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How Would You Do Fantasy 1984?
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8252035" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>As I recall, the nation of Riedra, in Eberron, did this pretty well, essentially being a totalitarian state. <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/58527/EBERRON-Secrets-of-Sarlona-35?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Secrets of Sarlona</em></a> (affiliate link) goes into it more, but it does a pretty good job of demonstrating how that works without resorting to too many magical macguffins. (The big one being the telepathic broadcast system/anti-teleport network they use to blanket most of the inhabited parts of the country, if I understand correctly.)</p><p></p><p>On the more mundane side, they use a system of secret informants, which everyone knows about but no one can identify. That means that the people are very hesitant to trust anyone with regard to subversive activities, knowing that the person they're confiding in could be the person who turns them in. It's a good way to create paranoia, and with it isolation.</p><p></p><p>Another thing they use is a fake religion. The notable part is that, while those who follow it obediently supposedly go to paradise (and obedience to their superiors is, unsurprisingly, a central tenet), those who fall off the path go to a realm of never-ending pain. The twist is that, supposedly, some of those eternally-pained spirits supposedly come back to the mortal world, finding out that the only thing that lessens their pain is to make someone else fall into damnation. Naturally, this means that anyone suggesting disobedience or revolution is potentially an evil spirit trying to send you to an eternity of torment. The entire thing is bunk, of course, but it keeps the populace in line.</p><p></p><p>And of course, the overlords of the place are quori, who have a lot of psionic powers that they use to check on people and keep them in line. Most notably, they tend to use <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mindSeed.htm" target="_blank"><em>mind seed</em></a> to quietly plant agents among the population who can quell potential dissent.</p><p></p><p>I recommend giving the full book a read, it's pretty expansive on how the entire nation is kept in a stranglehold.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8252035, member: 8461"] As I recall, the nation of Riedra, in Eberron, did this pretty well, essentially being a totalitarian state. [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/58527/EBERRON-Secrets-of-Sarlona-35?affiliate_id=820'][I]Secrets of Sarlona[/I][/URL] (affiliate link) goes into it more, but it does a pretty good job of demonstrating how that works without resorting to too many magical macguffins. (The big one being the telepathic broadcast system/anti-teleport network they use to blanket most of the inhabited parts of the country, if I understand correctly.) On the more mundane side, they use a system of secret informants, which everyone knows about but no one can identify. That means that the people are very hesitant to trust anyone with regard to subversive activities, knowing that the person they're confiding in could be the person who turns them in. It's a good way to create paranoia, and with it isolation. Another thing they use is a fake religion. The notable part is that, while those who follow it obediently supposedly go to paradise (and obedience to their superiors is, unsurprisingly, a central tenet), those who fall off the path go to a realm of never-ending pain. The twist is that, supposedly, some of those eternally-pained spirits supposedly come back to the mortal world, finding out that the only thing that lessens their pain is to make someone else fall into damnation. Naturally, this means that anyone suggesting disobedience or revolution is potentially an evil spirit trying to send you to an eternity of torment. The entire thing is bunk, of course, but it keeps the populace in line. And of course, the overlords of the place are quori, who have a lot of psionic powers that they use to check on people and keep them in line. Most notably, they tend to use [URL='https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mindSeed.htm'][I]mind seed[/I][/URL] to quietly plant agents among the population who can quell potential dissent. I recommend giving the full book a read, it's pretty expansive on how the entire nation is kept in a stranglehold. [/QUOTE]
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