Aslan Social Standing makes no sense

[grauenwolf]

Here's what I have so far...

• Aslan have both Territory and Social Standing
• Most characters will have less than 3 for Territory and Social Standing
• It is common to start with a Social Standing of 0 before your first career.
• If you Social Standing ever reaches 0, you die.
• Social Standing is also used for cost of living. So nearly all Aslan live as if they were homeless.

My proposed solution is to start Social Standing at Ancestral Territory + 5 rather than just Ancestral Territory.

• Old min/max Social Standing: -8 to 15, typical 3
• New min/max Social Standing: -3 to 20, typical 8

Also, if SOC < 2 then bump it to 2 and make them an outcast.

 

[Tupper]

My understanding is that for male Aslan still part of their parents' family, they use their father's territory score. Once they're independent, their social standing mean reverts to their own territory. Female Aslan use the territory of their husband (or father if unmarried).

The conclusion to this is two-fold:

1. Male Aslan are likely to remain part of their parents' household until they claim some territory.
2. Female Aslan are unlikely to marry a male Aslan who hasn't acquired some territory off his own.

This enables them both to use their father's territory (hopefully a reasonable number).

One thing that's worth noting (although it doesn't come through in 2e character generation) is that female Aslan outnumber male Aslan 3:1. This has two upshots. First, there will be a lot of single female Aslan (consistent with 2 above). Second, most Aslan males will probably only be son number 1 or 2 (unless they're part of a very large family). Hence the number of non-inheriting male Aslan isn't super huge, which makes 1 above less of a problem.

 

[Alqualonde]

Female Aslan might outnumber males, but Aslan males can have several wives. This make big families with lots of half brothers possible. I'm not sure there will be that many unmarried female Aslans.
If my memory serves me well, female Aslans tend to stay single when working in a company (especially in leadership positions) and resign their positions when marrying.

 

[Condottiere]

It sort of strikes me that they're accumulating a dowry, so that if you were an Aslan fortune hunter, you could accumulate several, and buy your own freehold.

 

[ottarrus]

The way I read it is that Aslan Social Standing take into account not only the possession of territory, but the importance of that territory. While Aslan males prefer wide open spaces... mixed forest and savanna... to hunt in, even the dumbest male knows that hunting territory doesn't earn enough to support his ehko, or family. He may not be an accountant, but he knows that territory with exploitable resources and businesses on it supports more people than unexploited grassland does.
So a male with a small amount of territory but a large SOC rating is one of two things:
a] a direct relation to someone with a lot more territory [rather like the Imperial system of 'you're related to a noble but don't have a title yourself; you are called Lord or Lady as a courtesy']. This male's territory supports himself, his wives and his direct children and probably makes a good profit besides;
b] the territory controlled is absolutely vital to the clan's well-being; being the male who 'owns' the starport is pretty frikkin' advantageous, right?

 

[Condottiere]

I would guess that being a landlord would be the height of ambition for most Aslan males.

 

[ottarrus]

I would guess that being a landlord would be the height of ambition for most Aslan males.

Well, being the 'lord of your own domain' was the ambition of most people until about 1900 or so...

 

[grauenwolf]

There is an event in the Outlaw career that reads, "If you accept, reroll your SOC and you leave this career after this term."

Reroll your SOC? You never roll it in the first place, so what would it mean to reroll it?

I understand what they are going for, but this needs more playtesting and an errata.

 

[Nelphine]

Doesnt it mean, reroll your soc stat?

You roll all yours stats, dex gets 9, and soc gets 4, among others.

You do your character creation, you get that outlaw event, so you roll 2d6, get an 8, and change your soc stat from 4 to 8.