How does Knighting in your lands work?

Cedric

Rogue
Marshal
I think being knighted for many people is a in game goal that people enjoy pursuing. I know that it varies from chapter to chapter, realm to realm. I was curious how others felt about it.

1. How is knighting handled in your realm? What's the IG story behind it?
2. Do you follow the traditional Squire - > Knight path? OR do you have other paths/ranks in the mix?
3. Is Knighting in your land handled entirely by the PC population? Or are NPCs involved in the process?
4. How does your land honor belts from other lands?
5. How long do people usually take to go through the entire process?
 
Denver's Acarthia game has a pretty elaborate process, and makes a big deal out of the path to knighthood:

1. Knights are agents of the Crown of Acarthia. The white belt is a symbol of the power of the Crown, not the power of the individual who wears the belt.

2. Knights in Acarthia follow a formal process of Squire -> Knight. When our campaign started in 2013, the game owner "seeded" the game with starting nobility who were, one-time, allowed to start the game as nobles. That is otherwise since expressly disallowed in Denver. Acarthia does not recognize other than the traditional Squire -> Knight path. Also of note, Acarthia has defined formal noble courts (baronial teams, basically). Squires are sworn to their individual liege (mentor), but are also sworn members of the court. While IG there is some leeway here, to consider the concept of a "squire errant," at present, all the PCs barons have discussed and are in IG agreement that -- sworn to a knight, sworn to the court, part of the court is the preferred way to go in Acarthia.

Squires in Acarthia are expected to:
* Show up to events; attendance is taken into consideration
* Be literate
* Know the Code of Chivalry, and defend that knowledge under examination
* Complete a special project. Think of this like the "Eagle Scout" capstone project.

3. Acarthian squires ultimately face public examination by a panel of 3 NPC Paladins (ducal knights with special authority). That exam can be triggered either by request of the squire's liege (PC), or by the NPC Paladins (Plot). The Paladins interview the squire openly before all interested attendees. The public is invited to stand up and speak for the squire - for or against. Persons not in attendance may send letters to the Paladins (i.e., Plot) in support of a squire -- but by IG protocol, if you want to smack-talk a squire, you have to appear in person. No anonymous smack-talking allowed IG. The Paladins vote at the end of the exam, and declare whether the squire candidate is approved for knighthood. To date, no PC squire has yet been denied in this process -- but there is IG precedent that it has happened in the game world, and could happen again.

4. Acarthia honors belts from other lands under 2 circumstances: 1) The IG land can be contacted for verification of the belt's status; 2) An Acarthian noble sponsors this visitor for that exam. The first rule unfortunately prevents honoring leftover belts from now defunct Alliance chapters, as well as certain character history circumstances. The second is supported through agreement of the PCs as to how to roleplay the IG culture - Acarthian nobles are generally inclined to sponsor this inquiry easily for visitors.

5. Acarthia has a formal Chivalry School for training squires. Attendance is not mandatory overall - but the choice to attend or not and why can affect an individual squire's reputation and resources for progress in a social game. There is no official time limit on the Acarthian squire process. It's presumed to take from 3-5 years, however. It would be surprising both IG and OOG for a squire to burn so brightly that they check all the boxes and manage this in under 2 years. After 5 years, squire and liege should probably continue an already-started conversation about whether this is really the right path for that individual if they have not yet passed the Paladins' exam. (Of note when I saw "years," Denver historically has 8 weekend events per year, so really I mean 24-40 weekend events of service as a squire.)

Trace Moriarty
 
For Utah here's the general shape of things. Disclaimer: I am not Plot.

1. A handful of orders exists, each headquartered in a specific region. They tend to serve codes and follow internal hieracrhcies rather than serve crowns these days because of stuff like
a) the empire that used to host several went baddie and outlawed 'em &
b) they are monastic elves who come from a land of city-states.
Some small realms do have national orders.

2. A three (mebbe 4) step path of Aspirant -> Squire -> Knight. Each stage is expected to last a year or more. OOG regular attendance, involving other people in your story, setting an example of friendly and/or just conduct. IG following and learning the nuances the code while overcoming personal flaws, achieving known heroic feats... doubtless other stuff that hasn't happened for our young chapter yet, PCs who began in Utah haven't gone beyond Aspirants.

3. At this stage it's handed entirely by NPCs.

4. The PC-region acknowledges the belt tradition on the condition that path of knighthood type travelers are expected to present themselves to the sovereign (an NPC) for acknowledgement before wielding influence. The current PC written laws of the area exalt the station of knights and certain actions toward them outlawed/punishable.
Having long been cut off from wider Fortannis, the regions outside the PC base on the whole don't believe or are newly adjusting to the idea of there being other Shards, so recognition would be highly contextual.

5. Mentioned it two, each phase requires at least a year. The process as a whole remind mysterious to me.
 
Marley has it right. We also take into consideration OOG actions when selecting any type of noble for Utah. A person who goes above and beyond in their OOG life to make the game better, as well as does what they can In Game to make things better will most likely be selected to become a noble in Aetheria.

There are 7 regions in Aetheria that all have various Noble Paths. They are:

The Empire of Helios
-Emperor > Duke > Baron > Lord > Knight > Squire > Aspirant

The Verdant Peninsula of Terras
-Queen > High Council Member > Lord > Knight > Squire > Aspirant

The Mountains of Umbrasa
-Patrician Enclave > Head of a Notable Household > Merchant Lord > Knight > Squire > Aspirant

The Island Nation of Solus
-Princes/Princesses > Knight of Wodain > Knight > Squire > Aspirant

The Frozen North of Isenhjem
-Queen > Ring Givers > Chieftain > Champion > The Sworn > Aspirant

The Jungles of Vuka
-Warlord > Chieftain > Champion > Bloodsworn > Aspirant

The Vex Mortis (While not a nation, their organization spans the entire continent to fight against the Undead Menace)
-Grand Marshal > Lord Commander > Commander > Major > Captain > Master Sergeant > Sergeant > Corporal > Private

At the moment, Utah has no nobles. No knights, no squires. We do have 4 Aspirants of various groups, and a whole unit of Vex Mortis who are all wishing to move up the ranks. We also have a "Vuka Champion" which by all definition is a knight, but has zero political authority in the lands the PCs reside in.
 
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We also have a "Vuka Champion" which by all definition is a knight, but has zero political authority in the lands the PCs reside in.
Being such a young chapter and with regard to these requirements, how does Vuka have a champion at all? Were these requirements circumvented somehow?

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, I've seen people genuinely strive for years to make it past squire. Getting a Belt is no joke and most of the time it's more trouble than it's worth. If one custom is "Here have this belt because we think you're cool." and another is "Go through this cumbersome and excruciating process for years until you can pass a panel interview as well as an actual test administered in game." it makes those definitions of a "knight" highly variable.
 
For Sedovia you had to meet some requirements:
  1. Be in good legal standing with the Crown.
  2. Be a citizen of the land. Since I wasn't originally, I had to take a Citizenship Test.
  3. Be interviewed by a panel of current Silver Blades.
  4. OOG, you had to agree to our PC Leadership Policy which if you're interested can be found here: https://www.allianceoregon.com/get-involved/leadership-role-policy/
You then had to complete the following:
  1. Be an Armsman to a Squire for one year and one day. After that the Squire and the Knight that the Squire is squired to will discuss whether or not the Armsman has shown the aptitude to move upward in the ranks to Squirehood.
  2. Be a Squire to a Knight for one year and one day. After that the the Knight that the Squired is squired to will discuss with the local Baron and the other Knights of the land whether or not the Squire has shown the aptitude to move upward in the ranks to Knighthood.
The entire time I was both an Armsman and a Squire Plot and the other PC Knights did an excellent job of making sure that I was studiously practicing a number of skills including (crazily enough!) ones completely unrelated to combat. I had to memorize a lot of information about the laws of the land, the lay of the land and Sedovian Code of Chivalry. Leadership (IG and OOG) is absolutely a paramount skill necessary to advance in the ranks of the Silver Blades of Sedovia.
 
Being such a young chapter and with regard to these requirements, how does Vuka have a champion at all? Were these requirements circumvented somehow?

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, I've seen people genuinely strive for years to make it past squire. Getting a Belt is no joke and most of the time it's more trouble than it's worth. If one custom is "Here have this belt because we think you're cool." and another is "Go through this cumbersome and excruciating process for years until you can pass a panel interview as well as an actual test administered in game." it makes those definitions of a "knight" highly variable.

We are a new chapter and have only been around since 2017. In that time, we have had a total of 20ish games and have seen our numbers grow from 32 Players when Jesse opened us up, to 180+ on the books and we continue to grow! We currently have anywhere from 40 PCs to 80 PCs on the regular basis.

As a plot team, we didn't want any form of PC nobility to begin with, but now we NEED it to help govern the various types of characters that attend our games. We are most likely going to make 3-5 players Barons/Lords/Knights within the next 6 months. And yes, they haven't gone through the 2-5 years of training that other folks have gone through in other... older chapters. But as a chapter, we have a fresh slate. We can dictate how we start our "nobility program" in whatever capacity we choose.

When we look at potential candidates we ask ourselves the following questions:

OOG-
1) What time have they put in for the betterment of the game?
2) What have they done to improve the game for others?
3) Do they go out of their way to involve others? (i.e. New players, Veteran Players, etc)
4) Have they been accused of cheating since their time with Alliance LARP Utah?
5) Have they violated any chapters codes of conduct since their time with Alliance LARP Utah?

IG-
1) Are they in good standing with the nobles around them?
2) How does the town of PCs feel about this person?
3) Have they committed any "unforgivable acts?" (Murder, Necromancy, etc)

If a person is a good fit and meets all the above requirements, we approach them out of game and ask them if they are looking to go down a path of nobility. If they say yes, then we begin the "noble plot lines" to fit their backstory and their character development. Like Oregon, we have an OOG PC Leadership policy, and we will monitor the character very carefully to make sure there is no abuse.
 
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