(Or any leader for that matter)
In an organisation/kingdom/etc where a single PC is running a realm and has delegated a lot of authority to various minions (High Priest, Marshall, Enforcer, Spymaster, Treasurer, etc) how can you keep them busy and make things fun?
This game is being run via email so dungeon crawling, combats and suchlike are basically out; there is some investigation and so on, but it's a very slow affair. This game is focused almost entirely on realm and people management. I'm looking for things to keep the "King" busy in his position of authority in a gaming context so that he doesn't feel like since he's delegated everything to minions and has nothing to do except take up wood carving.
So:
- What sort of day-to-day things does a ruler have to deal with that stops them from just throwing constant parties? I'd think that a ruler generally is fighting off people with a stick to get time to themselves, what sort of things are the minions/delegates troubling the King with?
- What campaign-level decisions and factors provide story at this level of gaming?
- What sort of people issues come up for people in charge of everything when they've delegated authority?
- Are there any good resources for generating entirely management based stories?
I hope those all clarify what I'm looking for here; I've not run much of this sort of campaign before and although Kingmaker (that I'm using to manage stuff) provides a good toolkit for running and building stuff it still doesn't abstract from not going out to beat up the occasional pack of trolls. About the best thing in it for this is the events, but these are generally isolated once-a-month affairs.
Best Answer
Some quick searches show me that the internet is full of historical accounts, movies, TV-shows, and stories about kings, rulers, and other such nobility and what they do during their day. I am sure you are aware of this as well, so I understand that you want an answer in the context of a role playing game.
The King can do whatever he wants
Regardless of what is expected of him the character can always decide he just wants to go riding through the woods, or go down to the tavern and get drunk, or take up pottery lessons. But that is not something new in role playing games, it's just important to make a note of it. Moving onto...
Everyone wants to meet the King
As a ruler, everyone will want to meet with you, talk to you, and get your feedback, authorization, or approval. From commoners seeking an audience, merchants seeking trade, foreign dignitaries, and your own councilmen. This takes up time, and your day is probably full of scheduled meetings with important people, while those below you take care of the less important people. Which leads to...
You need to lead
Being a leader means you actually need to do some leading. This can be as simple as just writing decrees from your bed, or going to council meetings and discussing with your council on the affairs of the kingdom. It's all fine that you have allocated and delegated most of your power down to various minions - but you need to keep guiding them. They will have daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reports for you. You can further direct your kingdom by getting updates on the various aspects within your kingdom - and these meetings with your minions are how you get that knowledge. You might want to change policies, or even change the minion taking care of the policy. But that is also part of...
Secrets!
What good is a king without some secrets? whether its your spies, your mistress, or even your spies mistress - there are some things that a King has to deal with that shouldn't be made public knowledge, hiding these things requires finesse! You need to be able to slip away from people, arrange private meetings, send secret letters, and all this with your schedule full, and people everywhere looking for you. So naturally...
You need to have fun!
What good is being a king when you can't hold a royal ball? Or a feast? Or a tournament? Yes most of the work is done by someone else - but you are the vision behind it. You decide what and where and who, and someone else will build it and manage it. But you need to make sure that you have enough money, which leads to...
You're on a budget!
You are the King yes.. and you are the one in charge.. but only as long as everyone is in line... which usually requires money. Money that you collect through taxes, trade, tithes, and adventures. But you also spend this money - and it is your job to either balance this spending or have someone else do it. And if that doesn't work out for you, you might need to ask for help...
Dealing with other Kings
You will need to send emissaries, or even travel yourself. You will be trading, warring, politicking, marrying children to each other and getting into lots of untold naughtiness. That is a fact.
So if you want to know what a King does with his time? I answer you - What time??