I tend to have LOTS of politics in my games, mainly because it's how I enforce social norms to set the standards of a locality where the PC's might be "doing things".

This can vary WILDLY to being lawless He-Who-Smash-Hardest wins, to very bureaucratic high-faluting procedural shit, to Feudal favors-for-fun, etc. it depends wildly on what I'm running. But internally it also depends on the specific locality within the game. As my sandboxes are large, very few campaigns adhere to *one* kind of political scene. Orcs don't organize like medieval feudal lords, or tyrannical city-state overlords, or whatever.

And often there are political realities within those domains that aren't part of the larger political state. Think of organized criminal enterprises within a massive city. Political compasses are largely meaningless to me. The World IS. And it remains that until the PC's do things to make changes to it.

Quote from: tenbones on December 14, 2022, 09:46:02 AM
I tend to have LOTS of politics in my games, mainly because it's how I enforce social norms to set the standards of a locality where the PC's might be "doing things".

This can vary WILDLY to being lawless He-Who-Smash-Hardest wins, to very bureaucratic high-faluting procedural shit, to Feudal favors-for-fun, etc. it depends wildly on what I'm running. But internally it also depends on the specific locality within the game. As my sandboxes are large, very few campaigns adhere to *one* kind of political scene. Orcs don't organize like medieval feudal lords, or tyrannical city-state overlords, or whatever.

And often there are political realities within those domains that aren't part of the larger political state. Think of organized criminal enterprises within a massive city. Political compasses are largely meaningless to me. The World IS. And it remains that until the PC's do things to make changes to it.

Greetings!

Excellent, my friend! Yeah, my world of Thandor is run the same way that you describe here. Lots of politics, everywhere, but at the same time, all of the politics is different. In Thandor, each nation, kingdom, what have you, has their own political landscape, informed and influenced by the region's dominant religion, as well as particular cultural customs and expectations.

Good stuff, Tenbones!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

The world itself doesn't care about you. It will try to kill you be it through man, beast, plant, weather or time.

The ruling body on the other hand is the Empire, which is, I think, a benevolent dictatorship. Anybody can be anything, and by that it's not an uncommon sight to see a civilised orc at a desk in some bureaucratic institution, for example. The Empire is remarkably non-racist, because merit will get you somewhere. Well, somewhere in the middle levels of the bureaucracy. Going up from there is for the nobility alone. That does not mean the people suffer tyranny however. As far as a fantasy empire goes, people are looked after, there's an efficient postal system that is cheap and open to the public, other what we would call public services are run by the state. The people enjoy their liberties.