Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loincloth of Armour" data-source="post: 5981513" data-attributes="member: 28201">One way of ranking people socially is by asking the questions, "Who do they know, and who knows them? Oh, and how much money do they have?" The more important people they know, the more social rank they have.  The more people (with power) who know who they are, the more social rank they are given by virtue of their celebratee. The more money the have, the more people are willing to grit their teeth and accept them.  In some societies (ie: the Japanese as was previously mentioned), the craftsman could be higher because they actually produce something worthwhile. *But*, the merchant is likely to be richer, and *know* powerful people. Unless you're a well-known and sought-after craftsman, money and connections would probably rank the merchant higher.  Captain of the City Guard has connections and a place in the social order, so he is high up on the social scale.  Since the sage is the most famous in all the kingdoms, he is unique and well known, thus gets higher ranking than someone who is simply a famous knight. There are many famous knights, only one sage is the *best*. While the Captain of the City Guard *is* probably officially ranked higher, the sage is likely to be *invited* as a guest to a higher station by someone. (Although if the kingdom places great emphasis on military might, all knights might be ranked higher. Things can be difficult that way.)   Sherrifs should be ranked by the importance of the area they control. Generally the bigger, the more important the sherrif. Unattached paladins would be counted as clergy, but with a key thing in that since they are unattached, they don't fit into society as much. They would be lower ranked than clergy who minister to a flock, since that gives them political power.   Always use the higher class, unless the person has done something that allows them to be snubbed.   Yes, but it's a question of "Who does the bodyguard know?" the answer, "The King." So he probably gets bumped up to a low noble. True nobles would sneer, but he has powerful friends so that's probably the extent of it.   A masterless man is not a criminal, but someone who is not serving a powerful instiution (guild, church or noble), this is not necessarily by his own choice. In our modern age, he is 'not employed' by any powerful group. As such, he is pretty much near the bottom of the social order. A freeman is someone who is not serving a powerful instituation, but it is by his own choice. In modern parlance, he is 'self-employed'. His social position would depend on who he knows and how much money he has. If he knows the right people/has cash, he would be *invited* to a higher position. If not, he would be right beside the great unwashed. A freelord is probably a noble with only a title, but no lands to go with it. As such he's higher than all non-nobles... but has a hard time enforcing that since he's got no lands, no money, no armies. If he's friends with, or related to, powerful people he would get all respect due his rank... although he would find himself probably shunted off with the lower ranked nobles because he can shuffled around without too much problem. If he has few friends, look out, he might be seated with the commoners since there are only so many spaces available and someone has to be moved to make room... nothing personal mind you... Social positions are flexible and fluid, but asking yourself, "between these two, who has more influence/money/connections/a stronger place in society as a whole," will often sort things out.</blockquote>

Verification