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High lord of terra or inquisitor.

Both have massive power. A high lord can sway entire planets and a inquisitor has ultimate power. High lords come in many forms from the burocratic administration to the eclesiarchs and the high lord of mars.

Warmaster is the highest I can think of that a human achieved, Lord solar macharius wasn't it?

All depends on where the person is born or belong to really. A High Lord of Terra for most of the imperium, a Fabricator General for Ad-Mechs (this is also a High Lord of Terra if it's the Martian Fabricator General but the AdMech probably considers that honor to be on par with smelly machine grease all things considered), Ecclesiarch for anyone in the Imperial Cult, Warmaster for anyone in the imperial guard, etc.

The thing with this kind of question is that most of those hierarchies don't respect another branch's ranks at all. So a Magos would probably prostrate himself before the Fabricator General, but wouldn't give two rats asses about the Ecclesiarch yelling at how he shouldn't worship machines.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Because the AdMech recruits for talent rather than birth, you can go a long way in that organisation from very humble beginnings as well - although you generally have to be in the right place at the right time to even get noticed.

For example, Abrehem Locke was an ordinary dockworker with a pair of inherited cyber-eyes that just happened to be noospherically enabled. His origins were humble, but he got lucky, and ended up a grand prophet of the Mechanicum.

SPOILERS!

(currently reading the first book )

Anyway...

One thing we tend to forget is that in feudal times a lot of postitions were hereditary but there was also a lot of adoption to fill gaps, since heredity is kind of a crap shoot. Japanese history (for example) is full of people being brought into a clan because there was no male heir or as a reward for service. Wasn't Augustus Ceasar adopted as well?

Now in the Imperium which persumably has all sorts of genetic tools we can only dream of it might be a lot less necessary, you can just order up a designer heir at the local Adeptus Mechanicus Biologica temple. And if you assume the nobility are all enhanced or selectively bred, adoption of a commoner might not be advisable.

But it can happen. So even common birth is not the absolute disqualifier some think it is.

And one that has not been mentioned yet, Living Saint. Immortal, with the power of the emperor at your command? I'll take that. You don't even need to have spikes grow out of your shoulder.

Emperor - remember there are worlds lost and forgotten by the Imperium, and someone could take control of a star system or systems and declare themselves such...

 Stormonu wrote:
Emperor - remember there are worlds lost and forgotten by the Imperium, and someone could take control of a star system or systems and declare themselves such...

I was there when Horus killed the Emperor...

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

And one that has not been mentioned yet, Living Saint. Immortal, with the power of the emperor at your command? I'll take that. You don't even need to have spikes grow out of your shoulder.

I would argue that a Living Saint does not count as a normal mortal human.

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

And one that has not been mentioned yet, Living Saint. Immortal, with the power of the emperor at your command? I'll take that. You don't even need to have spikes grow out of your shoulder.

I would argue that a Living Saint does not count as a normal mortal human.

But it's a position that can be obtained by a normal human. In other words you don't have to born with psy powers or from the right family.

I'd also say daemon princes count.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Also, afaik the Schola Progenium is an elite school and only accepts the orphans of important Imperial officials, so that will be pretty much nobility-only too. No way a mere street urchin or child of a factory labourer will be admitted into the Schola outside of exceptional circumstances.

The only exception may be the Ecclessiarcy, which would probably offer the best advancement options for simple folk.

You know that the Ecclesiarchy runs the Schola Progenium, right?

Yes, but the fluff for the Schola clearly states it only accepts the orphans of high-ranking officials, so there is no doubt about that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Anybody can become a High Lord of Terra, at least certain positions.

These are the permanent positions,

The Master of the Administratum
The Inquisitorial Representative
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum
The Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus
The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites
The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators
The Master of the Astronomican
The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum
The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica

The remaining 3 positions are usually held by the following offices,

Lord Commander of Segmentum Solar
Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes
The Chancellor of the Estate Imperium
The Speaker for the Chartist Captains
Lord High Admiral of the Imperial Navy
Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Guard
Cardinal(s) of the Holy Synod of Terra


The bolded positions are theoretically available to anybody who has the ability to raise to that station. Birth station and psychic abilities are not required.

Wrong. All positions higher than Menial in the Adeptus Terra or Adeptus Mechanicus are only open to Adepts, who are a hereditary noble class. You are never going to become Master of the Administratum or get any other high position if your father wasn't a high ranking, influential Adept. The Imperium is a feudal society, virtually every job in the entire Imperium is hereditary. The AdMech too.

On the first point, that is not entirely correct. People of common birth can be admitted to the Progenium if recommended by an Inquisitor or other influential individual. Some of your Tempestus Scion candidates come from the ranks of Imperial Guard veterans, many of which are average joes of common birth.


On the second, even the low ranking positions tend to be hereditary more often than not. Also, I wouldn't call the Adepta a form of nobility, since the nobility are a specific class in the Imperium below the Adepta.

I actually think the GrimDark 40K universe is mostly an operational Meritocracy.

With only a few exceptions, it's all about ability and not heritage.

Certainly, there are individuals and families that have entitlements (wealth, etc.) from heritage, but they play a smaller role in the operational running of the Imperium.

Even in Navigator families or Knight families - it's still all about ability.

Navigators are built, not trained. That is to say, a normal person will never become a Navigator as they lack the genetic manipulation and breeding that creates Navigators. The Navis Nobilitie actually predates the Imperium, going very far back in the history of Mankind and the development of Warp Travel.

 Psienesis wrote:
Navigators are built, not trained. That is to say, a normal person will never become a Navigator as they lack the genetic manipulation and breeding that creates Navigators. The Navis Nobilitie actually predates the Imperium, going very far back in the history of Mankind and the development of Warp Travel.

True.

But what I meant to say was that their eventual posting is still based on their ability at the end of the day and not so much from which Navigator House they come from. Like, a Navigator with lesser ability from a prominent House is still not going to get a good posting.

Though I also agree that ability has a correlation with the House.

Like, a Navigator with lesser ability from a prominent House is still not going to get a good posting.

True. But the reverse is NOT true. A skilled navigator will never, ever, become the navigator on the Fenris Hjolda, no matter how good they are, if they aren't House Belisarius born. Each chapter, rogue trader dynasty, etc, has its own treaties with particular navigator bloodlines.

Equally, only the dominant house gets to pick the Paternoval Envoy.

That's the problem; success in the Imperium needs both competence and connections. You can get a planetary governorship by inheriting it, but you'd need credentials of actual success to be nominated for Lord Sector. But at the same time, the electorate who you want to support you consists of governors who inherited their worlds and therefore quite like that system.

What you actually get is that the upper tiers of society are populated from the most competent members of vast sprawling family dynasties. So for every 'Lord Daros' who gets a Lunar-class cruiser named after him, there are probably a few dozen - maybe a few hundred - minor lords and cousins who are part of a dynasty, with their own treaties, intrigues, etc. And you'll never, ever get anywhere on Daros without paying off, marrying or being one of them.

locarno24 wrote:

Like, a Navigator with lesser ability from a prominent House is still not going to get a good posting.

True. But the reverse is NOT true. A skilled navigator will never, ever, become the navigator on the Fenris Hjolda, no matter how good they are, if they aren't House Belisarius born. Each chapter, rogue trader dynasty, etc, has its own treaties with particular navigator bloodlines.

Equally, only the dominant house gets to pick the Paternoval Envoy.

That's the problem; success in the Imperium needs both competence and connections. You can get a planetary governorship by inheriting it, but you'd need credentials of actual success to be nominated for Lord Sector. But at the same time, the electorate who you want to support you consists of governors who inherited their worlds and therefore quite like that system.

What you actually get is that the upper tiers of society are populated from the most competent members of vast sprawling family dynasties. So for every 'Lord Daros' who gets a Lunar-class cruiser named after him, there are probably a few dozen - maybe a few hundred - minor lords and cousins who are part of a dynasty, with their own treaties, intrigues, etc. And you'll never, ever get anywhere on Daros without paying off, marrying or being one of them.

This is mostly true, except for the fact that the Imperium will actually allow rebels to take over planets, and allow the rebels' leader to become the new Planetary Governor, so long as they continue paying their tithe.

That is because the Imperium, as a galactic-scale political body, doesn't give a single feth how an individual planet is run, so long as the tithe and Creed is maintained. Who sits on the throne as Planetary Governor, and how they attain that status, means less than nothing to the High Lords of Terra and the Adeptus Administratum.

Should a revolution, rebellion or other uprising negatively affect the tithe, though, then the Imperium brings the hammer down. Hard. This can include the material goods the planet is required to provide, its tithe of psykers, its veneration of the Imperial Creed, or the stricture against treating with Xenos... violate the few laws the Imperium applies to its member-worlds and you will end up with the Imperial Guard arriving, in force, to restore order.

After digging through some lore, actually, technically they could be anything, even a master of a chapter.

So any human, if they are bad ass enough, can become a member of the deathwing

 Psienesis wrote:
That is because the Imperium, as a galactic-scale political body, doesn't give a single feth how an individual planet is run, so long as the tithe and Creed is maintained. Who sits on the throne as Planetary Governor, and how they attain that status, means less than nothing to the High Lords of Terra and the Adeptus Administratum.

Should a revolution, rebellion or other uprising negatively affect the tithe, though, then the Imperium brings the hammer down. Hard. This can include the material goods the planet is required to provide, its tithe of psykers, its veneration of the Imperial Creed, or the stricture against treating with Xenos... violate the few laws the Imperium applies to its member-worlds and you will end up with the Imperial Guard arriving, in force, to restore order.

My point exactly. Your station in life is in no wise determined by birth, unless your born in a place where you basicaly die after 20 years due to the insane radiation or toxins.