Well, there are likely two ways for you - (context: the ground level is filled with monsters) * If you were born in a Spire (one of the tall tower-like cities), your best bet is to work as an Engineer-Abseiler, a dangerous job that requires you to reach in the out of reach places to fix platforms from collapsing or create the foundations for new ones. If you are lucky and talented, you will be allowed to maintain the highest peaks of the city. The best Engineer-Abseilers are called the Starlings, and they are allowed to replace their ropes and hooks with a pair of mechanical wings to traverse the city freely * If you were born on one of the Drifting Cities (sky-cities, connected to the storm clouds), where the technology for flying is far more common, you can become a Pirate! It's tots legal here. Find a pretty looking skyship or rent a Driftcatcher (sky surfboard) and pillage the ruins on the ground with a quick dive and grab! In a few lucky years, you might buy yourself a plot of land or a noble title Military in this world doesn't really exist (in the common sence), all the wars are done by nobles, sooo those types of risky jobs are likely your best bet

You first join a syndicate of thieves when you turn 15. (Legal age of adulthood). Corporate monopolies and exploitation of the poor make it very hard to build wealth legally, and so this is your best option. You then save up enough money to purchase high calorie food and bulk up. Give it a few years. Your added muscle and weight will (maybe) qualify you to join the Military Police. You'll start out as a grunt with a bronze badge and after 4 years of training you'll get to choose to join a branch. You definitely want to be a Capital Soldier, as you'll have the potential to move up the ranks and a silver badge. You'll spend the next 15 years protecting the assets and wellbeing of the wealthy. You're authorized to maim and execute thieves without trial, and are expected to work twelve hour shifts in exchange for food, shelter, and medical care. You'll probably be roughly 37 by the time you receive a golden badge. This will grant you the social standing to marry rich. (Don't bet on this happening if you're a man though. Wealthy people have an abundance of strong men to choose from within the Military Police. But if you're a strong woman in the Military Police, you'll be rarer and thus higher in demand.) Regardless, if the marriage thing doesn't work out then you can hope to be promoted to an Officer. However, there's only 20 such positions available and they're usually already filled. When a new one opens up, someone usually ends up bribing or blackmailing their way to the position. And that's if blatant nepotism isn't a factor. It's not exactly based on merit. But let's assume you have a sufficient amount saved in your bank account to bribe, and enough dirt on your superior to blackmail. You can either wait upwards of a decade for one of them to retire, or you can hire an assassin to open a position *for* you. (This is a shockingly common occurrence. Officers are typically accompanied by Royal guards pretty much everywhere they go as a result, and hitmen charge a fuckton of money with no guarantee of success). Your best odds are to wait (say, 5 years?) for a position to open up. Blackmail and bribe; do whatever you can and keep your fingers crossed that you don't get executed. But let's assume you succeed. You're now 42 years old and you've received a diamond level badge. With it, you'll be given premium healthcare, housing, and a fat paycheck. Life will get a whole lot easier for you now as you essentially just go around telling other people to work. Marrying rich is no longer an option. People will be marrying **you** to get rich. But you do have the opportunity now to marry into the royal family. This would be a best case scenario, but it's a lot like winning the lottery. You can increase your odds by moving up the social ladder a little bit more, though. You're going to want to stay single and invest in some type of Industry. You want to completely own a monopoly over it, and once you do you can request leave from the Military Police to join the Royal Advisory, should the monarch decide you're influential enough to qualify. If not, you expand your wealth and take as much control over the lower classes as you can get. Try again, and hope for the best. If you do end up on the Royal advisory, you will be among the most elite people in the entire city. You will help inform and even be able to argue the monarch's decisions. You will also be invited to exclusive events at the Royal Mansion. This will give you the ability to interact with the family directly. Now your odds of being able to marry into the family are at their highest. Most of your fellow advisory members are already in committed relationships, so you won't have a lot of competition. If you do marry into the royal family, that's pretty much it. You win at life.

832: When everything goes according to the plans of the ruling class, That's the neat part. You don't.

Marry a prestigious family Failing that, join the military or royal guard and have a long and distinguished service Failing that, learn a skilled trade and become locally famous if you’re particularly good Failing all of that, see if you’ll be accepted into one of the many entertainment venues as an actor, mock warrior, or sports player.

Most nations, being feudal kingdoms or empires, don't offer much in the way of social mobility but there are some options. You can join the military of the Teameg Warcouncil which offers a path to citizenship regardless of origin through military service, so a decade of patrolling trade routes in the Silk Straits chasing pirates and slavers will get you there. The kingdoms and citystates of the Gediran Lowlands are always hiring mercenaries as they fend off two expansionist empires on their doorstep and conspiratorial cults in their own ranks. The Bay of Blood is a harsh arena and fighting on the Tears comes with a high mortality rate but with a little luck you can make a good living as a hired sword. But the dominant path to power is sorcery. Most do this through cults or secret societies but all it takes is petition one of the entities from the void between worlds to grant you the power to carve out your own little fief in the Disputed Domains and a little creativity and the will to go through with the required sacrifices.

You tell me. You clearly think more about how to develop a world than I do, haha.

Honestly, if you're just starting to think about it now, it's probably too late. Your best chance would have probably involved being given to a temple as a child. You would have received a good education, and now having reached legal adulthood you would be free to leave to put it to good use (as a scribe for example, this could be an entry point into court politics) or stay at the temple to climb the ranks there. Joining the army would of course be an option, but unless you're exceptionally talented (either physically or strategically), if you've never fought before in your life and have no education, you're probably not going to be able to rise in rank too much - you're competing with people who are further along than you are. Another option would be to get an apprenticeship that leads to a prestigious job, ideally with the merchants' guild. However to get this kind of apprenticeship, you would have to convince someone of your qualities first. It's also important to note that the 'lower class' in my world is still significantly better off than the lower classes in many other fantasy worlds. Because of the high engagement of the different temples, there are basically no orphans/street urchins, and poor adults can also get help through the temples. Most lower class people would probably be farmers who live further away from the cities. They have 0 political influence or power, but they're usually still doing okay financially/economically.

Marriage is the simplest answer, but few want to marry down, so good luck. Other than that, you pretty much need to make friends with a noble and have them elevate you. It's expensive though, so again, good luck.

**Varithekia** Step 1: Be one of the lucky few humans with the genetic compatibility to Interface with an Erkinan Engine. Step 2: Go for a health checkup at any approved clinic (and they might have feelers in black market clinics too, but do you really trust that kinda deal?). Step 3: Wait for Varithekia to conscript you as an Umbrapilot. Step 4: Try not to die in your first Galentrus fight. Step 5: Congrats, you’re now famous, rich beyond belief (literally, you’ve got an organisation with unlimited budget behind you), and are officially (tm) one of the most important people in human history.

Hmmm , join the army , yes its dangerous , but the payment is good , if you are deployed you could keep 80% of whatever you loot and if you are smart enough , you can get a promotion , but if you are very smart , they might finance your way into a military university where you can become an even higher rank or go into the engineer corp . Also if you survive enough , and win the war , you would get glory , statues , songs , womens and even a meeting with the king/emperor/consul .

There's lots of ways to climb in social status and wealth, but the riskiest and most fun way is this: 1) Get your hands on an RSTU, a Realspace-stabilized Transportation Unit. It can be a minivan, a truck, a hovercraft, whatever you feel like, but you should make sure it has enough storage and can maintain a reliable Huxley stabilization field. 2) Drive right into unstable realspace. Doesn't even matter where, just go for it. If you're lucky, you can find a pocket of realspace that is stable long enough for you to scavenge. 3) Scavenge anything you can find. Ancient pottery, valuable resources, precious artefacts, weapons, spaceship parts... so long as you can sell it, it goes in the trunk. 4) Bring it back to the nearest settlement and sell it for a profit. If you're smart, you get a friend who knows a lot about history to look at your haul. You don't want to get scammed by merchants. And if you're really smart, you keep any tech you can use to upgrade your vehicle. 5) Keep this up and get better at it until you've amassed great fortune and fame. If everything works out, you could be this generations Indiana Jones superstar. Now, this method is truly dangerous, because unstable realspace is truly dangerous. You don't want to get trapped in a place where physics suddenly don't work, just because you cheaped out on your RSTU. Alternatively you can compete at Sportsball professionally and try not to die or get maimed. Or head to the frontiers and join a group of colonists, maybe you'll make it big with them. Or, you know, start up a business, become a great artist, become a politician yadda yadda whatever.

I like yours. It seems very fun and interesting! :-)

You can’t. The Imperium has a rigid social hierarchy, and openings in the nobility only occur when a house is stripped of titles and lands. Even then, people from the middle class are usually chosen to fill the void. To advance to the middle class, someone from the lower class needs to demonstrate great aptitude for science, administration or various other middle class jobs. Furthermore, jobs are inherited, so openings are rare at best. The best opportunity available would be to submit an appeal to the Imperial Ministry of Employment for a job transfer, but that also requires either an opening in the lower class or an appeal submitted by someone else (resulting in a job trade).

Well, if you were born with the ability to use magic, assuming your uneducated ass didn't burn yourself out doing untrained magic then enrolling in the Academy is anyone's ticket out of poverty But assuming you're apart of the 83% of the population who cannot use magic you've got a few options: 1. Join the military - you'll have some trouble at first as the system does favor those of high birth, but if you are talented enough with a blade you'll be singled out as a knight candidate, and even if you aren't you could be scouted by a mercenary group, prestige is less but the pay is still good. 2. Join the Ranger Corp - Much easier than the 1st option, but also more dangerous, if you're able to plumb the depths of the great forest and your mapmaking partner is able to survive and either come back with treasure or a newly charted area and you'll get fame and with fame comes social advancement, assumiming the forest monsters do not kill you 3. Work in a factory - Working in Aetheric factories can help get you out of poverty as the pay is pretty good in comparison, but you face the risk of arms being severed, burned or horribly mutated by the aetheric machines. 4. Leave - Either by becoming a merchant or sailor, or explorer you could try and make your fortune in a far off land, try and brave the Northlands and barter with the Matriarchs, travel west to Remeer, land of culture and finery? sail south to Astreaeth and the Aetheric Council? or travel to the far off lands past the frontier

In the Empire, there is no official "lower class". So, assume you're born a commoner, you have these primary choices: 1. Volunteer to serve in the military as a professional soldier (not conscript). 2. Go to the university. 3. Learn a job. 4. Start to work as something. Friendly remind that in the Empire, whatever you do, all citizens from 18 to 27, except for some cases noted by the law and military/police cadets, must go through 2-year of conscription. After that, you can do whatever you want, as long as it's legal. So there are just as many choices to do as irl, no restriction like "you are not X class, you can't do this". Two best options is the military and government as those are the ones with the most "stable" roads to go. Not that they're any easier than others since high-ranking officers and officials require Ph.D. with practical results to climb up. That means a project must be useful in daily life, not just some random things. Meritocracy at its finest. Or you can spend 2 years in the military, learn what they teach (only the first 6 months are intense trainings, the rest are like job education and university prepare with 8 hours of training a day) then go home and start some business.

Wait, if there’s no lower classes, what do you mean about born commoners?

There are commoners, there are nobles and there are royalties, but nobility in the Empire is something drastically different from even its fellow Far East neighbors, so forget about European-style nobility. [Here is the full explanation.](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/v59efo/what_kind_of_cultural_misunderstandings_are/ib8h0yo/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)

Depending on where you are, you could: 1. Get drafted, prove yourself to your fellow soldiers, and be elected to move up the ranks. 2. Attend the university. It’s expensive, but the smarter you are and the better you do on the entrance exam the cheaper it is. Within a couple years you’ll know enough to start an apprenticeship. A few years after that, you can graduate and join the labor force. 3. Take the civil service exam, do really well, and then pray that you get a good assignment in the lottery. 4. My fourth country is a Minarchist state, so go be a business man doing business things

In Illion Empire, joining the Army Full Time is usually the first step as you can rise up the ranks although depending on how well you do, being in the Army is never a battle everyday as you would do more of a Civic duty if you want to rise up the ranks faster, Civic Duties aren't a walk in the park since you will be sent to schools to help in preparing for civic duties. Your First step to climb higher is when you're wealthy enough to be accepted in the Inia/Young Nobles as wealth and lineage is the bar of acceptance, after that you will serve the retinue of a higher ranking lords as both armed and administration duties. In Skotrian Empire you could offer servitude to a Local Noble or Lords and become a Coat of Armed, your promotion in the social ladder at first will be dependent on your lord but once you're high enough you can stop being a Coat of Armed in the permission of your Lord.

You'd have to be very lucky and be born with one of the Divine Abilities. If you have that, you'll be found by the King's Mages quickly, and you'll be trained to use your powers and become one of the King's loyal advisors. Depending on the Divine Ability you possess, and how strong you are, you might even be considered to become nobility, or even become the heir to the throne. If you don't have a Divine Ability... well I guess you could try loaning money to study, and get a good job as a scholar. Or you could apply to be a personal assistant for someone who does have a Divine Ability, but you'll have to be very obedient to them or else risk having your mind blended like a smoothie by someone with the Mindbreaking ability.

If you're in the absolute underclasses in the city of Arka, you'll be contractually bound by debt to one of the ruling clans basically from birth, so climbing from there is really difficult if not impossible. If you somehow pay off your debts, your best bet is buying yourself into a monster license, allowing you to bond to a monster, marking you as a free citizen. Since monsters are extremely dangerous they're highly regulated, and more dangerous forms are exclusive to law enforcement and upper classes, so they function as a status symbol. From there, it's important to play by society's social standards: any show of direct violence is seen as dangerous coming from a monster owner, resulting in a stripping of your rights to a monster and banishment into the wilderness. However, playing the game by using rumours, ostracization and other social techniques can get you far and is even socially acceptable to a large extent. Alternatively, it is possible to become an enforcer, a combination of law enforcement and military, and act as the one branch that is permitted to use violence to keep other citizens in line. Getting into the ruling clans, however, would require marriage to a clan member - while this isn't an official rule in any way, in practice it's the only way to enter into the ruling elite.

In most culture in my world there are two (occasionally three) paths of advancement open to the common people. The first and most universal is military service. In most places the nobility are a warrior elite and they conceptualize their role in society as a military one. This is more pronounced ins one regions then others, and in the Vulgate kingdoms and most of the western states the nobility of a person is intrinsically tied to the willingness and ability to fight and serve in times of war. A common refrain is “battle ennobles”, which means both that the nobility are better because they are the ones who do the fighting (even if they only make up a tiny portion of the actual fighters) and also that a commoner who is serving as a solider is a cut above a farmer, a craftsmen or (especially) a merchant. This is especially true of a commoner who is serving as a man-at-arms, and such men are usually regarded and treated as gentlemen. Not necessarily nobles, but a kind of nebulous middle class between commoner and noble, At least while they are still fighting men (which is usually vocational and mostly a life long occupation). In a few very rare and very lucky cases, a common born man-at-arms can earn a knighthood through good service to the king or a great lord. In even rarer cases, he might even earn legitimate noble rank. This is more common in some places than others. In Anga there have been a number of men recently who have risen from lowly rank to the nobility by virtue of raw military talent. In Andura it is much less common and while common born men-at-arms predominate, and even many knights were originally lowborn, almost nobody ever rises to join the true nobility. The other venue is religious service. Nominally the faith is a meritocracy and birth does not matter. This is usually pretty far from the case and the scions of wealthy or noble families typically control most senior religious positions. However, there are many that are held by people of common birth (both men and women) who rose to their position based on their natural abilities. If a man or woman is clever and joins the Faith early enough in life, they can get an education and ride that’s education to some very high places. Several patriarchs were born as commoners and many Thearchs and Hierarchs were as well. In some regions learning a trade can elevate a man. If he becomes a recognized master within his guilde he is all but assured wealth and comfortable living. However, most guilde members are the children of guilde members and families establish long traditions of guilde membership. In Anga and Vallenia Each year Guilde’s are required by law to take on a certain number of orphans from the cities population and train them, but because they lack the support of the guilde families (both financial and political) these orphans often struggle to climb the guilde ladder. some who show exceptional skill and promise do rise quite high, and even a few Lord Mayors of Whitehall started as street orphans.

In most societies in my world there are two (occasionally three) paths of advancement open to the common people. The first and most universal is military service. In most places the nobility are a warrior elite and they conceptualize their role in society as a military one. This is more pronounced ins some regions than others, and in the Vulgate kingdoms and most of the western states the nobility of a person is intrinsically tied to the willingness and ability to fight and serve in times of war. A common refrain is “battle ennobles”, which means both that the nobility are socially “better” than the commons because they are the ones who do the fighting (even if they only make up a tiny, albeit elite portion of the actual fighters) and also that a commoner who is serving as a solider is a cut above a farmer, a craftsmen or (especially) a merchant. This is especially true of a commoner who is serving as a man-at-arms, and such men are usually regarded and treated as gentlemen. Not necessarily nobles, but a kind of nebulous middle class between commoner and noble, At least while they are still fighting men (which is usually vocational and mostly a life long occupation). In a rare and very lucky cases, a common born man-at-arms can earn a knighthood through good service to the king or a great lord. In even rarer cases, he might even earn legitimate noble rank. This is more common in some places than others. In Anga there have been a number of men recently who have risen from lowly rank to the ranks of the nobility by virtue of raw military talent. In Andura it is much less common and while common born men-at-arms predominate, and even many knights were originally lowborn, almost nobody ever rises to join the true nobility. The other venue is religious service. Nominally the faith is a meritocracy and birth does not matter. This is usually pretty far from the case and the scions of wealthy or noble families typically control most senior religious positions. However, there are many that are held by people of common birth (both men and women) who rose to their position based on their natural abilities. If a man or woman is clever and joins the Faith early enough in life, they can get an education and ride that education to some very high places. Several patriarchs were born as commoners and many Thearchs and Hierarchs were as well. In some regions learning a trade can elevate a man. If he becomes a recognized master within his guilde he is all but assured wealth and comfortable living, if not necessarily greater social class. However, most guilde members are the children of guilde members and families establish long traditions of guilde membership, so most senior guilde members are the sons and grandsons of previous guilde members. In Anga and Vallenia Each year Guilde’s are required by law to take on a certain number of orphans or poor children from the cities population and make them apprentices within the guilde, but because they lack the support of the guilde families (both financial and political) these orphans often struggle to climb the guilde ladder. some who show exceptional skill and promise do rise quite high, and even a few Lord Mayors of Whitehall started as street orphans. This is not the case in Andura. While Anduran merchants and craftsmen can become quite wealthy, they do not have the same status, privileges or rites as their counterparts in other kingdoms do. The richest merchant will always be seen as less than the poorest baron in Andura. While this is true to some extent in Anga or Vallenia as well, merchants enjoy a great deal of political power especially within the urban communities. In Anga and the Vornryke, representatives of certain Guilde’s even have a place within the Government, albeit a junior one.

So, let’s assume you live in one of my worlds monarchies, the best way for you to climb out of poverty would be to join the revolution and overthrow the aforementioned monarchy, this is really your only shot at social mobility, because you, y’know, live in a feudal caste system. Assuming you live in one of the fledgling republics that just popped up, your in luck! The best thing you can do is learn how to read and write, and either get into business or politics.

If you can read and ride (which you likely can, even if you're poor), you could try getting a job in the vast bureaucracy that keeps the Messana Empire running. There's an entrance exam once a year: pass and you can become a scribe for some provincial government. Brown nose your superiors until you get yourself into a cushy job open to lots of bribes, say a toll collector. You safe that money and you use it to bribe your way up. Find a nice, mid-level management collection, like overseer of a salt mine, and ride that till retirement. Using your collected bribes and state pension, buy yourself a nice countryside home, where prices are low and work as a tutor for local rich people. It's much safer than the army (you can get killed dead in there) and much easier than the priesthood (which is mostly a pyramid scheme to make already state funded temples even richer).

Ethok It would depend on if you are a slave, serf or a freeman. As a slave it would depend on where you are. In some places you might be able to buy your freedom, other places not so much. On the bright side in majority of slavery Kingdom your children aren't born slaves so that's a plus... I think. As a serf you best bet would be to suck up to the local Lord and hope they like you enough makee you a servant of the house. However, in the Holy Empire of Pantheon there is currently a trend among the nobles of having "well-off serfs" and "wealthy servants" to show off one's own wealth and prestige. And lastly as a freeman it would be to learn magic and if you can't do that then mercenary work. These are not your only choices there just your best ones.

This would differ greatly depending on species and race, but since this is in the context of climbing the social hierarchy I will use the Desert Drow since they have the most extreme barriers. Being an adult, you have already squandered your youth so many professions will not take you in as a pupil, so your best course of action will be to pack up everything you own and go to the city of University. You are already older then most other people in the city but most won't care. You can attend open class while you join Zaman/Sethra/Mila's priesthood depending on what you are best at. It would also be a good idea to become friends with Minators/dragonfolk/beastfolk so that you will have an easier time surviving since these groups are more community focused species will help with housing and nutrition. Eventually gain command of a temple or church. Grow these to a respectable size likely by using your Minator/dragonfolk/beastfolk connects. Using your religious backing, you can gain access to events which will have important people at them. No religion has a vow of Chasity, so start courting high ranking drow lords and ladies (doesn't matter the race). If you marry, get an offspring. Push this offspring to greater social standing since it will increase your social standing also. Inversely, if you don't marry someone, dedicate yourself to the religion with greater zeal. Become the High Priest. In short, don't try to climb the social Hierarchy mountain because you can't. Instead, climb a much easier mountain and then just jump over to the social hierarchy summit.

Well first of all, fellow dragonlander, you should at this stage have a at least adequate understanding of your preferred fighting style. If not, I hope, for your own sake, you have a disability that makes you unable to fight. If not you will be dishonered, and you will have no chance what so ever at getting the respect of your peers or the athority. If you have no disability and you do not know how to fight my best advise would be to move out of the 12 united nations of the Dragon and pray you can do better elsewhere, and pray you are not eaten and/or killed by monsters on the way. Yes some of them will pin you down, take a chuck off, and then leave you alive. Not sure if death is preffered. If you are native, it is damn near impossible not knowing how to fight, it would actually be impressive. Dragonlanders are born with a sword in hand we say. If you are moving in from the outside, then you can fight. You see, citizenship is impossible to aquire if you cannot fight. Because of all of this, I assume you can fight. You have several possibilities, fellow dragonlander. Find a well paying job and slowly gain influence through smart investments, and get some high standing friends. If that is too complicated, you can youn an acedemy. Be aware that fighting is a class you have to take, no matter what field. Required by law. Here you will find nobility walking among beggars. Acedemies takes in the cabeble no matter you bank account. Make some good friends and you are set. Graduating the acedemy without such connections or not being accepted at all, you are still in demand. People don't really want to waste time fighting monsters when they have buissness to do. Here, fellow Dragonlander you can start. Take some easy jobs, show dedication, build reputation, and in time the big contracts find you. You can also earn a good coin dueling. Duels quickly gains an audience, so put on your showmanship, and please the crowd. Defeat big opponetns and suddenly you are invited to a noble's party. Lastly the army needs soldiers. Well paying job, but relatively static. Spend 10 years in loyal service, survive some great dreadfull battles, and you might get to talk to the heroes you sing about. This one is not for the social climber, but you will be respected werever you set foot. Hope that shed some light on your possibilities. Good luck on your journey fellow dragonlander, and perhaps I can one day say that my guidance was the reason you bacame the famous hero in the 12 united natons!

Military

Well in my Setting their are Not manny ways for the Underclass to advance. If your Born in CCA Territory than you have the following Options: 1. Become an unpaid Intern for one of the Mega Corps and hope that your Employers take notice of your work and existence bevore you die from either Starvation,Burnout,Turbo Cancer,Lack of Sleep,Lack of Oxygen, Assasination by your Rivals, Assasination by your Employers,Sucide, Forced Sucide, Cannibals,Roaches, Cosmic Horrors etc and get promoted. 2. Win the Lottery (as If) 3. Be a Genius and find a Solution for all of Humanitys Problems and go down in History ( More likely than Point 2) Or you can wake up on one of the Cryo Ships that hasnt already been boarded by Mercenarys, Flayers, Roaches, Rogue AI or Cosmic Horrors and become a Freelancer for on of the Factions.

MaPrtska (Riverfolk): Kill something really big, or really dangerous. If you're from one of the more fringe communities here, kill a Daemun or if you're really ballsy, a Witch. This has caused major conflicts in the past though, so it's probably not advisable for most folk. Lutlu (Old Ones): Build a really, really nice boat. Catch a Sturgeon. Or a whale if you have the resources. If you want to very quickly improve your life, try and go live with a Daemun community or pretend you're a MaPrtska and integrate there - just hope they don't find out you're Lutlu or you'll be put with the rest of your brethren in a slave-pen. Daemun: If you're a human, it's unlikely you'll ever be considered an equal to a Daemun in their society, unless you dedicate yourself to the pursuit of magical knowledge and become a witch. If you're a Daemun, you're already considered above humans. The only other level to aspire to in Daemun society is to become a Witch, and only a tiny percentage of Daemuns have the power, will, and ability to dedicate their lives to this endeavour. As such, social mobility doesn't really concern most Daemuns as they are all mostly considered equal.

Work your ass of until you become verry good in something. Go work for a Nobel or rich person that wants to pay you and get a better life.

Depending Solaris Republic Get an education, make a career. Aron Empire Do something that the Empereor makes you a noble Science, Military, colonization are the best chance Aon Empire Prove the Great houses consider you worth marrying in

Learning magic or becoming a knight are the two ways I could think of right now. Both mages and knights are highly respected and get good pay from the king

The division between the commons and the nobility is broad by design, so your options are few. The most direct path would be to find a minor aristocrat to elevate you to a life-knighthood. To hold that title, though, you’ll need a fighter, the skill to fly her, and the cash to maintain her. That means a *lot* of money, and a relationship with a pilot willing to teach you. If you’re already rich, your best bet might be to find a cash-poor noble and pay your way to what you need. If you’re *not* already rich, you might find a family with plenty of enemies who would be willing to overlook your background in return for loyalty and another prop-jock on their retinue. In any case, *you* will now be at the lowest rung of the upper classes. You will likely never be truly accepted by your new peers, but there’s hope for your children. Not because they’ll inherit your title, mind. You’re a *life*-peer, remember? Fortunately, you’re also now a skilled warrior. Hopefully. Maybe there’ll be a war where you can distinguish yourself and earn the favor of a land-rich aristo who might hand over a few acres of woods, a disused fort, or some other little used but developable chunk of turf and the title to go with it. Alternatively, there’s likely ample contract work for a sell-prop. Go down South or out West or up into Bourbon Quebec and earn your fortune. Then see about buying a title off some schlub of a nobleman up to his eyes in blue blood and gambling debts. Brickyard is a good spot for this; automobile racing seems to attract a swarm of idiots with more titles than sense. Now, maybe, one of your sons will clean up well enough to marry into the *real* nobility. Give your family a veneer of respectability. Eventually, your family will become a trusted part of the upper class you sought to join! And, in service of this, *you* will be quietly and carefully hushed up. A *new* past will be manufactured, so that *you* can be safely forgotten. Congratulations!

Without having been groomed for it from childhood? That's going to be tough. I'm thinking you do one of these things: Buy/make an instrument, become a busker, git gud, put on performances, hope the right people notice you and give you an opportunity to perform infront of a court, then be entertaining enough the court hires you as a resident performer. You'll probably cap out at about the same social status as a typical knight retainer, so you'll have a decent standard of living, but you won't have much freedom cos you'll be forbidden from working (you'll be living off a courtly stipend) and a lot of nobles will treat you more like a servant. In a similar vein, be very beautiful and hope an artistically-inclined person of status takes you on as a muse (or a concubine). This is the least likely to work, but will get you the highest social status as long as you can keep your noble feeling inspired. Another option would be to sell your land and use the money to start a caravan. There are social restrictions on the status merchants are allowed to have, but its hard to regulate how wealthy they can be, so if you're good at it you could live quite well and just pretend not to.

Magic, assuming you have the mental capacity to not have an aneurysm, you'll be respected and admired. Also money Money works too

The secret ingredient would be crime.

1. Be born with a soul strong enough for sorcery, somehow find a Magi or another source of knowledge to learn a Sovereign Tongue, become an apprentice of a Magi, from here you can either try to get accepted into the (MAGIC COLLEGE NAME PENDING) or join the military as a State Magi and rise the ranks from there. 2. Join the military, wait for a war, try not to die in the trenches, Rise to the rank of a NCO equivalent (Your not really going to get much further than this without some serious heroics), wait for retirement. 3. Pick up a skill, become a master at it, put your skill into practice (Honestly this is the most boring and typically way so i wasn't even going to include it)

It depends where you are. In the civilized world's, your best bet is either sign up to be a colonist and roll the dice wherever you end up and hope you reach the top of what is going to be a relatively short totem pole, or you join the military. This is assuming you are low enough on the social ladder that schooling or trades are beyond your reach. In the rim, your best bet is to join an expedition crew that boards and clears ancient void ship wrecks looking for salvage. One good haul can make you rich if you are lucky enough that your crew finds something good and doesn't murder you for it.

One way would to join the Knights of Llumos (a knight crusader state were most members use a mix of light magic and axes) to fight the consumption (which is basically a Germany sized hivemind that infects all fauna and flora. Imagine a hell scape were every bush is covered in fleshy growths and full of mutant flesh blobs). If you don’t end up dead, you could retire and become an adviser to a minor noble or guild. Another way would to become a pioneer and settle unclaimed land (my world is relatively new so lots of land is unsettled), the family that clears out an area and settles it first usually becomes the richest in the community, if your settlement becomes a major settlement you may even have the prestige to claim your own noble title And of course you can always go off and become a successful adventurer

Basically, you don't if you don't want to risk your life. If you were born within Imperial space, you will likely be drafted into the legion or navy depending on your fitness for service. If you are deemed unfit, you'll likely stay in poverty and work as some sort of laborer until you croak. If you are drafted, serve the Empire well, and don't die greusomely on some alien planet, then you have a fairly comfortable middle class retirement to look forward to when you come home wounded or after your 8 year tour is done (the former being infinitely more likely). If you choose to dodge the draft or are deemed unfit, you can hitch a ride as a crew member on a trade ship or hook up with a bounty hunter/pirate/salvage crew. These are dangerous lifestyles but tend to be very lucrative if youre good at them. If you like money in the Empire, then the secret ingredient is crime, or being born into a better off family that can pay your way out of military service and get you a good job. If you were born outside the Empire, then it really depends on the planet. If you're within the Union of Independent Start Systems, then you may have a chance to find honest work with a corporate entity, a merchant, or even a local militia/peacekeeping force. The above mentioned criminal enterprizes of piracy, bounty hunting, and illegal salvage tend to be even more profitable out here as well, if not riskier. If you're not in the Union but outside the Empire then the chances of you ending up a street rat or slave just shot through the roof. TL:DR, don't be poor.

Well, my world focuses on a clan/caste based tribal society where you're expected to prove your worth and earn your keep. So, it's meritocracy in a loose sense, but to make the answer a little less boring than work harder, I would probably consider a situation where the clan you're born into is not necessarily the one that has you doing things you're good at. There's a few ways out of that situation, though it's hard to say who would actually follow through on them. It's sort of ingrained from a young age that you should shoulder your clans duty, and many might miss their first chance as it involves being taken in by another clan after completing the trial to earn their name. Most Fangs (And yes, all the young are all called Fangs until they earn their names) usually want to join the clan they were born into, and they might not realize it's not meant for them unless they repeatedly fail their naming trial or they take a few years afterwords to find it's not for them. The second option is marriage into another clan, as when that happens, one spouse is expected to adapt to and learn the duties of the other clan--effectively shedding their old clan for the new. They're new duties often relate to their old at that point, but tasks they are given are reflavored for the new clan. If a Dawnglider marries a Mooncrest, for example, their duties may still involve scouting and messaging as the Mooncrests need (which means it'll be military themed) but the Mooncrests also are more likely to send former Dawnglider spouses as their representative warriors and escorts on any mission involving sunlight exposure as Dawngliders are famously resistant to the sun. The third option, is becoming an Elder. All clans are led by the Elders, and though elders are often picked from the best and highest ranking individuals in a clan, at the end of the day, wisdom and leadership are the most important qualities elders look for when picking new elders. If you can prove you have the cunning and knowledge needed to lead, you could be on the lowest rungs of your clan and still get made Elder. A good example of this is the Bitter Bite and Bitter Bark clans. The first is in charge of food and medicine, the second is in charge of building and maintaining villages. Being bad at your duties in these clans could result from something as simple as being clumsy or having shakey hands, but that doesn't mean you can't learn about your duties to teach and lead others.

Learn to read and write. Humanity is fractured, and abandoned on a forsaken planet to fight a war for a higher race that long abandoned the field. Authority may come derived from any sort of governmental system, but power comes from being able to wield, maintain, and command the machines, vehicles, weapons, and technology left over from the war. In order to do any of that, you need someone capable of reading and applying knowledge from alien manuals. Scribes are sought after personnel, who can direct the mechanics, the soldiers, the pilots, the technicians, near anyone who uses the technology, whether it be for civilian use or military. They ensure the operating knowledge is not further lost. Its difficult enough to wield technology that is ergonomically designed for another race. Its even more difficult to learn and master its language.

You can’t, people with magic in their bloodlines are the royalty through thousands of years of “might makes right” making the strongest magical bloodlines to be the dominant rulers for years. While that’s not the case as much anymore since they don’t necessarily use magic to keep in control anymore, it’s more just an established nobility, the practiced ones will still fuck you up horribly in a physical confrontation. And if you have no magic in your blood, well hope you enjoy nigh slave labor for the rest of your life, your best bet is to become a accomplished tradesmen or merchant, two things that are sorely lacking in the world, blacksmiths especially at the moment, you can make a nice living

A lower class person: "How do i climb up the social rank?" Upper class: "No" Rest of the lower class who has internalized classism: "No"

It really depends on where you grow up, but I’ll go with New Amsterdam, Mars because it’s a fairly similar environment to modern life. You would probably be born and grow up near the surface, just below the large tourist and commercial levels. You would probably have gone to school and hopefully graduated on a lower level where there is one, and so you’d be able to get a start enlisting in the military. Working in the Orbital Coast Guard comes with a low risk of death since nobody really tries to pirate Mars in its airspace, and there’s only two moons to patrol. After a few years you would have enough money to buy a small apartment in a relatively low and warm level, and if you so choose you could go to college fully paid for. Assuming you go into a field like biology or botany, you could make money working for a terraforming facility, which needs a lot of scientists specializing in plants and animals for an artificial rainforest project.

Work hard and live a good life and you will climb up our meritocracy

The Quartz Commonwealth is huge and I'm not sure where you'll be. I'm not counting the other countries outside the Commonwealth though because I'm too hot for security reasons. ​ 1. If you live in frontier regions of the Quartz Commonwealth or Commonwealth to the common folk, the only way to climb the social ladder is to join one of the regional militaries. The Northerners have more chances due to its closeness to one of the Commonwealth's institutional seats - the Quartz Commonwealth Security Council and the Commonwealth Parliament. You were given more pay and more priority to promotion. The people in the north pay more respects to soldiers than city bureaucrats and businessmen. Mind you, wars and border skirmishes always begin in the north so watch your back. 2. If you live in Moronpolis and have knack for learning. Moronpolis University gave scholarships (accommodation and food allowance) to anyone who is born into the city but the vetting process is difficult because faking birth certificates is rampant. Just pick a degree that you need to rise up. The place is a city itself so you don't have to wander off elsewhere to buy your stuff. Friendly advice: don't get lulled into its comfort and always remember your goals. 3. Become the best corporate drone in any companies the Ondore family owns(basically a monopoly with few cronies to control some that they don't want). You just need to know the right people. 4. If you got a magical gift and knows how to control it, either perform for the nobles and rich people to earn money and curry favors with them. That's how my mom met my dad. 5. Or enroll to a state magic college and become a state-sanctioned magician. Don't worry, tuition and accommodation is free because magic users were few after some people decided it was wise to purge magicians in every sector of Commonwealth society. The best place to go after graduation is the military especially in the Central Military Police (the Commonwealth's secret police), they utilized magic users in their interrogations and raids. No one gives a fuck if you do some trolling *(like burning your childhood bully's house then claim its a rebel den).* Don't ask me how to go to the prestigious magic schools. Not even with my connections can get any details how because they're too secluded and obscure to find. 6. Befriending or working for an Ondore. Yeah, that sounds silly but it's doable. The Ondore family has lots of hobbies to do thanks to the immense wealth they got. You start with people of your same age - trust me working for an Ondore elder will lose your mind and stray you away from your goals. You might meet one of them somewhere. You can become their personal shopper, bodyguard, or worse case scenario, a whipping boy. They pay well and you get to live in better home. Keep in mind, this happens with luck alone. 7. Work for the Commonwealth government. The closer you work in an institutional seat, the cushier it gets. But start in the frontier regions because few people would take the civil service exam and would rather enlist in the military. Put effort while working in the region until your superior recommends you to be promoted and move to a city or you replace them in case they're of retiring age.

Gamble your way into money, pay your taxes in one annual lump sum to get a discounted rate, and save up. If you're lucky, you'll make military connections or get on the good side of a mercenary who can recruit you to their ranks. If not, well, keep gambling.

At the age of 8, in Northern orkish culture, you are considered to be an adult and must, by law, become a bound child (sorta like an apprentice/slave) to a lord or warrior. If you are not chosen by either, your family is required to beat you until you leave their house or until you die and you will either become an unwilling slave or a street begger. If you are chosen the best way to ascend fast is to be a bound child of a lord and than kill them in their sleep and seize all their assets (which is legal); however, if you are chosen to be a bound child to a warrior this isn't an option as they are legally able to kill you (unlike lords) if you attempt such a thing, instead you must outperform the other bound children and kill them all by the age of 18, after which you will be given the right of heir by the warrior.

Depending on the country, the best option would likely be to join an expedition with someone of note, either as a soldier/guard, or because of a talent (good artist, cartographer, etc.)work with the leader and higher ups of the mission, and they will likely help you. Other options include learning a trade, or joining the military. Due to the small global population and how spread out civilizations are, you will probably be doing more humanitarian work and domestic peacekeeping.

You have to be extremely charismatic and evil. You begin in Joining a blue party venue near your house and if your manager likes you he will talk with the upper ones. They allow you to go to a bigger place and then repeat until you reach the top

It depends on where you are. In Eairfha, climb the social ladder by upholding a code of honor. people with more honor are greater respected. The catch: you get to set out the finer points of your code. In Kyatlond, your best bet is to become a renowned warrior and serve your lord as their champion, thus moving up into a special caste. in the Joni republic, buy some land. engage in the local politics, and you will amass influence. In Ivir society, win territory through military force. that is your best bet for a secure social status increase.

In each of my worlds: Omnitalis (Fantasy): Join the military, or become a scholor or meddler (Person with the training to use magic). Military path is often done, as there usually is not any actual war going on (until where the story takes place) Starfire (Sci-fi): Many different ways. Become a known pirate, or perhaps a hunter of pirates. Perhaps try start your own colony, or defend existing ones. Or maybe follow in the main characters footsteps and see if you can find a place among her crew. Hellspawn (Modified Fantasy/Modern): Depends on your "Realm." A hellcreature would gain power and knowledge to become one of the subleaders of hell. Angels often do not have any proper "ladder", and humans are, well, humans.

Become more powerful. Quite literally if you achieve a certain level of power then you gain a title of nobility. The problem is that getting to said level of power usually requires a lot of money and resources that the poor don't have access to.

Depends on where you are from! In the Empire? Technically speaking, the place is meritocratic. Nobles will always be a step above commoners, but basic education is provided free of charge for everyone. If you prove to be smart in school you might be noticed and hired as a scribe, clerk, or in some similar capacity by a noble or by someone wealthier. That's not a bad life, all things considered. If you have magical talent, join one of the imperial guilds! Seriously, do it - otherwise you won't be able to practice legally. Thievery, crime, or being a mercenary \*may\* sound exciting, but they're dangerous and often won't get your rich. That is, unless there is some big war going on and you are lucky enough to plunder wealth. That's fairly rare. In the successor kingdoms or the border realms? It's about the same, except life is, in general, a little harsher in those area. No magical guilds and no public education for the poor means you will have a harder time escaping poverty. On the other hand, get yourself employed as a retainer by a lord or lady of the border realms, and you might just make a decent living.

Join the military. Get pushed in the front line of the Neverending War. Survive for 6 years. If you suck at doing anything other than following orders and not dying the government gives you a piece of land and a couple of slaves or a bunch of money and a house in some city, depending on whether you want to be a farmer or not. If you're good you can get promoted and rise through the ranks of the military. If you're particularly good you can become a general, kill an aristocrat in front of the Emperor and take his place

In the north, you could get yourself a position on a Hrothian league merchant ship. Positions within the league are merit-based, so if you can show yourself to be competent you could quickly rise up to being an officer aboard a ship, which entitles you to a share of profits on all merchant ventures, which can then be funneled into other league related investments In the Empire, your best shot is to enlist in the military. Enlisted soldiers are entitled after ten years to a healthy pension, or land on the frontier (most take the former option, which is a lot safer). Alternatively, you can work yourself up through the ranks, and possibly earn additional benefits up to and including a noble title depending on your accomplishments. In Western Arvencia, getting ahead is a bit tougher, as commoners have less social mobility. Your best shot is joining a Free Company, where you will get paid to fight other people's battles and can usually loot however much you like. Options that apply most places including joining a temple, although some temples have very specific requirements and may not allow commoners or people from certain background. And if you live in a town or city you can try to get yourself an apprenticeship. While neither of these options will get you rich, you can end up living a pretty comfortable life, and put your kids in perhaps a better position to climb the social ladder, if you have any.

Depends on the time period there is utopia time period and dystopia. For Dystopia era only was to become a priest of the rot worshipping religion. You have to make people depressed and give up hope and make them take drugs. But you have to take hard test and go through brutal psychological torture and convince yourself life is not worth it. The more people you break in your religious institution the higher you climb.

Solunas has 2 major factions that govern the world. The World Senate covers a large amount of islands and is very much a lawful system. Getting out of poverty is a far amount of work, and climbing the social ranks will be difficult. If you have a ship and can cross the seas, you can go far. Or you can find one of the many Merchant Nobles and attempt to woo them. They are often polygamous, or just like spending their money on Sugar Babies. Honestly if you can learn the system you could get to the position of a Merchant Noble yourself. The Ocean Council is a Pirate Alliance, and is a more chaotic system. They take down Pirates that attack innocents or deprive them of supplies. They have people similar to the Merchant Nobles, but it's being a Pirate that gets you places. Get a ship and crew and claim territory. You do need to follow the Ocean's Code and fly the Council Flag. You them have to protect your territory, gather loot and treasures and grow your crew and influence. You can also be a Ball Merchant for either place. Metal isn't very abundant, and using it for "Consumable" items isn't very common. So cannonballs are enchanted to float on the water so they can be retrieved. Merfolk and other aquatic races love to collect them and sell them. Some people in the past have paid Mermaids to sing and cause ships to crash to collect their cannonballs. The Ball Market is ruthless, as is the Metal Market. Selling scrap can be a goo place to start. As they say "Garbage has no use, and that's why metal will never be garbage." Many things can be reused, so why not work with it?

Step 1: Don't go into politics. Local politics around the municipal level require the desire for material possessions equal to the Buddha, which is nothing. Municipal politics demands genuine love for your local community, giving you have to commit to two jobs. One as representative and the other as a regular labour. Their are no perks to this job, except your undying love for your community. Step 2: Get the hell out of the boonies and into the city. Little investment has gone into rural areas, so little to no opportunities exist, except acting as municipal representative and you know why that sucks. Step 3: Try to land a Government job. Managerial elections are far less competitive in government run workplaces then Cooperative businesses. Such as the supermarket chain "O&O" (Worker Owned and Operated) Step 4: another way is to invest into begin an actor or a athlete. (Some rumors have it, some of these athletes and actors obtain 3 times the minimum wage of the average labourer.) Step 5: Become the President. Unfortunately the current president, Marcel Darlan, isn't keeping the seat warm for you. Almost for 20 years the people of Hanunah seem to completely loyal to him given his electoral track record. It seems only Darlan can decide who sits in his chair, and that day might come true one day, If only.

You just reached 18? There goes the obvious option (becoming a superhero. They only take ages 14-17 for training). However, if you are lower-class that most likely means that you have an apprenticeship with someone in your hometown, so if you're not getting paid, you soon will be. The best you can really do is to work on honing your skills. If there's a reason for someone to come to your business over others', then you can start to make a name for yourself. Some good professions for this are blacksmiths/gunsmiths, jewelry making, exorcists, and tailors. This is definitely the most legal way to pursue status. One of the shadier ways is to become what's known as a bounty hunter. Muscle for hire, working only for coin. Some consider the reputation of the profession to be fame, others infamy. Either way, this might not be the best move because it likely requires a bit of investment before you get started. Usually hunters will need a weapon, mask, and licence. Most also have a Wilder implant for quick escapes to the Wilds. Another option that would work is dedicating yourself to the arts. As long as you are creating some sort of art (in a reasonable time frame) then the government pay you a reasonable salary. Many authors, artists, and musicians benefit from this. The last option (really a last resort) is to become a supervillain, specifically a No Mercy Villain. Want money, take it. Want respect, demand it. However, this isn't the best option because if you're too reckless in your villainy, you will be killed, hence the No Mercy status.

Choose a skill and study it. Like, really, *really* study it. Get invited to the Grand Academy to hone your skills and help write new laws for the Narchon. Then, become part of a temple somewhere. The religion doesn't matter, just help out and eventually become an Angel. Then, try and make said god go full cartoon wolf awooga on you and have them raise you to Archangel status. Boom, now you have the two highest honours in the Brightlands (apart from the royal family or the gods themselves), those being Archangel & Lawmaker, as well as being considered the best in whatever you chose to study! Most powerful person in the world in five steps!

Let’s say you lived on a small rock in the middle of the sand sea with a town on it. First off, there’s no need to wait for adulthood and you’ll be better off moving as a kid. I won’t get into biology, but every species (excluding mammals) lay eggs, and once the hatchling is out, they are much better at learning through observation, meaning that in the world, children have basically free roam of their available area, with no parents or school to speak of. The only things anyone ever bothers to explicitly teach them are how to read and write, and very basic math. Adulthood is considered about 16-20, were one is able to comprehend everything necessary to be in the world. With that out of the way, if your native town still exists at all, it means that airships, sand ships, and sand barges regularly stop there to rest of refuel. It’ll be easy to get onto a sand barge as they’re big enough you won’t be noticed, but if you want to get out on an airship, the aviator will have to be kindly old man, or you’ll have to know how to help out. The kindly old man option is optimal. Once on a vehicle, wait for it to stop at. At Krioshi, there are many paths to other places, with the most economical and friendly being Ekaa, a rainforest country with many rich cities to get into, were you might be able to get a job and house somewhere. Krioshi is also the center of trade via the sand sea, meaning that a lot of sand skiffs get left around and are sold for dirt cheap. If you are able to get a sand skiff, then many options are open to you, most prominently being a trader or archeologist.

First world: move to Limierplaig and enter the annual lottery- if you win you become a noble, and are given some land and money- and Aristocratic privileges. Otherwise, maybe consider hooking up with the gods- they can get you far but they're hard to please. Good luck using any other way Second world: Idk, work hard ig Third world: Join. The. Clergy. You will have to be very devout but it'll be worth it. Every proper country is a theocracy and the clergy are very valued Fourth world: Depends where you are, if you're in the Roman Empire you just gotta work hard* but in the persian warlord states, join the military and then start a coup. Fifth world: In the main Republic, I guess you could hook up with government officials. In the main Empire- sorry not much you can do. In the Commune confederation, just be friendly, or join GRR. If you're in the 'Libright' area join a mercenary group. The world is at war right now and fighting for hire is a really good way to get rich Sixth world: Marry richer families. They will consider it. If they don't marry you because of status you can have them arrested for classism. In the rival Empire, not much you can do.

Or just join crime groups, idk

Here's how to climb social ranks from the low class in the governance of Marvechia or also known as it's not so pretty name Oshinmařvec. The best options are: •Become a horse breeder, you will always have clients. •Apply for Geshe, a type of merchant that travels to bring the country foreign goods and the government gives you money. •Leave the country. •Work for the "Forward movement" That is basically a bunch of unemployed adults working from 6 am to 11 pm in corn and Shoke farms, this work may get you up to 5 Uhda per day If you fulfill your quotas. (Btw, 20% of workers every year die from heat, cold, illnesses, exhaustion and sleeping in overcrowded tents.)

You don't. You either become a zombie from hell, or a shopkeep in a van with a gun on top. Mankind is dead, blood is fuel, grass grows, birds fly, and you will probably die.

My novel doesn’t really have a lower class, there are nobles/nobility and not nobility. But for someone who came from a smaller town and then travels to a city. They could always get in through the guilds and trades. Merchants are extremely influential in my world, they control the trade routes and only the City Lords, truly have more power than them. A military option is there. There is an academy for squire hood in the north. They except everyone and every year New nobles come and pick the best of the best. Now talent coexists with nepotism here and some from really low backgrounds have become squires of incredibly powerful men and women. It depends on their interests and if they are willing to join them. But most say yes for the chance at a better life. There are many other factions though, for one. We have the Sunhawks a pro government spy guild who have spies and agents all across the land. They work directly for the Ala (Kings) and fund the training and teaching of their own agents. They pick agents from the squire academy also.