Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 07-10-07, 12:27 PM	After overthrowing a Dark Lord type (in D&D, that is), what do you usually do afterwards? Is the Dark Lord typically a usurper who has not completely destroyed the old holders of legitimate authority (e.g., a crown prince who survives in exile, old members of parliament who were expelled when the Dark Lord created a rubber stamp "rump parliament," etc), so after he's overthrown, you can just hand the reins of authority back to whoever originally had them before he took over? Or do you typically take over yourself, becoming the new leader, perhaps as a reformer who ends the old tyrannical practices, or perhaps as a mere replacement who takes the tyrants place and uses the same tactics? Kick the ball down the road by setting up some sort of provisional authority made of a council of various village leaders, scholars, merchants, clergy, former resistance fighters, etc, which will then hopefully decide on a more permanent form of government? Cast Planar Ally and ask an Astral Deva to rule the country until it can find a more permanent form of government that will ensure justice for all?
Salla 07-10-07, 12:42 PM	Typically, we give it back to whoever had it before the bad guy took over ... if that's not feasible, we find a neighboring 'good guy' country and cede control to him, letting him expand his nation and bring peace and prosperity to the old one.
DX2052 07-10-07, 12:45 PM	Let Democracy sort it out.
Jackmojo 07-10-07, 12:45 PM	I'd deploy troops to deal with any holdout loyalists and then get the people to elect their own democratically chosen leaders and they would throw me parades and have flowers for my soldiers.... oh wait that only works in fantasy settings :devil: Jack
Zaver 07-10-07, 12:51 PM	We're adventurers! We don't sully our selves with figuring out how to fix things, we kill the tyrant then ride off with any thing from the palace that fit in a bag of holding.
Forfeit 07-10-07, 01:13 PM	We're adventurers! We don't sully our selves with figuring out how to fix things, we kill the tyrant then ride off with any thing from the palace that fit in a bag of holding. Exactly. You´re not a proper adventurer unless you steal as much as you can and run the country into complete poverty.
Apocolypse_77 07-10-07, 01:20 PM	me and my friends often play evil characters, so when we destroy a tyrant, or noble king, or anyone else in a position of power we normally do one of 3 things. 1) if the position of power, is REALLY good, such as leader of the largest nation in the known world, they we assume the mantle or rulers for ourselves and rule the place with a F***ing Iron fist. 2) If the position has posibilities for wealth but not worth our full undivided attention then we hire some thugs of moderate power to extort the hell out of the land and send us any surplus money. Note this option will often lead to these thugs breaking away from us when they get greedy, but all that needs to be done then is for our group to come back, torture the betrayers as an example and install a new, more loyal (and or scared Sh*tless group) to take their place. 3) if the place has little to no power and or wealth to speak of, we loot, rape and pillage until anything of value is gone, and we are bored of killing and destroying just for the sheer fun of it. but since we are evil this will not likely help you.
JulesCARV 07-10-07, 01:24 PM	The mark of a successful dictator is a combination of happy subjects, a thriving economy, and a full Swiss bank account. Have you people not played Tropico? Of course, that's only if you're using the "A Place in History" option, but I usually do. I guess I feel that "Economic Powerhouse," "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and "Tis the Money that Makes the Man" are kinda... incomplete, as options. Wait... Tropico isn't really related to D&D so much.
Paladin_Hiroshi 07-10-07, 01:49 PM	You rule, obviously. Survival of the fittest. The ruler could not defend himself, so now you are ruler. :D but being an adventurer, you'll install either a govenor or a council to do that for you. It's a good place to leave a PC if they wish to play a different character, that way the old character runs the town, while the new one can adventure with the party....
Zealot_Reborn 07-10-07, 06:00 PM	Read Machiavelli's The Prince. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Lyinginbedmon 07-10-07, 06:20 PM	As DM, I handle the overthrowing of a despot/tyrant/whatever the same way the real world does: Everything goes back to normal. Which in this particular case means: Another takes over, and you're lucky if they're better than the last one.
Zaver 07-10-07, 06:31 PM	As DM, I handle the overthrowing of a despot/tyrant/whatever the same way the real world does: Everything goes back to normal. Which in this particular case means: Another takes over, and you're lucky if they're better than the last one. If they're better than the last one we're not that lucky. We need despots on the throne, it's job security to not fix problems too well. If every time we took down a tyrant we left a nice shiny utopia behind us we'd run out work quick. I mean come on, we may make thousands of gold in coin, jewels and gear but how many of us ever have much money? And it's not that I don't care about the suffering of the common people, it's just business.
TheDarkLord 07-10-07, 06:49 PM	After overthrowing a Dark Lord type (in D&D, that is), what do you usually do afterwards? Well, I have yet to be overthrown so... ;). Usually, if nothing is done, chaos will reign for at least a few years afterwards as new power groups form and fight (whether peaceably or not depends) to fill the void left by the "Superpower" in charge. Outside influences from neighbors also play a large part after the overthrow of a government, after all they usually have a vested interest in how their neighboring countries act and run themselves. Power groups within the country could also reach out for "Help" from their neighbors and allies as well. This is what causes the biggest problem most of the time, outside influences mixing in with the local populace (like how we are going to have a second Iran on our hands soon). Eventually though, a power group will take control, it's not a matter of if, but when. Usually, as history shows, it's usually the faction that has the most money and has greater "outside" support.
Jherid 07-10-07, 08:16 PM	Thanks, fellas. I really could use any advice at all on this topic. Subscribed! :rofl: Alt accounts at their best.
TheDarkLord 07-10-07, 08:24 PM	:rofl: Alt accounts at their best. Or worst...
StevenO 07-10-07, 09:17 PM	Try to restore order and build a stable government. Of course if that doesn't work because my tactics aren't as harsh as the tyrant's were and don't keep the two factions within the region from fighting me and each other then I'll just may just cut and run letting the area devolve into something even worse than when the tyrant ruled. Is that the answer we're looking for?
Pyro_Azer 07-10-07, 09:31 PM	Normaly i would loot the palace then blow it up. (i put some black powder in a huge pile of alchemists fires then flew away).