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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Harold Mayo" data-source="post: 709595" data-attributes="member: 10361">I think someone put it best who said that people grow up with certain values and will likely stick to those, regardless of their power level.  Just because you can beat up your king doesn't mean that you're going to do so.This is actually the kind of question around which my entire campaign world has evolved.  I have tried to make a "realistic" fantasy setting...that is, one where D&D magic and monsters exist but in which I try to see how magic and monsters and such would evolve in that society and how that society would evolve around them.For example:Your theoretical high level party decides to go marauding around the kingdom.  Fine...the local government places some little teams of low-level mages and priests with charm person and hold person spells where they might show up.  WHAM!  Even high level PCs don't always make their saves.ORYou must remember that things don't happen in a void.  The PC group is not the first high level party to ever exist.  What they try has probably been tried before.  Our own Department of Defense has thousands or hundreds of thousands of scenarios planned out.  Is there any reason why a large kingdom or empire wouldn't have the same?ORThe PC group takes over the kingdom.  Then what?  Well...more than likely someone will come after them.  They can't be in a group all the time.  They will be alone eventually.  At that time, even a group of lower level ganging up on one of them will be able to take one of them out.  Think about how the PCs tend to do things...those things will be done to them, eventually.  The PCs in my own world DREAD the thought of someone pulling their own tricks on them.  So far, for the most part, they haven't had to face any enemies with their resources and they have always been on the offensive, rather than the defensive, end of things.ORThe PCs go marauding.  All of a sudden, there is a huge price on their heads.  OTHER bands of adventurers will come around and try to stop them.  How many times does a group of adventurers get recruited to handle something that the locals aren't able to....???  Ha!  Practically every adventure!************************************************Remember the bell curve?  Or the 3-d pyramid thingie?  Even if the PCs are at the very top of the pyramid of power or are at the far right side of the bell curve, there are MULTIPLE people right under their level of power and MULTIPLE people below that.  Sooner or later, a group of PCs (or NPCs) would meet its match.  No one stays on top forever.************************************************My own solution?  Magic is pretty rare in my world.  Those who are able to use it, whether naturally or by training, are likely part of some group.  Most groups owe allegiance to some cause, deity, or lord.  It's only logical that the ruler of a land would enlist the aid of anyone within his land who can use something as useful as magic.  Since he IS the ruler, he is capable of giving out any number of enticements.  No taxes?  OK, you'll never be taxed as long as you cast 12 spells per year in my service.  Need land and a headquarters for your organization?  OK, but every person you train must, upon graduation, serve for four years in my forces.  A more restrictive ruler might license magic and anyone who uses it must be licensed or imprisoned or slain.  The license enables one to practice magic in that kingdom and to COLLECT AND KEEP THE REVENUE from it.  Remember, in the real world, a lot of things that are useful or unusual or are luxury items are the targets of heavy taxation.  A mage can command high prices for the casting of some spells.In my own world, many mages spend most of their lives in urban areas casting simple spells at no risk to themselves and collecting mucho dinero for it.  Mages are exceedingly rare, however, so they can become exceedingly rich.  Why would a mage want to go out adventuring and risk his life when he can lay in a comfortable bed every night and make a lot of money just by casting phantasmal force spells for entertainment purposes, mending spells on valuable antiques, ESP spells on criminals, and so on?  You are going to have your occasional guy who wants to risk his life, but many are going to stay safe and sound.Of course, the behavior of a mage depends on his culture, type of magic, social class, etc. and the above paragraph isn't indicative of EVERY mage in EVERY culture.*************************************************Sorry to digress so much.  Really, what happens in a D&D world in terms of your question depends very much on how common people with spell-casting abilities actually are.</blockquote>

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