Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Charles_Phipps Feb 05, 2006 3:14:18	This always bugged me. There doesn't seem to be any middle men between the rulers of a nation and the commoners. One presumes that stuff just gets to the market magically on time and in enough numbers to satisfy the ranks. In fact, in Brother's Majere you have a man actively disdained for calling himself a Baron when he has pretty much every right to the title.
#2 cam_banks Feb 05, 2006 8:07:45	That was during the Age of Despair, when a lot of people were calling themselves barons. Taking up residence in an abandoned manor because its noble master has been chased out of town by a mob isn't usually license to adopt the noble's title. Ansalon has plenty of established aristocracies. Palanthas, for example, depends upon its noble houses, representatives of which make up half of the City Senate. The Lordcities are named such because of the nobles who govern them, and these nobles have extended families, some of whom have nothing more to do in their daily life than conduct affairs of state or respond to the needs of the smallfolk. We don't always see the aristocracy portrayed well in Dragonlance, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was absent. Indeed, Dragonlance is so characterized by its noble characters (both good and bad) that the noble PC class is one of the core player options. Cheers, Cam