Officials and Social Rank (DMG)

Some NPCs are available for hire; others, because of social rank or profession, can be hired only under special circumstances; still others can only be encountered and, maybe, befriended, but never hired. Indeed characters are not defined by profession only. Just as important (and sometimes more important) is the NPC's social status.
A serf carpenter is lower than a churl ploughman, even if his skills are more complicated. Some titles prevent an NPC from pursuing a particular career. A king is not a tinner or a wealthy draper—he is a king.
The tables below list some of the different types of NPCs that can be encountered based on social organizations. Each grouping is arranged from the greatest to the least, the mightiest to the lowest. The DM should not feel bound only to the hirelings and soldiers given in 
Tables 60 and 64. Imagination, history, and fantasy should all contribute to the game.
The tables show social and political ranks for different types of historical cultures, arranged in descending order of importance. Each column describes a different culture. (Table 66: Europeans Titles; Table 67: Oriental Titles; Table 68: Religious Titles)
==Titles, Offices, and Positions==
Alderman: A town or city official
Ale-conner: Official who tests and approves all ales and ciders
Anchorite: A religious hermit
Bailiff: A sergeant or commander of the guard
Beadle: A messenger of the law courts
Burgomaster: A town or city official
Catchpoll: A commander of the guard
Chamberlain: Overseer of a household, office or court
Common-weigher: Town official who checks merchants' weights and measures
Constable: A commander of the local guard
Councilor: A town or city official or an advisor of the court
Customs agent: One responsible for collecting the taxes on all imports and exports.
Magistrate: A judge
Man-at-arms: A guardsman
Page: Servant to a noble
Pardoner: A friar who sells pardons from the church
Provost: A magistrate or keeper of a prison
Provost-Marshal: Military magistrate
Purveyor: An official responsible for obtaining supplies for an army or a noble's retinue
Reeve: The headman of a village
Regent: The ruler until a prince reaches the age of majority
Sergeant: The commander of a unit of men, such as a guard
Sheriff: The king's representative for a given area
Slaughter-man: Official who enforces the regulations on butchers in a town
Steward: Custodian of an appointed duty, such as a household
Tax collector: One who collects taxes
Tronager: Supervisor of the scales at a town's port
Umpire: An official who arbitrates disputes between neighbors
Warden: The keeper of a noble's woodlands and parks
Wardman: A sergeant or watchman
Watchman: A guard