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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Levistus's_Leviathan" data-source="post: 8251961" data-attributes="member: 7023887">Okay, the title is pretty explanatory, but I'll explain it a bit more just in case some people aren't familiar with the book. 1984 is a classic and well-known dystopian novel written by George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair was his real name) about the dangers of authoritarianism and government surveillance. If you haven't read the book, you should probably go do that, as it's a short read and it gets referenced a ton (crimethought, doublethink, and Big Brother are some of the most common references to it). A basic rundown of the plot that hopefully doesn't spoil to much for you (I'm not sure why I'm worried about spoiling a 72 year old book, though) is in the spoiler below.[ISPOILER]The government in 1984 is attempting to (and succeeding at) erase all attempts to rebel against the government in both action and thought, torturing those who perform "crimethought" until they switch back to their side and begin to love Big Brother again (it has long since been disproven that torture can make someone love you, but that wasn't known when this book was written). They also are changing the English language in order to try and limit the possible ways to commit crimethought by tying simple, everyday words to political ideologies. They also profess that their word is law, especially if it contradicts reality, going so far as to edit documents to make sure that what was said in them is always true and always the same. [/ISPOILER]So, I don't want to truly replicate 1984 in a campaign, I more want to find a way that such a government in a fantasy world would use spells, racial abilities, and other magic in order to enforce a strong authoritarian state and keep their people under high surveillance in order to keep ahold of their power. Some examples that come to mind from fantasy book series are the Beyonders trilogy and the 5 Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull, both of which have fantasy worlds with evil leaders that use magic to establish/enforce their power as the ruler of the world. In the Beyonders, the Emperor Maldor is the world's only wizard, and he uses a race of body-part-droppers (Displacers) to spy on his enemies, forces the rivals into luxurious retirement in order to get them out of the way, uses rumors of weaknesses as red-herrings in order to test his enemies' power and recruit them if they manage to pass his tests.So, the question is; how you would use spells, magic items, racial abilities, and other fantastical tools to enforce a dictatorial surveillance state in a D&D world/campaign? Some obvious examples come to mind, like divination magic (<a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/scrying" target="_blank">scrying</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/detect-thoughts" target="_blank">detect thoughts</a>, and <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/locate-creature" target="_blank">locate creature</a>), <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/changeling" target="_blank">Changelings</a> and <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/intellect-devourer" target="_blank">Intellect Devourers</a> as the ultimate spies, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/zone-of-truth" target="_blank">Zone of Truth</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/antimagic-field" target="_blank">Antimagic Field</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/gift-of-gab" target="_blank">Gift of Gab</a>, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/modify-memory" target="_blank">Modify Memory</a>, Golem/Construct servants, and so on.Any thoughts? What kind of setting would you put this in? Would you make it be a specific region/country of the world, or would you be the whole setting that was ruled by this dictatorial state? Would you have the ruler simply be a powerful mage, or would you have them be an otherworldly being, such as a <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/mind-flayer" target="_blank">Mind Flayer</a> or <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/radiant-idol" target="_blank">fallen angel</a>?</blockquote>

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