Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 elkaholic Mar 06, 2015 11:23:30	Did a forum search and came up with nothing. The soldier background indicates you have an insignia of rank, and also has a feature of "Military Rank".  My question is, how is that rank determined?  Is it just made up?  If so, what restrictions are typically put in place in your games?   Character in question is a War Domain Cleric, 24 years old, in military (not sure which one yet, open to suggestions) since 17.   What rank should he have?
#2 mellored Mar 06, 2015 11:26:34	It's just made up. And it really depends on which world your talking about.
#3 Nevvur Mar 06, 2015 13:20:49	Agreed with mellored. Some considerations...   Using the US military as a template, at 7 years experience he could have attained a rank of E5-6, putting him in charge of a squad or platoon sized element. That's just based on time in service, though. Promotions can be expedited based on the needs of the organization and exemplerary service. They can also be delayed based on needs and lackluster service. A person can also be demoted for bad behavior.   Opportunity for promotion may also depend on your military job and the structure internal to that specialization. Infantry promotes faster because they need more non-commissioned officers to lead their many squad sized elements. A quartermaster's staff may provide little or no room for advancement, if you only need one guy in charge of the paperwork.   Of course, how much of this applies to a D&D military is up to the DM. If I were your DM, with 7 years experience as a war cleric, I would allow you to choose a rank up to 'sergeant' (e5), putting you in command of a squad sized (9) element of infantry, or a team sized (4) element of support. If you're starting out at level 1, however, you may wish to consider what sort of experiences he had (or more pointendly, did not have) during his seven year service.