The Four (Five) Pillars of Society

Just because all humanity was saved, doesn't mean the Tower is some egalitarian worker's paradise. Society in the Tower is divided into the four pillars--the Nobles, the Clergy, the Illuminated, and the Laborers. It's not a caste structure by any means--people don't have to be in the caste they were born int, but the odds are heavily stacked against anyone moving from one to another.




The Nobles are the nations and powers that built the tower, most from families that were kings and emperors before Impact. This also represents the Militant arm of culture--most armies are there more to protect against rioters than invasion, but wars have been fought floor to floor, and having a standing army is a sign of prestige. Nobles are all tied together by blood, having noble families, and multiple families make up a Nation, a political alignment based solely on ancient pre-Impact lands. Nations that paid for the Tower got influence and Floors within the Tower, and that control from the very beginning means the Nobles are still highly influential.



The Clergy is primarily the Unified Temples of the Heironiphem. If there's any movement in a person's stars, it will probably be going from the Pillar they were born in to the Clergy. The Clergy are the priests, the book keepers, the advisers, the spell casters and spiritual leaders of the populous. Every floor has a temple, a place where the sick can be healed and a quiet moment of solitude can be found. While technically the Clergy has little power, in truth a rousing sermon can change the course of history.


The Illuminated used to be the mercantile class, the trade houses and sailors and middle class of industry. However, they quickly aligned themselves with the new ideas from the universities and learned thaumaturges and physicists that emerged in the late 15th century. They rapidly became a force to be reckoned with, arguing new ideas and new models of the world. Now a powerful coalition, everyone from the professors and archmages of the High University to the Lift Operators to the travelling caravans of shops strive to find the next deal or the next breakthrough. The Illuminated tend to be radical and ideological in their thoughts, questioning assumptions and pushing for new ideas. This leads them to be disliked by the Nobility and the Clergy, but the Illuminated have a wide variety of tools at their disposal that makes them useful and adaptable.

Finally, the Labor class is (almost) everybody else. Every farmer, rancher, fisherman and tanner and street sweep and everything else in between. These are the silent and struggling masses, easy enough for a careless noble to ignore until it is too late. Technically, the Labor class are the lowest rung of the social Pillars, but in many ways they hold the power. If the Laborers don't do the work, who will? Their sweat and blood is the source of the noble's finery and the Clergy's books and the Illuminated's fine wares.




Which Pillar a character comes from will influence their outlook on life, the resources at their disposal, and the connections they have. While it is somewhat obvious that being Nobility will have more advantages than being a Laborer, there will always be some things that the working class will be able to do to advance their own agendas.

Of course, some people don't quite fit within these molds. There is an unofficial fifth pillar, the one made up of the outlaws and the mad and the desperate and the wicked. These unwanted make up the Vagabonds. People that cannot or will not conform to the classical model of society, they create a wandering nation throughout the Tower, finding the hidden and quiet places where the law doesn't look and sensible people don't go. They create a criminal underclass that may not be able to be represented in any manner in official channels, but...there's always a way to get what you need done when you're outside the law. This unofficial fifth pillar creates a thriving black market and a place for those with no place left.


Game Mechanics: Pillars, Status, & Influence
Pillars, mechanically, would represent social status, resources, and political capital. Instead of dealing with loose change and hard amounts of currency, this Pillar system will allow a quick, abstract way to determine who your character is in society, what they do, and who they can boss around. There would be a small chart like this:

• NOBLE:               OOOOOOOOOO                
• CLERGY:            OOOOOOOOOO
• ILLUMINATED: OOOOOOOOOO
• LABOR:               OOOOOOOOOO
• (VAGABOND):   OOOOOOOOOO

Except, you know, better looking. You'd choose one of the Pillars as your primary--this is your place in life. You could then spread points around within the Pillars. Points in your primary Pillar would indicate your Status--higher status means more power. A 7 in Noble might mean a baron, or a bishop in Clergy, or a Mayor in labor, etc. This would give you a rough idea of income, power in society, etc. 

Points spent in other Pillars would be Influence--you might not be part of that group, but you have some favors owed and some friends in high places. Those could be spent for favors or help with some social rolls, that kinda thing. While your Status would be fairly solid, Influence would be spent to get control over other aspects of society. This could become a mini-game of throwing chips at one another and trying to get enough influence to win the current challenge, get new equipment or information, etc.

There's more I can see on this (Noble 7 and Labor 7 have completely different credit limits, as it were), but let me solidify them before I start ranting about it.