I'm not sure there's even an "official" answer to that. I'd hand wave details like whether a bishop outranks a baron or not. Fairly simple and comprehensive, I think. I don't think Gygax, or anyone else, when they came up with those labels, ever meant them to be more than a fairly handwavey guideline for GMs to use as they saw fit.įrom discussions here on this topic, this is what I've come up with for my 3.5e Greyhawk campaign. Not only could people move from class to class moreso than a lot of people think, but subclasses rose and fell as societal factors allowed with great frequency. Classes were fairly broad (peasants, nobles, clergy) and more fluid than a lot of people give them credit for. The medieval European world never had a caste system. And, in addition, I think you want there to be much harder and faster rules than there actually where. What do you mean by medieval society? Which medieval society? At what time period? Early medieval Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain? High medieval France? The Crusader states? The Moorish caliphate? The Kipchak Khaganate? Amongst the vikings? Amongst the Byzantines? Amongst the Sassanians? Amongst the Franks? The Normans? Amongst the Grand Princes of Moscow before the establishment of the Tsardom? Along the Silk Road states of East central Asia? During the 100 years war, when peasants could amass vast wealth by pillaging France, and the king found himself at the mercy of his nobles? My opinion is that he should do it by handwaving what makes sense at the time. A merchant will always loose a conflict with a craftsman.Īnd when you say more than one class, you mean, player class, right? Because nobody is in 2 social classes, even if you were born to one, if you've been elevated or lowered - whatever class you're a member of, you cannot be a member of another social class. While a merchant is probably wealthier, a merchant in a Japanese feudal economy does not produce anything, just profits as a middle man, so in Japanese ideology, the merchant is of the lowest class. In Kaidan, a merchant is lower in status than any craftsman or farmer. In my setting, Kaidan, which reflects Japanese aspect is heavily dependant on the social caste system which defines everything. Though it might be more difficult to discern the difference between a merchant and craftsmen, although many merchants could be merchant princes, making them practically nobility. For example a knight, though probably low on rank among the noble class, is a noble just the same and any diplomatic confrontation between a noble and a commoner - there is no issue, the commoner is always 'wrong'. In a democratic society determining this might be difficult, however in a feudal setting, there are distinct class differences. I find this from an old Greyhawk PDF (the name escapes me). Without being too specific, I'd like to hear your opinion on how should a GM/DM reflect social rankings and castes in his/her campaign.Ībout the attachment: "Adventurers" is my addition. ![]() What is the difference between a masterless man and a freeman? And what is a freelord? I think if I want to determine the social ranks I need to understand all the aspect of medieval society a little bit better. And what about freely roaming unattached paladins? What about people that belong to different classes simultaneously? What is the status of the king's personal bodyguard (think of Varangian Guard), is he/she just "professional soldier" too? I don't even understand all the terms. If a merchant and a craftsman have a word against word situation, which one is right by default? A famous knight, the captain of the city guard and the most famous sage in all the kingdoms have been invited to the king's wedding but who gets the best seat? Having some kind of ranking would help in determining such things. I want to establish a ranking between different social classes so that my players know what the pecking order is. Recently I've tried to incorporate a system of social ranks into my Greyhawk campaign.
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