Post/Author/DateTime	Post
HerbalTea 02-16-06, 03:05 PM	I think I have got this mentally in order, but some help and guidelines would be appreciated. One of the PC's in the campaign I am currently running has recently ascended the throne to a minor island. He is not only the king of this small island however, he has also been labelled "the overlord of the west" (inspiration from David Eddings' book series). This basically means that he is the king of kings for the western section of the world and is in control of around four continents. What I would like to know is this: How much detail should I include in the day to day happenings? Should he have to appoint certain staff members in his castle? Should he be given the piles and piles of reports and pleas asked by the inhabitants of his island (and war/peace treaties from nearby kingdoms) - therefore taking up most of his session by replying to everyone and holding regular meetings between the 12 kings of the continents of the world? Should he leave this to NPC's or just say that he want this and that and I just say "you managed to do all of that in around 6 hours. It is now evening and your day is now free"? Is it appropriate for him to go on quests now? (he is an epic wizard and there are four other members of the campaign group who still wander around doing various tasks for fun) Any sort of feedback would be ideal. I feel I have missed a few things out so please feel free to ask for more info...
Hasmead_Guy 02-16-06, 05:02 PM	Hm... I'm not a ruler, so I wouldn't know, but like Urgit was told in King of the Murgos, it's impossible to run a kingdom by yourself. You have to dispense the power among people you trust. Does your ruler have a council of people he trusts? Come up with some NPCs who show good judgement (high WIS score). He probably shouldn't go on adventures anymore, seeing as he has a dominion spanning four continents to run. But if you come up with a quest that concerns him directly (a prophecy needs fulfilling, perhaps ;) ) then he can appoint a second in command and head out.
dungeonmasterblog 02-16-06, 08:43 PM	What I would is have him hire a chief of staff. That person basically does the mundane tasks like handling the staff and making sure the caste runs smoothly. That leaves the kind time to take care of business on the adventuring side. Of course you could also have the chief of staff be power hungry himself and basically have him try to subvert the kind. Dungeon Master http://www.dungeonsdragonsblog.com
Hedstrong 02-16-06, 09:45 PM	Oh jeez, it's been for ever since i have read anything by Eddings. If i am not mistaken didnt Garion have one of Brand's sons run his kingdom for him while he was out? I think his name was Klail or somewhere around those lines, most definatly a K name. Really theres not all that much a council with enough power can't handle. Get him to apoint a council of trusted advisors to run the kingdom for him and simply send a message spell evey night to inomr him of the days doings. If he was worried enough, just have the other kings keep an eye on the council as well. Now, i have just a few curiosities about your campaign. How much is it influeneced by the book series? are you JUST putting in the overlord concept or do you have more in there? for example, a gift like hettar had to speak with horses, or a werebear like Barak. Aw you HAVE to have low INT plaladin who can stop speaking Ye Olde English, (Mandorallen was my favorite=)] o jeez yav woken up the kid in me reading books on a summer mornin, now im all giddy.
HerbalTea 02-20-06, 07:11 AM	It isn't completely like the David Eddings series, I just took a few of the cool things in it that I thought would work well with my campaign - Garion's character and the battling prophecies to name the major ones. There is an old sorcerer in it as well that has been called something along the lines of "old wolf" before ;).