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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elethiomel" data-source="post: 4666298" data-attributes="member: 49897">I always thought it made sense to give mages titles not depending on what their character level was, but what level spells they could cast. The difference between a 5th and 6th level spell is obvious in the game world, if only from counting spellbook pages. Thus in my campaign settings, mages have titles like "Apprentice" (can only cast cantrips. Poor 10 intelligence wizards.), "First circle mage", "second circle mage", etc. More fanciful titles are certainly possible, like naming them "Initiate of the Red Veil", taking the colours from the Prismatic <foo> line of spells and the order in which the rolls are made, for instance. You could then take the remaining spell levels and give them really impressive titles like "Initiate of the Sevenfold Veils and the Inner Mysteries" for 8th level spells and "Veiled Master" for 9th level spells. Mages really lend themselves to this sort of classification due to the nature of spells - with others it is less clear. What do you call a fighter3/barb2/ranger4? Do you take the title for 9th level fighters? 9th level barbarians? 9th level rangers? Or do you give them all three? What if they also have a level of bard? I would cram several classes that fill the same role into one hierarchy of titles. Multiclassing is so common among noncasters that having a separate titular system for each class seems counterproductive.Then of course you have the whole difficulty of character level versus capability. What if you have a warrior who happens to be kind of weak and clumsy? He can still do his job, he's just not very good at it compared to his level - so a title from a lower tier seems appropriate. Likewise, a secretly half-dragon fighter would have a low character level but be strong, quick, and tough for that level, so a title from a higher tier seems appropriate.I think a better way to explain it in-game would be to tie martial prowess to military ranks, for instance. "This noblewoman made it to the rank of colonel in the army before she retired due to the demands of her title," "A major once insulted my honor; my personal guard defeated him in single combat as my champion". You can make up similar ranks for psionics and scouts if you wish. Again for disciplines of the mind you can invent "psionicist academies" with academic titles; for thieves' guild members you can make rumors of how big an area this particular thief runs, or how close they are to the top of the chain of command, that sort of thing. As long as you make up a clear hierarchy and give your players access to it you can give rough estimates of level, and more importantly you can give them hints to what the character in question would be good at without giving away what specific class they happen to have.</blockquote>

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