Intro
You ever think about how when we sit down in our fantasy DnD worlds they are almost exclusively monarchies; or at the very least a single figurehead type of government like a mayor of a town or a count, baron, duchess/duke, etc.? The reason we gravitate towards this as our type of government is that historically speaking, most Tolkienesque/Western Fantasy takes place during the medieval period of European history. The prevailing system of governance during this time was feudal in nature and led by individual dukes or kings of a given area.
So naturally, we as DMs continually fall back on the same systems of governance in our DnD fantasy worlds. We do this because we have a nostalgic fondness for them due to our favorite novels, TV shows, and movies. We want to emulate and re-live these fantastic worlds we inhabited as children, and that’s not a problem at all!
I love a good Monarch storyline in DnD, the crazed king who must be secretly taken out of power, the war hungry ruler who has to be tempered, the queen mother who will do anything to protect her young king heir. There are so many great stories to tell in Fantasy and DnD and there is something fun and intriguing about convincing a ruler to your side as a player and slowly watching their temperament change.
History has given us hundreds of years’ worth of great monarch driven storylines including Mary Queen of Scots versus her cousin Queen Elizabeth I; Richard the Lionheart, decorated war hero, against his jealous brother King John. History offers great stories for monarchies that we can borrow from but notice how they almost always involve other rulers or other political players. This is something worth noting as a DM because it tells you that the stories come from the interactions between our respective NPCs and/or Players.
But I think we as DMs can have a more intriguing game. One driven by more political drama as opposed to what we may often get from a single ruler government. If you’re reading this article, I have a feeling a politically driven, roleplay heavy game interests you to some degree.
Adding Council Governments
I propose that we start considering the possibility of council governments; oligarchies, aristocracies, democracies, any government in which a body of people make decisions on matters of state. What this introduces into the DM toolbox is not only a broader cast of NPCs but a larger potential for dramatic storytelling.
I find something profoundly moving imagining a group of players making their case to a major political body and waiting in bated breath for the response of the council, or senate.
You, as the DM could create entire subplots around influencing council members to take votes on major issues that affect the main plot of your campaign. Infiltrating the homes of council members for dirt or tailing members as they try to sneak off to a meeting with a lover or a local criminal organization for bribes.
Historical Examples & Some Ideas
So how do we capitalize on this idea? Historically speaking there is a lot of room to create new and different characters within your campaign’s system of government. You could emulate such governments as the Spartan Gerousia, an oligarchy (Though the Spartan Kings were involved) which only had men older than 60 as decision makers, or the Athenian Senate, which allowed any free men to participate as soon as they qualified for citizenship regardless of class. In a less Euro-centric view, there were several (admittedly lesser known due to lack of evidence) oligarchical republics across the Indian subcontinent known as Sanghas. With a similar council of people allowed to speak on matters of state and make a variety of decisions. Though it, like many other ancient governments, only allowed the upper classes to participate. These Sanghas also had a King in their system chosen out of a specific class of people.
In DnD, you could potentially copy this system exactly or create a more extreme version. Perhaps in an Elven society, the council members must be older than 600 years? (Keep in mind what being 600 does to an NPC’s world view. What does a 600-year-old Elf know compared to your player characters? What might they find more important as opposed to a younger elf?) In an Athenian system, different local community leaders might influence large swathes of votes. For instance, it’s reasonable to assume that any kind of guild (Merchant, fishing, blacksmith) in the city would vote similarly on any given issue. Therefore, those leaders should be major NPCs in your campaign.
You could have a multi-party system in an official sense like most modern governments where there are two parties who are split along ideological lines or socio-economic lines. They could even be split along DnD class lines such as, magic users vs physical fighters; Arcane vs Divine to name a few. Racial or gender lines could also be an option (Can’t see that going wrong!).
Consider the idea of a Multi-generational leader, for example, the Bright Queen in Critical Role. For the uninitiated, the Bright Queen is one of the political leaders in Matthew Mercer’s DnD Fantasy world, Exandria. The Bright Queen has been the ruler of Xhorhas for more than 1200 years. When some upper class drow citizens in Xhorhas die, they are reincarnated into a new body giving these individuals unnaturally long lives. Think about the impact the true death of one of theses multi-generational leaders might have on your society. Is there even a system in place should this leader die with no heir? Your citizens may not even remember a time where there was a new leader of this country.
Another thing to keep in mind is that DnD has mind-altering magics, meaning that both your players and your NPCs have the potential to use these magics on council members, possibly swaying their opinion on an issue. This would matter a great deal in a magical society, and even more so in a magical society with a governmental body of people. Your councilors or monarchs would certainly have access to items that would block these spells from affecting them. Consider having the entire building or area where the council meets warded against the use of those spells. (Or don’t, you cheeky agents of chaos!)
In Conclusion
If you take nothing else from this article, let it be this: KNOW YOUR NPCs! To make the most out of any government system you decide to use, it is necessary to think about who the political powerhouses in your world are, and what they want. Your NPCs are not just the quest givers with a little “!” over their heads. They are whole characters with wants, needs, and dreams. Is there a jealous brother? Is there a conflict between two of your rulers/councilors? Does that one councilor secretly murder people at night who disagree with him over the legitimacy of Hawaiian pizza!? If not, WHY? When you begin to understand your world and your NPC political leaders, I believe some naturally interesting storylines will emerge.