What would a king do? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Jon_Dahl

2012-09-12, 04:05 AM

Kelb_Panthera

2012-09-12, 05:31 AM

Honorary titles.

Give them official monikers that they can use as emblems of prestige and a token of some sort to prove they earned the title.

For example: Defender of the Realm, comes with a decorative sash emblazoned with the royal heraldry and a special symbol tied to the title.

If you insist that the reward interact with game mechanics, just let the trinket give a small bonus to social interaction, e.g. in a 3.5 game the trinket would give a +2 - +5 circumstance bonus to diplomacy and/or intimidate when worn openly in front of the right people.

Kobold-Bard

2012-09-12, 06:26 AM

If these "adventurers" need more reward than the gratitude of the King and his subjects, then they are not truly heroes. And if they're not heroes then logically they MUST be villains, and should therefore be arrested/executed as expediently as possible.

Alternatively, if your whole kingdom needed rescuing then the chances are that the defeated foes probably have some pretty mad loot. Just take a percentage an tell them that after that if they can carry it, they can keep it.

Morph Bark

2012-09-12, 06:35 AM

Don't ask yourself "what would a king do?" Instead ask yourself "what would a free man do?"

Brother Oni

2012-09-12, 06:38 AM

Don't ask yourself "what would a king do?" Instead ask yourself "what would a free man do?"

Set headcrabs on them?

Oh sorry, you wrote free man, not Freeman...

-----

On a more serious note, in reference to the OP:

Non-noble titles or special concessions for potential future activities.

During the Three Kingdoms era of China, there were a number of military titles that were given out as rewards, with no hint of nobility or land owning implied.
They conferred prestige (somebody mentioned a diplomacy/negotiation bonus), plus also improved their reputation.

Of course people are going to be jealous, but the king will need to balance honouring the people who saved his kingdom and annoying the members of his existing power base. As the adage goes, you can't please everybody all the time.

To elaborate a bit further on the concessions, somebody mentioned discounts with merchants - what if the adventurers decide to start up their own trading company or a mercenary group?

In the case of trade goods, knowing that the royal family approves or uses your stock is a very good advertisement (known as 'By Royal Appointment' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_warrant_of_appointment) in the UK).
On the plus side, it costs the king nothing and the adventurers get free advertisement. The down side is if they take advantage of it to flog off crap merchandise, but the king should have recovered sufficient power to revoke any privileges without fear or reprisals by then.

Traab

2012-09-12, 06:39 AM

Does he have any daughters/sons to spare lying around? (depending on the preferences of the party) Cant offer the heir, but that spare isnt doing anything atm. The party could always use a spare camp cook/pack mule.

On a more serious note, a permanent discount with his merchants. Make it just large enough to be worth the party's while to make them want to come back to the kingdom to dispense with their unwanted loot and to buy some upgrades and reagents and such. Combine it with the hero of the realm type titles for flair.

Tyndmyr

2012-09-12, 11:01 AM

I'd like some advices about medieval politics.

A band of heroes has just single-handedly rescued your kingdom.
You and your kingdom are bankrupted.
You can only elevate someone to nobility if they have noble blood. Knights need lifelong training in order to qualify of knights. The heroes have no hint of noble blood, they are very low-class. Noblemen and knights are also jealous of their titles.

So you don't have any gold to give and any noble title you grant is null and bound to make your retainers upset.

The heroes still want to continue as adventurers so they have no time to become officials or even stay in one place for more than a week.

What would you do? Any creative suggestions? I have been thinking about this for two weeks and nothing...

Oh look, we have JUST found very compelling evidence linking you to this noble family. *backroom deals with noble family to have them all linked with glory, heroism, and saving the kingdom, in return for playing along*

In seriousness, this is what a noble/king/etc does. Plays the political game, keeping people happy while also wheeling and dealing to pay off the people he needs to pay off. Read game of thrones for some inspiration.

TheFallenOne

2012-09-12, 11:33 AM

If you can't grant titles directly they can still marry into nobility. If they have sufficient status(make them military officers, advisors etc) some lesser noble families would be willing to marry off their daughter to them to increase their own influence and be on friendly terms with the king.

The king has his own domain, and he can grant these lands to someone without taking from another. Give them a village, a duchy or something.

Now, is this a fantasy setting or historical? Depending on that some things work, others don't. You can build them a monument. Name a place after them. Let people say prayers in their honor in church. There can be songs in their honor. Let them be blessed by the kingdom's high priests of their respective deities. Hold a yearly celebration for their heroic effort.

mattrwh

2012-09-12, 01:55 PM

Yeah I think most of what I can think of has been covered already. Giving them honorary titles that have bonuses (or penalties depending on who you're talking to) to social interactions.

I like the idea of doing something for the heroes that memorializes their achievements. Building a monument, naming the town square after them, hiring a bard to write a song and perform it at court, etc.

snoopy13a

2012-09-12, 02:07 PM

Grant them land.

Tavar

2012-09-12, 02:14 PM

There are likely some lower nobility families with financial troubles and daughters. Arrange some honorary titles(Military ones work, or anything else that grants prestige), and also some marriages with said families, possibly in exchange for remittance of taxes or the like. Now they aren't nobles, and likely won't be. But their children will be, and few will look down on the marriages(at least in public), because these are obviously very powerful individuals.

Also, what kind of combat training do they lack that they were able to save the kingdom, but don't qualify for knighthood?

Coidzor

2012-09-12, 02:17 PM

^: Indeed. Field promotions/knighting of men at arms and other commoners who acquitted themselves well or otherwise gained the attention of the king for their prowess or cunning were a thing for every part of the medieval period that had knights that I've read about.

If possible to grant them lands, and such as qualifies exist, grant them lands out of territory that is disputed or currently unable to be held or developed due to one thing or another that they could actually have a shot at making into productive land. Either they swan off and do other things and when they die the lands go back to your nominal ownership, they kill themselves in the attempt without dirtying your own hands directly in trying anything, or they succeed and you've an adventurer-fueled buffer/new land that can be put to economic use and taxed.

Sort of like Kingmaker's initial hook.

Otherwise military rank, positions in the clergy if such is within the monarch's purview, licenses such as letters of marque or to form their own legal wossname...

Or at the very least you could send them on to an ally who would be able to handsomely reward them with due assurances and recommendations...

mattrwh

2012-09-12, 02:32 PM

Grant them land.

Isn't granting them land in medieval times the equivalent to giving them lordly titles? I would think such a thing would upset the kings retainers, which he wants to avoid.

Jonzac

2012-09-12, 03:56 PM

Grant them land, make them nobles and they use their power to break the other nobles...thus securing your place on the throne and breaking the back of anyone in your kingdom who would challenge you.

Laud the adventurers as they leave... they have a stable base of operations, you have a kingdom firmly in your grasp...and the "common" people see an opportunity (no matter how slight) to improve their condition which puts them squarely on your side.

Aidan305

2012-09-12, 07:34 PM

Make sure that the common people know that you're the one ultimately responsible for these heroes' successes. Don't want a popular uprising and a coup after all.

Then fake up a few noble connections to get them titles (See: A Knight's Tale). These ensures that not only have they been "rewarded", but they're also more firmly under your thumb. As Nobles they'll have certain obligations to the crown that they'll have to fulfil. (The amount of times I've had GMs throw this at me, and taken it happily because my characters wouldn't think that way)

Jon_Dahl

2012-09-13, 02:20 AM

Lot of great ideas so far!

About knighthood:
In my campaign vast majority of the knights are independent from kingdoms, working for a multinational order. Kingdoms only have very small royal guards which are knights. They receive life-long training and are bound to service the king at all times. That would be boring for adventurers.

Asta Kask

2012-09-13, 02:27 AM

Debase the currency and pay them in lead coins.

Emmerask

2012-09-13, 04:39 AM

Well the king most certainly has a trusted genealogist in his retainer,
and omg he just found new evidence that one of the heroes in fact has noble blood and is the only remaining blood relative of the believed extinct family xyz!

He presents these irrefutable evidence at court and gives the hero his title and land.

Now that is a very happy coincidence, or do you want to call the king a liar?

Kobold-Bard

2012-09-13, 06:05 AM

...

Now that is a very happy coincidence, or do you want to call the king a liar?

That's why you call the genealogist a liar. When you discover the fake lineage, you say he's working with these foreign sellswords and together they obviously duped the king, since the king would clearly never lie about something like this.

Feytalist

2012-09-13, 06:45 AM

Give them a charter.

Some form of document giving them the right to operate from and within the kingdom without interference, and to undertake tasks for the Crown. And make it illegal for any other adventuring group to operate in the kingdom without a similar charter.

That way the king gets his own private strike force to do tasks the nobility could or would not do, and the adventurers get a friendly home base.

Adlan

2012-09-13, 02:07 PM

The Reward for a job well done is more work.

Give them the ceremonial titles and such like honours (even found a new title of nobility or order of knighthood.) and then give them the next harder task, with potential loot and exp for them. And then repeat, more tasks, get more power mad, send them on more and more flimsily excused conquests and wars, then the either turn evil and you restart with their old characters as the evil empires dragons or you have them turn and take down the king.

And then it's your players turn.

Vizzerdrix

2012-09-15, 12:17 PM

I'll second granting them some land. Enough to start a large business. Don't forget to tax them. :smallwink:

Arrange marriages into some of the lesser noble houses or more prominent merchant families.

Grant them a few rooms in your castle. This helps to keep them close in case of trouble and gives them a base of operations

Mattarias, King.

2012-09-15, 11:49 PM

I'm surprised that artifacts, etc weren't mentioned. I don't mean things like spheres of annihilation, but stuff like the sword of the last hero that saved the realm, etc, etc. Cool prestigious things that'll come in handy. Stuff's not doing the kingdom any good just gathering dust, eh?

An Enemy Spy

2012-09-16, 12:51 AM

Kill them discreetly and claim that they left without asking for a reward.

Kobold-Bard

2012-09-16, 04:40 AM

Kill them discreetly and claim that they left without asking for a reward.

You needed them in the first place for a reason, they just saved your entire kingdom single-handedly.

Good luck with that.

Zzouzeizeski

2012-09-16, 05:30 AM

I'd first give them a choice between a very meager cash reward, or offer to have my treasurer doodle up some promissory notes to each character that they could redeem in X amount of years for significantly more, when everything is hopefully better(or the adventurers are hopefully dead).

I could maybe have my spymaster inform them of a rival noble/sovereign/merchant with plenty of gold to spare in a treasury he knows the location and layout of. Then offer the heroes some good men and horses with a wagon, as well as a nice cover story and let them have at.

If one of the heroes is a paladin, cleric, or has some sort of monastic education that doesn't clash with the local religion, I would offer to donate bit of territory that borders a rival kingdom or any sort of hostile territory that's full of bandits, barbarians, and/or beasts to their religious order and try to have them establish a sort of Knights Hospitaller organization to act as a buffer between the hostile lands and my kingdom. I would also send them a letter of recommendation for the hero of their order to be in charge of it. If I absolutely had to take the land from a noble, I would make them confront the heroes about it and if things go south, point the blame on his stubbornness exclusively.

Rawhide

2012-09-16, 07:42 AM

Give them chickens, then apologise that you could only give them a poultry reward.

Aidan305

2012-09-16, 08:47 AM

Give them chickens, then apologise that you could only give them a poultry reward.

It's at times such as this that I wish this forum had a like function. Congratulations on a truly terrible pun.

shawnhcorey

2012-09-16, 09:15 AM

PR: lots of banquets and speeches. Pretend that you were behind them all the time; that they were part of your secret agency all along. Then get them the heck out of your kingdom before they decide to take over.

The Succubus

2012-09-16, 09:20 AM

Don't ask yourself "what would a king do?" Instead ask yourself "what would a free man do?"

Gratuitous 300 references are good but what a king should do is crush his enemies, see them driven before him and hear the lamentations of the women.

An Enemy Spy

2012-09-16, 12:08 PM

You needed them in the first place for a reason, they just saved your entire kingdom single-handedly.

Good luck with that.

It's called poisoned food at the victory feast. If they were defending themselves, it would hardly be discreet.

Heliomance

2012-09-18, 06:55 PM

It's called poisoned food at the victory feast. If they were defending themselves, it would hardly be discreet.

Heroes' Feast, the breakfast of champions. It's delicious, nutritious, and it makes you immune to poison for the entire day.

Jay R

2012-09-20, 09:31 AM

Kill them discreetly and claim that they left without asking for a reward.

These are people who just destroyed a major threat you weren't strong enough to handle. This is probably the wrong group to pick a fight with.

Severeal options:
1. proclaim them to be descended from Adam and Eve, and therefore they are related to the nobility. Then grant them land and titles.
2. Grant them land in the undeveloped wilderness with the promise of noble titles once all the threats are killed and the land is productive.
3. Marry them into the nobility.

But my preference is to have the king stand for honor and justice. Just ennoble them, and don't worry about the jealousy of nobles who failed to save the kingdom. In the background of every noble house is a commoner who earned it.

[Then have a bunch of adventures about the jealous back-stabbing nobles' attempted revenge on the PCs.]

dehro

2012-09-20, 03:52 PM

have the king wield a big enough club to make the nobles accept whatever he thinks is the due reward for his band of heroes.

alternatively, have them each adopted by a separate noble family..as their champion...with the benefits that come with. that way each of the noble families can brag about their champion's further accomplishments.. they would be honour bound to provide supplies and whatever else their man may need to do his thing.

final option, create a new order of nobility..one that is not joined by blood but by deeds..most nobby nobles wouldn't want to be part of it.
call it the king's something.. scouts, dragoons, champions, heralds, wardens.. anything. they'd have a degree of capacity for pulling rank in the military, free supplies and board within the military and/or nobles/clerical institutions, right of free passage on toll bridges, tax exemptions, and maybe the king can grant them authority to be either judge, jury or executioner (or any combination of the 3) in cases of criminal law and such. in other words, make them the king's agents...free to roam the land and strike at injustice in the king's name, but still subjected to the king's authority.

Dr.Epic

2012-09-20, 03:55 PM

http://www.hrwiki.org/w/images/thumb/f/f1/kot.PNG/491px-kot.PNG

"Invite them to a banquet with lots of turkey and butter!"

Melayl

2012-09-20, 10:17 PM