Station

Zakhara is a world of opportunities, but also a world of those who have and those who have not. While money can make a break a man, station in itself certainly has it's privileges.

Station/Social Defence Chart

This table lists typical weekly budgets for households of various stations, along with examples of what people of that station does. It is also used when haggling, looking for rare merchandise and similar occasions, for the Social Defence of objects and merchandise, used to determine if it is available for purchase or when haggling over it. This use is more fully explained below under availability and under the Haggle and Fencing talents.

Station & Wealth

If the King at noon day proclaims it is night, behold the stars. In Zakhara, wealth might not be everything, but it is certainly important. The indulgent bless wealth for the comfort it brings, while the pious bless it for the alms it enables them to give.

Living Expenses and Income

A character's living expenses are determined by station. So is income. As long as a character is not out of work and is working, his income and expenses are assumed to be the same over longer periods. Thus, each character can live without actually expending any money as long as they don't live over their means. On the other hand, it is possible to temporarily increase one's station by overexpending. A character can thus pay for, and enjoy, a higher station. But then the character must pay the entire sum out of his own pocket each week, there is no ³discount² for his ordinary station value.

These expenses include incidental expenses like inns and occasional festivities, as well as expenses required to earn your income. There is no extra charge for spouse(s) and family, as long as the spouse works at maintaining the household. A career spouse should pay for him/herself, as such a life brings all normal rewards and costs. Children cost nothing while in the household, but dowries and tuition can cost a fortune.

A household can save against future expenses. Make a Willpower roll at the end of each year; the result is the number of weekly incomes saved at the end of the year.

How do I live?

What do I get for all this money I spend?

Station 0

• Budget: 1 silver per day, 10 per week, 30 per month, 500 per year.
• Status: menials, prisoners, slaves, drafted common soldiers, beggars, recluses, etc., and their children.
• Food: turnips & sauerkraut, or beet soup, or potatoes & onions, or carrots and acorns, or a cereal (choose one of the series). Little or no meat among unlanded peasants and day-labourers. Drink is buttermilk or water.
• Housing: perhaps none; maybe a tiny room or hut for a family; no furniture.
• Clothing: sackcloth, homespun, rude leathers, nudity. Primitives, nomads, and barbarians will have usable winter clothes if appropriate.

Station 3

• Budget: 4 silver per day, 40 per week, 120 per month, 2 000 per year.
• Status: most landed peasants, minor crafter, civilised soldiers of rank corresponding to sergeant or lieutenant, servants to those of moderate wealth, peddlers, captains of large boats and small ships, minor priests, most shamans, assistant sorcerers, etc.
• Food: as per previous income tier, plus gruel, barley bread, cheese, and eggs. Meat or fish at least 1-2 times weekly. Beer, ale, and porter available. Nomads may regularly eat meat; their drink may be koumiss.
• Housing: single dwelling per hearth protects animals, too. Furniture includes a chest or two, bench and tables, lamps. Nomads may have a wagon, and up to 6 riding animals.
• Clothing: shoes, 1 new suit of clothes a year; winter clothes will be warm and protective.

Station 6

• Budget: 16 silver per day, 150 per week, 500 per month, 7 500 per year.
• Status: master crafters, servants who command other servants or who have other independent responsibilities, professionals, merchants, traders, knights, thanes, other minor nobility, outstanding warriors, well-to-do priests, powerful shamans, sorcerers, etc.
• Food: as per previous income tier, plus meat or fish with most meals. Meat and table wines.
• Housing: hall or greathouse. Good bed, several tables and benches, stools, possibly chairs, perhaps one or more decorated walls or a small fountain, or other display items. Nomads may have a large tent, good blankets, fine furs, metal goods.
• Clothing: high-quality linens and cottons, occasional luxury such as imported dyes, fur trim, or jewellery. Styles are important to such folk, the first tier for which this is true.
• Other: status includes one servant and two mounts, or three servants.

Station 9

• Budget: 6 gold per day, 60 per week, 200 per month, 3 000 per year. People at this station handle gold regularly.
• Status: counts, earls, aldermen, sheikhs, secretaries and factotums to nobility, important priests, shamans with direct connections to rulers and other powerful personalities, locally important sorcerers.
• Food: as per previous income tier, plus plentiful beef or other herbivores, fowl, shellfish, etc. Home-made pastries and breads. Good wines. Occasionally imported fruits and fine wines.
• Housing: multi-roomed dwellings housing the noble family and servants, guards, etc. Furnishings now include thrones, chairs, valuable artworks, tapestries, panelling, and fine rugs.
• Clothing: imported silks and satins, and decorative trims including gold and silver threads. Such folk frequently set (or always quickly follow) the latest fashion. Gold jewellery with gemstones.
• Other: Includes several to many servants and mounts, other staff, wagons, guards, etc.

Station 12

• Budget: 25 gold per day, 250 per week, 750 per month, 1 250 per year.
• Status: dukes, high priests, magi.
• Food: as per last income tier, plus luxury items such as birdnest soup, stuffed peacock, candied fruits, and rare beasts. Drinks include the finest wines. Large banquets and parties may be given.
• Housing: several large dwellings including a country mansion or castle, a stronghold, and a townhouse or small palace.
• Clothing: trend-setting, exquisitely-made garments of the rarest materials, fine jewellery and other accoutrements
• Other: many servants, guards, secretaries, and mounts; much land.

Station 15

• Budget: 100 gold per day, 1 000 per week, 3 000 per month, 50 000 per year.
• Status: archdukes, princes, archpriests, archmagi.
• Food: as per previous income tier, plus rare or outré luxury items such as hummingbird tongues, enormous and complex meat pastries, elaborately prepared platters, strange fruits, and rare beasts. Drinks include brandies and rare wines.
• Housing: palaces.
• Clothing: beyond style, one-of-a-kind items, accenting large and beautiful precious gems.
• Other: many servants, mounts, concubines, staff members, accountants, secretaries, etc. Many guards and personal soldiers.

Station 18

• Budget: 400 gold per day 4 000 per week, 12 000 per month, 200 000 per year.
• Status: king, queen, pontiff.
• Food: as per previous income tier, only more elaborate, larger, and more bizarre presentations. Throws enormous parties; may invite the whole kingdom.
• Housing: large palaces.
• Clothing: as per previous income tier, but designs which accent the wearer's ritual or political functions. Likely has the largest diamond, ruby, amethyst, emerald, sapphire, pearl (choose one) known to exist. Several exquisite crowns, sceptres, keys, etc
• Other: includes hundreds of servants, riding animals, mounts, estates, herds, castles, and trade/tariff monopolies, armies, navies, etc.

Station 20

• Budget: 1 600 gold per day, 10 000 per week. 48 000 per month, 500 000 per year.
• Status: emperor, empress, sovereign, king of kings.
• Food: as per previous income tiers, only better. State dinners are events talked about for months and years.
• Housing: palace complexes the size of medium cities.
• Clothing: wearable works of art, so costly and so marvellous that even the sophisticated are blinded by wonder and astonishment. Certain styles or garments may be reserved solely for the emperor's use. He never wears anything twice, except his crowns.
• Other: includes thousands of servants, mounts, guards, messengers, and so forth; in theory everyone and everything belongs to the emperor, etc.

Gifts, Dowries, Fidyya and Diyyah

Suitable flattering gifts cost the lower of your own and the recipients weekly income. Throwing a large party, like a wedding, costs a weekly wage for each household invited.

A typical bride-price is the brides weekly income times her Charisma attribute (not step). The dowry is equal to the bride's station times the highest of the couples' weekly incomes, and a quarter of this is usually paid for the wedding feast. No dowry need be given with a courtesan, but a bride-price is still paid.

Ransom or fidyya is the price paid for one's life and freedom. It can apply when captured by raiders, corsairs or desert riders, and if convicted of a crime. It is also a customary price paid when someone saves your life and can be given as a dowry. The ransom is a number of weekly incomes equal to the character's station.

Diyyah or wergild is money paid to atone for a murder. Such sums can also be demanded as ransom when you are captured by infidels or hereditary enemies, not just raiders out for ransom. Demanding Diyyah instead of ransom is cause for a blood-feud. It can sometimes be paid to avoid capital punishment (make a station check to see if the qadi accepts this). The customary amount is the character's station, squared, times weekly income. This can be staggering amounts; the Great Caliph's diyyah is four million gold pieces.

Use of Station

A character normally uses his highest station rating. Thus, Gamoush, Prince of Beggars, a 15:th circle beggar of birth station of 2 is normally assumed to be of station 15. It is possible to ³dress down² to a lower station. When interacting with beggars Gamoush might well wish to dress down to station 2.

In some circumstances, only earned station counts, or station may be determined only on circle. Mamluks have a ranking system within each order that depends on circle only. So do moralist clergy. In other cases, only birth station applies. In Afyal and the land to the east a caste system reigns: birth station is used in all cases except for interactions within a group. Thus, Sorcerers of birth station 10 can use earned station among themselves, but among Askars of birth station 10, or among Sorcerers of other birth stations, birth station applies.

Station can be both a blessing and a curse. When characters of different status interact, both character's receive a bonus to Social Defence based on the difference in station. How large this bonus is depends on how tolerant a society they interact in. Divide the difference by a factor depending on culture, and round all fractions down. This figure is also a guide to how egalitarian a society is.

The consequence of this is that characters will find it difficult to interact with people of vastly different station. Sons of emirs will do well in the courts of emirs, while beggars do well among beggars. As there are a lot more beggars than emirs, this is sometimes to the beggar's advantage.

These rules apply in most situations. There are two main exceptions. They do not apply if a small group of characters is isolated for a reasonable amount of time. After two weeks on a raft, a beggar and an emir might become friends for life. And they do not apply in life or death situations, such as when a character is pleading for his life or in mortal combat.

In some circumstances, the penalty can apply to other values that Social Defence. This will have to be judged by the gamemaster. Possible examples include when a sultan is using Rumour Mill in the suq, or when a Beggar is using Business to help out a rich merchant.

Another use of status is as a type of fame. When witnesses could have reported a character, or when chancing to see whether anyone knows the character, a check against status on 1d20 can be used.

A character can disguise his true station, either using Disguise or Disguise self, or by making a ³station check². This is done by rolling 1d20. Characters with station 1­10 must roll under their station, while character's of station 11-20 must roll over their station. It is thus easier for characters of average status to appear as another status entirely.

Social Egalitarity Chart

PC Station

A characters station is very important. Each character can calculate his station in several ways. In general, use each way separately, then use the highest result.

All characters have two station ratings, birth station and earned station.

Birth station is what the character was born with, rolled as a part of character generation. It can never change. This is the station detected with the Perceive Station talent, and to the more conservative, it marks the character for life. Sometimes, a character might have a birth station unpercievable to those who lack the Perceive Station talent, such as the unknown heir of a murdered sultan. Allah may love a poor man, but not a dirty one.

Earned station is status earned by some other means: through titles, circle of ability, honorary postings or knighthood. This station can and will change. Usually, it will only change for the better.

Temporary Station is gained by overspending. By living above your means, you will temporarily gain respect even though you lack the station to back it up. As long as your money is good, your station will be recognised. To the dog that has money men say 'My Lord Dog.'

Starting Money

A character's starting money is determined by his station. For each point of station, roll 2d10. The result is the number of gold pieces the character starts with.

Slaves (station 1) roll 1d10 +2 for the station of their master (unless it is another PC, in which case his station applies). They receive 1d10 gold pieces worth of equipment per point of station their owner has, but only 1d6 gold pieces in cash.

Fugitives (station 0) decide on a number between seven and fifteen. This is the station used for starting money, but also the station of a former victim, that the character has angered greatly.

PC Birth Station

* This is the character's station in the Land of Fate. In his land of origin, his station is four points higher.

More on Station

It is impossible to give complete rules for who has what station, but the following tables can serve as guidelines and benchmarks.

Typical NPC

Earned Station

Relationships

# is the station of the character to whom you have the relationship.

Social Environments

Specific Titles

This listing gives the station of various rulers, and this gives a good indication of the station of the cities, tribes and orders that they rule.

Benchmarks

Cities and Population