When it comes to nobility, all nobles aren't created equal, certainly. And whether you want to go more with old royal nobility or aristocracy is also a fun possibility. Different houses with different values, all vying for the favor of things. Ul'dah seems like its noble houses would be based entirely on money, and with how much you have meaning how big you are a lot of the time, there's a lot of opportunity for 'new money' to come up. Those who've come into a large sum by trading, or treasure hunting. Imagine the fun being the adventurer who has just gained enough wealth and measure to be considered 'powerful' in Ul'dah, but with little knowledge of how the older money does things. That'd be some fun RP in itself, with some delightful conflicts of interest. Adventurers and treasure hunters are often wont to use combat to solve their problems in a lot of cases; but when in an environment where violence is frowned on, they'd have to use their wits to convince these people that they're worthy to be their peers, or even their betters. Stranger in a strange land can take a lot of forms, and in noble house rps I've been in in the past, this is always good for a contrast of personalities without everyone being the 'same old nobles'. Ishgard is lineage, which is wholly different, and can accept outsiders into the family for reasons. From what I've seen, Gridanian nobility (If Lady Amandine and her gentlemanly servant are any indication) Remind me more of the old aristocracy, perhaps a mix of established houses and 'old money' style individuals..though perhaps a strong Conjurer bloodline/closeness to the Elementals would rank you in as well. Limsa..eh..I've never seen any indication of nobility in Limsa as far as the city proper. I'm sure a wealthy shipowner would be the closest they have to 'nobles', and if they have anything, it would be merchant lords who own fleets and make a lot of trading money.
There's also the idea of poor noble. Outside of Ul'dah, and maybe even rarely in it, they can exist. Perhaps their house had a major scandal, or maybe it was sacked. Maybe another family assimilated theirs and they kept their old name and used what was left of their house's reputation to keep the loyal ones close. Or perhaps they're living off their name alone; finding a marriage partner in another house can be a big deal for a noble on hard times, after all. It was like that in Titanic, after all. The young lady was marrying another wealthy (douchebag) aristocrat because as her mother told her, 'all the money was gone'. I think the most fun with playing nobles is there's as many concepts for them as there are for normal lowborn or middle class RP characters. Not all of them are snooty and drink tea and talk about the unwashed commoners. There's a diversity there, and when different types of nobility interact, it's a glorious sight if played correctly. I love intrigue RP almost as much as combat RP, so seeing some noble stuff going on more often would be pleasing and fun.
As far as conflicts and power plays, it's also great to bring in non nobles, giving them more opportunities. Adventurers, bounty hunters, thugs, low class types, all could be paid to rough up a noble's kid and rob them to 'teach them a lesson', to hamper caravans, to harass their rivals in 'bad parts of town' and the like. And let's not forget the noble's retainers. Who says that sweet little Au Ra maid isn't a shinobi assassin specializing in Othardian poisons that many Eorzeans wouldn't know? What's that? She's poisoned someone's heir? Then I guess you'd need a learned apothecary from a similar area of the world to identify the poison and save the poor boy before it's too late! Nobility have the ability to bring people from every class into their intrigue, form hirelings to killers to friends in low places, to mingling with the other side for whatever reason or another. Love them or hate them, they can get some great RP going. Whether your style is Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones, hope to see more of this.
There's also the idea of poor noble. Outside of Ul'dah, and maybe even rarely in it, they can exist. Perhaps their house had a major scandal, or maybe it was sacked. Maybe another family assimilated theirs and they kept their old name and used what was left of their house's reputation to keep the loyal ones close. Or perhaps they're living off their name alone; finding a marriage partner in another house can be a big deal for a noble on hard times, after all. It was like that in Titanic, after all. The young lady was marrying another wealthy (douchebag) aristocrat because as her mother told her, 'all the money was gone'. I think the most fun with playing nobles is there's as many concepts for them as there are for normal lowborn or middle class RP characters. Not all of them are snooty and drink tea and talk about the unwashed commoners. There's a diversity there, and when different types of nobility interact, it's a glorious sight if played correctly. I love intrigue RP almost as much as combat RP, so seeing some noble stuff going on more often would be pleasing and fun.
As far as conflicts and power plays, it's also great to bring in non nobles, giving them more opportunities. Adventurers, bounty hunters, thugs, low class types, all could be paid to rough up a noble's kid and rob them to 'teach them a lesson', to hamper caravans, to harass their rivals in 'bad parts of town' and the like. And let's not forget the noble's retainers. Who says that sweet little Au Ra maid isn't a shinobi assassin specializing in Othardian poisons that many Eorzeans wouldn't know? What's that? She's poisoned someone's heir? Then I guess you'd need a learned apothecary from a similar area of the world to identify the poison and save the poor boy before it's too late! Nobility have the ability to bring people from every class into their intrigue, form hirelings to killers to friends in low places, to mingling with the other side for whatever reason or another. Love them or hate them, they can get some great RP going. Whether your style is Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones, hope to see more of this.
![[Image: ihatehim2.jpg]](http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc129/Inverse_Entropy/ihatehim2.jpg)
