Moving on Up: Social Advancement in the Borderlands

It's been a while since I've peeled back the veil on what's happening with the Hill Cantons: Borderlands sourcebook, in the main because I have (finally) learned my lesson about keeping my trap shut and my fingers flying.

A ton of work has been going on nonetheless. A merry band of beta-testers has been kicking the Seven Hells out of my poor, overworked draft in the playtest arena and the draft is finally settling into fighting shape as the necessary rewrites, clarifications, and elaborations follow in the wake.

One area that has been majorly revamped then revamped again is Chapter 8, the chapter that handles how player characters rise through the ranks of institutions in their home campaign.

Why so much revision? Simple: they hated it.

Not the idea, to a man (and woman), they loved that. They liked the general concept of providing mechanisms and guidelines to give players “entry-level positions” to the supposed endgame at low and mid-levels. They even liked a number of the core concepts about how to implement them.

But they hated my execution—oh, the vanity of our most beloved half-baked notions—which mostly was a series of large-scale mini-game much like the ones found in those classic old warhorses of this kind of game: En Garde, Heroes, and Flashing Blades. In a nutshell each particular institution had a high level of detail and unique mechanics for it's own peculiar advancements, perks, obligations, etc.

Players objections basically boiled down to a. it was too chart-heavy and distracted too much from the traditional core mechanics and play areas of classic D&D; b. that it defined too much of the detail for how institutions worked in people's campaigns (ok this was more mine, an old pet peeve, but it seemed close to some of their own objections) ; and c. most damningly that it felt too much like work and life in the real world. Egads.

So I swung to a different pole and with great, shuddering reluctance cut the lion share of all those many pages down in a sub-system that:

• provides a more simple and universal system tied closer to traditional D&D concepts.
• instead of mandating and pre-shaping institutions for GMs, it provides 12 sample templates for them to riff off (one such is at the end of this post). Guidelines, suggestions, and a campaign question check list are provided in the rest of the chapter's text to help their templates to their own unique needs.
• drops much of the stick in favor of the carrot by removing the rather onerous system of PC obligations (off-season service time, tithes, etc). Thanks to Tavis in particular for pushing me to let this go.

Backstory finished, here is the draft product (with some explanatory paragraphs and examples stripped out, ask away if it is unclear). As always I am an eager beaver for thoughts, feedback, constructive criticism.

Would you use such a system? What would you change or add?

Note while a beta-test draft the following text is copy protected. Any misuse of said text will be promptly followed by the parachuting of a crack team of ninja-suited, wavy-sword-wielding lawyers into your home domicile.

[Excerpt from Chapter 8: Rising Through the Ranks]

Rank and Title
Each institution's hierarchy is divided into progressively influential ranks.

On the surface, ranks are much like the old stand-by of character level—each rank conveys a title, some of which are similar to matching level titles. They are however a power-rating system independent, though influenced by, a character's level.

Unlike levels, characters are not limited to starting at the first rank in a hierarchy and working their way up sequentially—they may attempt to enter an institution's ranks at any point. Note that if the Charisma variant rules [a cleaned up version of this here]are being used that fourth level can automatically enter certain ranks as shown below.

Promotion

Each rank has a target number--which varies by the type of the institution--that a player must roll over in order to advance. Players can try twice a year, but may only advance once in that year.

The number of dice used is determined by class level and modified by Charisma, inducements, prior-held ranks, and success in actual, in-game sessions.

Levels 1-3	1d6
Levels 4-7	2d6
Levels 8-11	3d6
Levels 12-15	4d6
Levels 16+	5d6

Modifiers:

Charisma

3-6	-1
7-12	0
13-15	+1
16-17	+2
18	+3

Inducements

Ranks 1-3, Per 500 gp (or equivalent magic item)	+1
Ranks 4-6, Per 1,000 gp (or equivalent magic item)	+1
Ranks 7+, Per 2,000 gp (or equivalent magic item)	+1

Prior Held Rank (must be in same institution):

Rank 1-3	+1
Rank 4-6	+2
Rank 7+	+3

In-Game Successes

Major Publicly-Recognized Success	+1
Minor Success that Benefits Institution	+1
Major Success that Benefits Institution	+2
Minor Success in Mission Assigned by Institution	+2
Major Success in Mission Assigned by Institution	+3

Perks

Rank has its privileges and characters receive progressively more as they rise.

Note on all charts that characters are entitled and obligated to the perks of all lower ranks—with the exception of political positions (character can only be head of one institution at a time).

Example Template:

The Temple of Law Clergy

Rank	Title	Target	Perks
1	Acolyte	2	Room and board
2	Adept	4	Free access to minor healing magic once a month
3	Priest	7	Head of rural parish, 50 gp income/month
4*	Vicar	9	Head of small temple, 150 gp income/month, Free access to clerical spells up to 2nd level/month
5	Curate	12	Head of medium temple, 300 gp income/month
6	Bishop	15	Head of medium temple, 300 gp income/month, Free access to clerical spells up to 4nd level/month
7	Lama	19	Head of large temple, 300 gp income/month, Free access to clerical spells up to 5th level/month
8	Patriarch	23	Stronghold, Collect Domain Taxes
9	High Priest	27	Automatic Ruler Rank of 9

* If CHA rules are being used, fourth level character with CHA 15 and over are entitled to an automatic position here.