Who has used Dynasties and Demegogues?

[Utrecht]

After perousing the ENie winner list - I notices Atlas' games Dynasties and Demigogues and always being on the lookout for quality supplements went on down to my FLGS and paged trhough it - and was decidely underwhelmed. The information seemed to be fairly obvious (especially if one has taken a civics 101 class) and the required bits of feats and Prestiege classes seemed flat.

So, to those that have used it - why is it so good?

 

[Azure Trance]

It helps standardize things. Where the power lies in a government, how fantasy races (Dwarves, Elves) interact, rules for politics, and what I thought I liked best - tips on how to do a political adventure - thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

 

[heirodule]

I found it to be full of good ideas, and the structure section is very useful, even for non-political modules.

I'm using the voting rules in my home campaign where the players are interacting with a town council.

 

[Psion]

I haven't used the mechanics material yet, but I found the inspirations for adventure rather neat and concise, such as the government type and analyses of how adventures could occur in them, and the section that described different political motivations as an impetus for a game. Sure, I knew some of those things and have made games using some of those types of ideas in the past, but having all of the variants laid out simple and clear makes it really easy and helps keep me out of a rut.

 

[CCamfield]

Well, you know, to each their own... I passed on buying From Stone to Steel because I figured I could maybe come up with my own rules for whatever variant weapons/armour I wanted.

As for my own opinion of Dynaties and Demagogues, the review I wrote of it will say more than I could possibly type here. Not a playtest review, though, I'll admit.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=ccamfield&product=DaD

 

[trancejeremy]

I finally got to flip through a copy of it, and while it looked interesting, it seems somewhat useless without having rules about running countries and such.

Okay, there are rules for winning an election. What happens after you win one?

Besides, just how many countries in D&D settings are democracies?

From the title, I was really hoping for something like the old Birthright setting, or even the old D&D dominion rules.

 

[Azure Trance]

Hehehe. Wait for Field of Blood then

 

[spacecrime.com]

Couple of quick thoughts/replies:

1) Yep, there's plenty of stuff in the book that can be found in a basic civics class. However, not everyone has taken a basic civics class -- and the material is (hopefully) useful to folks who have taken the class and want a refresher.

2) As for the "how to run an country" question, there's a couple of lovely books on empire- and kingdom-running coming out this fall. (I actually expected them to be out a bit sooner than this.) This book is intended to complement those books -- they show you how to run Rome, while my book shows you how to work up a plot to murder those troublesome Gracchi brothers.

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what I was trying to do with the book -- it's probably not your cup of tea, but at least now you know why.

best wishes,

 

[drnuncheon]

2) As for the "how to run an country" question, there's a couple of lovely books on empire- and kingdom-running coming out this fall.

A couple? I know of Fields of Blood (and the fan-created 3e Birthright), what else is coming?

J

 

[Olive]

This book sounded good, but I wan't sure about the actual rules for resolution. CCamfield's review actually made me rethink that position. Maybe I'll check it out down at the FLGS when I go in later this week...