Post by Arazlam Durai on Oct 4, 2015 9:54:22 GMT -8
NOBILITY VS. COMMONER
In the realm of Ivalice your character's caste, or societal rank, matters. When creating your character's profile it is imperative that you consider the types of options you will have to choose from and have to justify when writing up your character's background and class selections. Not every class is accessible to nobles or commoners. There are pros and cons to having a character of noble birth versus one of common origins.
A character of noble birthright...
- Has access to education which allows them to read, write, and perform high levels of arithmetic.
- May easily access the royal court with stipulations of social etiquette.
- Typically has a higher income level due to ownership of lands and titles that reap monthly stipends depending on notoriety.
- May enroll in various academies and can enlist in the higher ranks of military and special forces. (Knights, Dragoons, Mages, etc...)
- Cannot be seen engaging with people and places of lower or ill repute.
- Have arranged marriages, and are forced to associate with people that will help elevate their status.
- Must maintain proper diction and levels of social decorum in order to maintain their reputation.
- May treat those of lesser birthright as they choose.
A character of common birthright...
- Does not have access to education and is illiterate. Therefore their speech and diction are riddled with heavy amounts of slang and colloquialisms.
- Their income varies between moderate to extreme poverty. Merchants and owners of trading companies are more of the "middle class" caste. Therefore merchants can pay the cost of education to some degree in order to further grow and benefit their businesses.
- May generally go anywhere they please with the exception of areas that are reserved for nobility.
- Tend to marry for money or love depending upon the circumstance and the parents. Merchant families like to chase titles, and a noble family will marry a merchant family for monetary reasons. With impoverished people it doesn't tend to matter unless monetary reasons are involved.
- Have access to classes with more flexible backgrounds such as Geomancer, Archer, Monk, etc.
- Have a better chance at disguising themselves and fading into the woodwork, but on the flip-side they can become victims to a noble's whims.
- Behavior and decorum are relatively lax around those within their own caste groups.
If you're ever uncertain about how to build your character's application then don't hesitate to reach out to the administration or staff members. They can help walk you through some things and even assist with any exceptions that would be considered feasible to have regarding the FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE rule.
