What does a Golarion royal court look like?

[Unseenmage]

Trying to figure out exactly how many people make up a royal court in Pathfinder.
D&D 3.5 Power of Faerun pg. 22 has a detailed list of personnel for Faerunian high courts. I'm looking for an analagous list for PF.

The NPC codex tells us who accompanies a King, General, etc when they're encountered.
Kingmaker and Ultimate Campaign give us a short list of ruling offices.
The Settlement rules give us the settlement stats for a generic city which includes rulers and their levels.

Are there other sources from which a Golarion royal court could be extrapolated?

[Snakers]

Unfortunately, Golarion is a setting with a ludicrous amount of country diversity and ruling style differences, so there's not really such a thing as a 'typical' ruling court. In fact, some countries like Andoran are democratic!

[Deadmanwalking]

Yeah, hereditary monarchy isn't uncommon, exactly, but it's by no means inevitable in the setting, and its forms differ drastically from place to place even where it is practiced.

Really, asking for a generic answer to this is like asking for a generic answer to 'What do governments look like?' in the real world right now. It varies vastly by region.

[Haladir]

It totally varies by the specific country you're talking about.

I'd recommend looking at Pathfinder Player Companion: Inner Sea Primer for a brief non-spoilery overview of the nations of the Inner Sea. For a GM-friendly book, start with Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.

[thistledown]

Actually, very few countries on Golarion exhibit the typical medieval/fantasy royal court.

Taldor certainly does, and is the most extravagant about it (extravagance is basically their signature).

Osirion has an egyption take on it, but still has most of the tropes.

Irrisen has the queen rule for 100 years before her mother sends a new sister to rule. It's an ice-fantasy version, but still the typical court model.

Geb has an undead version of it, but otherwise works.

Cheliax has the court, plus devils.

Then it starts to break down. Other countries have nobility and monarchs, but not what you'd really think of as royal courts.

Mendev has a queen, but it's a crusader state so it's run more like a military.

Brevoy had a typical court until recently, now it's a bunch of squabbling houses.

Ustalav has... a bunch of counts and barons? Not sure.

I can't think of any other countries that have a single monarch ruling something like a court. River Kingdoms probably does somewhere, but it'd be tiny. Linnorm Kings have regional rulers.

[zimmerwald1915]

thistledown wrote:

Brevoy had a typical court until recently, now it's a bunch of squabbling houses.

But that is a typical court?

[Ring_of_Gyges]

A noble court is going to contain all the people who make the monarch's government work.

You'll need the monarch and their family. This means a king and queen, their children, uncles, aunts, siblings, and so on. Relatives may have domains of their own to govern in the monarch's name, but alot of relatives will be in the capital.

You'll need a military leader. Someone who administers the military, makes sure the troops are fed, armed, trained, etc... Yes, the monarch might be the head of the military, but a military of any size will need a full time commander who isn't distracted by other duties.

You'll need a religious advisor. Someone who negotiates with the churches that have power in the nation, finds out what they want and decides whether it is worth it to give it to them.

You'll need a magical advisor. Someone needs to keep the monarch protected against magical threats, explain supernatural events, keep the nation's wizards moving in the right direction, and generally respond to arcane emergencies.

You'll need an economic advisor. Someone needs to collect taxes, write budgets, settle disputes about what gets funded and what doesn't, keep the merchant class in line, and generally keep the kingdom solvent.

You'll need a head diplomat. Someone needs to go talk to all your neighboring nations and make sure they don't invade you. Someone needs to work out what monarchs of foreign states are thinking and how its going to effect your kingdom.

You'll need a spymaster. Someone needs to be hiring, training, and managing a spy network or some disgruntled terrorist is going to cut your throat one night. Who are your home grown dissidents? What are foreign spy services up to in your kingdom?

You'll need other jobs as well, but those are the big ones that come to mind. On top of that you'll have a small army of favor seekers hanging around wanting one thing or another (appointments, law changes, money for pet projects, etc...) and the bureaucrats that carry royal pronouncements into actual action.

A royal court is a government, it needs all the parts that any government has.

[Berselius]

I'd say Ustalav is teetering on the edge of a major internal conflict.

[Noir le Lotus]

Ring_of_Gyges wrote:

A noble court is going to contain all the people who make the monarch's government work.

Nope !!

A royal court is how the king is gathering together all the nobles he wants around him, because he needs or appreciate their company, or because he wants to keep an eye on them.

Typically, in a royal court, you will have :
- noble courtiers, begging for some royal favor
- some very powerful nobles (in economic or military terms), that the king prefers to keep next to him to make sure they are not contesting his power in the marches of the kingdom
- some reknown artists, here to distract eh king and all the court
- other minor artists, that try to get noticed
- philosophers (religious or atheists) taht try to get influence on the court and the king
- royal mistresses and all kind of courtesans
- ambassadors of foreign countries

and of course all the families of all these peoples ...

[Sah]

Then of course there is the Realm of the Mammoth Lords which doesn't even have a unified government, though one tribe is the most powerful.

I expect their court looks very different.