Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 3656124" data-attributes="member: 7240">So, you have a merchant cartel and a criminal syndicate pulling off the coup. It sounds like these guys are low-born, if they have nothing to do with the council, despite their considerable influence. This means that they either (a) want to become a new aristocracy or (b) they oppose aristocratic governance. If the former is true, they probably have alliances with aristocratic houses of other neighbouring city-states that may have pledged to recognize them as noble houses. If the latter is true, they probably have some sympathy on the part of other low-born contingents in the city, like some craft guilds, militias and outlying communal villages.If the cartel constitutes an incipient aristocracy, they might try the following tactics:(a) getting aristocrats of surrounding cities (or even disgruntled or deposed aristocrats from this one) to immediately recognize the coup leaders as the proper council(b) capturing the daughters of existing noble houses and marrying them at sword-point to the cartel leaders during the coup(c) getting the council, at sword-point, to admit them as new members comprising a majority of the body(d) taking the children of local aristocrats as hostages to raise in foster-care and ultimately marry them to their own children or adopt their way into the aristocratic lineages(e) seizing control of the city and then immediately requesting "aid" from the nobles of the surrounding areas [think Afghanistan in the 1970s]If the cartel is a leveling organization, they might try the following tactics:(a) stirring up uprisings in suburban villages in support of their takeover(b) stirring up uprisings by craft guilds and unskilled labourers(c) precipitating a "strike" by the craft guilds and then staging a coup allegedly because of the council's inability to put down the strike (which will voluntarily fold once the takeover happens) [think Chile in the 1970s](d) organizing local militias to respond to the "chaos" caused by the coup (but actually to impose martial law on the city)The next line of inquiry to consider is obviously the nature of syndicate's criminal activities. A number of obvious rackets produce opportunities:(a) piracy: on one hand, this gives the cartel its own navy. On the other, it means that other cities in the region are more likely to intervene against them.(b) illicit goods: what is banned in your city? slaves? drugs? certain religious objects? Depending on what is banned, we can learn more about how syndicate might fit into the coup.(c) protection: if the syndicate runs a protection racket, it probably means that they have militias in waiting, already partly in control of a number of neighbourhoods(d) bad allies: maybe the problem with the syndicate isn't what it does but who it works for. Are there non-human members of this syndicate? Perhaps some amphibious or aquatic sorts like sahuagin, troglodytes, kuo toa, lizardmen, etc.Anyway, those are some first thoughts. I'll stop now and wait for your next response.</blockquote>

Verification