Fantasy Forward: Government and Politics

And so we come to the big one in terms of showing advancement and development in your sword-and-sorcery fantasy setting, one that touches, and is touched by, all others: government. Kings, Emperors, and other monarchs are an inevitable element of any setting based ostensibly primarily on medieval Europe, but beyond that, things tend to get… sketchy. But those sketches are a great place for imaginative creators to fill in details , and shifts in governmental structures are some of the clearest signs of change in any civilization. And, if your setting includes more than one location, you can try out different, competing approaches and see the way they interact… often with the players/protagonists in the middle. So from barony to republic, from kingdom to anarcho-syndicalist commune, let’s explore how you can use government and politics to move your fantasy forward!

- B

A: For deeply political tabletop campaigns, it takes a special kind of group and a special kind of game. Just the sound of some of the things Bugsy describes sound daunting, at least to me. But it can certainly be done, and done well, within a sword-and-sorcery setting, but that isn’t everyone’s crab juice cup of tea getting dumped into the harbor. Surprisingly, though, it actually has come up in some games that I’ve run. Most recently, players' actions have caused the mayor of a frontier settlement to skip town, leaving the place without any kind of leader. Instead of leaving and letting the town figure it out on their own, or taking control themselves, the group decided to press the remaining citizens into forming a town council made up of the local shopkeeps and other figures of importance. How that's going to  play out moving forward, the players have yet to discover, but it certainly wouldn't have gone that way without their interference. Unless you want politics and government to play a significant role in your games, this is probably the best way to go. Take it there when your players push you to, and figure out repercussions later.

That may sound like a lazy approach, though... and it probably is. We’re talking about moving fantasy forward, after all, and we can’t leave that entirely to the players, can we? But do you really want to put in that significant amount of work? While you’re fully welcome to spend that time and try out any form of government you like in your games, the more important factor is, as always, the people involved. As mentioned above, that might be your king, emperor or other monarch, even down to the members of that tiny town council. Who are these people... and what happens when they get replaced? This could happen in any number of ways: a timely death, a usurper, assassination, regicide (if you know the name of the king or queen being murdered please press 1), or even election. How does this change of ruler, even if it still leaves the same kind of government in place, change your tabletop world? Will there be fear or celebration? The people may hold a parade, a coronation, a funeral or (again) an election. The players don’t have to be involved directly in all this to hear and see it going on in the background. Does this require a ton of work? Only as much as you're  willing to put into it. Will it make your players feel like their character’s worlds are changing and things will never be the same? Only you’ll be able to judge that, and your mileage may vary, but there is a good chance they’ll feel your effort.

B: I have to admit that this is one of the themes that gets the most excited because, within the context of a fantasy world, we have all kinds of opportunities to explore how different forms of government affect societies and the people who live within them. Even the most basic kingdom (if there is such a thing) presents unique complexities. A King or Queen may be the central figure in a monarchy, but in a way they’re a figurehead (or mascot, if you prefer) for a coalition of factions: advisory, economic, military, religious… there’s a reason that illegitimate heirs present a threat, and it’s not (only) because people are afraid that a kid from outside the Court might make a terrible ruler - it’s because the people putting forth this bastard as a regal alternative are also declaring themselves an opposition those behind the current regal authority. While the same could be said of any government, within monarchies these figures must be particularly shadowy. For the people of a country, and any others they may interact with, the King (as one of them supposedly said) is the state.

But, unless your monarch simply bought a crown and started calling himself King, a Kingdom is more than its ruler and a powerful few in the immediate vicinity. There's got to be some kind of provincial leadership as well, such as Andy's absconded mayor and the town council that replaced him. As far as actual sections of land, if we're assuming something similar to medieval Europe, there will be feudal lords (nobility with some connection to the ruling monarchy) and the people that work for them. Hardly the most egalitarian of systems, and, depending on the current circumstances, ripe for upset.... which characters can always find themselves in the middle of!  Just starting with this as a facsimile of our own history, and the all the twists and turns it offers, presents many opportunities for backstory at the very least, as well as current motivations and complicating factors. They need to get somewhere, for instance, but the region they go through is on the verge of revolution due to a famine and a monarchy that refuses to help. Do the characters keep to themselves and hope to get through alive? Do they take part, on either side? They're likely to be remembered either way, which will have its effect on future visits and the areas nearby.

But that's still limiting ourselves to history as we know it, and fantasy, regardless of idiom, is supposed to be... well, fantastic. There's magic! And monsters! And no real reason to limit ourselves, save what we're able to to imagine and get across. The King's advisors are all ghosts or demons who have been keeping things running (and stagnant) for hundreds of years), the first step towards progress will involve a quick exorcism. We're unlikely to see a modern democracy without the printing press (and a sufficiently literate populace), but what if votes were cast by sending out fairies, or sending gnomes from home to home. Cities or countries with multi-species populations might want to have one of each represented in office... assuming they're all equal, and there's plenty to explore if there's oppression of one group or another. Or maybe the leadership is assumed by a non-human being with an exceedingly long life-span, a dragon, for instance - how would that affect the day-to-day lives of the inhabitants?

Because, as Andy so eloquently put, this is about people (human or otherwise). Imaginary exercises in long-term political growth can be fun for the person doing the imagining, but without showing the way this manifests in your fantasy world, it won't be any use in a game or story. We've already mentioned how changes and upheavals in leadership can be used in character backstory or in the complexities of plot, but how do make it feel like more than gimmick? If the idea is to move fantasy forward, how can keep our sweeping societal shifts from just being the flavor of the week? The keys here, I think, are thoughtfulness and consistency. These are changes that reach into every aspect of the lives of people living with them, small and large. Take a moment's consideration how that might be apparent in each detail you share. It might not directly appear in every conversation ("hey, remember that time last week when the King turned out to be a shapeshifting imposter and Parliamentary leadership assumed control until the real King could be located?") but the knock-on effects will be there all the same ("look, these prices are the best I can do. With all the ruckus, imports have dried right up.") And if you keep these things consistent, the changes will feel more like a real part of the world. And making that world real and complete is a great way to combat that "Been There, Done That" feeling that started this whole things off. Move fantasy forward by making it yours, not just the stock recipe you've been handed. New and exciting doesn't have to be wildly different, but it does need that touch of the unexpected, the chaotic. Because, after all, that's why we do these things.

Send questions, comments, constitutional drafts, and articles of confederation to neversaydice20@gmail.com or (sigh) "X" them @neversaydice2.