Station in Life (AA)

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All characters in the Land of Fate have their own station in life, their place in the great fabric of time which is unrolled day by day. From the meanest beggar to the most gaudy khan, they have their roles to play, and their position in relation to one another. This relative position is called station. It is a measure of social stature, and determines how others perceive a character in the Land of Fate.
Station is hereditary. To most other natives of the land, a character's station is readily apparent, unless the individual seeks to disguise or enhance it somehow. As a rule, race and gender do not affect station.
In game play, station is measured by a rating from 0 to 20, with 0 being the most despicable outcast and 20 representing the most esteemed and worthy of caliphs. Most individuals remain close to their initial station. A man born to a baker's family tends to become a baker, and a woman born to a caliph's harim remains within those circles for most of her life. However, adventurers and those who walk with Fate will see their station rise and fall over time, according to their actions and abilities.
The initial station of PCs is defined by their kits. (See Table 1.) Not all NPCs have kits, but those who do are of equal station to PCs with the same role.
Multi-class characters use the lower of their two stations. Characters who become dual-class must halve their station upon taking the second role. While they are allowed in play, multi- and dual-class characters are uncommon in the Land of Fate. They tend to confuse those who are comfortable with the orderly nature of life in Zakhara. Many Zakharans feel that a change in career is acceptable, but belittle those who cannot commit to a path completely.
 Table 1: Station
Warrior Kits 	Warrior Kits
Askar 	1d6 + 4
Corsair 	1d2 + 3
Desert rider 	1d6 + 4
Faris 	1d6 + 5
Mamluk 	1d4 + 4
Mercenary barbarian 	1d4 + 4
Outland Warrior 	1d2 + 3
Wizard Kits 	Wizard Kits
Sorcerer 	1d6 + 4
Elemental mage 	1d4 + 6
Sha'ir 	1d6 + 5
Ajami 	1d3 + 2
Rogue Kits 	Rogue Kits
Sa'luk 	1d4 + 4
Barber 	1d6 + 4
Beggar-thief 	1d3
Holy slayer 	1d2 + 2
Matrud 	1d4
Merchant-rogue 	1d4 + 3
Rawun 	1d6 + 5
Priest Kits 	Priest Kits
Pragmatist 	1d6 + 6
Ethoist 	1d6 + 6
Moralist 	1d6 + 6
Hakima 	1d6 + 4
Kahin 	1d6 + 2
Mystic 	2d4
Outland priest 	1d6
Other Roles (NPCs) 	Other Roles (NPCs)
Poor merchant 	2d4
Modest merchant 	3d4
Wealthy merchant 	3d4 + 3
Tribal chief 	1d4 + 10
Village elder 	1d4 + 8
Military leader 	1d6 + 6
Ruler of city 	2d4 + 10
Ruler of nation 	1d6 + 14
Village priest 	1d6 + 6
Imam of temple 	1d10 + 8
Branded criminal 	1d2 - 1
Vizier/advisor to ruler or imam	Ruler or imam's station,* minus 1d3
Agent of ruler or imam 	Spouse's station minus 1d2, or own station*
Spouse of one of the above 	Spouse's station minus 1d2, or own station*
Slave of one of the above 	Owner's station minus 1d6, or own station—whichever is lower
: * whichever is higher
==Use of Station==
Station determines a kind of social pecking order. Its greatest use is in simple role-playing situations. Characters of lower station are expected to greet those of higher station first, and to treat them with deference. To do otherwise is a great insult; certainly no favors will be won while ignoring the protocol of station. A poor merchant of station 2 defers to a successful thief of station 5, even though most merchants are of higher station than the thief, and would not be under the same requirements.
Station may also come into play when the DM makes an encounter reaction check (using Table 89 in Chapter 11 of the DMG). Individuals of higher station may modify the die roll 1 point in their favor for every 2 full points of difference in station. For example, imagine that Rashad, a successful adventurer of station 12, is surrounded by insistent beggars of station 2. Rashad tries to threaten them off, brandishing his weapon. The DM rolls against Table 89; the result is a 7: the beggars are merely cautious. However, Rashad's station improves the result by 5 (12-2-10; 10/2-5). Rashad looks especially intimidating. The beggars flee.
As noted, station is essentially a role-playing tool. It is of little use in combat, against monsters, or against bandits and others who attack first and talk later- they have no interest in etiquette. The same is true of genies. To most of them, a mortal is a mortal, although many noble genies do show a higher regard for mortals of significant station. Station also means little to intelligent creatures who do not interact with normal society. For example, a ghul doesn't care about station, though an elf usually does. Furthermore, station is not the only factor that defines a person. To most Zakharans, station is ultimately less important than ability, and ability is ultimately less important than honor.
In groups with mixed stature, such as adventuring parties, the station of the group's spokesperson applies. The spokesperson is simply the character who's talking at the time. For every apparent interruption by a companion of lower station, the spokesperson's effective station is reduced by 1. If an individual of higher station interrupts, then that individual suddenly becomes the spokesperson. (Those of greater station command more attention.) If characters of lower station interrupt the new spokesperson in turn, the -1 penalty still applies. (The DM should use his or her best judgment in assigning penalties. Merchants and other NPCs tend to react badly if five individuals all talk, ask questions, or give orders at once.)
In the tales of the Arabian Nights, station usually remains with one from birth until death. One may gain great temporal power, wealth, and prestige, but at heart one remains a warrior of the desert, or a child of the streets, or the son of a baker, and this is obvious to those who know how to look. The reverse is also true.
For example, in the legend of "The Talking Bird," a girl and her two brothers, all newborns, are cast into a river by their evil aunts (who claim the children were not human). The king's gardener finds the infants one by one, and raises them as his own. They are clearly of great intellect and are pure of heart; before he dies, the devoted gardener builds them the finest country house he can afford. Years later, when the king happens to meet his children as young adults, he is quite taken with their superior bearing. Their wit is clever, their features comely, and their manners impeccable. Yet the king is drawn to them in a way that cannot be solely explained by their virtues. He soon discovers them to be his own children, for who else could they be? No matter what their upbringing was, they remained clearly the princess and princes that they were.
It is not impossible to rise from a lowly station to one that is great, however far from it. In the story of "Aladdin and His Magic Lamp," a poor, lazy boy supported by his widowed mother becomes a prince with untold riches. The key to his phenomenal metamorphosis is more than a magic lamp whose genie answers his every command. Aladdin matures into a kind, generous, and brave young man, who truly loves the princess for whom he acquires all his riches, just as she truly loves him.
In the Land of Fate, characters who are honorable and kind at heart may enjoy a storybook ending, too, especially if true love and the hand of Fate are on their side. At a minimum, however, they can hope to be better off than they were yesterday, if that is their goal and their desire.
==Improving Station==
In game play, characters can improve their station in two ways: by bettering their reputation, which is represented by experience level; or by acquiring and spending money.
Experience: As soon as a character's experience level exceeds his or her initial station, the station improves to equal the experience level. When the character attains a new level, station increases another level, too. For example, Hashim's station is 6. When he reaches 7th level, his station automatically becomes 7. Thereafter, his experience level and his station are the same (not including bonuses for spending money, as explained below). At their highest levels, adventurers may rival great sultans and khans in the respect which they command. If characters should lose experience levels, their station drops accordingly, to a minimum equaling their original position.
Money: Characters can also improve their station temporarily by spending money. For every 1,000 gold pieces spent each month in parties, gifts, sumptuous clothes, and other impressive displays, an individual's station is increased by 1 point. (Throwing coins to the masses while riding upon a richly outfitted stallion can be an effective ploy; at any rate, it worked for Aladdin.) This social bonus applies to only one character; members of a group must spend money individually to raise their stations. The bonus lasts until the money runs out, at which point a character's station returns to normal.
==Losing Station==
Characters can lose station in three ways during play: through criminal actions, sudden poverty, and by having the misfortune of becoming slaves.
Criminal Actions: Characters found guilty of a major crime quickly earn a despicable reputation that follows them wherever they go. Some are even branded or marked in some way as punishment. Yet even if the criminals show no physical signs, nearly all who see them will recognize what they are and avoid them accordingly. Initial station is lost, replaced with a level of just 1 or 2 (1d2).
Pennilessness: Woe is the pauper in the Land of Fate. Characters reduced to begging have a station of 3 immediately, even if their destitution is the result of a recent robbery or a temporary setback. ("I left my purse on another plane of existence, but I know a genie...") The penniless condition is reversed once such a "nouveau pauper" has cleared all outstanding bills or loans and has money equaling 500 gp per level. Then former station is returned.
Enslavement: Characters who are enslaved have a station directly linked to their master's. (See Table 1.) If they are later freed by some means, such individuals regain 1 point of station each month until they attain their former levels.
==Masking One's Station==
Station is as much a part of men and women as their skin, their hair, and their souls. It is revealed by their choice in clothing, their gestures, their walk, their accent, and their word-choice. A hundred small and subtle things declare a person's station to the world, and all Zakharans seem to have an innate ability to sense them.
In game play, however, this doesn't mean that characters cannot mask their station and pretend to be better (or worse) than they truly are. Even in the Arabian Nights, there are tales of beggars who work their way into the palaces of great caliphs by pretending to be foreign princes, and stories of kings who disguise themselves as commoners to find out what their subjects truly think of them.
Concealing one's station usually involves the disguise proficiency. Characters who make a successful proficiency check have passed as whatever station they're pretending to be. Failure indicates that their cover has been blown, with results suited to the situation at hand. In the case of a king who pretends to be a beggar, his audience may play up to his vanity, telling him what he wants to hear. In the case of a beggar pretending to be a foreign prince, being thrown out of the palace is the least damaging of possible scenarios.
Even characters without the disguise proficiency may be able to mask their true station. In lieu of a proficiency check, these characters make a "station check"—also a d20 roll. Individuals whose station is 10 or less must receive a result less than their station to succeed. Characters with a station of 11 or higher must receive a result higher than their station. In other words, it's easiest for those in the middle ground to pretend to be their betters (or lessers). DMs may require station checks every time station comes into play—in gaining entrance to an area, being introduced to others, while dining, and so forth.
Note that certain spells and magical items may reveal the true station of an individual, regardless of checks. The same is true of a hakima's (or wise woman's) special ability to pierce the "veil of untruth."
==Fixed Station==
Most regions within the Land of Fate recognize merit and ability, so that individuals of worth, blessed by Fate, may rise to respected positions. In a few areas, however, more conservative rules apply. There, a person's station can never be increased in the eyes of the greater society, regardless of action, though unfortunately station may still be lost.
In game play, a system of fixed station, or a caste system, is handled slightly differently. While station may be increased, this increase only has importance within the individual's own group (a matrud among matruds, a merchant among merchants, a bureaucrat among bureaucrats). One's initial station is considered to be the be-all and end-all of one's existence.
In its worst form, a caste system prohibits individuals from addressing or conversing with others who differ in station by 6 or more. For example, a character with a station of 7 may not address a character with a station of 1, nor an individual whose station is 13 or better. The great and mighty will not even pay attention to the poor unless proper interpreters and agents are present. And peons may be punished for having the audacity to address their betters.
DMs may adopt a caste system for particular regions in their campaigns. Player characters are not forced to abide by this system, however, they have their own free will and may associate with whomever they choose. That does not mean others will approve. If a PC hangs around with characters of an "unsuitably low" station, his or her own station will decline to the appropriate level—that is, it drops until it's within 5 levels of the lowest-ranking companion. The decline is temporary; it lasts only so long as the PC remains within the society which follows the caste system.