Ideas for a corrupt but liked ruler

fba827 · Sep 20, 2015

I'm brainstorming a plot idea but I'm running in to a small but crucial snag so thought I'd tap the hivemind here.

the pcs are going to be at their hometown and are basically starting the underground revolution to bring down the ruler. The ruler however, has a great public face and is liked by everyone.

I need to figure out what the ruler does that is so bad that the pcs want to overthrow him, BUT is something he can get away with and cover his tracks that the public does not see the problem and loves him.

I've toyed with ideas that maybe he's somehow using the people in the poor section as slave labor. But something like that might be hard to keep a secret.
I've toyed with the idea that he's somehow mind controlling/influencing people, which has potential as it's easy to cover his tracks on that since no physical evidence, but I'm not yet convinced I should try for a more grounded idea first
Or maybe he's using the poor people for experiments of some kind

So anyway I'm just fishing for ideas on what a ruler could be doing that's bad enough for the pcs to want to dethrone him, but subtle enough/easy to cover up such that the general population still likes the ruler.

RadioKen · Sep 20, 2015

If the ruler keeps his negative externalities external enough, it'll be very easy for him to maintain his local popularity. Perhaps there's a marginalized group or three that his wealth is based in exploiting, and he spreads enough of that money around to more favored groups that they're cool with it or even enthusiastic about it, because THOSE PEOPLE. Perhaps he's respected for bringing "law and order," which to the uninitiated looks more like throwing the powerless in prison (where they perform slave labor) any time they start to act like they have rights. Perhaps his wealth comes from a colony or other source away from town, where his agents despoil the land and enslave the natives, but his home town benefits from the plunder.

was · Sep 20, 2015

...How about the idea that he is generally well liked because he has virtually eliminated taxes and 'cleaned' up the streets of the poor, the homeless and criminals? The down side is that he runs a secret, underground slave ring that exports those arrested to be sold in other nations.

...I'd suggest a few layers of insulation between the ruler and the actual crimes for plausible deniability. Maybe the seneschal communicates through a palace servant who is related to the criminal who runs the crime ring.

RadioKen · Sep 20, 2015

Or maybe he's secretly a big wheel in local organized crime, but able to keep the connections between himself and his more brutal subordinates hidden. He does flashy good works, but they're paid for with protection money and the proceeds from drug dealing and human trafficking.

Dandu · Sep 20, 2015

was said:
...How about the idea that he is generally well liked because he has virtually eliminated taxes and 'cleaned' up the streets of the poor, the homeless and criminals? The down side is that he runs a secret, underground slave ring that exports those arrested to be sold in other nations.

In the psuodo-medieval setting of D&D, what's wrong with openly supporting slavery?

was · Sep 20, 2015

Dandu said:
In the psuodo-medieval setting of D&D, what's wrong with openly supporting slavery?

...because it's not what the OP asked for ?

fba827 said:
I need to figure out what the ruler does that is so bad that the pcs want to overthrow him, BUT is something he can get away with and cover his tracks that the public does not see the problem and loves him.

Dandu · Sep 20, 2015

But it's entirely possible that the public thinks slavery is a good institution to have in society.

haakon1 · Sep 21, 2015

fba827 said:
I need to figure out what the ruler does that is so bad that the pcs want to overthrow him, BUT is something he can get away with and cover his tracks that the public does not see the problem and loves him.

I would avoid "corruption" (personal gain as a motivation for the evil ruler). Look to actual politics and history for rulers who are loved by some, but hated by others. This gives the possibility of a "grey" villain, where the enemy are not necessarily evil at all, and any case has more complex motives than the "evil because they're evil" trope we see too much of.

Some ideas:
- The Revolutionary. Loved by those who believe in the cause/have been freed, hated by those who back the ancien regime/have lost their wealth and power.

- The Lincoln. Morale crusader to some, blood enemy to those whose evil was overthrown.

- The Milosevic. Crusader for the power of his ethnicity, by any means necessary, to keep those other neighbors down.

- The Lee Kwan Yew. He knows better, and rules with an iron fist for the good of the people (really). But, if you cross him, well . . . you don't want to do that.

gamerprinter · Sep 21, 2015

haakon1 said:
I would avoid "corruption" (personal gain as a motivation for the evil ruler). Look to actual politics and history for rulers who are loved by some, but hated by others. This gives the possibility of a "grey" villain, where the enemy are not necessarily evil at all, and any case has more complex motives than the "evil because they're evil" trope we see too much of.

Some ideas:
- The Revolutionary. Loved by those who believe in the cause/have been freed, hated by those who back the ancien regime/have lost their wealth and power.

- The Lincoln. Morale crusader to some, blood enemy to those whose evil was overthrown.

- The Milosevic. Crusader for the power of his ethnicity, by any means necessary, to keep those other neighbors down.

- The Lee Kwan Yew. He knows better, and rules with an iron fist for the good of the people (really). But, if you cross him, well . . . you don't want to do that.

Hitler was loved by the German people for the most part up until they started to lose the war, and before the darker secrets got out...

haakon1 · Sep 21, 2015

gamerprinter said:
Hitler was loved by the German people for the most part up until they started to lose the war, and before the darker secrets got out...

Yes, a good example, but you lose the internet by saying his name.