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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 2022415" data-attributes="member: 9254">Originally Posted by kigmatzomatLast but not least there is the notion of patriotism and tradition. It's not like our soldiers or police are paid an immense fortune by any means. The medieval equivalents must exist. You've also got to realize the low pay scales in the RAW. Urban peasants make about 300sp/year. I did point out that in many cases military was equivalent to police and travel was rare.  In It doesn't matter in this case if you are pledging your under-paid loyalty to Baron Von Local or the Great Nation of Umerika, it provides justification for joining the military.  And to go back to the low pay, if you gave a soldier room & board + 300sp/year then he is getting paid twice what a peasant does since about 90% of a typical income goes to food and shelter.  If I were a soldier I'd want a general with ranks in expert; more skill points and more likely to have the skills necessary to plan an effective campaign.  But that's in a merit-based military.Which brings up a fact in a feudal medieval society we modern-types like to ignore; noble titles are equivalent to military postings.  Some would say the military might came first and the nobility came later.  As a matter of course a Duke would have more troops than a Count or Baron and would command the allegiance of several counts and dozens of barons.  Dukes were generals by dint of the troops that they commanded.  Counts are equivalent to colonels and Barons majors, leaving captain and lieutenant as the non-titled military ranks.  As such, the pay scale really only needs to go up to captain.  If you give soldiers 300sp/yr + room& board they make twice the average peasant.  Give Lts 500sp/yr and captains 750sp/yr.   Factor in bonuses from bounties, looting, plunder, and a bit of graft that goes along with the rank and you've got a nice potential income.  Navies you can pay squat, at least on warships, since the prime money will come in the form of bounties on pirates and the plunder from prize ships.  The greater the rank the greater the share.   Smuggling becomes a reality in many militaries and navies are the best/worst since they travel so much.  Many captains would ignore smuggling as long as it didn't interfere with operations and didn't offend the captain's sensitivities. IMC I deal with the issues by making Duchies posts assigned by the King with Count being the highest hereditary title.  Each Duchy having an associated military border responsibility.  Only the King has a Duchy without external borders and a commensurate army to ensure the other dukes don't get too uppity.   The Duchy itself was the general's payment, with the general being able to use the revenues as they see fit.  Since 99% of the Dukes are military appointees they will maintain the military with the bulk of the proceeds by their nature, with a more than healthy surplus available to put aside for unpleasant days or for the children's inheritance.</blockquote>

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