Now, now Metlay... I don't really think being a duke/duchess is all
that bad!! There are supposed to be about 1 for every 2 subsectors
on average I believe. Maybe you are thinking of archdukes. However
these are an even rarer species. There can be many dukes in a
sector. One of them could become top dog and be a sector duke. All
these people would have the same social standing(F).
I quote the Imperial Encyclopedia:
Duke: The fifth level of noble rank is duke, who is associated
with a subsector or sector.
.
.
An individual accorded a duchy may receive a fief of land on
single world, generally not more than 100,000 square km.
That definition does not entirely go together with metlay's. Dukes
DONOT control planets. The ArchDuke of Ilelish does not run the
government of Dlan. The government being a religious dictatorship.
The archduke is not the right religion even though he is a native.
I think we have to separate Imperial administrative control from
local one. The Duke of Regina is also Count of Yori yet he
INFLUENCES not controls both governments. He heads the Imperial
civil service for the subsector. In our terms think of him as a US
senator. He influences and controls much of what goes on in his
state but the actual government is left to locals.
In game terms, I tend to side more with metlay. If you give a
player all the benefits of nobility you make the game centered
around that person. If you don't then it can be construed to be a
waste of a skill roll.
However there is hope. Aside from being incognito, the noble
character can be from worlds just overrun by Vargrs. Tons of these
in Corridor and Lishun. He could be on the run from Lucan! All his
estates confiscated by the Imperium. They could also be "local"
dukes. Basically from worlds with feudal governments. Lastly they
can be Dukes by default. The character was originally 4 offspring
of 3rd cousin to the actual Duke. But since the entire family was
killed/murdered/assassinated the character is now a duke by
default. The other PCs could have been hired originally to get the
poor person from being killed. Maybe a few could be his retainers
too. Also depending on the characters age etc you could say he
abdicated (voluntarily or otherwise) his powers to someone else but
not the title. A particularly cruel idea is that the character
could be a Duke on the Solomani Rim on a long vacation in the
Marches on a unlimited travel/credit voucher from Sharurshiid but
with the retrenchment of the Vilani and the war his voucher is
worth nothing and the character has no money and no means of
getting back to his OCCUPIED home.
Again a high noble character does not have to be a hindrance to
play. Instead the character can be a source of many ideas and
adventures. The character could be a campaign basis with individual
adventures not necessarily based on him
Ameer Sulaiman. ^Z