A Dominion Reorganization

[Ebok]

After some careful consideration, and a couple conversations with  members of the player-base, I would like to propose this document for  the reorganization of the dominion. I feel that this might be beneficial  as our current setup leaves the Stygian faction as little more then  glorified policemen, and gives us a large number of Tetarchs and Lords  that are under represented and highly divided within the Dominion. These are my thoughts.

Hierarchy, the one thing that always bugged me was how we are tossing  around all these different terms without any real structure. If the  Dominion survives the Maiden, I would suggest that the Duke himself  restructure things to a real feudalism.

The Armada[INDENT]Duke (Commandant Antoine Trenada)
Lord (or Baron, The Tertrach’s and any qualifying current Lords)
Noble (The Veteran’s of the Armada and the other current Lords)
Stygian (Knights, or The Elite guard and specialized forces of  the nobles. This is the only legal avenue to which to own land within  the Dominion, these are the Patricians. This raises the Stygian back to  an elite level above common guards. It also forces players that wish to  play a huge political role to apply into the specialist or infantry  positions, giving the Stygian all types of players and plots. With each  group of Stygian they were be assigned to a particular noble, and rep  that agenda as well as the glory of the Duchy.)
[/INDENT][INDENT]Militia Sheriff (This would be the most  qualified NPC to run the standard town guard, He outranks basic stygian,  or might actually be a particular stygian)
Militia Officer (These would be the highest ranked PCs/NPCs under  the Sheriff,     it would also be the most influential a wizard/cleric  could become within the     Dominion. Thus it would revitalize and  emphasize the distrust of magic. It also     inspires more wizards  wanting power to turn to the conclave, which is suppose to     be  existing off the Dominion natural distrust.)
Militiamen (These would be the standard cops, the arrest wands,  the tax     collection, the paperwork. They cannot own property, but  they can pull a wage     from the city in prosperous times.)
Conscripts (The player faction version of drafted or volunteer Militiamen.)
[/INDENT]Citizen (The standard adventurer, craftsperson, and laborer)
Guest (The temporary allowance of a non-citizen protection under the under the laws)
Servant (Property until released by a Noble+)

This may sound too streamlined, but in feudal society everything was  basically set up to support the One ruler. Right now the Lords are other  random rich people that manage property owned by the Duke, if  incorporated into the Stygian, you suddenly get a very Knightly (not necessarily chivalrous) feel  from the organization. Now not all members of the Stygian would be  offensive military (but they all could be) so you would find Lady Maria  Catherina Sevar running a “house” of spies, but Lord Stention might be  more focused on running his house of “acquisitions” be that slaves,  entertainment or otherwise. The Noble Vasard Kingsman would serve  whomever Lord would best fit, and his employee’s would be citizens that  were favored with some authority on the premises, while his top guards  would be Stygian or Militia depending on the desire of his Lord.)

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The days of the Stygian being just an Elite Mercenary Unit are gone. They now own the Isle until something else kills them all. Everything is considered owned by the Duke, even if it is allowed to be possessed by say a Lord or a Patrician. Much of what we currently use the Patrician rank for  is kind of blurred anyway, and most use it as merely a stepping stone to try to get the influence they want for Lord, while the others just have it for fun.

I would even consider going as far as to stop giving out citizenship for free at the Mythellar. Using  that as a location to sign up as a guest would do the same thing, and allow the actual citizenship as something earned. The right to own slaves, monsters, pets, businesses, etc could be limited by true citizenship or not. Or it could even be a crime for a citizen to aid the enemies of the Dominion.

Anyway, food for thought. Let me know what you think.

[Dr Dragon]

I say work on acomplishing this IG. If ur character wants the Dominion to be like this then change it. The suggestion forums are not a place to suggest DMS oocly change the storyline. I say accomplish all this stuff IG.

[Ebok]

Actually DrDragon, this is a suggestion that can only be done from the Duke's position. No amount of pandering or awesomeness will give a PC this type of authority.

Lets assume we are considering this as a hypothetical situation

This suggestion is not something that is said in a vacuum. I'm sharing the ideas with the player and DM base. Bearing this in mind, if anyone has thoughts on what their opinions would be on such a setup positive or negative, feel free to give them.

I do not expect this to suddenly "change" everything IG if people like it. The question is two-fold: if this was how it worked, would you prefer it to how it is working now? and what other amendments could make it better?

[Anon]

Hm, make everyone start out as 'Peasant' and make them work their way up to becoming a 'citizen'.

Peasant > Citizen > Patrician > Lord > King

I think it would be interesting that the way to earn your true citizenship would be to serve in the militia.

I think it would spur that type of activity and support the 'draft', which i always thought was a good idea to have OOC...

[tropic]

I don't know about all this, but I would definitely be in favor of, in addition to Nduru, a militiaman being placed at the top of the Ziggurat to explain some of the current ingame politics (ie the compulsory militia service, H'bala) to new players/characters.

I might have this wrong, but I believe that the militia is currently drafting all able-bodied into its ranks. Existing players who have concepts leading them elsewhere can sidestep this, but new players with unclear goals can find themselves involved more easily if this is made clear.

[Yalta]

I think having a clear posted legal structure would be in keeping with the fundamentals of the Dominion.
 
Something written up after the Maiden plot, for what ever (if anything) is left of the Dominion to clarify the nobility and commoner ranks, would be great.

[Wafflecone_Hiatus]

I think having a clear posted legal structure would be in keeping with the fundamentals of the Dominion.
 
Something written up after the Maiden plot, for what ever (if anything) is left of the Dominion to clarify the nobility and commoner ranks, would be great.

I've actually been told the vaugery of the Dominion legal code was purposeful and IC.

[Dr Dragon]

Actually DrDragon, this is a suggestion that can only be done from the Duke's position. No amount of pandering or awesomeness will give a PC this type of authority.

Lets assume we are considering this as a hypothetical situation

This suggestion is not something that is said in a vacuum. I'm sharing the ideas with the player and DM base. Bearing this in mind, if anyone has thoughts on what their opinions would be on such a setup positive or negative, feel free to give them.

I do not expect this to suddenly "change" everything IG if people like it. The question is two-fold: if this was how it worked, would you prefer it to how it is working now? and what other amendments could make it better?

Then work IG to get to in a  position to persuade or force the Duke to change this. Or you can overthrow the duke and institute your own form of government. Players are in the position.

[chezcaliente]

I appreciate Ebok's ideas, as yes, Feudalism is usually a lot more structured than the Dominion currently is. Even if eventually power structure change occurs IG through player actions, I think its worth the DMs considering some ways to make the power structure clearer to the player base.

We have the influential persons list, but I'd be keen to see a nominal power structure that looks at the various titles currently bestowed on PCs and NPCs and where they lie in a hierarchy - even if this hierarchy is disputed/contested/blurred in game.

[Ebok]

I was also focusing on ways to seperate the Eliteness from the Stygian's from the basic low-class work like guarding this street corner, collecting taxes, or police work. Then of course filling the void that is left one you remove that from the faction; which was why I was considering pushing Stygians more towards the actual patrician 'rank' and using their upgrade into Noble as kinda of 'lordship' as we use them currently.

Its obvious that a PC cannot have the same stability and influence as say, Stenton. So there will always be a discrepancy between the 'Lords' of heads of households, then Nobility / influential PCs. If anyone has any particular questions just poke me iirc.

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After talking with Talir, it's pretty clear that the Tertrach's are not ever going to be big public figures. So they could easily just hold the special rank as generals of the colony that they do now.

[SkillFocuspwn]

All of it is Ebok's, I've added the Patrician class on my own initiative! This is my personal take on how it should be.

The Armada[INDENT]Duke (Commandant Antoine Trenada)
Lord (or Baron, The Tertrach’s and any qualifying current Lords)
Noble (The Veteran’s of the Armada and the other current Lords)
Stygian (Knights, or The Elite guard and specialized forces of  the nobles. This is the only legal avenue to which to own land within  the Dominion, these are the Patricians. This raises the Stygian back to  an elite level above common guards. It also forces players that wish to  play a huge political role to apply into the specialist or infantry  positions, giving the Stygian all types of players and plots. With each  group of Stygian they were be assigned to a particular noble, and rep  that agenda as well as the glory of the Duchy.)
[/INDENT][INDENT]Militia Sheriff (This would be the most  qualified NPC to run the standard town guard, He outranks basic stygian,  or might actually be a particular stygian)
Militia Officer (These would be the highest ranked PCs/NPCs under  the Sheriff,     it would also be the most influential a wizard/cleric  could become within the     Dominion. Thus it would revitalize and  emphasize the distrust of magic. It also     inspires more wizards  wanting power to turn to the conclave, which is suppose to     be  existing off the Dominion natural distrust.)
Militiamen (These would be the standard cops, the arrest wands,  the tax     collection, the paperwork. They cannot own property, but  they can pull a wage     from the city in prosperous times.)
Conscripts (The player faction version of drafted or volunteer Militiamen.)
[/INDENT]
Patricians (Elite merchant / adventurer caste who swear allegiance to the Duke. Of the same social caste as the Stygians and Knights, these are non-nobles who have proven their worth and earned the Duke's trust. While they wouldn't normally exist in a Fuedal Society, the Dominion has a lot of newcomers all the time. They pay the same tithe they do before, however, they also take an Oath of loyalty to the Duke and need to gain the recommendation of an Infantryman. This makes it less of a casual benefit and more of a stepping stone to becoming big in Dominion politics without directly joining the Stygians.)
Citizen (The standard adventurer, craftsperson, and laborer)
Guest (The temporary allowance of a non-citizen protection under the under the laws)
Servant (Property until released by a Noble+)

[SkillFocuspwn]

The main reasons I suggest keeping the Patrician class but making it more loyal to the Duke is that otherwise you would need a DM or to do a LOT before you became legible to hire one of the Guildhouses, and so it's easier to go from a citizen to a noble.

I think Ebok's idea is a really good one and I especially like giving the Stygians political power and allowing them to shine as more than just the Duke's soldiers.

[Disco]

Personaly I would LOVE to see the stygians being removed as policemen, They should Either go back to being a mercenary company, or become an elite gaurd for the duke.

Also The militia should become a DM faction and ALOT more prominent.

[Spiffy Has]

Anything to give this place a more medieval feel is a good thing in my book.

[Egon the Monkey]

I think that if it was more clear how to raise in power in the Dominon and you could see it happening, more players than the usual politicaly inclined ones would be inclined to take a shot at playing influential PCs. Things used to be more organised under the Sharboneths, in that there was a division of "police", political and military ranks, and PCs could be promoted in each.

Currently you can build a banner, try and get people to it, but have little idea on if you have support to rise or not. See how much help it was for VP's faction building because Lady Harvix was able to offer uniforms to members, and establish a presence.

Say you want to command the Militia or a squad of them. Do you go for Infantryman? Specialist? Or join the Militia and try and impress your superiors? If you're an Armada Veteran, do you command the respect of a Lord, or can they stil treat you as a flunky? This isn't so much an upheaval OOCly DrD, as a request to have a better idea of what's going on and where the many ranks and titles stand with respect to each other.