Has anyone given thought to the strange and hitherto unnoted fact that in D&D government would be a difficult if not impossible thing, unless it was despotism?
Government is an agency with a monopoly on the use of force.
As such, it cannot allow any other group within it's domain to exercise such force. To do so is tantamount to abdicating.
A modern-day government for instance, cannot allow it's citizens to own tanks. Yet in D&D, high-level casters are allowed to move freely between towns and this is accepted without consideration of what it would mean for one's neighbor to own a tank.
Any thoughts on this?
[Mythbuster]
I
reject your
realitydefinition, and substitute my own!
[/Mythbuster]
Government is some people deciding to make some laws and then trying to enforce them, whether for the greater good or for personal reasons or personal gain. Government doesn't necessarily have to be militarily overpowering.
Just because some random adventurer may or may not be powerful enough to flaunt your country's laws doesn't mean that the average citizen is going to fare so well if he or she decides to try rebelling and finds the local constabulary of trained Fighters or Warriors still beat him or her down handily. And most countries in D&D would probably have someone to call upon whenever they need to stop a high-level adventurer or villain or crazy-person from causing trouble. And if the PCs themselves decide to take over a weak country by force, so what? Plot hook! High-level PCs are
expected to amass followers, found their own countries, build their own strongholds, etc.
And if the citizens have a relatively safe and peaceful life in your country, you don't need the threat of force to keep them compliant (aside from keeping some guards around to stop murderers, thieves, etc.). Wise leaders can hold power without needing force, except to deal with dangerous individuals.
Adventurers may be exceptionally powerful and dangerous, but as long as you don't MAKE them your enemies, what do you, as ruler or a senatorial body or parliament or other governmental system, have to worry about? As long as you have some powerful fighters and wizards or whatever among your own military or constabulary or royal guards or advisors or whatnot, you only have to worry about THOSE PEOPLE possibly attempting a coup. So you treat them well and make sure they don't have a good reason to try. Governing takes a lot of work and is probably rather boring most of the time, unless you leave it all to lesser bureaucrats, in which case, why would anyone bother to depose you if you're a hands-off ruler with only nominal authority and no real power?
If you don't have any powerful forces on your side as a governmental body in D&D, then you just have to make sure that adventurers and random megalomaniacal villains don't want to control your country or whatever. But if you do live the rich life of a decadent noble or whatever, chances are good that a significant chunk of your fortune is going into the pockets of powerful bodyguards etc. that you're paying to provide security for you.
Or maybe your government is supported by the church. The Shield Lands in Oerth are held by Heironeous' church, who protects those lands against the forces of evil trying to conquer them. The Great Kingdom of Aerdy was once supported by Heironeous' church and paladins etc., IIRC, before it converted to being ruled by Hextorites and supported by Hextor's blackguards etc.
Or whatever. As long as the government has some claim to legitimacy or power to enforce its laws, and as long as those laws aren't too onerous, people are likely to follow them. And if you have enough power or minions to enforce them, it might not matter how onerous your laws are. You don't need to worry about keeping every 15th-level Wizard on the continent from taking over your kingdom so long as you don't give them a good enough reason and a good enough opportunity. If the Church of Pelor supports your rule and has some powerful clerics in it, that may be incentive enough to keep the typical adventurer or villain from bothering with trying to overthrow you. It might just be too much trouble to try and convert the goody-two-shoes Pelorites and their clerics and any celestials they may summon or call to their aid and any allies they may call upon from other goodly countries that are on good terms with you or your kingdom because of your goody-two-shoes policies etc.
Or if you run a tyrannical regime you might be supported by a small army of high-level mercenaries or something, and you might just be a puppet ruler serving them but presenting a face to the public (and making you the target of any assassins instead of the mercs). You might keep a powerful magic item or magical creature or ally around for protection. You may have made a deal with a fiend or a celestial or something. You may have used your wealth to acquire a powerful item, or you may have a powerful ally guarding you due to blackmail or high pay or just real loyalty.
Me, I like to have high-level NPCs as rulers or other leaders, depending on the size and scope of their land or tribe or whatever. Some countries are founded by retired adventurers, or they may run programs that train up a highly-skilled and experienced force of knights or other guardians or enforcers. Some just have a lot of wars and build up the power of their military (and the level of their soldiers and guards) that way. Some rulers may be content to hunt pheasants and boars in their spare time, but others may instead hunt rocs or dire boars with the royal huntmaster or whatever.
Any ruler who's not an idiot in D&D is going to make sure that his or her heirs are trained and experienced in combat against ever-stronger foes over time, to ensure that they're ready to take and protect their birthright one day. Of course, depending on the ruler, he or she might not want to let their heirs become too powerful any time soon when they could actually depose him or her and take the throne early.......in which case, the ruler just makes sure that he or she has enough trusted (or controlled) allies/minions around to keep that from happening.
