Politics in your games.

[dascarletm]

I was wondering if anyone had set up a more democratic style of government in any of their games. I'm thinking about breaking the mold in an upcoming series of games that might include some less typical for the setting political regimes. If anyone has successfully done some I'd like to hear some tips and examples.

Thanks.


PS: Would anyone suggest just keeping the political systems how they are? Perhaps having the fantasy world too close to real world politics might be not so fun.

[ravagerofworlds]

Remember the root of "politics"- it is "poli" from the latin word meaning People. Policy (how we do things publicly) is also related.

There are many types of governments listed in the DMG (not SRD), and we can mix and match as we please. RPGs are simply a model of reality, using really simple rules to determine effects from the actors in the game. Let's take a moment in real world history that a lot of western citizens can relate... Rome.

The Roman state started with a king, then became a republic with a Senate (only noble males please apply) with a limited Executive office (the Consuls). Over the course of the Roman state's lifetime, its government changed from two consuls sharing power to a single consul, back to sharing consuls, then an Emperor (with Octavian, or Caesar Augustus). The Imperial State worked like a modern business franchise... the nations/cities it conquered, it then incorporated into the next campaign. So in the Roman state, we have vestiges of democracy, autocracy, and laissez faire. This state lasted from like 800 BCE all the way up the fall of the Byzantines in the middle of the last millennium.

Throw in magocracies, theocracies, etc., and there are a number of interesting outcomes. Remember, even though most US citizens are biased towards democracies, it does not mean democratic states are inherently "good" - all the people can be fooled some of the time after all. It's the entire basis for 1984... a democracy ruled through propaganda that is still one party rule.

But remember... we're playing with models of our real world. The governments that our heroes/villains interact are part of the stage/context for decision making. I would use examples of OotS but I don't like doing spoilers... but if you're up to date, there are some interesting conversations about the state and role of government where Elan is one of the participants.

[dascarletm]

Well. That's pretty much all I need to consider. Thanks. :smallbiggrin: