TestNobility: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:28, 24 January 2025

Aristocracy, when in context to the Regalian Empire, refers to the upper-class citizens of its society, including wealthy families known as "new money", titled nobility known as "old money", knights, and other associated government-titled individuals. This Page will set out a variety of both OOC conduct rules, as well as IC mechanics through which there is a class-divide in Roleplay in Regalia, which we believe helps reinforce the historical-like setting in a fantasy world. This page also contains other useful referrals for things to do with Aristocracy, so it should generally be sourced as first to-go place for information.

Classes of Aristocracy

Aristocracy is broken up into several groups defining their place in society and what is expected of them to pass in the upper echelons.

Nobility covers land-owning aristocrats who hold feudal titles and directly control various territories throughout the empire. They are considered "old money" in that their wealth has accumulated over several generations of their family, and also because nobility is one of the oldest classes in the empire. Nobles derive most of their income from their lands in the form of taxation, investing most of the revenue back into the lands due to the costs of ruling these territories. As a result, nobles often have less funds to spend on personal projects compared to the magnates, relying instead on their political connections and influence in various courts to see their plans enacted.
Magnates cover wealthy commoners who have accumulated their wealth in recent times through business success and investments, buying themselves into aristocracy. They are considered "new money" in that their wealth has only appeared in only one or two generations, as Regalia has only recently started to embrace the earliest stages of industrial capitalism. Magnates are mostly referred to as "aristocrats" in daily life, even though the term also refers to the nobility as well. Magnates derive all of their income off of business profits and investment returns, allowing them to invest into other business ventures or fund their own personal projects. They have more money to spend than the nobility as they do not have to pay for territorial upkeep, manors, servants, and guards outside of their immediate business costs, while are miniscule compared to the costs the nobility must cover. This allows Magnates to flex their financial power over the nobility, often buying influence at court via loans to desperate peers.
Knights are a martial class which blends the class divisions between upper and lower classes. Both aristocrats and commoners can become knights, and knight are able to mingle with high society due to the prestige of their orders. Within the social standing, knights rank above magnates but below nobility. If a noble is also a knight, they are treated as a knight while representing their order (eg, wearing armor and doing their job), and as a noble when they are not.

Aristocrat Activities

As aristocrats already have more wealth

Soiree
Patronage
Event Hosting (Gala, tournament, banquet, hunt)
Assemblies

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 ==Classes of Aristocracy==
-Currently, there are several ranks of Aristocracy. Played nobility currently caps off at the comital level of the hierarchy, but there are several higher titled individuals that exist as NPCs. To give players more freedom in roleplay, they should not be playing the equivalent of bishops, dukes, princes, and royals. Counts are still able to drink with commoners in the tavern, while the other ranks would just be confined to their government position or title lands, and would not be able to roleplay with 85% of the server population, which gets boring quickly.
+Aristocracy is broken up into several groups defining their place in society and what is expected of them to pass in the upper echelons.
+*'''Nobility''' covers land-owning aristocrats who hold feudal titles and directly control various territories throughout the empire. They are considered "old money" in that their wealth has accumulated over several generations of their family, and also because nobility is one of the oldest classes in the empire. Nobles derive most of their income from their lands in the form of taxation, investing most of the revenue back into the lands due to the costs of ruling these territories. As a result, nobles often have less funds to spend on personal projects compared to the magnates, relying instead on their political connections and influence in various courts to see their plans enacted.
+*'''Magnates''' cover wealthy commoners who have accumulated their wealth in recent times through business success and investments, buying themselves into aristocracy. They are considered "new money" in that their wealth has only appeared in only one or two generations, as Regalia has only recently started to embrace the earliest stages of industrial capitalism. Magnates are mostly referred to as "aristocrats" in daily life, even though the term also refers to the nobility as well. Magnates derive all of their income off of business profits and investment returns, allowing them to invest into other business ventures or fund their own personal projects. They have more money to spend than the nobility as they do not have to pay for territorial upkeep, manors, servants, and guards outside of their immediate business costs, while are miniscule compared to the costs the nobility must cover. This allows Magnates to flex their financial power over the nobility, often buying influence at court via loans to desperate peers.
+*'''Knights''' are a martial class which blends the class divisions between upper and lower classes. Both aristocrats and commoners can become knights, and knight are able to mingle with high society due to the prestige of their orders. Within the social standing, knights rank above magnates but below nobility. If a noble is also a knight, they are treated as a knight while representing their order (eg, wearing armor and doing their job), and as a noble when they are not.
-*'''Nobility''' are titled aristocrats who own land around the empire with several cities, castles, and villages attached to them. As dictated by the Creed of Unionism, the Peers or titleholders are the Emperor's secular representation in the Regalian Empire who must rule the small corners of the Empire in his stead. They must embody certain qualities of the Emperor and be above the common folk of the Empire. The Court holds that if any of the peers act outside of the scope of their title, and they disgrace their name and the Emperor, then their peer status may be ignored and all privileges do not apply to them anymore. In short, a Noble who acts like a Commoner, should be treated as one.
+==Aristocrat Activities==
-*'''Gentry''' or Aristocrats are wealthy commoners who have bought their way into high society. With Regalia transitioning into a pseudo-industrialized nation, some families of new money have become more wealthy than old money nobles, so there is a reasonable chance many of the titled nobles are in fact quite poor, because landed titles do not generate as much money as capital investment and business enterprise. In most cases, 70% of the finances generated off land tax are passed off to the higher ranked Dukes and the Emperor, meaning old money can in theory have accrued wealth over time, but cannot spend it as luxuriously as the Gentry could.
+As aristocrats already have more wealth
-*'''Knights''' can be members of multiple social classes at once, as many Knights are also title holders or just wealthy family members of New Money. Knights however socially exist in a rank between the Gentry and the Barons, and higher-titled Nobles. Even if in courtly robes a Knight might be of the same rank as a Count, while a Knight is in Knight duty (in armor), they are ranked as petty nobility and thus are outranked by their peers. They still however are considered of higher social class than Commoner and retain their higher authority rank while off-duty in civilian clothing.
+*Soiree
+*Patronage
+*Event Hosting (Gala, tournament, banquet, hunt)
+*Assemblies