Post:Game Mechanics, Settings, and the Role-Players who Love Them (long) - 1/11/2011 - 14:46:57

Re: Game Mechanics, Settings, and the Role-Players who Love Them (long) · on 1/11/2011 2:46:57 PM	1954
>>Seriously though, my perception has always been that the rest of the world seems to get stronger along with us anyway. See: Vorasus' infinite army of 150th-circle-killing Zealots. And he's small beans compared to the real power centers of Elanthia. Supposedly our Guild Leaders have been 200th+ circle equivalents for over a decade already, and Guilds:Provinces::City Councils:Washington. That's a major way the mitigation takes place. The people that are highly placed in society are better adventurers than you, and for some unfathomable reason have elected to maintain the illusion of a Hollywood medieval society rather than descend into tribal despotism. The Guilds have a few major checks in place that keep them from world domination. 1: Each guild is a small organization in the grand scheme of things, mostly reliant on the Provinces for support. A guild does not keep its own serfs to grow its own food, build its own roads and (with a few exceptions) man its own walls. 2: Only one guild has a reasonable chance at self-sustainance, and even the Rangers rely on fixed caches and guild halls in a way that, in context of their ideology, is almost pornographic. Enchantments run dry, voices get sore, and everybody gets hungry. 3: Guilds do not inspire loyalty. No guild is a monolith even in the best of times, and you'll find people from every guild that takes the guild's knowledge and runs off to a higher bidder. With a few exceptions, any power a guild has, any organization that has the ability to grant vast estates and guaranteed privileges can buy. It'd be a really awful day if the Moon Mage Guild up and decided to go rogue. There'd be lots of death, burning villages, assassinated nobles, and the threat of a smear campaign that could go on for decades. But in the end the Moon Mages are few in number, most of their holdings are easily destroyed, and Lunar Magic doesn't let you get around eating, drinking, or shivering in the cold. -Armifer
This message was originally posted in The Social Side of DragonRealms (10) \ Roleplaying in General (2), by DR-ARMIFER on the play.net forums.