I should also add that the above, while it still applies somewhat, is not totally going to be the case with knights. They're the lowest rung on the nobility ladder, and unless they are knighted by family relations or something like that, the politics and such don't fully apply to them.
Having tried to play a noble in
@Grav_Moped 's PBP game, I rolled up a noble career and mustered out after 1 term (at age 22) as a Baroness (Social: C) ... I realized that there needed to be some sort of "rhyme or reason" link to the nobility assigned to The Map™.
The way that I interpreted all of that was to postulate that ONLY the people "doing the Noble career path" were actually
Nobles "in post" assigned to specific worlds. Therefore, the social standing B+ was not something exclusive to the "ruling class" (so to speak).
- Social: B = Knights ... 1 post per world.
- Social: C = Barons ... 1 post per rich or agricultural world.
- Social: D = Marquis ... 1 post per local cluster of worlds, one of which needs to be high population.
- Social: E = Count ... 1 post per industrial world.
- Social: F = Duke ... 1 post per subsector.
The idea being that there will
of course be a lot more people with Social: B+ than there are "positions" for people with such social standing to fill, hence why only those on the Noble career path get assigned to posts for specific worlds/fiefs as the Emperor's representative to that world government.
The important point here is that the "local noble(s)" do not RULE over worlds directly (as petty tyrants, per se). Instead, the local noble(s) are more like "ambassadors" from the Imperium to each of the worlds within the polity, since each world is autonomously governed by their own domestic politics.
The entire game of
You Need To Know Who's Who In Order To Know What's What is really more of a "parlour game" in noble society, because there are ups and downs, entries and exits from the scene, happening all the time. Some people on the Noble career path start out as a Knight ... and they never get "promoted" to Baron, even after a lifetime of service. Some people get posted to a particular world, but then for whatever reason decide that "the job" just isn't really for them and they muster out from the career path.
MOST of the time, "ordinary" Travellers aren't going to have much to do with the nobility (except when the situation calls for it during a scenario or an ongoing campaign). Nobles are kind of like the "celebrities" of the Third Imperium. It's a bit like "big Hollywood names" or influential politicians. Sure, most people have HEARD of them and quite a few people know who they are ... but how many Big Names™ have you actually met in person (let alone hung out with or gone on adventures with?).
For example, I know who Johnny Depp is ... but I've never met him in person.
I know who my US Congressman is ... and have actually met him, in person, TWICE in my lifetime ... but both interactions were brief (and years apart).
The way I see it, the "job" of Nobles (on the career path) is to represent the Emperor to their (respective) constituency worlds, where their fiefs are, and to engage in interstellar diplomacy on behalf of their world(s) to advance their fortunes. In some ways, it's kind of a glorified Public Relations job ... just with a lot more loyalty oaths and greater responsibility for outcomes.
The fact that the nobility of the Third Imperium is NOT extensively detailed is something of a blessing in disguise. As mentioned upthread, it means that Referees (and other creators) can "slot in" whatever types of personalities into the nobles in their campaign that they want, as needed. Under most nominal circumstances, that will probably "never" be necessary.
while it still applies somewhat, is not totally going to be the case with knights. They're the lowest rung on the nobility ladder
Landed Knights are literally as common as mainworlds.
There's nothing "particularly special" about them ... other than the fact that they're Social: B, while "domestic world nobility" are Social: A. It's a
more exclusive club than the social elites of a particular world, but that's because you're switching from the "planetary pool" (Social: 1-A) to the "interplanetary pool" (Social: B-F) ... and yes, being a Knight is the lowest rung of that social ladder on the interstellar scale.
Going from Social: A to Social: B is a bit like going from being a high school senior to a college freshman.
You move from being on top of a small pool (the high school) to being at the bottom of a larger pool (an entire college).
You move from having hundreds of peers (high school) to having (tens of) thousands of peers (college).
And not everyone is an Honors Student every single time.
Not everyone BURNS with ambition, or reaches for Fame & Glory. Some people are celebrities, while others are wallflowers.
And nobles in post can "retire" from the career path, letting someone else move in to take their place/posting.
And some LUCKY FEW get PROMOTED to higher postings ... and someone else needs to move in to take the place/post that they have to vacate due to getting promoted.
The way I see it, any character that during CharGen takes the Noble career path need to successfully roll for Position before they get assigned a posting as a landed Imperial Noble. Until then, you're basically "staff" to some other noble who is actually in post. Until you successfully roll Position, you're basically an "apprentice" noble, learning the ropes (so to speak). To continue the knight analogy, you're basically a page/squire until you roll Position, in the role of staffer to some other noble on the career path.
Hope that (loose) perspective on the structure of the nobility helps.
