Blood Lord Political Power


Blood Lords


I've been preparing for an upcoming Blood Lords campaign for some time now, but I'm having some trouble finding some specific information on what being a Blood Lord actually entails. I've been reading through the adventure path, Book of the Dead and Impossible Lands but I've only seen pretty vague descriptions of the political power that Blood Lords possess. Am I just missing something in my search?

For example, I know that Kemnebi is the chancellor and second to Geb when it comes to authority, but I don't really know what an individual Blood Lord does. Are they all equal to each other, barring the sway they have with the factions? How beholden to the Blood Lords are the factions? They seem to have most of the power, but I'm still not entirely sure what a Blood Lord can do. Do ordinary citizens have to comply with whatever a Blood Lord wishes?

How are Blood Lords given jurisdiction over things? Does Geb just tell them what they're in charge of, then they do it? If a Blood Lord wants to change something, does it just happen unless another Blood Lord opposes? If that happens, does it just come down to whichever Blood Lord has more sway with relevant factions?

I don't need specific answers for everything, and I completely understand if this is left open-ended to be elaborated on by GMs. I am mostly interested in knowing if this information exists at all and I would greatly appreciate being pointed in the right direction!


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Pathfinder Adventure Subscriber

So most of the the nitty gritty of the powers that belong to the Bloodlords isnt really specified. Most of it boils up to "Whatever the story currently needs them to do" and for 90% of content that is perfectly okay if you're playing an outsider in Geb. However Book 4 of Bloodlords does give us a little bit more detail as to what they all can do with their power and Il try to give you my best opinion on the details.

All the Bloodlords are theoretically equal to each other however age and experience typically denotes the truly powerful and affluent from the upstart politician. Its mentioned offhand that new bloodlords come and go from the roster inferring that the title isn't impossible to achieve but hard enough to keep that an "Old Bloodlord" wields more power then a fledgeling.

The Bloodlords technically aren't beholden to the factions at all I dont believe but the act of becoming a Bloodlords requires so much leverage and favours that one ends up in the company of a faction anyways. Its always good to keep a handful of factions on your side as turning them against you can cause fellow Bloodlords to smell blood in the water and an easy target. Like how real life politicians aren't technically beholden to companies but their sponsors, lobbyists, and other supporters hold a lot of weight.

The back of the book gives you some really good ideas on what a Bloodlord can do or does.

Ghoul's Hunger pg 75 wrote:
...adjudicating disputes, passing laws, protecting the nation’s citizens from harm, warding against supernatural threats, and furthering the nation’s interests both domestically and abroad.

A Bloodlord in my mind is a very powerful politician. They can do a lot of things at the macro level like creating factions, starting and approving projects, bolstering the country and their own powers. The command a lot of influence and power. While the average person on the street may not need to technically obey their every whim (would you listen to your local rep if they asked you to do something?). Unlike in real life a Bloodlord is likely to send assasins, black mail, or make you dissapear if you so much as look at them wrong. The citizens comply with their wishes because if they dont the Bloodlords can make their life hell. Which also reinforces the idea that the older a Bloodlord the more powerful they are because the more resources they have to leverage against you.

You've got the right of most of it and Im just giving my 2c. Because Geb has only been doven into recently we dont have a lot of the context a more fleshed out place like absalom has.

The best resources I've used are:
Mythic Realms (1e)- Goes into Mechitar and a conflict between the bloodlords. Even fleshes out some locations that 2e doesnt.

Blood Lords Book 4 Ghoul's Hunger- Has the details of Blood Lord activities and powers as well as shows how Geb interacts with the Blood lords.

LO:Impossible Lands- A great place to start on general vibe and summary on Geb.

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