There are sevral distinct social classes within Rokugan. Officially these social classes are meant to be rigid and determine the destiny of oneself and all of one's descendants, though in reality there is actually a fair amount of mobility between adjacent classes.

The Daimyo/Kuge
This is made up of the families that rule each clan, those descended from the Kami or at least carrying the name of the Kami (since a few never had direct descendants.) As descendants of the Kami, they form an elite class above all others and receive special privileges and honors, but also have quite a lot of responsibility as they must keep the lands they control peaceful and productive. They make the decisions for the clans as a whole and the only ones eligible to become Shogun. They are the land owners, or officially governors as all lands are considered to belong to the Empress. Because the major families of those clans are generally larger than there is land to parcel out after a thousand years of civilization, in reality even the majority of the members of the clan ruling families are actually buke.

The Isawa family is a special exception to this. The Shiba are sworn to protect the Isawa and the Phoenix Clan considers them to be high clergy even above the Kuge, particularly their leaders the elemental council. However the special status of the Isawa is only truly recognized by the Phoenix clan. The degree to which the other clans respect the Isawa any more than buke depends entirely on to what degree they are currently concerned about offending the Phoenix Clan.

The only way to become a member of the Kuge class is for a Buke to marry into the class. This happens fairly frequently though. The Minor Clan ruling families, at least those who have a claim on a significant enough patch of land to pay taxes directly to the Empress are technically Kuge, but in practice they are treated lower than Great Clan Buke.

The Samurai/Buke
All of the samurai who carry family names and serve the Kuge as vassals and have no claim on any lands are part of the Buke class. If one has a family name that is not Akodo, Bayushi, Doji, Hantei, Hida, Shiba, Shinjo, or Togashi (or Kaimetsu) then one is buke.

This is the class the vast majority of the stories in Rokugan focus on though in reality they are still the elite and far outnumbered by the lower classes. The Buke exist to serve the Kuge and are paid monthly stipends for their service. This is generally handled by the Treasury family of each clan which is usually separate from the ruling family, but in some cases the same. The members of the buke are at the beck and call of their lord and must report for duty and do any duty that their lord commands at a moments notice. For many samurai this means that they have regular jobs to fulfill-- however many others are more or less left very much to their own devices to seek out whatever needs to be done. If this results in the samurai getting a lot of commendations which boost the lord's own reputation within the clan and the general empire, the samurai are generally allowed to continue to seek out tasks to do. However, if the individual instead simply racks up large debts at gambling dens, sake houses and with members of the artisan/merchant class, they are certain to be called back to their lord and given a more rigid duty that makes certain they cannot get into further trouble.

There are various ways one can become a Buke. First, although the buke generally prefer to marry into their own class, and most often arrange marriages when the child is young, there are those who will take peasants or merchants as spouses. Yes-- the whole "peasant saves the princess and marries her" or "wealthy lord falls madly in love with a peasant girl" absolutely happen. Although it is usually only with the younger children who have less value. Furthermore peasants who serve in the army, ashigaru, are often adopted by members of the buke caste, which does mean that adults are adopted-- in fact, in rare cases, one might even adopt a particularly loyal and faithful servant who is older than oneself. In fact, the adoption process is how Minor Clans and newly formed families manage to have significant enough members to accomplish anything. The Crab Clan is particularly famous for recruiting anyone who can slay 20 bakamono with few questions asked and unofficially adopt many more outside of that process. Most rarely though is the case where the Clan Champion decides that their clan needs a new permanent organization to serve some purpose for the clan, or possibly wants to honor a hero by having their name carried forward, and decides to create a new Buke family which are usually made up of peasants, artisans, merchants and ronin.

Being a member of the buke class does allow one to engage in activity that would generally belong to classes below them. Those who engage in the activities of a craftsman, merchant, or even being a monastic or priestly order does not disqualify one from being part of the buke class. In fact, some samurai families were created specifically due to their abilities as artisans. This is particularly the case for particularly skilled smiths as the need for properly made weapons and armor mean clans are driven to support those who specialize in such things. The key difference between those of the buke class who engage in such activities and those of the lower classes is both that those of the buke class still have a family name and also that their activities are not done for personal profit but any gains flow to their lord.


Clergy/Seishokusha
This is more of an unofficial class. While the proper shugenja and select monk orders are considered part of the Buke class and there are select monk orders that are also considered buke class, the vast majority of monks and priests in Rokugan are not members of any official family. Anyone except possibly hinin (in most cases) can choose to join an order to become a priest or monk so long as there is an order that will accept them. This class can be a bit of an odd one in the heirarchy-- they are generally accepted to often speak for the peasants and in some ways are afforded more freedoms than a typical bonge since going on pilgrimages or openly disagreeing with buke is considered perfectly acceptable, if not expected. Furthermore the buke are perhaps even more pressured to protect them from harm-- as nothing looks worse than having a sect devoted to the gods slaughtered under your watch.

On the other hand they don't provide anything of physical value, outside of those that produce charms or books, and so there is often less support for these organizations than there is for the peasants proper. Thus the monks and priests tend to have to make do with even more meager means than the peasants and the shrines and monasteries are often required to rely on donations from shokugyousha.


The Peasants/Heimen/Bonge
This is the largest social class in Rokugan. The farmers of Rokugan who work the lands are the Bonge. They typically find themselves stuck in a village for their entire lives engaged in farming, fishing, woodcutting or other such activities. They are controlled by the kuge and buke and must do as those classes command. Although officially Bonge are not supposed to leave their lands, going on pilgrimages for religious reasons is acceptable and in reality they do engage in a small amount of trade. During different parts of the year there are times when the bonge must work very hard and others where there is nothing for them to do but relax and allow for crops to grow or hunker down for a season due to their work being most costly than beneficial. Thus there are simultaneous images of the life of a bonge being backbreaking and terrible and also lazy and idle.

Although officially the bonge are owned and serve the kuge and buke, the buke and kuge are actually sworn to serve the bonge just as they are sworn to serve the empress. The difference is that each bonge must serve those above them while those above them are sworn to serve the people as a whole-- which does mean sacrificing some for the good of the many.

Generally bonge are not allowed to own weapons, although many of the intruments they use in their work could technically be used as weapons and those who live in areas where dangerous creatures may threaten the village are in practice not penalized for owning rudimentary arms in order to protect themselves, but proper military weapons are forbidden to them for the simple reason as to not army and possible peasant revolts. Bonge are often conscripted to serve as non-professional soldiers, ashigaru, and while this can mean meeting a horrific death on the battlefield, it can also mean opportunity as one who is successful in the army has the greatest chance of being elevated to the station of buke. Becoming a bonge is not too difficult for those of the buke or shokugyousha classes, one merely needs to put down whatever tools of their trade and simply consign themselves to working the land-- proper, honest work. Many younger children of younger children or those who have suffered major setbacks and failures and cannot find a lord who wishes to take responsibility for them in the buke class do have the option of becoming a bonge. Similarly failed artisans and merchants can do the same.

Although the land belongs to the Kuge, the heimin are usually rewarded fairly well for their work all considering. They are given enough coin to purchase furnishings and food outside of what they grow from merchants and can even afford to support their favorite shrines, monasteries, entertainers. The whole economy of Rokugan depends very much on what is generated from the bonge and while the buke tend to have more individually to spend, the bonge as a caste actually drive things a whole lot more.


Professionals/Shokugyousha
This is the class that involves those who neither grow things nor protect things that are grown. Primarily among this class are artisans and merchants-- with artisans technically being considered a slightly higher class than merchants, but pretty much every artisan is also a merchant meaning the distinction is slight if nearly non-existent. This class is considered lower than peasants-- while one has far more freedom, the buke and kuge have no particular obligation to protect members of this class beyond the general need to keep the peace. They are not guaranteed and stipend as the buke and bonge are-- being a member of this class means taking one's own destiny in their hands and putting one's faith into fate and luck. And yet, despite the risk, there are families who have run successful businesses for hundreds of years, generally passing the business on to the oldest children. Even in small hamlets there are usually some members of this class who transport goods from the city to sell to the residents while the cites are full of people of this class.

Entertainers such as actors and geisha are also part of this same class, although as what they produce is not a physical good they are generally slightly less valued. Ronin are also technically part of this class, but as they either have (or claim) buke background and still serve that kind of role, they are often considered to be buke-- for as long as someone is willing to pay them-- and shokugyou the rest of the time.

Members of the buke and bonge classes can become members of this class if they have the funds or skill to try to start their own business or join an entertainer group. Those of the buke caste do not automatically become part of this caste by becoming a craftsmen or a merchant unless they actively renounce their standing in the class and aim for personal profit. The same goes for members of the buke class who choose to devote themselves towards acting or musicianship. Thus there are a lot of protections preventing one from the buke class from easily falling into this caste as it is really more the category for peasants who wished to engage in free trade rather than the safety of being heimin. It should be noted that the vast majority who try often end up failing, going into debt and ultimately returning to being a bonge with a huge debt still hanging over their head, retiring to become a bonge or taking actions that cause them to become hinin. In fact it is generally considered a very slippery slope to get from here to hinin.


The Tainted/Burakumin/Hinin
The worst class in society, the unwanted, those considered to be outside of it. This caste is where the criminals, the diseased, the infirm and those with jigoku taint are classified. It is also where those whose jobs involve handling dead animals or people-- executioners, torturers, undertakers, butchers, and tanners-- are classified. Even those whose jobs involve the intimate contact with human bodies such as surgeons and prostitutes are classified in this category.

Once one is in this category, there really is no escape. Both oneself and one's descendants are forever tainted and considered destined for one of the hellish realms after death. The teachings of Shinsei sharply contrast with this belief, but it is still the prevailing belief.  Ironically though much of what is required to keep business going and to prosecute criminals is very reliant on members of this caste.

The treatment of burakumin by others can at times be horrifically cruel, even the bonge are free to harm or murder them without consequence. They are often forced to live on the outskirts of villages or in their own districts of cities that are provided no support or care. There is special care taken to see that members of this caste do not ever marry outside of it and any attempt to improve their standard of living is simply inviting summary execution.

Gaijin and non-humans are also considered to be hinin as far as the social order goes. They technically should be treated with the same level of abuse as the burakumin receive, if not worse, and perhaps that is the case when it comes to certain samurai. Although in practice a lot of the time both are treated far better than a burakumin-- primarily because there is an understanding that these outsiders to society may well have a fairly dangerous force backing them should they become enraged as mistreatment.

In fact the Unicorn, Mantis, Phoenix and Owl clans have all adopted foreigners into their clans, with the Unicorn and Mantis having an ongoing policy of doing so, while the Mantis Clan, Scorpion Clan and especially the Fox Minor Clan have been known to adopt non-humans into their Clans. Others, such as the Crab's relationship with the Nezumi, are known to have alliances with non-humans. Burakumin would never be afforded such kindness and consideration, far less have any chance of being adopted into the buke class. Thus, while officially gaijin and non-humans are of the lowest tier, in actual practice the receive better treatment and have more chance for social mobility than the worst-off of humanity within Rokugan.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:43, Fri 12 Feb 2021.