>>98373170
Really depends on the setting and system, and also the context of the kingdom itself.

>>98373321
Well, I was thinking D&D / Pathfinder. And Ye Olde Classic Monarchy, basically.

>>98373170
I see no reason why it has to be one or the other. It could be either.

>>98373170
Forgotten realms is a mix.

Some places where they'res less inherent danger and conflict have a significantly higher amount of low level nobility, like Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, while Menzoberranzan the entire nobility structure pushes the leaders to be high levels.

I'm not sure about pf2e though, but my gut instinct is that because of their mechanics w/ hit chances that leaders are more likely to be higher level to avoid getting got by low level chumps (which could happen in 5e regardless of high or low level heroes)

>>98373378
>Ye Olde Classic Monarchy
Because every monarchy in every region is exactly the same. Retard.

>>98373170
There are a lot of lazy and unambitious nobility out there that don't care about using those advantages in any way to actually improve themselves

>>98373321
FPBP, but since you fags are usually winging about D&D, if you look at the oldest editions high-level martials were basically local lords with their own armies and what have you, so I think in that context it makes sense that nobles would be powerful if they're in their 40s or older (or relative age for longer-lived races), because they're retired adventurers. They got where they were by accruing status and money through adventuring, and so if you talk that good shit they'll tell you bet and knock you down a peg.

Of course, this also makes them useful allies to the party if it isn't full of dipshits, as they know what it's like to be an adventurer and thus would likely have a lot of trust and faith in likeminded individuals.

>>98373488
>dnd fucking sucks

>ok so here's the deal with dnd...

its true, but also, do you have any other ttrpg examples the OP could possibly look at that have different rules?

>>98373488
FPGP more likely. It's just useless slop posting.

>>98373170
>it doesn't really make sense if these people with all their advantages can't become individually powerful when so many opportunities are available.
If that were so, every marine would be a politician.
>D&D 3.5e
local nobles are lvl 2-8. Heroic nobles are lvl8+

>>98373686
>DURR DND LE BAD BECAUSE LE POPULAR
>WAHH HOW DO IN OTHER SYSTEM
Read OP's post and then read my post again you inbred mouth-breathing mongoloid. You can apply the principle of nobility being ex-adventurers to any system you like where characters get stronger as the game progresses.

Also piss off you nogames faggot. Anyone on this board who constantly whines about D&D is doing so out of contrarianism because it's a mediocre game that's also popular. If you don't like D&D, don't engage with posts about it, don't talk about it, and fuck off. It's not even the worst fucking TTRPG out there. FATAL exists and is borderline unplayable with how you can literally roll a character that you can't play, not to mention the shock value for its own sake. Racial Holy War literally is unplayable, the document itself doesn't even have all the rules you need to play (to say nothing of how it ruins its own premise by making non-whites objectively superior, even if its premise is retarded). BESM 3E is a steaming hot mess of bad decisions; tri-stat is a godawful way to handle stats, the power list is just stolen from M&M2E, and the way combat works is so vague it might as well be freeform RP.

Every time I see some illiterate retard on /tg/ whine about D&D it's either MUH CASTER SUPREMACY without elaborating on that point (which would make it a valid criticism, instead it's just parroting shit mindlessly) or saying "D&D DOESNT HAVE [thing D&D has rules for]" because they're an illiterate retard.

Instead of whining about popular thing because it's popular, why don't you talk about things you like? Are you so miserable, so joyless, that you must spread negativity? Or is it because you're a nogames faggot who just wants to try and find acceptance... on an anonymous imageboard where nobody knows who the fuck you are?

>>98373170
They should be mid-range warriors, as it is part of their training to become feudal lords, having them be very powerful is silly, since they spend most of their time administering the realm.
However, since d&d and pathfinder (your mentioned style of game) are heroic fantasy games, having warrior-kings, and wise wizards ruling lands is also normal.

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>>98373170
Important characters should be capable in some way. Unimportant characters should be minimally competent to do whatever their narrative or scene job is. Saves on GM overhead building out a character.

This has worked for me in WFRP, BoL, and H+I. These games tend not to telescope power nearly as much as D&D/PF, though you start far more competent in the latter two (since no one wants to play a chump Conan kills in one slash or a random flunky of the Cardinal incapacitated in the first crossing of swords).

>>98373741
i like dnd you fucking retard. I just find it amusing that you bitched about dnd then immediately went into how it works with dnd

>>98373170
You're poking into a rabbit hole of all sort of dnd garbage where the entire framework will fall apart despite whatever insane scaffolding gets built up around it.
>HP are meat points are power level
This already gets fucked up with higher level characters, all forms of dnd the entire time there's been dnd.
>NPCs having class levels being the same thing as PC class levels and stats
This has always been a problem with the humans playing the game being largely unable to handle the abstraction if such a game world is not the case and simultaneously being unable to run a game fairly with entirely different stat blocks.
You're stuck on a binary that's unavoidable and unresolvable with the system you're wanting to use.

Ideally you would be able to
>have HP be a measure of power level in combats that are engaging and not bloated
>have a clear functional distinction between PCs and NPCs with different stats that can be comparable
But it doesn't really work, the game has shifted so strongly towards players running through an analogue video game you're more or less fucked from the start. Even the
>RTVRN TO DOMAIN PLAY
works only via semi retiring high level characters.

>>98373170
What game?

It should depend largely on the government type and life span of the species making it up. In a Magocracy like Thay or Sshamath, the highest virtue and measure of a person is their skill with magic, even if you ignore the realpolitik and might makes right issues, culturally it's a society where powerful and arrogant mages would refuse to be governed by anyone who's not an even-more-powerful and arrogant mage. Combine this with the fact wizards benefit from shared collaboration and can copy spells from libraries or others' spell books, learn their magic through study and apprenticeship, and you get a society where it's not strange for level distribution to be roughly 1:1 correlated with hierarchy.

For extremely long lived races like elves and fey, even if their society values things like judgement, intelligence, wisdom, experience, and bloodline more than raw might makes right, whoever has the biggest fist rules, you should still expect their high ranking kings and long-serving nobility to be fairly high level simply because they have enough time and incentive to grow stronger, and somebody who's been a genius tactician, general, or leader for centuries essentially can't help but to be high level eventually since growing old and feeble isn't a concern. The difference here is that even the lower level princes and such will be treated with respect out of tradition and taking the long view that they will eventually be, so even if the Elven King is 15th level and his crown prince is only a 3rd level nobody, the prince will be treated with far more respect and authority than if he was a 3rd level apprentice mage in a Magocracy, no matter how powerful his master is.

If it's a merchant republic or similar, being ruled by the richest is obviously what you'd expect, and for races with limited lifespan like humans, passing down hereditary wealth is easier than somehow guaranteeing every heir is a high level genius when rulers change every few decades

>>98373170
>Because it doesn't really make sense if these people with all their advantages can't become individually powerful
Is the leader of your country some jacked roided out gigs chad?

>>98373170
Depends on how old they are, how they live, etc.
A warrior king that has to fight to keep his crown, yeah. However, a young lord who parents died, maybe keep them level one that has high level guards protecting tehm.

Most nobles are probably just today's nepobabies. Some might come into their means, but most won't.

>>98373170
depends on the noble

a border noble who faces down the untamed wilderness and the demihuman tribes that dwell within would be high level and powerful.

a noble on the interior who spends most of their time swanning about at court or secluded in their territory could be high level... but would probably be lower level, even if they were receiving training and education to make them somewhat capable.

and of course, all of this goes out the window depending on the specifics of the culture they're within. Elden Ring provides a perfect example of a setting where people can become inhumanly strong may culturally develop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4A_PAAqy6A&pp=ygUiYSBjcm93biBpcyB3YXJyYW50ZWQgd2l0aCBzdHJlbmd0aA%3D%3D