The chain of command is, basically, an organizational chart that shows who has authority over the ship at any given time. Because the Legacy is a commercial vessel, it follows a commercial chain of command which may be different from a military one; this is based off the real life merchant marine system. This is a nice reference if you are curious!

An important distinction is “shift leader” vs. “overall leader”. For a given shift, each department will have a leader who is the person in charge for that shift. The shift's leader might not be the overall leader of the department.

The four departments are Pilot, Engineering, Cargo, and Steward. For a given shift, the pilot in command for that shift is the “captain”, the engineer in command is the next in line, the cargo master in command is the third in line, and the steward in command is the fourth in line when it comes to leadership of the vessel for that shift.

However, in an overall sense, the most senior able-bodied officer is the captain of the ship in order of pilot, engineering, cargo, and steward. To use a specific example, if the Captain and the Chief Engineer are both out of commission, then the Cargo Master is the overall captain of the ship.

In a more linear fashion, in an emergency the order of succession would look like: Captain, Chief Engineer, Cargo Master, Manager, First Pilot, First Engineer, First Steward, Second Pilot, Second Engineer, etc.

The distinction is key in emergencies; while junior officers may be temporarily in charge for a shift under normal operations, whom is in charge during a critical situation will fall back to the most experienced crew members.

Pilots are required to have an overall understanding of how the ship operates, which is why they are the ultimate authority when it comes to commanding the ship. No other department has the same degree of overall training when it comes to understanding the basics of how the ship runs, how to deal with cargo distribution and load management, and the health and safety of the passengers.

Ranks below Third Engineer are usually not put in charge of a shift.

Ranks below Third Cargo Officer are usually not put in charge of a shift. When loading/unloading cargo, temporary handlers may be brought on to assist; a Bosun leads such a temporary crew with Deckhands assisting them. Technically, the ship could hire such roles permanently but it would be unlikely as they wouldn't have much to do while the ship is underway.

Ranks below Third Steward are not usually put in charge of a shift. The ship may have many Able Stewards, Basic Stewards, and Cleaners. Their ranks relative to each-other are based purely on seniority.

Kitchen staff do not follow quite the same chain of command. In terms of whom is in command of the overall ship, it would follow the organizational chart above. However, the Head Chef has overall authority over the kitchen operation and meal planning. With final approval from the Manager, the Head Chef also purchases ingredients and is responsible for making sure that the ship is properly stocked with food that meets the dietary requirements of the passengers and crew.

The Head Chef may delegate as desired to other members of his staff. There are probably more “kitchen ranks” than listed above as well; such ranks are largely to the discretion of the Head Chef. The First, Second, and Third stewards outrank the Head Chef on the organizational chart because they would be leaders in an emergency situation, and would responsible for the safety of the passengers and potentially the ship itself if other department heads have been incapacitated.

However, the Head Chef outranks them in the kitchen for daily operations and reports directly to the Manager under normal circumstances rather than going to a shift leader (see the reporting section below).

In the real life merchant marines, career advancement usually comes with a change of ship. Being a Legacy ship, the desire is to retain crew indefinitely, which means advancement has to be handled differently.

As such, pay is not attached to rank; pay is a more complex and very different topic from chain of command, so it will have its own page, but on a basic level, pay is based on seniority (i.e. years aboard the ship) and can come with bonuses and additional revenue sources (i.e. tips for Stewards, etc.).

Generally speaking, you might hold on to your rating (rank/title) for a good long time. Advancement can come in a variety of forms; changing departments being one form, or requesting more responsibilities can be another. For example, if you wanted to try being a shift leader even though technically your rating is too low to normally take on that job, you can request it from your senior officer and work out a temporary (or maybe even permanent) job trade with a shift-lead role.

People are encouraged to look at rank as a fluid thing rather than a hard and fast identity, and crew members are encouraged to try different roles and departments if they want the variety.

The last bit to mention is the “reporting structure” of the ship's chain of command. This is to say, whom do you report to if you have a problem.

If the problem is job related – for example, an engineer has discovered a fault in a system and wants to know what to do about it – then you would report to your department's shift leader. There is no need to go through an intermediate party; if the Second Engineer is the shift leader, but the Third Engineer is also working the shift, you don't have to ask the Third Engineer first, to continue the example.

If you are the department's shift leader and it isn't a call you feel comfortable making, you can bubble it up to either your department head or to the pilot in command of your shift (who may in turn tell you to bubble it up to your department head).

Department heads have a regular meeting to make decisions. Generally speaking, the Ship's Manager (Ria) has the ultimate say in any financial matters whereas the Captain (Jarvis) has final say in operational matters.

If the problem is more “human resources” related – for instance, a discussion about one's pay or an interpersonal issue – then the shift leader is not the appropriate person to speak to. In most cases, your department head is the correct person to approach for such matters. However, if your department head is the problem, the Ship's Manager (Ria) is effectively the head of HR for the ship. The exception is for critical operational issues; for instance, if you have found an issue in your department that your department head is ignoring, you would take that to the Captain instead.

As the ship grows and more families are established on the ship, it is anticipated that additional roles will open up. For example, the children will need a teacher. Different lines of business may open as well; the ship is capable of having all sorts of things attached to the cargo spine. Scientific modules, factory/production modules, and many more. Expect more opportunities to open over time.