<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:
How do you play/ref a PC with a courtesy title of duke/count - can they call on Imperial forces when in trouble, order starport officials around. Or is it more of the Hollywood star phenomenon - tables in best restaurants without booking, but still liable for all ill behaviour(aka Hugh Grant/Rob Downey JR)?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
They can call upon the local noble for assistance with local legal troubles, they can almost always get a reservation (sometimes this leads to overbooking), Polite people will refer to them as "Your Grace", stewards give you preferential treatment, courts tend to be a little more lenient at low to moderate LL's, and more strict but with easier punishments at high LL's. Additionally, they can't prevent you from leaving (doing so is an imperial crime), contacting uncensored the local landed noble, nor try you without jury. Also, most of the time, you can get a permit within 48 hours for a carry license for one LL lesser than local LL weapons.
For minor lannded nobles, I have sometimmes allowed Soc 11+ characters to trade a further +1 soc for a real Imperial Landed title for their current soc (but not a major fief like a starport). In one case, a PC chose to take his knight's mustering out benefit of +1 soc as a fief; he got an apartment building in downtown Regni (Regina/SM). Another PC, a Baron, got a fief of Adak island; since IMTU, the IISS Scoutbase is at Anchorage, the relatively short range, and his being an detached-duty-scout himself, made his fief a scout favorite hangout for Terra (Sol/SR).
Another PC, a Courtesy Duke, from Regina, having been a serving duke (Noble career), was "His Grace, William Hamford, Court Duke of Regina, Retired, and retired Seneschale to the Duke of Regina, Professor Emeritus of Jump Physics and Honorary Chair of the JumpSpaceInstitue of the University of Regina at Regni." Hamford's perpetual fief consisted of:
(1) a bedroom for life at the Dukal Palace in Regni, for his person but not his heirs
(2) 50 preferred shares each in Oberlindes Lines LIC, Marches Transit LDC, and Makhidhadrun LIC.
(3) A small dome on Wypoc, a mere 50m radius x25m tall, which he uses as a primmary residence
(4) a perpetual hunting and guide liscence on Wypoc
(5) (from being the Honorary Chair of the JSI) an office at the JSI, and permission to use Grad Students for his experiments in "Controlled Misjump" and "Enhanced Jump Technology." He'd gotten to thesis 13.2, with a target number of thesis 25.5 prior to his major mishap landing him in the New Era. (See the MT Ref's Companion for research rules.)
Also, Knights I allow to take +1 soc as a raise in rank within his knighthood (Knight-member is the base, Knight-Commander is the second, and Knight Grand-Commander as the third) or as Knight-Member in a more prestigious order.
As for Local Nobles: I count most of them as Soc 10,11, or 12, with the occasional 13. If they use the same titles:
Local Knights and Gentry: SS 10
Local Baronettes, Barons, Viscounts, Knights-Commander, Maquis/Margraves: SS 11
Local Counts/Earls/Graffins, and Dukes: SS 12
Local Archdukes and Princes, Kings: SS 13
Upon application, proof of pedigree, and such, appropriate imperial courtesy rank will be nigh-autommatic, simply by swearing fealty to the emperor.
If a PC wants to be such a local rank, it's raised in lieu of their imperial rank (but since the couurtesy rank is included, it's seldom an issue), but almost always included some form of fief.
Note also: I assume that the SS is the Imperial title based. Local Nobles won't get very far unless they've gotten the Imperial Social Standing.
Also, as an option, I allow PC's who rolled a natural 12 for SS WITHOUT using any of the rerolls I allow in CG (2d worth, either reroll a whole 2d throw ones, or 1d of a 2d throw twice, or two one die rerolls ) may roll a further d6: 1-4 no effect, 5 +1 SS, 6 +1 SS and roll again. Max SS is still 15, but I do allow "15.5 Grand Duke" if a PC really asks nicely.
Were I to re-work the Nobility scale, I'd use this (The "Real SS, for my MT based games is in {braces}:
10 {10} Gentry
11 {11) Knights
12 {11.5} Knights-Commander, Baronettes
13 {12} Barons, Knights-Grand-Commander
14 {13} Viscounts, Marquis, Margrave
15 {14} Counts, Graffin
16 {15}Dukes, Subsector Dukes
17 {15.5} Grand Dukes, Sector Dukes
18 {16} Arch Dukes (AKA Domain Dukes)
19 {17} Princes Imperial, Imperial Consort
20 {18} The Emperor
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-aramis
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