[Political Supplements] Let's classify and list them.

[Heretic Apostate]

(Mods: It was suggested I post this here. If this is the wrong forum, please merge it with the thread in d20 Publishers and move the resultant thread to the correct forum.)

I'm hoping this will start a series of threads that will help classify and list supplements of various types. Please help refine the classifications, and list appropriate supplements for them. And if you can think of other mega-classifications that need to be broken down, list those as well.

Political supplements. To me, a political supplement can fall into one of four classifications. (Edit: Five classifications. Thanks, CCam.)

1) Kingdom vs. Kingdom
Warfare, espionage, assassinations.

2) Running a Kingdom
Resource allocation, establishing control.

3) Running a Royal Court
Intrigue, social skills.

4) Running a Noble House (or Merchant House or Crime Cartel)
The Great Game. Competition for power within a kingdom (whether ruthless or not). I'm lumping in Merchant Houses and Crime Cartels for those who wish to play the Merchant Houses of Dark Sun or the Crime Cartels of various cities.

5) Kingmakers (thanks, CCamfield)
Running a kingdom from behind the throne, rather than on it.

Examples of situations where I'd need each type of supplement:

Crane Clan courtier (Rokugan) would need #3 for the intrigue.

Birthright campaign would need #1 to pit kingdom against kingdom, and would need #2 to allocate resources and compete for control.

Feist's Lady of Empire trilogy or Initiate Brother/Gatherer of Cloud campaigns (noble houses competing for dominance; Acoma for Lady of Empire, Shonto for Initiate Brother) would require #4.

Again, if you can think of supplements that fit into different classifications, list them. And if you can think of another subject that needs classification, please list that also.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm not really sure why you would divide them into five categories, and was hoping you could explain why you chose these categories. I would probably only divide them into two - at the kingdom level (the management aspect) and at the noble level (the social aspect). Specifically, #2 and #5 seem like they would go together well, and similarly #3 and #4. #1 you could put in a general book on warfare, or fold it into the kingdom-level, though I think that would do it disservice.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Wasn't Malhavoc Press going to release a suppliment for kingdom management? I seem to recall hearing that somewhere.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

The categories aren't mutually exclusive. As I pointed out, different supplements could fall into different areas. For example, Birthright falls into multiple categories, but seems most suited for kingdom vs. kingdom and kingdom management roles. (Not counting all the adventuring stuff and the whole "highlander" element of the Bloodtheft, of course.)

 

[trancejeremy]

Hmmm. There's "Oathbound: Arena" which is #1, sorta. It has rules for mass combat and Doom Striders, which are like giant fantasy mecha, and the PCs are kind of assumed to become Warlords. It's very fuzzy on the specifics of running a domain though (as well as raising armies, etc, other than gp costs).

IMHO, the Oathbound setting just screams for Birthright style rules for domain management and such.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

So, if I understand correctly...
Oathbound: Has mass combat rules. Needs management rules.

Correct?

 

[Silveras]

Your categories strike me as artificial.

#1 and #4 are two parts of the same thing; neither is complete without the other. They are the same activities with different tools, generally.

#1, #3, and #4 are part of #2; a supplement that claims to be about Running a Kingdom without mentioning war or intrigue or maneuvering within is doing a very poor job.

A good supplement, the kind I would want to buy, has to include all of those elements. A supplement that tries to focus on only one, unless it is part of a set that covers all comprehensively, is a waste of my money.

 

[Mercule]

Hmm... from the title, I expected to see "d20 Democrats" and "Slayers Guide to Republicans".

Personally, I think your idea is a better one, though.