Nobility is a popular role to play in MMORPGs. There’s a level of prestige there, a level of refinement and, of course, power that comes with playing such a character. We get to pretend to be the rich kids we always wanted to be. Too bad nobles aren’t just rich kids.

Too many people RP it like that though, like they’re Instagram influencers or reality TV stars with nothing but time on their hands when in actuality, nobles are much more like a mixture of politicians and CEOs, which are roles the majority of us don’t have the experience to play. They organize masquerade balls and social gatherings and cocktail parties and make the fanciest outfits and…that’s it. That’s as far as their nobility goes. Sure, maybe they throw in some Game of Thrones style stuff in there, but that’s it, and even then, it’s not even the RIGHT kind of Game of Thrones stuff.

What I’m saying is, it ain’t all scandalous liaisons and murdering your father, folks. There’s some anxiety fuel in being a noble, and to get the most bang out of your buck, you have to take that into account.

You Have A Legacy To Protect

The difference between a noble and a modern day celebrity isn’t timing — it’s responsibility. Noble houses don’t just pop up out of nowhere because someone made a shitload of money on Ye Olde Youtube. Nobles are granted their title for some deed done in the service of a government. With that title comes great responsibilities.

Historically, those responsibilities have included things from marshaling armies at the government’s command (cool!) to managing the ledgers of their holdings and making sure they’re profitable enough to collect decent taxes from (less cool!) If you’re a noble, you’re less Khloe Kardashian and more some guy in Army recruitment/middle management/the IRS.

That doesn’t sound exciting enough? How about this: this is the way your family has always lived. As a representative of your family, daughter or son or something in between, you are responsible for all of the virtues and vices of your family reaching back generations. A noble character should take that into account, and as the child of a noble family you need to know what your family’s reputation and job is as well as what your character thinks about that reputation and job. If their family has a stellar reputation, do they think they can coast by on that alone or do they feel the crushing weight of expectation? If it’s awful, how do they respond to others’ perceptions of them? If it’s mediocre, are they ambitious enough to want to climb the ladder and be known as someone other than just another face at the ball?

In any case, knowing what your noble character’s role is in society other than “they’re stonking rich and look good lol” is an important part of your backstory to consider.

You Were Born With (Glorious?) Purpose

Game of Thrones and other medieval fantasy has done a good job of representing the birthright responsibilities of noble children, but they don’t factor in a lot of the nuance. The general gist that they seem to agree on is the first born son inherits, all the other sons do whatever the fuck, and the daughter’s job is to marry well. That’s only scratching the surface, comrades.

The truth is, EVERY noble child has a purpose that was decided the moment the child survived childbirth that was further refined as they grew up. Every child was expected to learn not only academic disciplines but also practical ones such as how to manage a house, how to manage finances, how to delegate responsibilities, how to behave at court, how to walk, talk, and BREATHE nobility.

As such, your childhood was not an idle one. You didn’t get a lot of time for play, and even if you did that playing was either teaching something or setting up future alliances for your parents to take advantage of. There is a purpose to EVERYTHING nobles do. Even the balls that people love to throw were less about dancing and flirting and more about cementing alliances. You are always, ALWAYS on the clock.

So, what was your family’s purpose for you? What were you prepared for? How did it impact your childhood? Your relationship with your parents? Your peers? How do you feel about it today? That last bit is important because…

You’re Going to Fulfill That Purpose

So now you’re an adult. Great. Time to get to work doing what you were trained for your entire life. Too bad it’s not as simple as being yourself.

Nobles are people with multiple faces. The first face they wear is the one for the public. This is what people will see in walk ups and at events. This is the face that people should think of when they meet your character for the first time. This is the face that should represent who your country is supposed to be and will be informed by this culture’s values.

Keep in mind that if you’re playing someone who has power, they should BE powerful. Powerful people don’t have to wave their title around. Powerful people don’t need to be introduced. Your interactions in this mode should subtly suggest that you are someone worth knowing and worth listening to, and you should make it look easy. Emotes, both verbal and nonverbal, will make or break your actual hold on power.

You can do this multiple ways depending on your character’s personality and family virtues, but all of it is based on subtlety. If your character is a networker, they should mingle and talk with people, picking up interests and focusing conversations on who they’re speaking to to give them a feeling of importance. If your character’s more a stoic military type, perhaps they don’t ask for things as much as they command them (“Please meet me at your earliest convenience” vs “You will meet me here at this point in time.) Using power will likely make you feel like a jackass, and it should; there’s a reason that powerful people are known as narcissists, but the general rule of thumb is that if you want to play with power, you need to rely more on “doing” the power than saying you have it.

Then, there’s the face they show their casual friends and family, a face you can display away from prying eyes. This can be…whatever you want, really. This is the sweet spot between private and public, the thing that your community members or close friends know. Either way, this gradient should be subtle; this isn’t a radical character divergence from your public face, this is just a more relaxed version of it. This is where you can let your more personal traits shine through.

Finally, there’s your TRUE face. The REAL you. What YOU want, what YOU like, what YOU need separate from all the nobility. This is the face that maybe one or two people see, or even none at all. Even if no one sees it, though, it’s important to know it, because this is the face that fuels everything your character does. Every moral dilemma and conflict derives from this face. This is the face most people forget because it’s not something a lot of people will see.

A friend of mine in FF14 plays an Ishgardian Inquisitor and he does this flawlessly. His public face is cold, stern, and intimidating, the kind of demeanor you’d expect from someone who can toss your ass off a cliff if you give him enough reason. His second face is more subdued, more polite, more refined with just a hint of gentleness around the right people. His true face, though? He’s an utter soft boy snuggle bunny. He likes fluffy birds and pretty things and cries when those he loves don’t pay attention to him. He likes things that no Inquisitor would ever admit to liking.

The amount of contrast in these faces is up to you, but they should still be distinct entities.

Or, you could choose to ignore all this and fly in the face of it. I’m not your mom. Just keep in mind that IC actions have IC consequences…

Or Suffer The Consequences

Playing nobility is a careful tightrope act. You’re balancing between what your character wants and what their society wants. That’s the overarching theme of all noble characters, and boy oh boy, is that tightrope high up there.

Any action that your character takes that’s outside of what’s expected of them has incredibly high risks for them. At best, they can dishonor their parents. At worst, they can lose their entire title and end up on the streets, or worse– they can be killed by an angry mob.

Noble RPers generally fall into three categories with respect to commoners: they either ignore them entirely, treat them like best friends, or treat them with disdain. All of these are wrong. Commoners can’t be ignored; they’re who make your money. Commoners aren’t your friends; you have power over them that they could scarcely comprehend. Commoners aren’t your playthings, either; ask Marie Antoinette how that went.

Commoners both are and are not your people. Successful societies with nobility teach you that while they’re not your equals, it’s important to at the very least meet their basic needs. As someone with authority over people, you’re the one that makes that call how, and God help you if you fuck it up. How your character manages that tightrope walk will inform a lot of the conflict and consequences of your RP, and as a skilled roleplayer, they’re things you can take advantage of to tell cool stories.

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So do you still want to play a noble? There’s a lot of opportunity for both external and internal conflict if you do. Just keep in mind that you’re not just some rich brat. You’re a person of power and influence. You’re a political figure. You have a reputation to protect for both your sake and your family’s sake, and if you choose to break away from that, you should have consequences even if no one else forces them on you. This is, after all, your story to tell.