Spicing up your nobility. Government forms besides absolute monarchies

[Emerikol]

If you want a wonderful (and giving the author's credentials: accurate) description of how the various royals, nobles, merchant houses, states and merchant leagues in Europe interacted during the late Middle Ages (and if you can spare the time to read eight lengthy volumes), I highly recommend Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series, about the rise of a merchant and banker from Bruges in the 1460s.

Thanks for the reference it looks really good. I put it on my wishlist but I may pick up the whole set soon.

I think for me creating these societies has been a lot of fun and I definitely mix it up. If you create really compelling NPCs your world will be more compelling for your PCs. Great NPCs play themselves to a degree just like great characters in a novel sometimes take over the story from the author.

 

[Dioltach]

Thanks for the reference it looks really good. I put it on my wishlist but I may pick up the whole set soon.

Beware, though: Dorothy Dunnett is not for the faint-hearted. Niccolo is full of medieval Latin, French and Scots like her earlier Lymond series (without translations), but she does expect a lot from her readers. At the very least, you have to pay close attention. There are a couple of "companion" volumes to explain background details.

 

[Emerikol]

Beware, though: Dorothy Dunnett is not for the faint-hearted. Niccolo is full of medieval Latin, French and Scots like her earlier Lymond series (without translations), but she does expect a lot from her readers. At the very least, you have to pay close attention. There are a couple of "companion" volumes to explain background details.

I've read Colleen McCullough's entire Roman series is that about the same level of hard in your opinion?

And I think I found Lymond and not Niccolo so I will have to go back and look for Niccolo.

I love good history so I'm hopeful.

 

[Dioltach]

I've never read any Colleen McCullough, but Dorothy Dunnett is the toughest writer I've ever read. Very rewarding, but she makes you work for it. Lymond is particularly difficult, with puns and quotes and references in medieval Latin, Scots and French that she won't bother to explain, but Niccolo requires you to pay very close attention to almost every word. A lot of reading between the lines too. Dame DD is very much of the "Why use a paragraph if you can use a word?" school of writing.

It's all steeped in actual history, drawing on written sources. So don't expect any sugar coating. People die a lot. Bad things happen.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I'm over absolute monarchies. I'm especially over ones where the King or Queen is just a nice person who pals along with the PCs just because. Monarchs just don't do that.

The games my wife run are set in a representative Republic.
One of mine has a council of churches. The council is fairly argumentative, rarely agreeing on anything. The other one I run is set in the City of Greyhawk but with the Ruling Council being subject to regular elections. I believe in canon they are mostly selected by the Mayor who is effectively ruling for life. My version has regular elections.

 

[Fenris-77]

I really like the model of the German Free City for something a little different. Focused on citizenship and a couple of layers of rank therein, often with a heavy leavening of Guild and the like. It scales up to a more interesting state level entity too IMO.

 

[MGibster]

You can also have a traditional monarchy that isn't an absolute monarchy. In Dune, the Emperor of the Known Universe has a vast amount of power but he's got several checks against him. He has to take care to crush the Atreides in secret lest he anger the Landsraad and they overthrow him and he steps lightly around the Spacing Guild because of their monopoly on faster-than-light travel.

 

[MNblockhead]

All my games are run as a pure dictatorship.

Oh, wait. You're talking IN game.

 

[Emerikol]

I really like the model of the German Free City for something a little different. Focused on citizenship and a couple of layers of rank therein, often with a heavy leavening of Guild and the like. It scales up to a more interesting state level entity too IMO.

I agree. I like city states a lot and use them frequently in my games.

 

[Tonguez]

The White City of Al-Qahira (so named for its shining walls) is ruled by the Council of Judges, learned men who dwell in the upper city and appoint lesser judges to apply the Law in the market and public places.

The power of Bishnagar comes from the dragon who dwells beneath the City of Bishnagar, but the authority is in the hands of the Guild Merchant.

The Twin Cities of Karina are split between the Holy City of the Griots and the lower Market City, it is the griots who sing the law and histories so that the people will know what is right. The people who live in the village between the cities are free to decide for themselves.