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Nobility
Topic Started: Oct 14 2015, 07:40 PM (114 Views)
MaxIrons
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So let's start this place off with a test run.

Currently Nobility confers different social benefits in different chapters, which is as I think it should be to allow plot teams to flavor their part of Fortanis appropriately. The question then becomes, should PCs be able to obtain noble titles in chapters, and if so, should they be confer social benefits in other chapters when they travel?
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Avaran
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I think that if PC's are going to be able to obtain a noble title, there needs to be supporting documentation in-game and out-of-game to give them an idea of what is expected of them.

Number 2 - there needs to be a documented process for becoming a noble - for each station or title that will be available to players. There is nothing worse than becoming a Squire and then being "stuck" there for 6 or 8 years (as one recent player was) with no clear end-point in sight. This also helps manage expectations for players, and it helps to foster a pass/fail paradigm for the game/players.

Third, a noble ceiling for PC's should be present - do you want Lord? Barons? Dukes? Knights? The higher you go, the more work you have to do as a plot person, the more tangible the broader world has to be - which can be okay with just one or two plot people, but getting a larger plot team to actually read and be up-to-date on nobility goings-on can be a pain (as can getting your NPC Guild people onboarded, not to mention ad-hoc NPC's).

Fourth: (This goes in line with number 2) - having a documented government system overall - if a PC has an issue with a PC noble, who should they talk to? Who *can* they talk to, and how often; if you make things too available, then your noble PC ends up getting bypassed (then what's the point), but if they aren't available at all, then there's a feeling of helplessness that an "evil" or "bad" noble is just getting away with it (unless the intent is for them to make friends with other nobles/PC nobles...then that can be a thing that fosters intrigue and plot among PC's which kinda writes itself and is mostly hands-off).

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Muir
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I tend to view it as a case of local flavor. The social status in other chapters should depend entirely on how that chapter's society feels like treating them. By design, there is no real cross-chapter politics outside of the adventurers, for the same reason that you can't lead armies through the Mists to invade another chapter.

Think of it like an English knight showing up in 1300's Germany. The locals have, barring some greater fame, never even heard of the guy or likely where he's from. They may or may not, depending on how the local lord is feeling about the matter, accord him any respect beyond that which his obvious financial means and social graces suggest they should. Given how adventurers act, I don't think it should be an uncommon thing for someone to get snubbed for not acting the part. ;)

That said, I don't really like players as nobles beyond the knighthood level, simply because being able to actually discharge the sort of responsibilities that a feudal lord has requires a lot of power in one PC's hands, and a lot of effort from plot that may or may not actually entertain anyone else at game.

Edit : Not to mention that the only real way for players to deal with a bad PC noble with real feudal power is rebellion, and one of the things we should probably discourage on the whole is adventurers overthrowing local governments whenever they feel like it. Simply because high level player characters are vastly difficult to kill and can more than likely singlehandedly start a coup without too much trouble. Getting them into the habit of doing so leads to questioning why adventurers are allowed at all.
Edited by Muir, Oct 22 2015, 05:21 PM.
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Avaran
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I realize I didn't answer the cross-chapter part of the question:

In my mind, it is probably best to Acknowledge a title, but not Recognize it. In other words, acknowledge this person has a title, and even keep on eye on them to ensure they act appropriately, but other than that, there shouldn't be any recognition or power given - leave that to the locals. (Unless someone wants to try and earn a title in another chapter?)
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