K – King/Queen, governor, authority/power/figurehead

Who is in charge here? Is it the capital of the kingdom or empire? If so, where is the palace? If not the capital city, where is the palace of the governor, satrap, or prince?

Is authority held by the head of state, or are they merely a figurehead?

Is the real authority known, or a power behind the throne?

How might this look to adventurers exploring a fallen city?

Is the fallen city the capital of an empire or kingdom, or one of it’s many cities? If not the capital, who is in charge?

For an empire, it can have many different looks.

• A client king, like the Romans used. They appointed kings over their territory who owed their throne and their power to Rome. The most well-known example is King Herod of Judea, from the Bible.
• A governor/satrap/viceroy/or other appointed official. (This may not start out as hereditary, but become so over time.)
• A prince of a cadet (junior line) of the royal family.
• A prince (noble title, not of the royal family)
• An Archduke/Duke or other noble.
• A cleric (Perhaps the main temple of the city is of the predominate religion that is favored by the Empire/Kingdom.)
• A magic-user (Certain cities may be located in area where knowledge of magic is essential. Or it may just be a tradition that happened, and has no real requirement beyond tradition.)
• One need only look to Gary Gygax’s list of government types, in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, to see other possibilities.

If there is a power behind the throne, who is it?

• The Guild Master of the Thieve’s Guild
• An even more shadowy Guild Master of the Assassin’s Guild
• Plot complication – The Thieve’s Guild’s master is secretly also the master of the Assassin’s Guild.
• A powerful member of a prominent family.
• A group of members of the most prominent families.
• The head of the merchants’ or crafts’ guilds, or a group of the heads of each such guild.
• A group of very rich, powerful, and successful adventurers.
• A magical creature, that can shape shift to hide it’s true nature. (This could be a dragon, or any variety of several creatures. It will have other means to exert power without revealing it’s true self. A magic using dragon could present themselves as a wizard, for example.)
• A demonic creature, if of a chaotic bent, it may not care if the ruler knows their origin.
• A doppleganger who has replaced the ruler. (Is this a doppleganger acting alone or with or for someone else?)

How is the ruler determined? 

• Hereditary (There may still be a ceremony of a secular or religious nature, or travelling to swear loyalty to the Emperor/King, etc. to make it official.)
• Appointment by the Emperor/King
• Appointment by regional ruler
• Election by regional nobles from a set eligible group.
• Election by the guilds of the city.
• Election by the people. (This could be limited to very specific groups who are eligible to vote, as we have seen in our own history of voting.)
  • For example, only land holders, soldiers, merchants, members of a certain social class or group of families.
    • Certain families could include those whose ancestor(s) fought in a significant battle, or who founded the original settlement, or through tradition have a power that originally belonged to all, etc.