Strahd's feudal rank

[alhoon]

Very well. Then I would just say that Feudalism didn't really work according to a nice set of rules that were holding fast from 1000 to 1650 in the entire European continent.
Strahd as a sovereign leader, could have proclaimed himself whatever he wanted, I think and there's enough "justification" to call himself duke after taking Gundarak. But what would that accomplish? It's not like Strahd regularly comes into contact with a lot of lords and nobles that would look more favorably to a duke than a count.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Yes probably he doesn't care so much but I like the title Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Lord Protector of the Duchy of Gundarak, it is part of his propaganda. He is "protecting" ex-Gundarak areas from neighbouring domains, the terrorists of Ardonk Szerieza renegade Duke Gundar's vampire spawn who overfeed and don't obey his laws (although he was never truly destroyed and probably they remained as vampire spawn). At least he has Lord Vasili to communicate with some people.

[alhoon]

Actually Mephisto the "I like that title for Strahd best and gives me some RP tools" is the most important and best argument one can make. If you like that title, go for that title.

[tomokaicho]

The 3E version of Strahd had him styled as king. In Knight of the Black Rose, the various realms of Ravenloft are referred to as "dutchies". In the same novel, Strahd is styled as count while Gundar is styled Duke, with no suggestion that the differing feudal ranks represented a real difference in political or national power.

In Baroness of Blood, Baron Janosk Obour appears to rule a much larger realm than what his rank would suggest, possibly about as large as Barovia. So Baron Janosk Obour is more severely under-ranked than Strahd in his incarnation as count.

One possible reason for this discrepancy is that the designers really weren't thinking about ranks. We need to think about in-game reasons instead of designer failure. It's possible that because Ravenloft is made up of mishmash realms from various worlds, the various feudal ranks had different connotations depending on the scale of the world. On some world's harvested by Ravenloft, perhaps barons rule lands as vast as that of a count in other worlds, and in turn these counts rule lands as vast as dukes, and so on through king to emperor.

Any other examples of feudal ranks? We need something like this on Mistpedia.

[alhoon]

Actually, Feudalism in Europe was never a nice, clean deal. You had dukes that held less land than some barons in the same realm, let alone in nearby realms.

[De Montour]

An interesting topic.

My own take is that Strahd is bound by custom and tradition and that is why he has never claimed to be King. He isn't Conan. He can't just make himself King and batter the naysayers into submission with his big sword. Well...he could but his strict adherence to custom and tradition means that he doesn't.

I am basing the following thoughts on the fact that Barovia is a pseudo late mediaeval European setting, or an early renaissance one.

To claim Kingship he needs the trappings of such (a crown at the very least) and he needs to undergo the ritual ceremony of Coronation. I cannot remember if the Crown of Barovia is in the adventure or whether it remains in Prime Material Barovia. The Coronation ceremony is a religious one and involves anointing. It was through this that these pre Age of Enlightenment Monarchs were able to claim the Divine Right of King's and the power vested in them by God. This religious blessing is likely to be problematic for Strahd in his current state.

He could create a new crown and force Donavich to carry out some semblance of the ritual. He knows that no one would gainsay him but he knows himself that it would be a sham. Thus he simply retains the title of Count of Barovia. He could probably get away with referring to himself as Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Crown Prince of Barovia.

[DustBunny]

To claim Kingship he needs the trappings of such (a crown at the very least) and he needs to undergo the ritual ceremony of Coronation.

Not necessarily. Assuming the succession is via primogeniture ‘Divine Right’, the moment King Barov dropped dead the title instantly passed to Strahd (this is where 'The King is dead, Long live the King' originated). The whole coronation trapping boils down to the other nobles confirming he is truly the King and pledging their fealty publicly. So, he can be King, just not officially confirmed and recognised as such by his vassals.

In the real world, this ‘grey period’ between the claimant becoming King and being confirmed as such is where all the succession wars popped up. Other nobles and claimants argued that the ‘king’ was not the true recipient of divine right (for whatever reason), but that their candidate was.

But back to Barovia, who is going to affirm Strahd is their King if he desires to be recognised publicly as such? A bunch of smelly peasants and boyars? A few local Barons? The rest of the Domains would laugh their behinds off – especially those with actual kings (hey there Azalin), not to mention the blow to Strahd’s own ego. It would be acknowledging that mere mortals have some minor power over him (the confirmation) which again he would not tolerate.

So, while he could legitimately call himself King it has not been ‘officially’ confirmed so out of habit he doesn’t (usually), and also because he doesn't care less what the rabble call him as long as they obey without question. Though since he grabbed Gundarak he may start getting ideas.

[Mistmaster]

I think tha all boils down on how big we picture Barovia; My Barovia is quite big, with millions of inhabitants, a regional power in its own right so it is perfectly fitting for Strhad to be called King.

[tomokaicho]

Strahd is definitely claiming Divine Right on Barovia. He performed a customary (not occult) cultural ritual in which he became one with the land.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Yeah, but he theorized there was a magical ritual at the roots of the cultural ritual in I, Strahd.
Repeating it with the Ba'al Verzi dagger might have had an actual, occult effect.

[tomokaicho]

Yeah, but he theorized there was a magical ritual at the roots of the cultural ritual in I, Strahd.
Repeating it with the Ba'al Verzi dagger might have had an actual, occult effect.

If I recall correctly, it was Strahd's joining with the land that Strahd hypothesed allowed the DPs to drag the land along with himself into the demiplane. This may be why Barovia is the anchor for all the other domains.

[tomokaicho]

Another wrinkle in Strahd's feudal rank. Strahd sometimes presents himself as Vasili Von Holtz, a servant of Count Strahd. But interestingly, Vasili Von Holtz is also styled Count. So in which county in Barovia is Count Vasili Von Holtz supposed to be landed?

[De Montour]

Holtz.

Von is a Nobiliary particle meaning 'from'. He is Count Vasilli from Holst.

[tomokaicho]

Holtz.

Von is a Nobiliary particle meaning 'from'. He is Count Vasilli from Holst.

There is no Holst that I know of in Barovia. Since he is a Count, he should be landed nobility.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Well Holst could be a place from the Prime Material place where Barovia came from, also "Von Holst" could be considered to be an outlander and that would also explain his title, though I don't remember that he was a count, in which novel is he mentioned as a count?