|
I'm not sure that I have a whole lot to write this month, but I would like to start out by saying this: I actually finished something, WOOHOO! Yep, my continent write-up for that D&D game is finally complete. I ended up with a nice, even 30 pages at the end. The GM has described it as being "huge." Well, he should have expected it. He knows I have this unfinished 100+ page background story.
In the end, I pretty much decided to just write whatever I felt like, so there's some pretty random tidbits in there, including a guide to the currency of all the continent's countries. The sad thing is, I'm not even a coin collector. I also threw in some holidays, as I suggested in one of my very early columns in these series. I like to hope that I'm the only person in this game who thought to write about a holiday dedicated to their god. Of course, it would be even cooler if everyone had thought of it... means our group will have more excuses to party!
Because I was in the mood to experiment and write random things, I gave all of my countries a different type of rulership. Because I did not want to be lame, I didn't make any of them a theocracy ruled by followers of my god character. I didn't even make a bardocracy. I considered it, but really, I think any society ruled by the best musician would probably collapse.
That brings me to an important point: when deciding on a form of government for any country you're creating. It is essential to actually think through how that government would work in real life. Some things might seem like a great idea at the time, but will end up proving to be incredibly easy to be manipulated and broken by devious players.
A few things that you may wish to consider when working on a country's government include:
What one word best describes the government? Monarchy? Magocracy? Democracy?
How did the person or people in power gain that power?
How long do they remain in power?
In the case of a hereditary monarchy, what are the lines of succession?
What measures are in place for replacing a ruler who dies or is otherwise prematurely removed from his or her position?
How does one gain an audience with the ruler(s)?
Who makes the laws, and how are they made?
How are things handled on a smaller regional basis?
What form do taxes take, and how are they collected?
If rulers are elected, how does the election process work? What is the minimum voting age? Are women allowed to vote? How about servants? How about foreigners?
Does the ruler do anything for the country, other than run it? Offer any aid to the people? Provide any services? (ie, federally funded medical care)
What is generally known about the current ruler? Does he or she have any specific likes or dislikes?
In many games, the more political aspects of this won't be important. However, if you prepare this sort of stuff ahead of time, you won't be caught off guard when one of your players decides to try to assassinate the king, or retire and run for mayor of his home town.
That's all for this month! Happy gaming!
|