lancerate?

There is no such thing as far as I know.
There are Lancers.
A good rule of thumb is put the word captain next too the unit name and if it sounds like it could work use it.
Artillier captain, bombardier captain, watch captain, cavalier captain, brigadier captain, legionnaire captain, halberdier captain, musketeer captain, pirate captain, buccaneer captain, privateer captain.

3.) When I go into a small town. What is the name of the guy who keeps the law in the town?

I donno... Jimmy the Thug?

I don't want to use Sheriff (although I'm sure that's appropriate) because it pulls up images of the wild west usually.

Sheriff is of a shire.

Or at least with my players. So what do I use instead?

I like magistrate or regent, but if it's just a small town maybe a watch captain, if it's really small Skippy the barkeep might be the one.
Easyest thing to do is think who would be in charge of tax collecting (and holding) for the town, that's the person.

Constable?

In the middle ages he'd be in a big military town or outpost.

Warden?

Warden means gardian and comes from warten "to watch" one who watches is "the Watch"

4.) What's the name of the guys that work the docks?

Work the docks? In the middle ages? Dockmen, aka porters.

Are they run by a Harbormaster?

Probably a Dockmaster for a dock.

5.) Who's in charge of the day to day things that keep a castle running? Y'know...the kitchens, the stables, the cleaning, etc.

Mid ages? Vassals (slaves) mostly.

6.) What's the store called where you go buy provisions for adventuring, travelling, etc?

In the mid ages there was mostly markets, fish markets, meat markets, farmers markets, bakery, smiths, etc, but...

I almost called it a General Store. But again, thats too Wild West sounding.

A "Trading Post" could work.

7.) What is a Glade exactly?

Every beautiful Elf maiden seems to be dancing in one.

Umm... Every one of them you've seen I guess.

But what makes a glade be called ..... a glade?

"Glade" probably comes from "glad" (Middle English) meaning shining or to shine which probably comes from "glaed" (Old English) (same meaning) which probably is liken to "glat" (Old High German) which means shining and or smooth which probably comes from "glaber" (Latin) smooth and or bald.

Dictionary just says , "an open space surrounded by woods".

Yes it most-likey does.

Is that it or is there more to it?

There is more, you need to first understand that Glade is a 400(+) year old word, think to yourself how were forests back then.
Back then in England if you were to walk off by yourself in the wild wood you could easily disaper forever.
Imagine hundreds of miles of huge cold dark mucky forest filled with giant olks and yews 8 stories tall, you don't see the sky, you have no way to navigate, a "bald" spot in the wood could be a "shining" beacan of hope when your lost, a place where you could see the direction of the sun for a moment or use the stars to get your bearings.
You'd be glad to find a glade.

8.) At what point is a hill too big to be called a hill?

In the middle ages? A good rule of thumb would be if it takes longer then half an hour to get to the top it's bigger then a hill.

When do you call it a mountain.

When it's bigger then a hill.

9.) I'm not sure what the difference between Steppes and Plains.

In short, the type of soil.

10.) If the government is a Theocracy, then what are the ranking titles within that governing body?

Even though Oracle is wrong it sounds cool.
Most old monarches are theocracy based, any place that the monarch is considered divine or gets some form of power from the divine it's a theocracy, so a pharoh in egypt or an emperor in japan or rome could be considered the head of a theocracy.
Remeber the emperor of rome was the head of the church before they spit the pope out.

I know that's a ton of questions.

Damn Skippy it was!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Damn Strait! Now go play your game!