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Message: <blockquote data-quote="D+1" data-source="post: 1887094" data-attributes="member: 13654">Only to people who think that it all has to be real-world equivalent.  I can guarantee you that a large percentage of players won't know, or even if they do know they won't care if you mix the peerages of England, France, Prussia, and Arabia.The listing did indeed have as its initial source the Social Level charts of the original City State of the Invincible Overlord.  Since I'm going to be using the CSIO social level, I'm going to be using the very same sort of slightly whacky progression it implies.  I know that a Viscount is lower in peerage than a Count but in all the time I've been working on this list I simply hadn't noticed the misplacement from the original material.  But you know what?  I think a campaign world becomes MORE interesting if Earls and Counts AREN'T equivalent (which I hadn't known or realized until you mentioned it) or that there's some completely undetermined reason for a Viscount to have been strangely elevated above a Count.Now part of that comes from the fact that Judges Guild has for nearly 30 years advocated just that sort of attitude - make it up and make it YOUR campaign, not someone elses.  The reason I'm using CSIO in the first place is that this is intended to be a very retro-feel campaign that uses such hopelessly antiquated game rules artifacts as having player characters keep a numerical Social Level.  So, even knowing that it IS wrong just makes me want to keep it in place all the more.  If anyone ELSE notices I can make up an explanation that adds interest to my campaign world rather than try to conform to anyone elses idea of How It Should Be, much less reality.I could name them Snooks, Florgs and Whoozles and have them elected to a hereditary position every midsummers day in a flurry of ballot-box stuffing and street riots.  I probably would too if it weren't for the fact that "Florg" is meaningless (unlike Snook or Whoozle) and THAT would confuse people.  But I digress.The point is that like fantasy-world physics nothing needs to be accurate - only consistent.  You are free of course to rigidly apply a strictly British or French peerage system if you like, but where's the fun in that?</blockquote>

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