Monamagarchy [Archive] - Wizards Community

Monamagarchy [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AllWillFall2Me
07-04-07, 04:09 AM That must be a mouthful. Hello there! I was just putting to gether a homebrew campaign setting, and had an Idea for a nation I had become enamored with, and wanted to discuss it here.
As the title could suggest, the country is is monarchy/magocracy. Let me explain. I envision the system like this:
The country is divided into several baronies: 12 or so, each ruled by a "Sorceror-Baron". Each barony is almost its own country, except for one thing. Above the sorceror-barons, there is a King. He rules all the lands nominally, as well as having his own barony. Now, I haven't yet gotten his power level set, but I do know the Barons are powerful men. Each of them around 15th level or so. And I plan to have there be a Sorceror-Baron PrC, which gives them immense power in their school, but with a drain on themselves.
Anyhow, that will be brought up later. Now, the king rules through 2 things: Firstly, each Sorceror-Baron, signs a binding magical pact, that gives the King the ability to control him slightly. NOw, the pact has mainly become useless of late, as its main power was allowing the king to cast magic on the baron, and disallowing a save. But the current king is not a spellcaster. So he cannot enforce the rules the old way, but he does have another. Kylos. The Royal Hand. A man so skilled at the art of Hiding, that he has spoken with the king before the council of barons, and none knew where he was. However, Kylos is not a cowardly man. He executes those barons who do not comply with the King's will, since the pact cannot threaten them. And thus, what is essentially a system of independent magocracies answer to one monarchy.
Now, people still wish to become a Sorceror-Baron, because the Sorceror-Barons tap depths of their craft none knew existed. A couple ideas I have of these are a transmuter, who magically crossbreeds races for the betterment of his people. Who wouldn't want a literal Sheep-Dog, so that in the summer, you can shear your pet, and make a shirt for winter? Unfortunately, this normally cheerful man has been troubled of late. The King is forcing him to mix criminals with violent animals to bolster the armies, as the kind is finding it difficult to recruit more men in his bloody war.

So, what do yo all think?
I have a couple more ideas about the place, but I'll save them in a bit.
(One last note: I got the idea from Howl's Moving Castle. how the wizard psuedonyms were called to serve the king in the war, despite Howl's objections.)
GoriceXII
07-04-07, 04:03 PM It's an interesting idea. To expand on some of your thoughts a little you seem to be suggesting a feudal system in which say primogeniture inheritance exists. If this is the case then as the kingdom has become more stable and peaceful the sorcerors may have been neglecting magical study and such in favour of skill at ruling, courtly etiquette, and so on. The King's situation might simply be a strong example of this. It might also be that say another class or two are rising socially to challenge the former order, say warrior and rogue types. They may have in the past been kept quite humbled by the power of the sorceror-lords, but now are starting to prove important to law and order. Also socially low ranking sorcerors might start to prove more effective magically than their overlords. This could help create intrigues and conflicts within the kingdom.
AllWillFall2Me
07-06-07, 09:13 PM Thank you for the response.
Well, I wasn't so much attempting to create an aristocracy of mages, as I was trying to set up a "mad king abusing power" setting.
My original concept, which is still fluid for the main, is that, essentially, each barony is like unto its own nation. It has standing troops, perpetuates intrigue against the other baronies, and within the barony the baron is the law. However, the king, through use of the signing of the pact, keeps these dozen powerful men at his call.
I see this as a civilization in decline. The war is taxing the resources, both material, and arcane, of the nation, and the king is commanding more and more.
Now, as you said, many of these men are powerful mages, and thus had little time for courtly duty and etiquette. That is where the main strife comes from. The monarchy is a inherited position, whereas The barony is a merit-earned one. You become a Sorceror-Baron by defeating a current one. The barons had grown used to being allowed their seclusion, and studies, so long as they gave the king his share of taxes, and stepped up to defend the nation when it was attacked.
But now, the new king doesn't respect the barons as much as his father did. He has no arcane power, and feels inadequate as king because of it. Hence, he has started a war, and found a new, "martial" way of enforcing the pact. Essentially, he is afraid of the power he controls by the pact, and is squandering it. The barons' attitudes vary wildly. The aforementioned transmuter, who I have named Midas, hates the war, hates his role in it, and hates the king for making him do this. Another baron, a necromancer known as the Whisper, enjoys the war because it gives him a chance to improve the effectiveness of both his undead and his necromancer armies. Yet another, an evoker, is using the war to fuel his joy for battle and destruction.
About the classes, I envisioned this as being a more arcane land. As in, Hexblades are more prevalent than Fighters, and Spellthieves similarly outnumber Rogues. I just realized why. In my campaign world, I so far have 4 "nations". This one, another which is run by a triumvirate of Pelor, Heironeus, and St Cuthbert, so this is a fairly religious (though not necessarily divine) nation. Then I have an evil desert kingdom. Imagine Persia from 300 meets Rome, with an immortal king. (Powerful spell researched by court mages.) This one is at war with both the other two kingdoms. The last "nation" is the Vree. The closest equivalent is a more cohesive Brethren Court from Pirates 3. (In my defense, I thought of this before I saw these movies.)So, pirates, and everyone who lives on the bounty of the ea, they are the least orderly nation, and are simultaneously at war and allied with all three of the others.

So I guess I made this as a balance, as before the arcane forces weren't as numerous.
AllWillFall2Me
07-15-07, 02:07 AM one of my players reminded me, so :bump:
taradusis
07-15-07, 11:19 AM Seems like an Ok idea.I suggest leaving part of the world unexplored so PCs can have an "Age of Exploration"type campaign.I usually suggest an archipellago of wonder,a set of islands with each being stranger than the last.This gives your adventures an episodic feel like the voyages of the starship Enterprise.I have a thread with some island ideas.771660...GOOD LUCK.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AllWillFall2Me 07-04-07, 04:09 AM	That must be a mouthful. Hello there! I was just putting to gether a homebrew campaign setting, and had an Idea for a nation I had become enamored with, and wanted to discuss it here. As the title could suggest, the country is is monarchy/magocracy. Let me explain. I envision the system like this: The country is divided into several baronies: 12 or so, each ruled by a "Sorceror-Baron". Each barony is almost its own country, except for one thing. Above the sorceror-barons, there is a King. He rules all the lands nominally, as well as having his own barony. Now, I haven't yet gotten his power level set, but I do know the Barons are powerful men. Each of them around 15th level or so. And I plan to have there be a Sorceror-Baron PrC, which gives them immense power in their school, but with a drain on themselves. Anyhow, that will be brought up later. Now, the king rules through 2 things: Firstly, each Sorceror-Baron, signs a binding magical pact, that gives the King the ability to control him slightly. NOw, the pact has mainly become useless of late, as its main power was allowing the king to cast magic on the baron, and disallowing a save. But the current king is not a spellcaster. So he cannot enforce the rules the old way, but he does have another. Kylos. The Royal Hand. A man so skilled at the art of Hiding, that he has spoken with the king before the council of barons, and none knew where he was. However, Kylos is not a cowardly man. He executes those barons who do not comply with the King's will, since the pact cannot threaten them. And thus, what is essentially a system of independent magocracies answer to one monarchy. Now, people still wish to become a Sorceror-Baron, because the Sorceror-Barons tap depths of their craft none knew existed. A couple ideas I have of these are a transmuter, who magically crossbreeds races for the betterment of his people. Who wouldn't want a literal Sheep-Dog, so that in the summer, you can shear your pet, and make a shirt for winter? Unfortunately, this normally cheerful man has been troubled of late. The King is forcing him to mix criminals with violent animals to bolster the armies, as the kind is finding it difficult to recruit more men in his bloody war. So, what do yo all think? I have a couple more ideas about the place, but I'll save them in a bit. (One last note: I got the idea from Howl's Moving Castle. how the wizard psuedonyms were called to serve the king in the war, despite Howl's objections.)
GoriceXII 07-04-07, 04:03 PM	It's an interesting idea. To expand on some of your thoughts a little you seem to be suggesting a feudal system in which say primogeniture inheritance exists. If this is the case then as the kingdom has become more stable and peaceful the sorcerors may have been neglecting magical study and such in favour of skill at ruling, courtly etiquette, and so on. The King's situation might simply be a strong example of this. It might also be that say another class or two are rising socially to challenge the former order, say warrior and rogue types. They may have in the past been kept quite humbled by the power of the sorceror-lords, but now are starting to prove important to law and order. Also socially low ranking sorcerors might start to prove more effective magically than their overlords. This could help create intrigues and conflicts within the kingdom.
AllWillFall2Me 07-06-07, 09:13 PM	Thank you for the response. Well, I wasn't so much attempting to create an aristocracy of mages, as I was trying to set up a "mad king abusing power" setting. My original concept, which is still fluid for the main, is that, essentially, each barony is like unto its own nation. It has standing troops, perpetuates intrigue against the other baronies, and within the barony the baron is the law. However, the king, through use of the signing of the pact, keeps these dozen powerful men at his call. I see this as a civilization in decline. The war is taxing the resources, both material, and arcane, of the nation, and the king is commanding more and more. Now, as you said, many of these men are powerful mages, and thus had little time for courtly duty and etiquette. That is where the main strife comes from. The monarchy is a inherited position, whereas The barony is a merit-earned one. You become a Sorceror-Baron by defeating a current one. The barons had grown used to being allowed their seclusion, and studies, so long as they gave the king his share of taxes, and stepped up to defend the nation when it was attacked. But now, the new king doesn't respect the barons as much as his father did. He has no arcane power, and feels inadequate as king because of it. Hence, he has started a war, and found a new, "martial" way of enforcing the pact. Essentially, he is afraid of the power he controls by the pact, and is squandering it. The barons' attitudes vary wildly. The aforementioned transmuter, who I have named Midas, hates the war, hates his role in it, and hates the king for making him do this. Another baron, a necromancer known as the Whisper, enjoys the war because it gives him a chance to improve the effectiveness of both his undead and his necromancer armies. Yet another, an evoker, is using the war to fuel his joy for battle and destruction. About the classes, I envisioned this as being a more arcane land. As in, Hexblades are more prevalent than Fighters, and Spellthieves similarly outnumber Rogues. I just realized why. In my campaign world, I so far have 4 "nations". This one, another which is run by a triumvirate of Pelor, Heironeus, and St Cuthbert, so this is a fairly religious (though not necessarily divine) nation. Then I have an evil desert kingdom. Imagine Persia from 300 meets Rome, with an immortal king. (Powerful spell researched by court mages.) This one is at war with both the other two kingdoms. The last "nation" is the Vree. The closest equivalent is a more cohesive Brethren Court from Pirates 3. (In my defense, I thought of this before I saw these movies.)So, pirates, and everyone who lives on the bounty of the ea, they are the least orderly nation, and are simultaneously at war and allied with all three of the others. So I guess I made this as a balance, as before the arcane forces weren't as numerous.
AllWillFall2Me 07-15-07, 02:07 AM	one of my players reminded me, so :bump:
taradusis 07-15-07, 11:19 AM	Seems like an Ok idea.I suggest leaving part of the world unexplored so PCs can have an "Age of Exploration"type campaign.I usually suggest an archipellago of wonder,a set of islands with each being stranger than the last.This gives your adventures an episodic feel like the voyages of the starship Enterprise.I have a thread with some island ideas.771660...GOOD LUCK.