You are a wealthy high lord or king in a high fantasy setting. Describe what measures you have in place for personal security
You are a wealthy high lord or king in a high fantasy setting.
You are a wealthy high lord or king in a high fantasy setting. Describe what measures you have in place for personal security
The entire country is inside an antimagic field.
Number is not talking about them with random people. Begone, stranger!
None. I succeeded my father by adventuring until I was skilled enough to kill him. My successor will do the same.
As a great king, I am protected by:
>A mighty fortress, the walls of which have not been breached in a hundred years
>My wise court wizard, who is very solicitous about my health and the health of my daughter, and constantly frets about the state of the kingdom
>My two beloved sons, the elder of which is handsome, fair-haired, and beloved, and the younger of which could really try a bit harder
>My loyal and courageous knights, led by their respected leader, who some say would make a better king (clearly in jest)
I am accompanied by one unassuming little old man who genially smiles at everyone we meet.
Remember rule #1
Five elite warriors
>tall lanky lad with surprising agility in battle.
>enormous bearded woman dwarf. Also the fourth in line for a dwarven noble house
>a teenaged wizard boy who has been cursed by foul magical incident to be forever young and temperamental
>former bandit leader that I adventured with as a lad. Now leads the group of 5. Usually affable but also very vicious when it comes to protecting me or my progeny
>robed silent figure of average build. Said to be a master poisoner, archer, and daggerist
These 5 travel with me almost all the time. If one or more has to be absent, the bandit leader and robed figure are always at my side no matter what due to a binding magical contract.
>court mage casts a magic shield on me every hour on the hour
>royal priest blesses me every morning
>the once notorious thief and dagger for hire now prevents would be assasins
Security in obscurity
There is a king and people know of it, yet none but a select few actually know the king's identity. None would think or bother to target a humble beggar-fool, who when he's not acting the village idiot on the street corner, is sneaking off to meet in dark alleys with the spymaster and such to decide on national policy.
you would probably get beaten up by punk kids though
I'm the king, I can take a beating
The only organizations that can operate like that are ones with extremely dedicated, voluntary members, and they'll have to have a cellular structure with leadership like that.
It doesn't really suit OP's example of a king or high lord, who must be seen and known to exist in order to maintain legitimacy and ward off usurpers.
I am a dragon. My scales are bright and shiny, and hard and strong. Also I will invest heavily in transport infrastructure. I will personally use my giant dragon claws to dig a system of canals that connect my entire country and make it possible to move large quantities of men and material. This will lend to the stability and prosperity of my kingdom, and allow me to quickly respond to any local crises before they affect the broader region.
My military will follow the Prussian system with heavy emphasis on a highly trained cadre of professional general officers who are encouraged to innovate and take initiative.
My economic policy will be focused on manufacturing finished goods, and a secular education system will be set up to provide skilled labor and literate soldiers. These manufactured goods will be sold to other regions for gold, which I will add to my hoard. The monetary system will use a fiat currency issued by my personal bank. As a dragon, I will have ample opportunity to develop this system.
My wife is a dragon.
None. God will protect me.
I've got walls and a gate, and a guy who stands at the gate. Inside the walls, I've got a sword and whichever knights aren't currently questing, eating, contemplating solitude, vigorously pretending they don't want to have sex with my wife, or taking a shit at any given time. My 0-2 knights on hand may or may not have some amount of magical arms and armor they received while on quests for whatever thing they quest for.
I've summoned the spirits of my ancestors from the afterlife to protect me
by being a good man who treats his people well.
also the legion of warriors, mages, holy men, and spies i have seeded throughout my castle and kingdom, ever ready to respond to threats with rapid and permanent force, but the peasantry don't need to worry about that
Is it D&D? If so, we're fricked. Be a powerful spellcaster, I guess, and even then assassins are probably going to get me. Scrying, teleportation, invisibility, and gaseous form each by themselves make security nearly impossible against any moderately resourceful and wealthy enemy. There are countermeasures for all of these, but they are expensive and very limited in duration and area. The attacker chooses the time and place of engagement, so unless we're going full Howard Hughes, assassination is unstoppable.
Halaster's Teleport Cage is permanent, but 1000gp for a 10x10x10 area. Doing the whole Castle will cost a lot of money. Though what sort of resources a d&d kingdom should have is a mystery to me. A lot more than a historical one.
The specifics have more to do with what you're doing and where. But generally; large public works projects, the kind that ingratiate yourself to the region generally, but specifically the people who would go onto form your pool of potential guards. Making sure your Varangian guards are well housed, and propagating.
Band of trusted knights.
Loyal wizard advisor.
Talented minister of secrets.
Why break the mold?
The knights are easily mind controlled by your wizard advisor, who plans to become a demon king with the help of the minister of secrets. It's all according to the minister's plans, as he can magically bind the wizard.
The plan implodes entirely because the youngest and newest knight in the band was late for training one day, and was not charmed. Only through his and his plucky friends' efforts will your ass be saved.
See? Perfectly safe, & it probably cost pennies next these other keikakus
>use my vast amount of wealth to hire a powerful wizard.
>all funding will go to funding whatever fricked up horrible shit he wants
>he can pursue lichdom or some shit idgaf as long as I live
>everyone suffers once I die cause this wizard has no allegiance to anyone except me because I keep giving him child slaves or something to feed his phylactery or some shit.
>Scroll of Genesis
Create a demiplane that is a featurelesss rock with no magic allowed to be cast
>Scroll of Hide Life
Chop off finger & place it in cemter of demiplane
>Scroll of Clone
Chop off rest of arm. Fuel clone spell
Place clone in Angrez Chest. Hide it away.
>Replace missing Arm with Arm of Nyr.
>Have trusted wizard advisor cast Ageless spell on you from Dragon Magazine.
You can also do a lot more, but once you are immune to HP damage unless someone happens to find your pinky finger youre pretty much good. Add to that no aging? You'll be fine
>magic items that protect against shit like scrying, charming and mind reading
>magic items that enhance personal security like rings of protection or reactive magical shields. Like Nanomachines, son.
>have spell scrolls i am able to use on my body all the time, including powerful magic healing, dimension door and emergency teleport to get the frick out of a place
>have one (or severa, if king) trusted court mages
>have personal guard that is in the know of various magical and supernatural means of assassination and manipulation
>throne room, personal chambers and carriage protected by magical enchantments
>myself and/ or most trusted companions have spell scrolls of resurrection on them for worst case scenario
>my entourage include at least one powerful cleric, able to cast healing and resurrection of the dead
>my personal musician also happens to be a powerful bard
>be at good graces with local deities, begin the day with praying on their local holy sites to be granted blessings for the day. Maybe just a house shrine or a portable holy object, as long as it can grant a blessing.
>some shit to detect illusions. Maybe a magical item that grants true sight
>alarm spells in my castle
>(magical) food tester
>people arent allowed an audience if armed. This includes spell foci and spell components
>if magical people are granted an audience, my personal bard and a court mage will be present and watch for subtle/ hidden spellcasting
>be able to use magic myself if possible, otherwise at least be in the know about some basic theory on the subject, so im not totally ignorant
>be able to use magic myself if possible, otherwise at least be in the know about some basic theory on the subject, so im not totally ignorant
That's a lot of magic. Who really rules the kingdom, you or your court wizards?
Ideally there are some systemic checks and balances in play that prevent the court wizard(s) from working as puppet masters. Perhaps competition between them is encouraged. Perhaps they are watched by the bards and the holy persons, who themself are watched by the other two. Maybe the local culture encourages wizards to focus on study, for politics is a real time killer. Making sure the monarch gets a good job done is the best guarantee that wizards can work and act without much issues.
But ultimately, as is with every royal court, the monarch obviously has to be skilled enough to balance to various interests of his or her own advisors, including the court wizards, who obviously are primed to hold significant influence. I tried to include a sensible amount of supernatural protection, while not going over the top with some high end semi-meta stuff.
I like to imagine those threads are written by alternate universe dragons trying to figure out how humans think
Earth internet would be such an amazing tool for inhuman monsters
The country has been relocated to a pocket dimension and what people observe from outside is actually an illusory projection.
There are a limited number of gates in and out, all of which are tightly controlled and many of which can be locked down.
Traditional games?
its called role playing kid
I'm a diviner, and the nation is heavily run by my ability to see how the future will unfold based on my choices.
I make a law that taxes the assassination of the king. The tax is so ridiculously high that no one would even attempt to do so in fear of the IRS catching them
There's three full time guards in the castle and one part time guard who is too old to be full time and really just checks people in and out of the gate. There's a sheriff, he has two deputies but can conscript any able bodied man and jack should there be a need to. The mayors have all had some training in arms but most of them are old men and women, they can form a militia in times of need. There's a court mage who knows how to frick shit up but he mostly specializes in predicting the weather, looking at far away places and talking to dead people.
The kings main advantage is his towering reputation, he got the job by slaying an evil dragon and marrying the daughter and heir of the previous king. Nobody wants to take on a dragon slayer. Also a combination of most people in the kingdom like him and it's a small mountain kingdom not worth the effort to invade.
This is nice. I like this. It feels quaint and classic
It's a kingdom I like to think about and add bits to when it's quiet at work.
It's situated in some post-glacial vallies on the side of a mountain range. Looks a bit like a cross between Scotland and Switzerland. Seems to attract an abnormal amount of retired adventureres.
I invent an entire royal lineage that I use as the face of my kingdom and tend to act in varying roles in or around them. I make all the important decisions and leave the day to day governance to them except when I have input into the matter
Don't know, don't care. I have specialists who take care of that sort of thing (and other specialists to take care of them should they fail).
I'm an invincible martial arts master.
Can I be a black king with a big dick?
I don't need security measures, I am the True King.
Those that scoff at such a title have only ever dealt with the trumped-up warlords that seat themselves upon their cobbled together thrones, squabbling over whatever they can take from each other with strength of arms. Brutes, every last one of them.
I am the True King, I rule this land by divine right, and that is no idle claim. I am king because our God says so, and our God enforces that claim personally.
What need have I of guards, when any man who draws steel against me is smote by divine retribution before they can take a single step? What need have I of charlatan court mages when any wizard that would curse or charm me finds that not a single mote of magic answers their call? I invite any to challenge these claims, I relish it. Each upstart who does so is yet another chance to demonstrate the miracles of this kingdom, the glory of our god, and the benefits of unshakable faith in him. You will fail, and I will stand in your ashes and evangelize. The only question is whether you will be struck down instantly, or given the illusion of success long enough for me to be gloriously resurrected once more to inspire the public and remind that that my reign is eternal. I don't enjoy my deaths, but they are a trail I embrace.
Funny halfling named Chungus Bongwater who does a very funny dance if I give him a meat pie, my hope is that he will be distracting enough for the assassins to allow me to slip away undetected
I'll wager ol' Chungus is a bit more competent than the assassins are, and is actually a clean-shaven Dwarven Berzerker with a week's worth of beard trimmings glued to his feet.
A host of manly lads led by Broland, Broderick, Brollante and all the other Knights of the Bround Table
I fricking hate you
6000 Dwarves-at-Arms in full (bdsm)harness
(OP)
Hmmm. This is high fantasy, right? Powerful wizards and witches are the norm? If that's the case, then it would make sense that the king ought to be the most powerful spellcaster in the land, and his ancestors should have been able to dominate the other random tribes around them with their superior magical might. Even if we are playing by RPG rules and assume that wizards are just nerds that can easily be punched, a lot of spells have a good range to them. As an example:
>Be spellcaster in ancient times
>Have a retinue that considers you to be close to a god
>Other tribe is nearby
>Has fertile land/shiny shit/other valuable resources
>One of your retinue scouts out the other tribe
>They're really strong because so many people have attacked them
>No spellcasters
>EZkill.JPG
>Cast Meteor shower
>Entire tribe is wiped out
>Shiny shit is ours now!
>Any survivors get enslaved/subsumed into retinue
TLDR: High fantasy kings ought to be the best spellcasters.
By being the only person around that can conjure food and water.
That would probably work for a while, but what if somebody shows up that can conjure up food and water better? And if you can kill them, then you've just lost a valuable resource that would help make your job easier.
My kingdom would be short lived.
That's why I consider my idea (
) a bit better in the longer run. And if a more powerful spellcaster shows up and I lose, he'll probably just make me one of his commanders/vassals because I'm a valuable resource, and he knows it.
>be me
>be strongest spellcaster in the land
>people love me for it
>people worship me for it
>another spellcaster dares enter my domain and challenge my authority
>after i defeat him, I absorb his magical brain into my own skull, taking his powers and magic
>mfw
I'm one of many clones.
i don't bother, constrained that i am in keeping favor with the multiple lesser nobles lest my realm erupt into chaos. my personal security is just a waste of resources given how fragile a balance I have to keep and how utterly severe the consequences are for failing to maintain order. if someone wanted me dead, i'd be dead, and there's nothing i can fricking do about it. i might have a personal friend that acts as my bodyguard, but that's about it.
I'd be like the Hokage, where I have minimal protection but it's because I'm the biggest baddest mother fricker in the kingdom. Minimal guards, minimal security, let the usurpers come and try.
Also be a Kind and Just ruler so as to command a great respect of my people. That'll go a long way.
Hell with that, Let's be like the Tokugawa instead.
I don't want to be a fat opportunistic cuck.
The correct answer