| This piece from the Steve Jackson Games' GURPS forum demonstrates the use of an official template. |
| The Kingdom | ||
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| Notes: Starting RP Cost: $3,150,0 apart from the occasional infighting among nobles that is included in the Feudal government type, about three quarters of the military budget actually represent the noble families’ obligations to provide whole military units, and a similar obligation of chartered cities (which mostly provide naval units). The King can safely rely on those figures and order those troops around smoothly only when there are no internal problems at all. Details are left to the GM * |
The Kingdom is a quite typical feudal realm. Occupying a large island, most of its territory is underpopulated, with the inhabitants spread out over the fertile parts of the countryside, while there are also wide nearly empty swaths of heath, forests and craggy hills. Cities are mostly seaports. The economy is barely above subsistence levels, and being of a Traditional type, much of the revenue is channeled into luxury goods for the court and the noblemen. Over the past few decades, the Kingdom has been plagued by recurring civil wars, which have caused feuds among noble families and grievously damaged its infrastructures (which are thus in bad repair, whence Obsolete Infrastructure 1). Many nobles dislike supporting a central government that may curb their privileges, so they siphon off resources whenever they can (thus Corrupt 1). The King has a sort of court council, plus sheriffs and taxmen, but many of these are corruptible too, and often not skilled enough. Therefore, the Kingdom is typically slow and inefficient in its decision-making.
The cities, with their rising merchant class, chafe at having to pay a disproportionate share of taxes when the government does so little for them; the largest segment of the population are the serfs, but they know no better than their forefathers’ harsh life, toiling on their masters’ lands.
There is only a handful of foreign powers this realm is in contact with, and it has neither a particularly good or bad reputation with them.
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