Titles & citizenship

Everyone is a citizen of a city (Lumbridge, for now - it's the only free one), and every citizen has a feudal rank. Rank is standing: Duke Horacio in Lumbridge Castle raises you when you bring him the coin and a record of real service - your lifetime War Effort (see Supplying the war). It gates three things: the heaviest armour you may wear, the size of your companion roster, and which wars you may start.

Check your current rank, armour tier and exactly what the next rank still needs with ::title. Check your citizenship with ::city, your service record with ::service.

The one rule of the war

Any citizen may join any war. Only the ranked may start one. A Peasant can ::march into the realm's warband the minute they log in; a Lord may sponsor an operation, a Minister launch a campaign, and only the King call a conquest. Rank is authority, never a door on participation.

The ladder

Rank	Coins	Lifetime War Effort	Melee armour	Ranged armour	Magic armour	Companion roster	War powers
Peasant	Free	-	Bronze & Iron	Leather	Basic robes	-	join any war
Commoner	10,000 gp	-	Steel	Studded	-	-	join any war
Squire	50,000 gp	-	Black	Snakeskin	-	-	Name shown in colour
Soldier	150,000 gp	50	Mithril & Adamant	Green d'hide	-	-	-
Knight	500,000 gp	150	Rune, granite, fremennik, void	Blue/red & blessed d'hide	Mystic, splitbark, enchanted, infinity	1	-
Lord	2,000,000 gp	500	All armour - Dragon, barrows, godwars, endgame sets	Black d'hide, karil's, armadyl	Ahrim's, ancestral	2	`::operation`, `::sendtroops`, `::summonboss`
Minister	10,000,000 gp	1,500	All armour	All armour	All armour	3	+ `::campaign`
King	50,000,000 gp	4,000	All armour	All armour	All armour	3	+ `::conquest`

The companion roster is how many soldiers you may keep - and all of them fight beside you at once; the muster price climbs from 10M for the first to 100M and then 500M (see Companions). The War Effort floors are the first pass of "rank is earned" and will be tuned; Minister will also ask for the Veteran of Varrock mark once the first major assault on the fallen city exists to award it, and King is a long-term career achievement - the crown is never a quest reward.

From Squire up, your title displays in colour over your head - rank here is earned status, not a cosmetic you buy in a store.

Rank capes

Every noble rank (Squire and up) comes with a rank cape, handed to you the moment you are raised. The capes go from plain to elaborate up the ladder, and each one's colour echoes the rank's name colour - so you can read someone's standing off their back at a glance:

Rank	Cape	Cape bonuses (attack / defence / strength / prayer)
Squire	Squire's cape - plain green wool	0 / +1 / 0 / +1
Soldier	Soldier's cape - plain blue wool	+1 / +2 / 0 / +1
Knight	Knight's cape - white with the star of knighthood	+2 / +4 / +1 / +2
Lord	Lord's cape - black with the purple wreath of lordship	+3 / +6 / +2 / +3
Minister	Minister's cape - deep crimson cape of state	+4 / +8 / +3 / +4
King	King's cape - gold-embroidered ceremonial cape	+5 / +10 / +4 / +6

Attack and defence bonuses apply to all combat styles - ranks aren't style-bound. Wearing a rank cape needs at least that rank (a Knight's cape on someone's back proves they're a Knight at minimum), so like the armour gate, the cape is proof of standing, not a costume. The capes are untradeable, and the King's cape deliberately stays a shade under the fire cape - the earned combat capes remain the trophies.

Lost yours? ::cape reclaims your current rank's cape for free.

All three combat styles climb the same ladder: each ranged/magic family is pegged to the metal rung of similar strength (studded ≈ steel, green d'hide ≈ adamant, mystic ≈ rune, black d'hide ≈ dragon). Untiered utility gear - monk robes, vestments, graceful, basic wizard robes - is free for everyone.

Why gate armour?

Armour needs both your levels and your rank. All gear keeps its classic level requirements - 40 Defence for rune armour, 40 Attack for a rune scimitar - and armour is additionally rank-gated: a maxed Peasant still cannot wear steel, and a level-3 Lord still needs the Defence for dragon. There are no quest requirements on any armour or weapon. (Weapons are never rank-gated - levels alone decide what you can wield.) Your companions live under the same ceiling: they can't wear armour above your rank, and each piece is checked against the companion's own levels.

The armour gate is the server's core progression brake: you can't buy your way into rune on day one - you climb the ladder, and each rung both marks your standing and funds the realm (rank fees are a major coin sink). It also means seeing someone in dragon tells you something real: they're a Lord at minimum.

Rank and the War

Lords and above stop being just soldiers and become commanders: they sponsor operations, field troops, summon city bosses and (at Minister/King) launch campaigns and conquests - and take a 10% tithe from the pooled loot when their operation succeeds. Everyone below still fights in every one of those wars, and is paid by contribution. See The War explained.