D&D General Hyborean-punk overlords and city-states.

I was thinking in the homebuilding of a world that is a mixture of Hyborian age(Conan the barbarian) and postapocaliptse (Mad Max). Yes, you can guess my source of inspiration is that setting.

But I need ideas for the coalition of the city-states, ruled by the overlords. These are the main antagonists. I don't want these to behave like villains from a fantasy saturday-morning cartoon but a relatively realistic behavior style "Game of Thrones" or a historical novel. They are tyrants but they try to avoid unnecessary cruelty against obedient and competent subjects. There are reasonable possibilities of achieving a solution through diplomatic agreements, or that they take advantage of the opportunities offered for their redemption. You can trust them as allies against a worse menace if you prove to be enoughly honorable and competent. Really they worry their city-states to be a better place to live, if everybody obeys their orders.

They believe to be quasi-deities, and they may be right. The previous leader of the "purifying order" told them they were chosen because they are the reincarnations of fallen gods who lost the titanomachy (a rebellion of the titans against the pantheon) or they were betrayed by other deities who wanted their thrones.

I want each city-state to be different with its own style, like the cities from the DC superheroes comics.

For example a city-state "transgenic" apes mind-controlled by a plant+construct-(biopunk) graft. The "failure" is these apes aren't enoughly sentient to start a rebellion but they can be possesed by souls who suffered the tiranny and they want revenge.

Other city would be focused into "transhumanism". The main worker force is the penitents, plant-like humanoids created artificially whose souls are the reincarnations of criminals and sinners who accept to work as slaves instead suffering a worse punishment in the afterlife. That is the oficial version the memories of their sins don't mean they were the true sinners who commited those crimes. Some times the reward for the loyalest citizens is the reincarnation in a new type of body, the elans.

A city would be focused into spiritual ascension, and the best psion lords can be found here. The oficial cult teachs about how to become one with the supreme plane. This should be the "Heaven" but really it is the Dream-Plane. Some "cultivators" accept bounds with "ascended beings". These aren't angels, fiends or monstruosity but feys but they can be as horrible as the creatures from the Far Realm. Let's imagine the dark faes creating monsters style "Resident Evil" mutants.

Other city would be a secret civil war between two cults, one ruled by linnords and other by yuan-ti guided by a cobra-dragon.

What villains or city-states would you create?
 

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The Vox Sibyl, is a psionic oracle who believes herself to be the reincarnation of a divine prophet who was cursed with silence in the titanomachy. She now claims the right to speak for the “voices of the fallen gods” and rules through a priesthood of mind-readers and telepathic enforcers.

Her city is one of surveillance, secrecy and control. The citizens wear masks to conceal their emotions; while thoughts are policed by the telepathic enforcers who will act to crush any hint of disobedience before it can surface into rebellion.
 
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A brilliant and powerful Gish (can’t think of a name) who sees themself as the eventual ruler of the world. They pose as a benevolent person, doing their best to supply their people, so long as they do not rebel or refuse fealty.

The worst offenders/criminals have their minds broken and identity stripped, becoming puppet soldiers wearing a mask resembling their ruler. A grim and potent reminder of the ruler’s reach and power. These people would make up most if not all of the police/military.

The gish’s rule is cemented through a facade of (semi-legislate) benevolence, propaganda, and seemingly unequaled power.
 

Thanks. An idea I was thinking one of the overlords to be the self-proclaimed "spokeperson of the Egregore". The egregore would be like a mind collective, something like a group of souls who working together become as powerful like a quasideity.


Other overlord would be like a totem shaman who worships some kaiju-like monster, for example the spinewyrms. These not only are sentients but they can create "grafts" that work like simbionts. These grafts aren't mind-controll parasites but the spinewyrm enjoy adventage in persuasion check with somebody who used some spinewyrm graft.

A tyran would be like a genie sultan and he would be focused into elementals, because these are a good option to fight undead hordes. In his domain a common punishment is to become a fire elemental to work like "energy source" or to fight in a "penance crusade" against the unholy creatures. To be a fire elemental isn't very confortable. Somebody accepts willing to become a fire elemental for penance due his sins or crimes.

Some "noble houses" secretly are "descendants" of infernal dragons who infiltrated among the humanoid populations.
 

A cabal of evil bards rules one city.
They move through the populace using Disguise spells, and control people using Charm, Suggestion and similar. Any of them can easily stir a ravening mob against outsiders.
The bards themselves, seven of them in all, are devotees of a powerful succubus-Queen, trapped in the form of an ornate harp.
Cutting the strings of the harp slays the bards, but also frees the demon.
 

The Twin States. These two neighbouring city states were at one point in time a single country, but after an incident they split into a Northern and Southern region.

The Northern State: It seems to be a city of pure chaos, anarchy and disorder, but underneath it, he who were to dig deep enough would discover an authoritarian dictatorship. The Red Council rules the city through proxy groups that seem to be at odds, but they're in fact just different arms of the same creature (the council itself).

The Southern State: It is a brutal dictatorship. The mad Sorcerer King rules here, and the people make sure to pay their respects (though not their taxes), loudly proclaim their loyalty (and the brutality of law enforcement). Royal edicts are barely enforced. The truth is, the King is powerless and the state functions only thanks to an elaborate and potentially fragile system of cooperation.
 

The Twin States. These two neighbouring city states were at one point in time a single country, but after an incident they split into a Northern and Southern region.

The Northern State: It seems to be a city of pure chaos, anarchy and disorder, but underneath it, he who were to dig deep enough would discover an authoritarian dictatorship. The Red Council rules the city through proxy groups that seem to be at odds, but they're in fact just different arms of the same creature (the council itself).

The Southern State: It is a brutal dictatorship. The mad Sorcerer King rules here, and the people make sure to pay their respects (though not their taxes), loudly proclaim their loyalty (and the brutality of law enforcement). Royal edicts are barely enforced. The truth is, the King is powerless and the state functions only thanks to an elaborate and potentially fragile system of cooperation.
hmmm, is that post-apocalyptic fantasy or pre-apocalyptic commentary?
 

hmmm, is that post-apocalyptic fantasy or pre-apocalyptic commentary?
Personally I see them both as pre-apocalyptic, but you could easily adapt them to a post-apocalyptic setting. I don't think of them as commentary in particuar, but I always like the idea of there being layers to all parts of a setting. A city that is something other than what it seems.
 

Thanks for your answers. I say it sinceretely. I am happy to see you are willing to participate adding your own ideas.

Here an idea of city-state. Officialy it is only one but really it is divided into two zones, uptown and downtown. The uptown is the zone with wealth and power, ruled by the pretor, and the downtown is a "lawless zone" where the crimelord is nicknamed "godfather". The pretor and the godfather are archenemies but there is a secret. Both belongs to a secret organitation where only can know three members, the supervisor and two subordinates, and both obey the same lodge leader, the true overlord who uses the confrontation like a tool to control the domain.

Other city-state is ruled by a secret society whose leader cell is the "hulder sisterhood". The origin is when a concubine wanted to survive the harem intrigues and she accepted a deal with a noble. She offered her daughter's hand (he would marry her) and the grandson would become the future heir and satrap. The concubine suspected the noble really was an infiltrated genie but the truth was worse, he really was a fiend. You could suspect the concubine's daughter would suffer a horrible fate with her new husband but the facts happened in a different way. The fiend was killed and replaced by an impostor, a fey-lord's son. (really the noble fiend tricked his murder. He knew a descendant with fiend blood would be discovered by the clerics and then his plan was different). The bride needed some time to get used to her new husband but comparing the others their marriage was relatively stable and the fruits of this union were the first generation of hulders, a new kind of female feys with great beauty, some fox or cow tail, and a back that may seem rotten wood (under certain conditions, such as certain dates or using divinatory magic). A couple of generations later the hulders were tired with the palace intrigues and escaped. With the right contacts and help by the new satrap (the concubine's grandson) they created a secret organitation focused mainly into freelance espionage and information trafficking. Some times these hulders accept be hired to take revengue against those who abused innocent females or children, creating a grimm urban legend in the zone.
 
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