Rules that handle Kingdom Management

[Death_Jester]

Hello Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone out there has found or created a set of rules for managing a kingdom in d20? I know that the Birthright setting had rules for this kind of thing but they were very tied to the setting and impossible to import to another. (Plus, they were not very flexible in some locations. You had to take a special non-adventuring class and have the blood of a god, just to run a guild. I didn’t care much for it really, not to mention that it was for 2nd ed. I know they did some updates but it is still just too tied to the world setting to be useful for me.)

What I'm looking for is something that will work like a game-within-a-game mechanic. Sort of like a board/Risk style game to handle the interactions of large armies and kingdoms at a strategic level rather than just the tactical level we see in table-top. In epic games we often see the decisions of one person impact the lives of the people ruled, and that is what I want to find, if it exists. I know I could just say X or Y happens in the game when the players start running things, but I would like to at least have a framework to work inside of.

This way the game can as much about resources/alliances/intrigue/raising armies as about killing the dragon and getting its gold. Overall I think I will add a bit of depth to the games I want to run. So, if anybody has rules, or something in Tablesmith, or what have you, or knows of a resource book that covers this, please let me know. Thank you for your time.

 

[jeffman]

The fate of a kingdom decided by one dice roll.

PHB2 has the affiliations stuff, you can handle large scale strikes between organizations (or kingdoms) with two simple rolls of d20.

It has guidelines for what the organization can do, how you get rank in the organization, ect

[Edit] I'd also like to add that it has stuff for spying and diplomacy between organizations (again, simple d20 rolls determine that stuff)

 

[saucercrab]

I think Power of Faerun goes into this a bit.

I haven't read the book in depth, but there are chapters devoted to ruling a domain, being a battlefield/war leader, running a religion/temple/church, working the economy/market, expanding the frontier, & enforcing the law (police).

 

[kigmatzomat]

Check out MMS:WE. There's a christmas in July sale for Expeditious Retreat Press listed on the front page.

 

[Magesmiley]

There was an article in Dragon magazine awhile back which, while it was based off Birthright, I think was usable in any setting. I'm not sure of the issue number offhand.

As far as other systems, you might take a look at the old Companion set rules for D&D. The War Machine (mass land combat) and Dominion (nations) rules, while not d20, are probably still fairly adaptable to d20. Thinking back on how they worked, I think that it'd probably be pretty easy to do some sort of conversion (as in very minimal, if anything, for the dominion rules and a few tweaks for the war machine). The Rules Cyclopedia would have them too, but I suspect that the Companion Rules would be cheaper on e-bay.

 

[0-hr]

I could not find any info on the companion set dominion rules, do you have a link or anything that might help me find more information online?

 

[Death_Jester]

I could not find any info on the companion set dominion rules, do you have a link or anything that might help me find more information online?

Hey Buddy, I have a copy of the War Machine and Domain rules in the Rules Cyclopedia. If want I can show you in the future when we hook up.

Drop me a line to let me know.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think Power of Faerun goes into this a bit.

I haven't read the book in depth, but there are chapters devoted to ruling a domain, being a battlefield/war leader, running a religion/temple/church, working the economy/market, expanding the frontier, & enforcing the law (police).

Interesting. I never even look at Forgotten Realms stuff, but at first blush it sounds as if this would be an excellent generic ruleset for a much-needed and often forgotten aspect of D&D

(although after finding a couple of reviews of it isn't complete - it apparently references 'Heroes of battle' for war leading rules and 'DMG II' for economics rules)

 

[saucercrab]

Interesting. I never even look at Forgotten Realms stuff, but at first blush it sounds as if this would be an excellent generic ruleset for a much-needed and often forgotten aspect of D&D

(although after finding a couple of reviews of it isn't complete - it apparently references 'Heroes of battle' for war leading rules and 'DMG II' for economics rules)

Well, I have Heroes of Battle & a friend has the DMGII, so, I'm good.

 

[lukelightning]

I've got Mongoose Press's Book of Strongholds and Dynasties. It has extensive rule on running a large-scale kingdom; I've never actually used it, though.