So my campaign has this tournament coming up where there are multiple rulers coming together along with a selected champion for the harvest festival. I've thought a a few, but I've realized that many such kingdoms need very deep and rich lore. I so far have Norbury, which is mainly occupied by humans and a few different species like goblins and dragonborns.(town of Beginnings) I have the Kisuga Jungle, home to weretigers, apes, dinosaurs, couatls, lizardfolk, crocodiles, etc. (Kinda like a forgotten world vibe) I have the Coral Canyons filled with dwarfs, goliaths, gnomes, and a hombrew race called Crystallites. I have Reonora which is like a mystical forest place with satyrs and giant eagles, and centaurs, and pixies. And then I have a kingdom that is yet to be named that represents basically the Badlands. This has many different rebuked and shunned races that have been casted away from society because of their history of turning towards evil easily. (mainly like aberration animals and soecifically for my campaign kuo-toans.) I really want alot of diversity within my campaign with each city having their own crucial roles, so I would appreciate any expirienced DM'ers giving me advice.
It may seem as though I've already thoroughly thought out these kingdoms, but I really haven't and I'm completely open for suggestions and criticism. Like a kingdom that depends solely on magic, or swamp lands. Literally anything and everything. You can even private message me and work on it with me if you have the patience for that.
Have you ever read the Recluse series by LE Modestt? Has a lot of interesting ideas, particularly about governments and how they interact and form.
Any philosophy has issues with extremes. Lawful socities have to deal with chaotic people. Do they treat them all as criminals, or do they find an outlet for them? And vice versa - what happens to Lawful people in chaotic governed countries. Perhaps legal societies with some minor law making powers that they over-use (Home Owner Associations) in chaotic kingdoms that insist on deadly weapons being available for all citizens (Yeah, I went there Texas).
Which government is spying on who? How?
What maintains the current borders? Military balance? Good people with ethics not attacking the weaker folk? Environmental protections like mountains/deserts/rivers/oceans?
What do the kingdoms import? Export? In particular - do they have a lot of adamantine? Mithril? Healing potions? +1 arrows?
Which countries are in decline and are going to die as soon as their enemies are ready. Which ones are developing greater power?
I like to think of who or what leads the kingdom and go down from there. Is this a kingdom founded by a demigod? A long-lived elf or immortal vampire? A lineage of kings and queens who hold a secret of utmost importance? Thinking of what the leader would mold their empire into, I work it down to the major guilds or what most people do for a living. It's just a few lines for every kingdom, even if its a major, central part of the campaign. Here's an example list that you could roll randomly if you need a starting point:
"By Prophecy, I Lead" (the chosen one)
"Created by my Power" (the demi-god king)
"With Love, I Command" (the ancient elf)
"This is a True Meritocracy" (the beautiful, the braggart)
"It is my Place to Rule" (bred and raised to leadership)
"Bow before the Greatest" (the most powerful summoner sorcerer)
"It was Me all Along" (the shadow rule of the Vampire)
"It is up to Me to Serve" (the survivor, the elected general)
"I will Unite the Kingdoms" (the conquer, the demon king)
"In these Dark times, I shall save Our People" (the hero)
"All shall Love Me" (the wicked witch, the evil goddess)
Use tropes, but don't always. Break the mold when you're inspired to.
Don't fret over the details. Keep it rolling. Start with an idea, or pull up government types on Wikipedia and roll a d20 and decide what that represents. When you have a world to flesh out, you don't have time to make it perfect. You're not J.R.Tolkien. For the purposes of roleplaying, four lines of detail about a kingdom usually suffice. A random name generator, paired with those four lines of rulership, two or three notable derivatives from that rule, a rough idea of the major economic flow in the country, and a few special details about the country is all that is needed to put something up on the fly.
For a competitive games festival sort of thing, simply make the personality sort of match the general attitude of the country. Enraged by generations of being victim to raiding? Make a berserk. Wealthy by trade, and keeper of secrets? Make a wizard, keen of the value of things. Only betray the norm of the kingdom when the ruler is a deceptive one (which, ironically, doesn't actually break the mold).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So my campaign has this tournament coming up where there are multiple rulers coming together along with a selected champion for the harvest festival. I've thought a a few, but I've realized that many such kingdoms need very deep and rich lore. I so far have Norbury, which is mainly occupied by humans and a few different species like goblins and dragonborns.(town of Beginnings) I have the Kisuga Jungle, home to weretigers, apes, dinosaurs, couatls, lizardfolk, crocodiles, etc. (Kinda like a forgotten world vibe) I have the Coral Canyons filled with dwarfs, goliaths, gnomes, and a hombrew race called Crystallites. I have Reonora which is like a mystical forest place with satyrs and giant eagles, and centaurs, and pixies. And then I have a kingdom that is yet to be named that represents basically the Badlands. This has many different rebuked and shunned races that have been casted away from society because of their history of turning towards evil easily. (mainly like aberration animals and soecifically for my campaign kuo-toans.) I really want alot of diversity within my campaign with each city having their own crucial roles, so I would appreciate any expirienced DM'ers giving me advice.
It may seem as though I've already thoroughly thought out these kingdoms, but I really haven't and I'm completely open for suggestions and criticism. Like a kingdom that depends solely on magic, or swamp lands. Literally anything and everything. You can even private message me and work on it with me if you have the patience for that.
Have you ever read the Recluse series by LE Modestt? Has a lot of interesting ideas, particularly about governments and how they interact and form.
Any philosophy has issues with extremes. Lawful socities have to deal with chaotic people. Do they treat them all as criminals, or do they find an outlet for them? And vice versa - what happens to Lawful people in chaotic governed countries. Perhaps legal societies with some minor law making powers that they over-use (Home Owner Associations) in chaotic kingdoms that insist on deadly weapons being available for all citizens (Yeah, I went there Texas).
Which government is spying on who? How?
What maintains the current borders? Military balance? Good people with ethics not attacking the weaker folk? Environmental protections like mountains/deserts/rivers/oceans?
What do the kingdoms import? Export? In particular - do they have a lot of adamantine? Mithril? Healing potions? +1 arrows?
Which countries are in decline and are going to die as soon as their enemies are ready. Which ones are developing greater power?
I like to think of who or what leads the kingdom and go down from there. Is this a kingdom founded by a demigod? A long-lived elf or immortal vampire? A lineage of kings and queens who hold a secret of utmost importance? Thinking of what the leader would mold their empire into, I work it down to the major guilds or what most people do for a living. It's just a few lines for every kingdom, even if its a major, central part of the campaign. Here's an example list that you could roll randomly if you need a starting point:
Use tropes, but don't always. Break the mold when you're inspired to.
Don't fret over the details. Keep it rolling. Start with an idea, or pull up government types on Wikipedia and roll a d20 and decide what that represents. When you have a world to flesh out, you don't have time to make it perfect. You're not J.R.Tolkien. For the purposes of roleplaying, four lines of detail about a kingdom usually suffice. A random name generator, paired with those four lines of rulership, two or three notable derivatives from that rule, a rough idea of the major economic flow in the country, and a few special details about the country is all that is needed to put something up on the fly.
For a competitive games festival sort of thing, simply make the personality sort of match the general attitude of the country. Enraged by generations of being victim to raiding? Make a berserk. Wealthy by trade, and keeper of secrets? Make a wizard, keen of the value of things. Only betray the norm of the kingdom when the ruler is a deceptive one (which, ironically, doesn't actually break the mold).