Machiavellian Monday: Realpolitik in Old School Gaming. Chapter I

Today sees the birth of a new, semi-regular feature I like to think of as "Machiavellian Monday". Every Monday I'll be looking a Chapter from Niccolo Machiavelli's seminal work, "The Prince" and applying it to Old School gaming techniques.

So lets kick things off with Chapter 1: How Many Kinds of Principality There are and the Ways in Which They Are Acquired.

"All the states, all the dominions under whose authority men have lived in the past and live now are have been or either are principalities or republics. Principalities are hereditary, with the Prince's family as long-established rulers or they are new. The new are completely new, as was Milan to Franscesco Sforza, or they are like limbs joined to the hereditary state of the Prince who acquires them, as with the Kingdom of Naples in relation to the King of Spain. Domains so acquired are accustomed to be under a Prince , or used to freedom; a prince wins them either with the arms of others or with his own, either by fortune or by prowess.

Thus we have just read the entirety of the first chapter. At first glance, there's not a great deal there that can be properly applied to gaming. However, on deeper thought, there is more than you might think.

If we view the state as an adventuring party, we know then that the leader(s) are either born to the position (such as in the case of a noble leading his retinue on adventure) or else elected. The style of leadership in the party is an important aspect to consider in and of itself. Not all "republic" model parties actually elect a leader. Many determine major group actions through a cast of votes; though, hopefully, they have the sense to elect a "battle leader" to prevent debate mid-combat. Additionally, the party leader (or battle leader) might change from expedition to expedition, much as the leader of a Republic might change from year to year.

In any adventuring party, especially an Old School, dungeon-venturing one, it is important to have a clear cut chain of command. Particularly in combat. It is vital to know whose instructions the party should be following in a scrap, if only to avoid a situation where half the party charges while the other half runs away.

Finally, there should be clearly established rules for how a leader is chosen. Is it by social rank? Character level? Or by election? If by election, when is it appropriate to select a new leader if one is required? How (and under what circumstances) can a leader be deposed and a new leader selected? Who shall rise in his place if the leader should fall in battle? And who shall replace the new leader? And so on and so forth.

If all these questions are answered prior to the groups entry to a dungeon, the groups chances of surviving to exit it again are certainly magnified. If the group has not determined who is in charge before the first blow is struck, then it is already too late. Confusion, and thereafter bloody carnage, is sure to follow.