Paths of Power

Greetings Veeky Forums,

I'd like to discuss possible paths to ruling power and methods of ruling once that power is achieved.

I'm working on developing a game similar to a kingmaker style where the PCs strive to become ruler of one of eight or nine city-states, then rule it to greatness or destruction.

I want to explore ways in which the players may rise and rule so I can provide scenarios as obstacles and opportunities specific for their style.
What I'm looking for is an array of the different ways one can become and stay a leader:
Personal power, fame, diplomacy, allies, intimidation, love, magic, divine right, bloodline, superstition, prophecy, coup, election, marriage, sorting hat, etc...
And how a ruler that rose in such a way would rule over their people.

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I figured the most typical progression towards ruling would that of the PCs gaining fame and support from the people after various acts of heroism.
And I can only see that working to achieve ruling control in systems with fair elections, either direct or through a council, or as a coup, which would require military strength or great personal power.

Come on Veeky Forums,

If you had the opportunity to take control of a Fantasyland citystate and run it, what would you do?

Do you rule with an iron fist through a fearsome army?
Do you inspire obedience through control of great magical power or fearsome monsters?
Do you curry favor with other powers, balancing their desires with your own needs?
Do you serve the will of the people?
Do you harness the strength of the people to build them up?
Do you seek wealth, military strength, or what?
Did you chance into through a strange artifact prophecy?

What are the possibilities?

Okay I'll break it down myself:
First possibility that occurs to me is Personal Power:
Someone rising to rule and then ruling through personal power, whether that power comes from physical prowess, magical ability, a magical item they have, or whatever, it all boils down to being able to prove that you're the biggest baddest badass around.
So half your rule is going to be spent maintaining your personal power and maintaining intimidation.
Even if you only intend on intimidating your enemies or would-be usurpers, your rule will be defined by intimidation.
Any choices you make to lessen your aura of intimidation will we can you.

Well, thing is, more than just straight money or magic, you need people who are willing to do things your way.
The economy needs to be taken care of, the army needs to be led, the education system needs to be maintained (or not), people want things. Politics is the game of 'who gets how much of what when'. And you need to have people who are competent and capable of keeping track of all these things, or your nation falls apart. More than that, you need to make sure they have more reason to follow you than the next fellow, or else your power is going to quickly end up belonging to someone else.
I'd say the most crucial thing you need to keep track of is the loyalty of any given adviser or NPC, and what value they have. If you support the lumber industry by cutting deals for its head honchos, you're going to benefit from better lumber, or at least more lumber. You need lumber for your nation, so guess what? You need to balance out how much the lumber is worth versus, say, road construction.

/pol/fag can't handle Veeky Forums ignoring him.

>I'd say the most crucial thing you need to keep track of is the loyalty of any given adviser or NPC, and what value they have.
Absolute truth.
I was considering tracking populace loyalty, but tracking through advisors may definitely be a better way to go.
How does one inspire loyalty from advisors, especially when you can give everyone what they want?
Definitely worth chewing on.

Actually I'm specifically looking to keep /pol/ and irl examples to an absolute minimum if at all.
Hence the lack of inflammatory imagery and the subsequent deluge of posts, shitposty as they might be.

Oh, and I'm perfectly used to Veeky Forums ignoring me, thank you very much.
Heh

Ok first thing is what supernatural resources exist and can I mentain a monopoly on one? If I can gain exclusive access to some form of plant growth enhancing life magic that gives me a major economic boost and hopefully a military one soon after. On the other hand if any such energies have an intelligence (let's just say it's a god for simplicity) controlling access then I need to know which of these gods will honour an agreement and which will try and screw me.
The same applies for monsters and just about everything else.

No knowledge of possible Supernatural resources you could monopolize as well as deities and monsters you can strike deals with.
Excellent points.
I have those in place if you are interested I can take a minute to go look them up.
The resources and monsters vary by city-state. The gods are mostly universal, but the God of Death or Goddess of Freedom might make local exclusivity deals and honor them.

>What are the ways of kingship in fantasy land?

Iskandar was right about almost everything.

"So, knowledge" not "No knowledge"

Good point.
Perhaps you could please explain how that's true as if I had no idea what the heck you were talking about?

TLDR: Waifu-ized versions of Gilgamesh [the Gold Guy], King Arthur [the chick] and Alexander the Great [Giant Red-Haired Guy] have an intense discussion on which of them is the greatest king by explaining their various philosophies on ruling.

Arthur claims that she ruled as a servant to her people, acting selflessly out of compassion and working out of a sense of duty which she expected everyone else to live up to.

Gilgamesh claims that he rules through divine right and overwhelming power, that his will is absolute, and that anyone who defies him he'll simply obliterates. He also serves as a distant ideal for his people, but doesn't bother acquiring vassals or retainers.

Alexander claims that he ruled through charisma and heroic inspiration, convincing people to throw their lots in with his in the name of some grand noble undertaking [in his case, world conquest], treating his followers as his friends and his enemies like worthy opponents. His dream Defeat Means Friendship, where everyone he kicked the shit out of would become his friend and vassal afterwards. He sought to represent the greatest extremes of humanity by being a loud, boisterous, proud person who inspired like-wise in others.

In what way is this /pol/, jesus christ

Okay, that sounds kind of awesome.
Yeah.

Imagine I had used the same text but a reviled political figure as an OP image: boom /pol/ in a bottle.
That user just can't stop seeing various bogeymen even when they're not there, that's all.

Its to the point where in the series [Fate/Zero], every heroic spirit has a power based on their legend in life. Most people have a weapon, or a special attack, or power.

Iskandar [Alexander]'s power is summoning a massive dimension filled with his entire army from life through nothing but the Power of Friendship. By the meta-logic of the setting the power in question shouldn't even be possible.

youtube.com/watch?v=rwje8mJXLJ4

Here he is using it against Hassan-i Sabbah, the first assassin[s]

>Ok first thing is what supernatural resources exist and can I mentain a monopoly on one?
Options include:
>dormant dragon defended by dragonborn;
>an orc horde and a cavern of an apparently unending swarm of malevolent spider beasts;
>rare but not unique powerful magic gems fought over by dwarves and goblins;
>elves and dryad disciple of Nature Goddess;
>Trolls and mysterious bound efreet
>lizardmen and immortal fairy
>foreign traders and foreign treasure
>mischievous sprites and expert alchemist
>mysterious and dark power

By amassing more points of victory that the others.

Yeah, that seems a touch unbalanced.
But que sera sera.

...

I always liked the idea of using Dominion in between sessions to represent the development in one's kingdom.

Never played it.
Might have to take a look.

So what's your pick, Veeky Forums?
What would you choose?

Ok so according to we have
>dormant dragon defended by dragonborn;
Sounds like an expensive ally or a long term problem.
>an orc horde and a cavern of an apparently unending swarm of malevolent spider beasts;
Although I may be able to use them as a military tool there's too much risk of them turning against me.
>rare but not unique powerful magic gems fought over by dwarves and goblins;
Useful but I'd need to keep them weak and at each other's throats or get good terms of trade with the side I help win, maybe they will weaken each other to the point where I can make a grab for a good chunk of it.
>elves and dryad disciple of Nature Goddess;
This could be very good, increased crop yield and military allys in one package.
>Trolls and mysterious bound efreet
Could be useful if I can bring them under control or a problem if they attack me.
>lizardmen and immortal fairy
Sounds like a lot of diplomacy, not a bad thing but potentially unreliable.
>foreign traders and foreign treasure
Having exclusive access to a foreign market would be great, look into this if possible.
>mischievous sprites and expert alchemist
Not a good combination, get that alchemist (or his knowledge at least) somewhere he won't be distracted.
>mysterious and dark power
Understand but do not consume, if it's just misunderstood then ok but no selling my soul.
In summary the plant goddess and the foreign trade come top followed by the gems.

Excellent and thorough breakdown, thank you.
You picked the most middle-of-the-road choices for city states, so that seems good.

Also:
>>mischievous sprites and expert alchemist
>Not a good combination
I had not thought of it that way
Heh

>nobody has posted it yet
is Veeky Forums losing its edge?
youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs

I had not seen this before.
Enjoyable and informative.
Thanks user.