Military ranks, officials, hierarchy etc.

[Eridan]

Hi together,
i have a question regarding military ranks, official ranks etc.

We have a lot of good role play in my group and i allways want to make my Pathfinder world so realistic as possible. At the moment i run a city module/adventure and the PCs are often talking to NPCs, gather informations etc. Most of it we do ingame, talking, not only rolling diplomacy..

Here is my problem:
They are often talking with officals, town guards, etc.
I need a list/flowchart for the hierachy of a City with officals, town guards and maybe soldiers/army.

Any ideas ?

[Tom S 820]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_ranks

[Felgoroth]

Assuming this is a "Western European" type setting, this is what I use in my games as far as the political heirarchy goes, it can be changed to vary based on your world and you can add/take away depending on certain ranks:

King & Queen, Fuhrer, or Emporer & Empress
Viceroy & Vicereine
Archduke & Archduchess
Grand Duke & Grand Duchess
Duke & Duchess
Prince & Princess
Marquis & Marquise or Margrave & Margravine
Count & Countess
Viscount & Viscountess
Baron & Baroness
Knight & Dame
Lord & Lady

[DeathSpot]

A quick-and-dirty way is to go with:

Fighter 1 - Private (four plus a corporal in a team)
Fighter 2 - Corporal (two in a squad)
Fighter 3 - Sergeant (three to five in a platoon)
Fighter 4 - Lieutenant (three to five in a company)
Fighter 6 - Captain (three to five in a battalion)
Fighter 8 - Colonel (three to five in a brigade)
Fighter 10 and up - General

Thus, a lieutenant would command 30 to 50 men, and a captain anywhere from 90 to 250 men, depending on the size of the city or army.
I'm not sure I'd have ranks above Colonel for a single city, as there probably aren't enough soldiers/guardsmen to justify it. Also, you could mix in a level or two of a different class for local flavor, especially cleric (for healing) or sorceror (for sleep/color spray at low levels.
Obviously, you can change the base class for your army depending on where you are, which adds more local flavor.

[Helaman]

Id say this is a good way to go...

Also look at the romans, they didn't have the same amount of officers we see today, it was mainly NCO run... actually the french foriegn legion is also good to look at as a model - they aren't top heavy and if I recall top out at 6600 or so.

Back in the old days 6600 men was pretty impressive and Romans could pacify a hell of a lot with that many men.

Heres the roman organisation.
http://www.unrv.com/military/legion.php

Gut check for me? I'd hold down the officers and make sargeants a REAL force on what goes on.

At the lower levels the characters would generally deal with guardsmen constables or privates and their corporals.

[Faithless Zealot]

The Leader of a city would be called a "Mayor" or a "Governer." In English European tradition I believe for cities that were not the capitol of an area would just have a low noble, such as a knight, as the head. Of course that would be for a town with a small keep or other fortification. If this is a little crossroads town that just sort of happened the person in charge would most likely be the eldest, and called an "Elder." Or something. Also remember, the areas and their leaders are co-named. Counties are ruled by Counts, Principalities by Princes, Kingdoms by Kings, and a Duchy is ruled by a Duke. It all merges together.

As for military ranks, the medieval form was quite straightforward. It is what I would call "company based."
Captain - a French word, the English/Anglo Saxon equivalent is "Chieftain." When a commission (letter) arrived from a king or higher noble asking the local Mayor (knight, whoever) to raise a force of men it would one- make that leader a commissioned officer (which is where the term comes from), and the local men he raised would be referred to as "Sir John's Company" which is where the term company comes from.
Lieutenant - French for "Place holder" This is one who is your tenant in lieu of you. Akin to a second in command. In a Medieval or fantasy setting this would be the Captains good and trusted friend, though not always the best military commander, as trust is more the qualifier. Often the letter of commission would also require a Captains Lieutenant, making these two the only real commissioned officers.
Sergeant - Based on another french word, this one for "servant." A Commissioned officer, who was often a noble, would need professional men at arms to herd the common rabble who were usually drafted. Often these were men who were constantly in the employ of the local noble as guards, making them the most experienced to combat. Since they were not officers at the kings commission they (and all others not appointed by the commission) were referred to as "Non-commissioned Officers" In movies and media the "salty veteran" is almost always an NCO.
Corporal - Latin for "squad commander" or "block commander" this was someone put in charge of a single rank of a formation.
Private - The newest word added to the universal rank system. Initially it was not a rank, but a status. When you were drafted, you could opt to hire another man to serve in your stead, a "Private Contractor"

In times other than war often the Nobles servants (Sergeant) would serve as the local law enforcement, often with some younger but experienced corporals who would be in training. Serving in law enforcement the term "Ranger" came about, as he would patrol the range.
Also, having a standing army is expensive as hell, so often the handful of guards were the only militant force in a town. Their numbers were usually small, less than 50 unless they were being raided all the time.

If you want more info feel free, I have spent years researching this type of thing.

[Eridan]

Ok here i am back from Xmas holidays. Thanks for your answers but i still have some questions.

The military hierarchy is clear now.

What about the hierarchy in a town or city? At the top we have a major/elder/ruler and then?

I play a campaign in Sembia (Forgotten Realms) and this empire looks to me very bureaucratic. So i need a medival hierarchy of scribes, bureaucrats etc. everyone who is needed to keep a city alive.

[Helaman]

Best check your FR stuff then for examples - if you want to make it FR authentic (and there are players out there that are FR junkies/anal retentive) best to stick to it.

Town bureaucracy and city bureaucracy will be VERY much different.

[Liam Warner]

Don't know about FR organisation but I do know what I go with for towns, just wish I could figure out a workable way of dividing up land grants for kingdoms how much land does that Marquis own? Anyway my organisation is as follows . . .

layout
Type of Town
(Brief description of how I view it)
Heirarchy

THORP

Small settlements mostly either frontier or purpose dedicated e.g. mining

Respected Headsman (typically either a blacksmith or other important role in the village, sometimes just an old person they respect) or an overseer appointed by whoever owns the resource to ensure their investment pays off.

NOTES: These small communities are generally either run by an overseer or by consensus with one person they will generally respect and listen to any advise, warnings they give.

HAMLET

A medium settlement typically with a large number of people living there who are more civilised than a Thorp. Similarly they'll have a number of functions available e.g. sheep farming, inn, wood cutting etc.

Town Council (A small group of respected individual who see that everything runs smothly)
Helper (A respected individual e.g. a blacksmith who people go to for help with the small problems that aren't worth bothering the council)

NOTES: As the Thorp prospers it grows into a Hamlet diversifying its interests and increasing in size to the point where an official group of respected villagers are appointed to run the various issues that need to be addressed.

Village

A settlement that's grown in size to be noted on general maps and is often entirely self sufficient with many of its inhabitants travelling no farther than the borders of their town.

Mayor (A properly elected official i.e. one appointed by the local lord who is in overall charge of the running of the village)
City Council (A group of advisors and administrators appointed by the mayor to handle various day to day issues e.g. sanitation, militia etc)
Division heads (Specific people put in charge of a given area of the village e.g. the head priest, the captain in charge of the militia etc)

NOTES: By this stage its grown big enough that you not only have the officially appointed leaders of the town for big issues but your also starting to see diversification of the populace to the point where you can approach a person on a specific issue e.g. defense speak to the Militia Captain, for religious issues Friar Tuck in the glade outside town and so on.

SMALL TOWN+
At this stage it really just comes down to size and authority as you scale up the town you increase the relative ranks of the person involved but the divisions would remain fairly constant given here the heirarchy for a small town and a metropolis.

LORD/LADY (Typically a nobleman/woman who has extensive land holdings consisting of several villages and their own town)
MAYOR/Regent (An appointed head to oversees the towns administration specfically)
City Council (A group of advisors serving to help handle the day to day running of the town, appointed by the local lord)
Division Head (As above those in charge of a specific area of the towns needs)
Criminal Head (Sort of ambigious but crime can be organised enough that there'll be a head or heads running it that can be approached for things which arne't legal depending on how evil you want them e.g. virgins blood)
Prefectural Manger (A lower ranking beurocrat who is responsible for ensuring the smoth running of a particular quarter of the town providing more direct involvement)
Local Authority Figures (Various figures of importance in their specific quarter but not necessarily the head of the organisation e.g. a Seargent who runs the nightwatch, a local gang head who runs most thefts etc)

King/Queen
Regent
High Council (Helps advise on the running of the kingdom)
Division Head (Instead of dealing with the towns guards you've now got generals in charge of the lands armies)
Mayor
City Council
Various Lords staying in town who can provide an informal aid due to their political contacts and personal influence
Criminal Head
Prefectural Manger
Local Authority Figures
Authority representitives (A soldier in the army or a member of a powerful gang, your not speaking to the leaders but you are getting what they're group thinks is going on)

You can pretty much select an appropriate level person for the parties needs. If their in a Throp there's no official management usually but there will be a respected elder they'll be sent to speak to about the problem. In a Metropolis its unlikely they'll meet with anyone over Prefectural Manager (personal contacts/level aside) but if they need to consult on the rash of mysterious late night dissapearances of young children they'll start by talking to the local authority representitives. What does the nightwatch say is happening? what do the elven enclaves leaders feel? how does this differ? Do the local sages have any advice? Then depending on what they discover maybe they'll need to go up a step to the authority figures and speak to the head of the nightwatch for this quarter see if they can get him/her/it on their side for their investigation. Similarly with the criminal elements. On the other hand their not going to be speaking to the overall commander of the nightwatch who's concerned with a city of 25,000+ people and isn't going to care that bunch of dock rats are dissapearing, that's what the mermaid division of the watch is for.