Tiers & Expectations

Every individual sits at one of five tiers across five material dimensions.

• Tiers: Subsistence · Stability · Comfort · Affluence · Magnificence.
• Dimensions: Residence · Clothing · Food security · Economic security · Possessions.

Promotion & demotion

• Promotion requires all dimensions to reach the higher tier.
• Demotion requires all dimensions to drop.
• Checked daily, and sticky — no single windfall promotes you (and it’s hard to fall).

Tier is relative, not absolute

The same event has opposite hedonic value at different tiers: stale bread is +1 at Subsistence, −5 at Affluence. Tier shifts the expectation against which events are scored (see Satisfaction). Higher tiers also consume more, not merely better (bread and meat and luxury).

This is the ladder the player climbs in Survive & Rise — and it makes prosperity a moving target rather than a number that only goes up.