In RuneScape, there are various ranks and titles. The order of various ranks are not known or consistent. In IC roleplay it is important everybody knows his/her place on the social ladder according to the rank his/her character was given or chosen.
Universal rank system
This universal rank system has two purposes:
- Knowing a character's relative rank in his/her service.
- Knowing a character's comparative rank in other services.
The following tables detail the order of ranks. Each table is divided into five services: noble, military, religious, civil and knightly. They are ordered from high to low. Some ranks may have subranks within them.
Note: Technically a rank 0 exists and are reserved for gods. As gods cannot be roleplayed, this rank is excluded from the table.
High rank
In the table below are all high-ranked listed from 1 till 4.
| Rank | Noble | Militaristic | Religious | Civil | Knightly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emperor, King of Kings, High King, Pharaoh | (Lord) (Field) (Air) Marshal (I), Admiral of Fleet, Legatus Maximus | Pope, Pontifex Maximus, Caliph | President (+ Vice President) | N/A |
| 2 | (Tribal/Clan) King, Sultan, Khan |
General (of Corps or Division), Admiral (of Squadron or Division), Flockleader (+ Groupleader), Supreme Commander (dwarves), Warlord |
Patriarch |
Prime Minister (+ Vice-Minister), Chancellor, Grand Vizier, Regent |
Grandmaster, Archmage |
| 3 | Archduke, Grand Duke, Grand Prince | Brigadier, Commodore, War-Chief (ARMS), Wingleader | Primate | Royal Chamberlain, Spymaster, Royal Treasurer | Master Knight, Master Wizard |
| 4 | Prince, Vyrelord | Colonel, Commander (dwarves), Naval Captain | Cardinal | Minister (+ State Secretary), Royal Advisor, Vizier | Adept Knight, Adept Wizard |
Medial rank
In the table below are all medial-ranked listed from 5 till 8.
| Rank | Noble | Militaristic | Religious | Civil | Knightly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Duke, Emir | Commander, Legatus, Squadronleader, Colonel (Dwarves) | Metropolitan, Exarch, Pontifex | Minister-President, Justicar | Partisan |
| 6 |
Marquess, Margrave, Landgrave, Vyrewatch |
Major, Commandant, Troopleader |
Archbishop, Grand Inquisitor |
N/A |
Noble |
| 7 | Count, Earl, Tribal Chief, Elven clan leader | Captain (of the Guard), Naval Lieutenant/First Mate, Tribunes, War-Chief | Bishop, High Priest | Governor, Ambassador | Acolyte |
| 8 |
Viscount, Burgrave, Castellan, Vyre Grunt |
Lieutenant, Flightleader, Master | Auxillary Bishop, Inquisitor, Shaman | N/A | Proselyte |
Low rank
In the table below are all ranks listed from 9 till 12.
| Rank | Noble | Militaristic | Religious | Civil | Knightly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Baron, Overlord | Officer Cadet, Warmaster, Bo'sun | Abbot, Prior | Senator | Initiate |
| 10 |
Baronet, Lord, Vyreling |
Sergeant, Quartermaster, Squadleader |
Deacon, Head Priest |
N/A |
Novice Knight, Wizard Apprentice |
| 11 | Hereditary Knight, Vampyre Juvinate | Corporal, Berserker (Dwarves), Midshipman, Warrior, Wingman | Reverend, Priest, Chaplain | Mayor | Squire |
| 12 |
Esquire, Jonkheer, Vampyre Juvenile |
Junior Cadet, Grunt, Soldier, Scout, Sailor, (Black) Guard, Tribesman, Clan member | Dean, Monk | Councillor | Page, Peon |
Explanation of ranks
Noble ranks
Human nobility
Human nobles derive their order based upon land they posses. Nobility is linked through fiefdom of various land:
- An emperor, high king or king of kins rules an empire which can contain various kingdoms.
- A king rules a kingdom which can contain various duchies, marches and counties.
- A duke, marquess or count rules a duchy, march or county which can contain various burgraves, baronies and towns.
- A burgrave, overlord or baron rules a burgrave (a non-capital city with a castle), barony or other lords.
- A baronet or lord rules a baronetcy or small towns and villages.
The land and the title are correlated, a count isn't a count without its county. The relative power is determined by the size of the area and the the location:
- A duchy is larger than a county. The larger the area, the more taxes that could be collected and the more people ruled.
- A marsh is a county at the border of the kingdom, and thus more vulnerable for attacks. A marquess is thus higher than a count.
All noble titles are hereditary. The king or other high nobles can give noble titles to others for good services. The most common is knight and esquire. Both are the lowest noble titles.
Vampyre nobility
Vampyre nobles work different. They are non-hereditary but acquired by gaining status. Vampyre titles are strongly related to military performances.
- Lord Drakan and his kin are the top rulers.
- Vyrelords are the princes of darkness.
- Vyrewatches are the sentinels of Darkmeyer.
- Vyre Grunts and Vyrelings are the the lowest type of vyres.
- Vampyre Juvinates and Juveniles are the lowest type of vampyres.
Kharidian nobility
Kharidian nobility is largely based upon Arabic nobility:
- The pharaoh is equal to an emperor and rules over the entire Kharidian desert.
- The sultan is equal to a king and rules over large parts of the Kharidian deserts. His children are princes(ses).
- The emir is equal to a duke. He rules over cities and towns.
Not much is known about other ranks.
Clan and tribal ranks
Clan-based societies like the elves and tribe-based societies like the Yu'biuskan races are in between noble and military services. Noble ranks are gained from birth, some are appointed as successor. They have a lot of militaristic influences. This type of society is primitive and is not really complicated.
- The tribal/clan king rules over all clans/tribes. In military terms this is the same as a warlord who commands several war-chiefs^.
- The tribal/clan chief rules over all clan members/tribesmen. In military terms this is the same as a war-chief, although war-chief and tribal chief could be one and the same.
- The warmaster is a master in combat and commands several warriors.
^War-chief as used in tribal societies is not the same as war-chief used in Mobilising Armies. War-chief in that meaning is equivalent to a brigadier.
Military ranks
The military derives its rank from skill in battle. The more skilled you are, the higher your rank and thus the more soldiers you command. In all three types, an officer cadet is a rank for a person who wishes to become officer.
Land army
The following list applies to the land army, a mixture of Gielinorian and real-life ranks:
- A field marshal(l) commands a field army consisting of several corps.
- A corps general commands a corps consisting of two divisions.
- A division general commands a division consisting several brigades and regiments.
- A brigadier commands a brigade consisting of three till six battalions.
- A colonel commands a regiment of various size.
- A commander commands a battalion consisting of two till seven companies.
- A major, commandant or captain commands a company consisting of three till six platoons.
- A lieutenant commands a platoon consisting of two till four squads.
- A sergeant commands a squad consisting of several teams.
- A corporal commands a team consisting of a small amount of soldiers.
The size of each unit depends on the amount of soldiers.
Air force
In Gielinor, only the gnomes and aviantese have a sort of air force. The following list is largely based upon aviantese ranks and real-life air force:
- An air marshal(l) commands the air force consisting of several flocks.
- A flockleader commands a flock consisting of two groups.
- A groupleader commands a group consisting several wings.
- A wingleader commands a wing consisting of three squadrons.
- A squadronleader commands a squadron consisting of two till seven troops.
- A troopleader commands a troop consisting of three till six flights.
- A flightleader commands a flight consisting of two till four squads.
- A squadleader commands a squad consisting of several teams.
- A wingman commands a team consisting of a small amount of scouts.
The navy also exists in Gielinor, especially in the Eastern Lands. The following is composed based upon a mixture of Gielinorian and real-life ranks:
- An admiral of the fleet commands a fleet consisting of several naval squadrons.
- A squadron admiral commands a naval squadron consisting of two naval divisions.
- A division admiral commands a naval division consisting several ships.
- A commodore commands a flotilla consisting of two till four small battleships.
- A captain commands a large ship.
- A commander commands a small ship like a frigate or corvette. On large ships it is second-in-command.
- A lieutenant or first mate is second-in-command on a small ship.
- A master is responsible for the navigation.
- A bo'sun supervises the deck.
- A quartermaster is responsible for supplies.
- A midshipman is an experienced sailor and supervised other sailors.
Zarosian army
At the beginning, the Zarosian army consisted out of twelve legions. Each legion was commanded by a Legatus, roughly the same as a commander. A legion included twelve times twelve times twelve or 1728 demon soldiers. The Tribunus were second-in-command, roughly the same as a captain. Later, the Legatus Maximus rank was invented and was commander over all legions.
Black Guard
The Black Guard works slightly different than the regular army:
- The supreme commander is equivalent to a general.
- The dwarven commander is equivalent to a colonel.
- The dwarven colonel is equivalent to a commander.
- The dwarven captain and lieutenant are equal to a captain and lieutenant respectively.
- Black Guard berserkers are experienced guards similar to knights.
Religious ranks
Similar like the noble ranks, religious leaders rule over their congregation. They have similar powers like nobles
Saradominism
This is the ranking of Catholic Church, which is similar to Saradomin's church.
- A pope is the leader of the whole church and all religious providences.
- A primate is the leader of a group of providences.
- A metropolitan is the leader of a providence, compromising various dioceses.
- An archbishop is the leader of the main diocese of a providence.
- A bishop is the leader of a diocese, comprising deaconates.
- A deacon is the leader of a deaconate, comprising parishes.
- A priest is the leader of a parish.
- A monastery and the surrounding land is lead by an abbot, and second-in-command a prior.
A cardinal is slightly different. It doesn't strictly rule more land. A cardinal could be a bishop or an archbishop. Cardinals chose the pope.
Zarosianism
Not much is known, but a Pontifex would be considered equal to a Legatus. Like-wise, a Pontifex Maximus is equal to a Legatus Maximus.
Other religions
Other religions use different rankings. The Menaphite Pantheon uses a ranking similar to the Orthodox Church and Egyptian rankings
- A patriarch would be roughly in-between pope and primate.
- An exarch would be roughly the same as a metropolitan.
- A high priest would be roughly the same as a bishop. Every (demi) god has one.
- A head priest would be roughly the same as a deacon.
It could be possible that the Menaphite Pantheon has a caliph as head.