Becoming a King

[northbrb]

If you were going to play a character from 1st to 20th level how would you go about having them become a king and create their own nation, what tactics would you use?

If you were a GM what would you require a player to do to become a king figuring they were not born of royal blood and just claiming a birthright?

[WhipShire]

Well an easy answer to creating your own nation would be to pick up the Kingmaker adventure path, it has awesome rules my group enjoyed on how to build your won kingdom.

Golarian has two kingdoms up from grabs as we speak... Land of the Linorm Kings has an old king just waiting for someone to walk through his gates with a Linorm dragons head to claim his throne and i believe their is a kingdom with no one on the throne.

[WhipShire]

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lands of the Linnorm Kings (PFRPG)
Paizo Publishing, LLC

--- something new they just came out with... may help you.

The Linnorm Kings themselves are a collection of petty rulers who dominate the few large settlements in the region. They take their names from the tradition that only a king can carry the head of a linnorm through the city’s gates. That head is usually then displayed above the king’s throne as a sign of prowess and power. Given the difficulties of hunting linnorms, the number of active kings at any time varies, from as few as two to as many as seven at any one time.

[Slaunyeh]

All it take is three wishes:

1) Giant field of corn
2) Giant swarm of locus eating the corn
3) Rain of Chocolate
4) PROFIT!

[Rockhopper]

northbrb wrote:

If you were going to play a character from 1st to 20th level how would you go about having them become a king and create their own nation, what tactics would you use?

If you were a GM what would you require a player to do to become a king figuring they were not born of royal blood and just claiming a birthright?

I'd almost certainly use a Bard of some kind. The Charisma, social skills and skills in general are very important. Inspire Courage seems appropriate for a brave king and his loyal men. Leadership would be a must-grab feat although proper diplomacy checks with non-follower NPCs and working with the setting's economy to be able to hire soldiers and the like would also be key.

I'd probably take an Arcane Duelist archetype so the king could take a flavorfully appropriate suit of armor at some point and if necessary hold his own in one on one combat.

Any tactics more particular than that would probably depend on the world. I'd focus on very outgoing and bold roleplaying, but I'd say don't spend all one's time earning the favor of a few needy people unless those people command villages, legions, ideologies, etc. An epic king would need to keep moving forward and leave awe and admiration in his wake (for his followers, hirelings, party members, etc. to foster from there).

For a player to become a king in a game I were GMing, first of all there would have to be some cultural precedent. Maybe there were great kingdoms of old that once governed the lands now comprised of small rural communities and some trade outposts. The PC would have to live up to some standards I'd set to reinstate the old kingdom system, whether it was some magical test or sacred artifact or simply just stirring up old political ideas and forming some bonds of debt and servitude among the peasants. If there were an existing power structure, the kingdom to be would either need to liberate itself or overtake the current system entirely at which point the PC trying to be king would need to get extensively involved in reconstruction.

This kind of game could be played in a lot of different ways, or it could be played in increments of different styles, "chapters" if you will - one of training, or driving orcs or dragons out of the land, or reestablishing peace between disputing groups (mix of favor performing and sniffing out corrupt individuals who are fueling the conflict,) or questing for sacred items, or waging a war of liberation, invasion, unification, etc., or one of simulationism, upkeep and peacekeeping, or even one of war between major nations. I'd base what kinds of chapters to use on my group, what interests them, what did or didn't go over well and what I think would best substantiate the growth of the whole king concept.

[wraithstrike]

northbrb wrote:

If you were going to play a character from 1st to 20th level how would you go about having them become a king and create their own nation, what tactics would you use?

If you were a GM what would you require a player to do to become a king figuring they were not born of royal blood and just claiming a birthright?

It would depend on how the player expected the game to change once they became a king.

[pobbes]

So many options.... Wraithstrike is mostly right, but let me say this. It depends on who wants to be a king. If the player's want to be a king then they can figure it out for themselves to some extent. Rockhopper suggested some great ways for the to occur. If the DM wants to make the players kings there are other options. One, just give them a kingdom. I played in a game where my player won a dukedom in a game of cards. He won the deed for the land from a vagrant, but the deed was authentic. Granted the dukedom was poor, plagued with bandits, and the citizenry was tired of a worthless sring of "paper dukes". Still, our group helped turn the dukedom around, and he became an able ruler. Another simpler option is have the player build a keep on some land. Another ruler will try to make him submit to his rule and become a vassal, but as long as he maintains his lands independence than the character is, technically, a king. Expansion could then come later. Basically, any character with leadership and followers is basically a king of some kind just give him some holdings and its done. If you want to be concerned with kingdom affairs allow small sessions of nation building which occur around major adventuring or war sessions.