A person, of a place, of a thing - Level Titles in D&D
Level titles can be a useful and fun campaign tool, for the right kind of campaign.
As new referees and players enter the Old School Renaissance hobby, we are beginning to ask questions about the purpose of many of the relics and artifacts left behind from those days.
Many of the things in Old School games seem vestigial to modern gamers, but in the context of certain styles of play, they can add a lot to a game.
Level titles still being included in new games
"Shadowdark" is a modern RPG with old school attitude. It's capturing a lot of attention right now, and there’s a bit of a marketing blitz for the Kickstarter. It is even capturing the attention of an audience less familiar with old school games.
Shadowdark Quickstart rules and Kickstarter link
Kelsey Dionne, the designer of Shadowdark RPG, has emphasized that a lot of fun can be had from the system by leaning into Shadowdark's old school vibes. Shadowdark mantains an interesting artifact from the origins of the game for example: level titles.
Kelsey Dionne explaining level titles in Shadowdark
Kelsey explains that titles can be used to provide access to new opportunities for characters that wouldn't have them. In this way, titles work the same as honorifics, ranks and titles just like in our real world, as I'll explain later.
But if they serve as a kind of "gate" or barrier to opportunities, why use them at all? Does a character recieve them automatically when they level?
This blog article is my attempt to research and present this subject in more depth, and provide some suggestions on how level titles could be a fun addition to certain kinds of campaigns.
What are level titles?
From Original D&D until 2nd Edition AD&D every class in Dungeons and Dragons was bestowed a "title" when levelling up. This comes from two aspects in "Chainmail."
A medieval society - All characters are assumed to fit in a social heirarchy of the medieval world, which granted titles and positions in a class structure.
Heroes of a fantasy world - titles served as an identifier for how heroic and powerful a character was apart from just "Fighting-man Level 2." Heroic characters could take on greater challenges and threats than non-heroic ones.
Titles in the context of modern RPGs and society
A normal part of social order, still used today - Honorifics and titles are still an important part of our daily lives, even a matter of ecclesial, government and trade authority not that different than the medieval world. Today, if someone can use the title "Doctor" their word will be trusted as a matter of authority, based in their reputation, past achievement and certification.
Regardless of your setting's connection to the medieval world, titles ranks and honorifics can be an important part of social order and create a framework for adventuring goals and quests, just like they do in the real world.
Ecclessial titles such as the "Most Reverend" or "Archbishop" are still in use and convey authority and trust as well. For members of the military, they must obey and render respect to persons of higher rank. Today we still live in a world of titles.
For this reason, if you want to establish a medical fellowship, you'd have a much better chance as an MD. If you want to teach at a university, you'll have a much better chance with a PHD. Trying to do these things without titles is very difficult if not impossible. It makes sense that you’d have a much better shot of establishing a castle of mercenaries at level 9 as a fighter if you have been granted the title “Lord” by a King.
The ancient world and titles - Modern people often think of titles of nobility such as "Baron" and "Lord" but medieval peoples held titles in a number of ways.
For a person in the medieval world, their group identity was one of the most central aspects of their lives.
Professor Dungeon Master explains why Clerics in his game answer to a heirarcy and group identity
This can be difficult for cynical, post-modern (or later) RPG gamers who balk at the idea of a heirarchical and group-based social structure. But in the medieval world you weren't just "Bob Smith" you were "Bob of Ohio, Dentist." We still often sign and notarize things in a similar fashion, emphasizing that we are a person of a place that does a thing.
There is a mythical anthropology to this sense of "a person, of a place, of a thing", somewhat lost to modern people. But Dungeons and Dragons is certainly a game about mythical “people in places, doing things.”
Origin in Chainmail and OD&D - The use of titles as an RPG mechanic for D&D began with Chainmail. A heroic character in the miniatures wargame wouldn't just be a higher "level”, they'd carry a title, which allowed them to do greater deeds.
This would continue until AD&D 2nd Edition when TSR would remove class titles from the game. In OD&D, Basic D&D and AD&D, it was assumed that at a certain level characters would have a greater scope and impact on the world. This is programed into the planning for the campaign world itself.
Character level corresponding to impact on the world continues even into 5th Edition D&D today, where there are no stated titles, but levels correspond to access and scope of power.
Note: There is an optional feature in the Dungeon Master’s Guide for “Renown” which establishes many of the same titles and ranks. Other titles became the names for additional classes.
How it plays out at the table
As Kelsey points out about Shadowdark, it carries the consequence of access. If you want to gain access to resources and power, you'll need to as they say in the Dungeon Crawl Classics community "quest for it!"
If you are a thief and you want to undo a cruel crime-boss in another city that left you for dead, gaining access to their streets will require manpower and greasing of palms. This isn’t something that one or two rolls of the dice will accomplish. The entire environment and social structure is working against you. You’ll need to gain the power of an “underboss” or renown “assassin” to pull this off. Otherwise corrupt officials will give you a deaf ear, or worse, turn you in to the competition! Local landlords won’t turn a blind eye to your rooftop shenanigans, and petty thieves acting as informants won’t allow the information to flow favorably.
Using level titles ties the characters actions to the world and it’s society, and best of all, encourages and rewards achievements in doing so:
As your thief grows in level and notoriety, you hear people speak of your exploits. When they do, they don’t just call you “Gavin the Thief” they say, “Gavin the Rook” and you don’t just hear about “Gavin the Rook” here and there. Wanted posters appear and songs are sung in taverns!
Inability to expand the scope of the campaign. (Could be a good thing)
There's also a connection with gaining estate and titles. Without recognition from broader society, people aren't likely to take your rabble seriously. What good does it do for a wizard to gain a tower only to have jealous wizards of greater renown and power seek to take it back from you? And did you get a deed from the Lord?
On the other hand, this use of titles could act as a check for the "scope creep" of a campaign. Do you wish to have "Fafhred and the Grey Mousser" who battle a dragon in one adventure only to return to their cups and gambling in the next and be peniless? Having a social order they don't fit into or are recognized by could be a way to accomplish this.
And what good would it do for you to slay a dragon if no one would believe you did it anyway?
You filthy peasant! How dare you brag above your station!
Quest for it!
Even if you do have a heirarchical world with guilds and orders and established titles, gaining a title might not be automatic. For titles that aren’t entirely reputation based like the example above, there might even be ceremonies or badges of office such as for a religious order or Knight.
Unless having the campaign in a tournament or story path style of game where much is assumed to happen between adventures, it can be a good part of the roleplaying to have characters travel to the authorities that bestow titles. This could also be the case for underworld organzations such as Thieves Guilds.
How cool is the title "Grandmother of Assassins"? Reminds of a certain group:
The idea that you ought to train to have new skills, search for new spells, take the time to learn them and obtain titles by writ and quest isn’t often clear in these old school RPGs, and is likely why it's confusing to people why titles should even matter.
For many people that run modern RPGs, titles are a part of the world, but they exist organically without a mechanical framework. Especially in modern RPGs where DM's expect the presentation of the world to center on the characters first, titles would seem like a distant concern, another paragraph written in the adventure for the location. For an old school campaign that favors the truth of the world above having a focus on characters, it makes sense for this to be a part of an established social order.
An example of gameplay
An excellent use of titles I've experienced recently is "Under Hill by Water"
In “Under Hill By Water” your entire gameplay experience is about currying favor and social position within a Hobbit society. You do this by throwing parties and putting on a good show at the Inn with song and dance. To gain a level is to gain a title other Hobbits refer to you by, and that is the only way a proper Hobbit might take on the challenge of throwing even bigger parties! Without the social recognition, you can’t progress.
Obtaining these titles based in a heirarchical world, with group identities could be really fun and interesting, spawning all manner of emergent stories and quests. But they aren't a required aspect of a fun fantasy RPG world.
It's certainly a matter of taste.
A Critique of Titles
Campaigns regularly have most or many aspects of the modern world, but with fantasy or medieval flavor. For this reason, your game doesn't suffer if you omit the use of titles.
Also, it is a strange thing to have titles rigidly tied to level advancement. What if the character advances in one way but doesn’t attain the social recognition of the title in the fiction? The same problem could be said of Wizards and their spells (which led to me flipping their advancement in some games from ‘you level to gain spells’ to ‘you learn spells to level.’ )
The greatest critique of titles I have is that they are an item most tied to the implied setting of a system. To have a selection of titles assumes a great deal about how that world must work, it is after all what the leaders of the world call themselves. Even within that world, what if the players travel to a neighboring culture, or even a demi-human culture such as orcs or sahuagin?
In these cases, using levelled titles seems to necessitate the construction of new titles, which Tim Kask has pointed out, is tremendous work with little pay off.
"Curmudgeon in the Cellar" 190 - Tim Kask
And this article in Grognardia shows, is likely on the mind of anyone organically creating their world with a selection of titles.
Summary:
1. If you have a medieval fantasy campaign mieliu, titles can be a useful and fun context for social order and another source of adventure and achievement.
2. Modern campaigns need not use them if the shoe doesn't fit.
What do you think of level titles?
I have always found titles in certain genres to be a great way to demonstrate the social strata and culture of a setting. Be it, King Aragorn, Lord Vader, or the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Looking forward to your future posts.
I always liked the level titles in AD&D, but I think this just convinced me to use them in my Basic Fantasy game too. Very nice