> For me, the question among the Rokari is whether or not they adjust
> for
> personal ability, or if you are just stuck.
> i.e. - You're a commoner. You have aptitude for magic. Can you learn
> magic, but still be legally a commoner for caste purposes, or are
> you
> caste-breaking if you learn magic?
>
> Both make for good stories.
> I'm inclined to think the official Rokari position is the latter.
In Lords of the West, I took the view that it's more complicated than that. Quite a lot more complicated...
> I think I'd put the whole "offices can impart nobility" mixed in
> with
> some hereditary and some the office is noble, and if you keep it
> three
> generations you stay noble even if the office is stripped from you,
> etc. complications in Ralios.
I could see it in some other places, too (Junora, most notably), but Ralios seems the best place, I agree.
>
> In fact, I'd be inclined to think that Ralios has a whole messed up
> mix of approaches about this.
Ralios has a messed up mix of approaches to *everything* :)
> Now I know that the Priestly and Sorceror caste are basically
> considered
> the same thing in most of the descriptions of the West I've seen,
> which
> I think is something of a tragedy as I like the idea that someone
> with
> the talent to be a sorceror but of the wrong caste can join a
> saintly/priestly order and not be considered to be caste breaking.
Actually, the great majority of members of the saintly and priestly orders are not members of the wizard caste in most parts of the West. Although there are several wizards in the priestly orders (and generally, they're the senior members), most wizards join wizardry schools instead, and very few join saintly orders. The knights of Saint Gerlant, for example, aren't wizards - they're knights.
-- Trotsky Gamer and Skeptic ------------------------------------------------------ Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Not a Dead Communist: http://jrevell.blogspot.com/
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