On the Pursuit of Noble Titles

More Thoughts on Noble Titles

In an essay titled “Courting Dishonor” in The New Criterion January 2020 issue, author Simon Heffer writes:

“Some people angle desperately for letters to put after their name, or even better, a title before it . . .”

I've spent lots of time thinking about how to get a noble title or into the society of the rich & powerful, at least for my PCs. I've written about it here, here, here, here , and here.

The New Criterion essay made me think about a way of getting a Noble title that I had not considered before. The PC who finds that he has a lot of cash (up into the MCr range) can just BUY a title. Go to the sovereign of some world with a Pr trade code and offer a wad of cash. In exchange you get the right to style one's self Baron of Somewhere or other.

In England, a Baronetcy had no political authority vested in it. It was a title paid for with cash, which means only the wealthy could get it. A Baronet could brag of having a title (like a certain Percy Blakeney, Bart.) which he could pass on. Whatever other benefits accrued were social not material. The king, on the other hand, got a big cash infusion.

Ian Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service involved a villainous character trying to get a patent of nobility. The claim was spurious, but the villain thought he could do it through bribery and deception. I don't recall what further villainy he intended to do from there. Though the PCs wouldn't think of using a title as a pretext for crime. Right?

How far would you go to get this estate?

I have written a bit about the idea of social promotion but always from the perspective as SOC promotions coming as the result of real effort – as a reward for success.

Social Standing and Class Consciousness

It seems that I am on a quest to make Social Standing a more important aspect of Traveller. Not sure why this is. I tend to play and write more plot-heavy and action-driven games, and have never gotten a PC into a 'comedy of manners' type situation. Pride and Prejudice is a great novel, but not a good model to base a Science Fiction adventure upon. (If you think I'm wrong, please do comment and explain your idea.) But as I look back across my now five years of writing posts for this blog, I see that I've spent some time trying to integrate Social Standing (SOC) into my favorite game.

Some players may consider SOC a 'dump stat'. I don't. I think it deserves its place in the UPP, because it can tell a player some interesting things about the PC. In the hands of an experienced player, SOC can be a useful tool in the arsenal for getting things done.

What's All This About Class Consciousness?

I assume in my TU that each planet has a mostly unified culture, even if the governments are not unified. There is not one monolithic 'Galactic Culture' or even an 'Imperial Culture'. Planets are like islands. Most residents don't ever leave, and don't ever interact directly with folks from somewhere else. This results in planet-based cultures.

Some cultures rate highly on what is known as the 'Power Distance' scale. These are socially stratified or 'class conscious' cultures. It matters what class you come from, and you stick with 'your people'.

Seven steps to designing Noble Houses for Traveller

Designing Noble Houses

Welcome to my humble abode.

     Traveller's Third Imperium is a vast place, ruled by the Emperor. However, with the limits of communication-at-the-speed-of-travel, the Emperor cannot rule everywhere personally. So authority is distributed in a feudal fashion through the network of the Imperial Nobility. 

     The character creation rules in Traveller allow for the possibility of one of the PCs being from, or rising into the ranks of the Imperial Aristocracy. I suspect the authors had in mind Poul Anderson's stories of Dominic Flandry and his beloved Terran Empire in developing the setting for Traveller this way. 

     As I have noted elsewhere on this blog, the rules are sketchy on what it means to be of the Nobility. There is a table of noble titles correlated to SOC scores, and a vague paragraph about owning land. How much?  Does it mean the PC has political power? Does this give the PCs access to more money?

     Nobles are the movers & shakers of the Imperium, and above the rank of Baronet the titles are inheritable, which means that there are Noble families who are & have been in the business of running things. Erin Smale at the Welsh Piper blog wrote up some tables for generating Noble Houses in a fantasy setting. He's allowed me (Thanks, Erin!) to adapt those tables for the Far Future of the 3rd Imperium - and they can be easily tweaked for a non-OTU setting. Also check out the link (on the WP page too) to Inkwell Idea's Design a Coat of Arms studio!

The tables are:

• Head of House
• Influence
• Loyalty
• Holdings
• Recent Activity
• Current Ambition
• Family Secret

Head of House (1d6)
 1 Young
 2-4 Adult
 5-6 Retired
Young: The age of majority may be different in the Imperium, but whatever it is, the person currently holding this position hasn't made it yet. Usually there is a regent (family member or not) making the decisions.
Adult: This character can be generated by using the modified Noble career tables I wrote up here. Cap generation at 7 terms. 
Retired: This character can be generated as with Adult, but ignore re-enlistment rolls until term 8. Roll 4+ on 1d6 for the Head of House to be using anagathics.

Influence  (2d6) 
Knight: DM -3 Baron/Baronet DM -2 Marquis DM +1 Count DM +2 Duke DM +3 Archduke DM+4

2-	None	8	Jump-2 range
3	None	9	Jump-3 range
4	Regional	10	Jump-4 range
5	Continental	11	Subsector-wide
6	Continental	12	Sector-wide
7	Planetary	13+	Emperor’s Adviser

     Houses that have influence above the Continental level are likely to have smaller Houses in their sphere of influence; either as direct vassals, or by other means determined by the referee.

Loyalty (1d6)
1 Completely Loyal to the Imperium
2 Loyal to the Imperial Status Quo
3 Loyal to the Imperial Status Quo
4 Loyal, but seeking change
5 Would support a rebellion
6 Engaged in rebellion (overt or secret)

Holdings

Rank	Charge	Typical estate	Typical value
Knight	-	-	-
Baronet	-	10 sq. km	MCr5
Baron	Part of world	100 sq km	MCr50
Marquis	One world	1000 sq km	MCr500
Count	Several worlds	10,000 sq km	MCr5,000
Duke	Subsector/sector	100,000 sq km	MCr50,000
Archduke	Domain	Entire world	MCr500,000

 (1)
 For variety: (1d6)
1 10% of typical estate/value
2 50% of typical
3 Typical estate
4 Typical estate
5 Typical estate
6 150% of typical estate

Recent Activity  (2d6)

2	Political Scandal	8	Usual social/political activity
3	Put down a revolt	9	Gained new holdings
4	New heir to the title	10	Lost holdings
5	Brokered a new trade route	11	Conflict with another house, locally resolved
6	Usual social/political activity	12	Conflict with another house, Imperial
7	Usual social/political activity		Forces called in to settle

Current Ambition (2d6)

2	Recover from a financial loss	8	Gain wealth
3	Gain Imperial favor	9	Develop local culture and arts
4	Settle a new world	10	Resist encroachment on their holdings
5	Drive out pirates	11	Increase land holdings
6	Increase area of influence	12	Create their own Empire
7	Maintain the status quo

Family Secret (1d6) If loyalty is 6, DM +3

1 Psionic talent
2 Religiously unorthodox
3 None
4 Piratical connections
5 Criminal connections
6 Extra-Imperial ties
7 Rebellion

Psi talent: Some or all members of the family are psionics. The family supports the local Psionic Institute.
Religiously unorthodox: The family is devout in an agnostic/atheist society, or atheistic/heretical in a religious society. (See my post here about a Religion Index for Traveller worlds). 
None: This family keeps to the morals and manners of their society.
Piratical connections: The family does business with, or provides cover for pirate crews.
Criminal connections: The family has ties to the criminal underworld networks in their area of influence.
Extra-Imperial ties:  The family has unacknowledged ties with a political power outside of the Imperium.
Rebellion: The house is engaged in overt or covert rebellion against the Imperium. 


     Why should you do this?  Defining noble houses develops your campaign setting, giving it texture, a bit more 'reality', and most importantly, gives the referee lots of potential patrons, allies, opponents and political events to build adventures upon. A noble house has a story, that can become part of the PCs stories.


  (1) I got this table off the 'Net about a decade or so ago. I don't have a record of where I got it, so if someone can help me identify it, or can claim they did it first, I'll be happy to take it down or give attribution.