Rank and Status in a Socialist Absolute Monarchy

[Minuteman37]

ok so I'm helping a friend assemble an ancient Roman Empire like society that's ruled over by an immortal Telepathic God Emperor who keeps an elite class of servants called Hands who he's in telepathic contact with at all times. These people manage all parts of the empire that are deemed too far away to be directly controlled by the Emperor himself. The Hands are kept loyal becouse the Emperor is imbuing them with immortality and could revoke this gift at a moment's notice.

Where we're having trouble is the interaction between Status, Rank and where these hands fit into things.

If I'm a Hand and in charge of a large city on the outskirts of the empire and my word is effectively god what rank do I have? The only limitations on my power are that I can't do things that are considered detrimental to success of the city as a whole, but I'm free to go around wantonly murdering the homeless and fornicating with the wildlife all I want.

Note that the nation is socialist to a large extent and all citizens are guaranteed Status 0 and all that entails. I'm unsure just what the Status level of these Hands is going to be, but I know they're going to have the highest status within the city, but it can't be too high that their diverting a significant amount of resources away from the cities vital functions.

[David Johnston2]

Roughly speaking your rank reflects the number of troops you command. Given that it's actually a fairly egalitarian culture except for the Emperor's supreme status, status is probably determined by your Rank. However as a Hand one would have both Law Enforcement Powers and limited Legal Immunity.

[Minuteman37]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Roughly speaking your rank reflects the number of troops you command. Given that it's actually a fairly egalitarian culture except for the Emperor's supreme status, status is probably determined by your Rank. However as a Hand one would have both Law Enforcement Powers and limited Legal Immunity.

Ok just who counts as a troop if I could walk up to any random dude on the street and command them to take up arms and fight for me?

Also what kind of assumptions are built into Status equaling Rank? This society is envisioned as everyone in power living below their "means" as it were. The god emperor doesn't live in the same degree of luxury that other people with the amount of power could. He instead chooses to use that wealth to invest in his empire and the wellbeing of his people. The hands and the other high ranking citizens do the same, but are still living better then the average citizen is.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Minuteman37

Ok just who counts as a troop if I could walk up to any random dude on the street and command them to take up arms and fight for me?
.

Since they'd be worthless they don't count. Stick to actual soldiers. Status derived from Rank has no maintenance cost.

[dcarson]

You can also have Administrative Rank or Police Rank. I'd say look at how many levels of administration from the hand down to the guy that sweeps streets there are. Usually each level of rank is 1-2 levels of hierarchy.

[McAllister]

This sounds to me like a Rank-is-Status society, and I disagree with David Johnston2: I think every human under your command counts for your Rank. Do you have Social Engineering? It's got some stuff on p. 14 that might be helpful to you. If not, I'd just go with the Emperor being Rank/Status 12 and Rank/Status descending from there. If there's a large gap, like a provincial governor who technically reports directly to the Emperor but is nowhere near as powerful as his second-in-command, it's fair to skip 2-4 steps and have the governor be Rank/Status 8-10. The baseline is that Rank 8 is responsible for 200,000 people, and you multiply it by about 5 every step, but this runs into issues with the Status 12 cap, so don't sweat the details, I'd say.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by McAllister

This sounds to me like a Rank-is-Status society, and I disagree with David Johnston2: I think every human under your command counts for your Rank. Do you have Social Engineering? It's got some stuff on p. 14 that might be helpful to you. If not, I'd just go with the Emperor being Rank/Status 12

8. He's not ruling an interstellar empire.

[McAllister]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

8. He's not ruling an interstellar empire.

My mistake, I hear "ancient Roman Empire like society that's ruled over by an immortal Telepathic God Emperor who keeps an elite class of servants" and I think 40K about twelve times.

[Minuteman37]

Originally Posted by McAllister

My mistake, I hear "ancient Roman Empire like society that's ruled over by an immortal Telepathic God Emperor who keeps an elite class of servants" and I think 40K about twelve times.

We're definitely taking some inspiration.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by McAllister

My mistake, I hear "ancient Roman Empire like society that's ruled over by an immortal Telepathic God Emperor who keeps an elite class of servants" and I think 40K about twelve times.

I started thinking Leto II Atreides, the God-Emperor of Dune, but that, too, was an interstellar empire....