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Plagues and Social Climbing
Jan. 22nd, 2019 05:51 pmSo in our last thrilling installment, I started looking at the Black Death, and how a good plague can create an interesting environment for role-playing games. A mass-casualty event like the plague creates an Edge, that wonderful place and time where adventures can happen with little worry about society and law coming down on the good times. So, let us explore the wonderful world of a post magical plague apocalypse.
For ease of reference, I'm going to be using examples based in 14th century Europe rather than a game setting. Simply because everyone has a vague idea of where Paris is, whereas many of you might not even have heard of Greyhawk. These examples can, of course, be used where your fancy wishes.
Let's start by assuming that the last vestiges of the plage burned out several years ago. What does the world look like? Well, for one thing, there's a lot more elbow room. given that anywhere between a third and half of all people living in Europe in 1347 were dead by 1352, huge holes have been ripped in every part of the civilized world. There are far fewer peasants to till the fields. The cities are emptied from both death and people fleeing. The Feudal order has been shattered, as entire lines of fealty no longer exist.
What does this mean for your game? Opportunity. Abandoned castles will be taken over by brigands or monsters in short order, and need clearing. If you want, you can leave an entire city empty, waiting for bold explorers to find out why everyone left, and no one has returned. Assuming that the dwarf holdings were equally hard hit you have emptied dwarvish mines and cities to explore. Same goes for elf-forests. They might be left to the wild, or maybe some elves still lurk, determined that no one shall ever enter again.
But there's another opportunity here, and that's the social one. Medieval society wasn't big on social advancement. If you were born a villein, you stayed a villein in death, and the laws of God and man decreed how you could dress, what meals you ate and when, and even what you could own. These sumptuary laws were designed to keep the mass of peasants in their place and prevent the increasingly rich bourgeoisie of the towns from putting on too many airs by dressing better than the local knight.
However, despite frantic efforts by the authorities in the late 14th century, these laws were unenforceable. Those peasants may have taken over a wine press and acres of vineyards from an abandoned monastery and are now a profitable collective. That low-born brawler fell in with a band of sell-swords and wears knightly gear that he earned in battle. The local town burghers freed briefly from taxation, make themselves equal to the now-departed barons by fiat and the power of gold and silver. It is a time when the bold can take what they can, and try to hold on.
Which is something I find lacking in many games, the sense of permanence. We like to build for the future, find security, and be able to say "Behold Swamp Castle, my home!" I like options that let characters gain titles and honors, obtain land grants, and transition into a different sort of game.
Digression over, back to miserable Europe.
Humans being humans, (and elves being elves, etc.) the window for this Edge is small. Local order will so expand to regional order to national order. But given the scope of most RPGs, this presents no real stumbling block. Player-characters can rise from obscurity to the toast of Paris and champions of His Majesty Roi Jean le Bon in short order. The careful DM should have a schedule of events so that when the characters return from the ruin dwarf mines of Mt. White they can learn of the news at the first inn.
One final thing. In the last post, I alluded to the gods no longer answering prayers or sending divine magic. This could be a major plot point in the bigger campaign. I'd keep divine ritual and the power of holy relics, but wherever the plague went, the gods themselves fled. Once again you have a great point for societal breakdown. If the gods don't answer, maybe the devils will! You could have an entire campaign of rooting out evil cults and witches. Perhaps the players' paladins and cleric are the first since the plague to find a new mandate from the Gods.
It's your game world. Blow it up every so often and see what happens!
For ease of reference, I'm going to be using examples based in 14th century Europe rather than a game setting. Simply because everyone has a vague idea of where Paris is, whereas many of you might not even have heard of Greyhawk. These examples can, of course, be used where your fancy wishes.
Let's start by assuming that the last vestiges of the plage burned out several years ago. What does the world look like? Well, for one thing, there's a lot more elbow room. given that anywhere between a third and half of all people living in Europe in 1347 were dead by 1352, huge holes have been ripped in every part of the civilized world. There are far fewer peasants to till the fields. The cities are emptied from both death and people fleeing. The Feudal order has been shattered, as entire lines of fealty no longer exist.
What does this mean for your game? Opportunity. Abandoned castles will be taken over by brigands or monsters in short order, and need clearing. If you want, you can leave an entire city empty, waiting for bold explorers to find out why everyone left, and no one has returned. Assuming that the dwarf holdings were equally hard hit you have emptied dwarvish mines and cities to explore. Same goes for elf-forests. They might be left to the wild, or maybe some elves still lurk, determined that no one shall ever enter again.
But there's another opportunity here, and that's the social one. Medieval society wasn't big on social advancement. If you were born a villein, you stayed a villein in death, and the laws of God and man decreed how you could dress, what meals you ate and when, and even what you could own. These sumptuary laws were designed to keep the mass of peasants in their place and prevent the increasingly rich bourgeoisie of the towns from putting on too many airs by dressing better than the local knight.
However, despite frantic efforts by the authorities in the late 14th century, these laws were unenforceable. Those peasants may have taken over a wine press and acres of vineyards from an abandoned monastery and are now a profitable collective. That low-born brawler fell in with a band of sell-swords and wears knightly gear that he earned in battle. The local town burghers freed briefly from taxation, make themselves equal to the now-departed barons by fiat and the power of gold and silver. It is a time when the bold can take what they can, and try to hold on.
Which is something I find lacking in many games, the sense of permanence. We like to build for the future, find security, and be able to say "Behold Swamp Castle, my home!" I like options that let characters gain titles and honors, obtain land grants, and transition into a different sort of game.
Digression over, back to miserable Europe.
Humans being humans, (and elves being elves, etc.) the window for this Edge is small. Local order will so expand to regional order to national order. But given the scope of most RPGs, this presents no real stumbling block. Player-characters can rise from obscurity to the toast of Paris and champions of His Majesty Roi Jean le Bon in short order. The careful DM should have a schedule of events so that when the characters return from the ruin dwarf mines of Mt. White they can learn of the news at the first inn.
One final thing. In the last post, I alluded to the gods no longer answering prayers or sending divine magic. This could be a major plot point in the bigger campaign. I'd keep divine ritual and the power of holy relics, but wherever the plague went, the gods themselves fled. Once again you have a great point for societal breakdown. If the gods don't answer, maybe the devils will! You could have an entire campaign of rooting out evil cults and witches. Perhaps the players' paladins and cleric are the first since the plague to find a new mandate from the Gods.
It's your game world. Blow it up every so often and see what happens!
