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[Serialized]

How about allowing us to select a dwarf to be promoted to King from within our fortress, rather than having some outsider come in and take control of things?

Certain requirements for the fortress may need to be met first, and a dwarf might have to meet certain requirements to become king, although the requirements could vary. A great warrior dwarf could become a king, a great crafts dwarf as well. The dwarf may even be able to continue in his profession somewhat after becoming king.

I don't like the idea of some outsider know-it-all bigwig becoming king, let us have a great military dwarf who is hardened by many battles, or a great mason.

[Felix the Cat]

I think the idea is that the King is the king of the dwarven civilization that your small outpost happens to be a part of, so choosing your own king would be tantamount to treason and rebellion and would likely bring a large army down upon you.

[Klokjammer]

"You're the king?  but I didn't vote for you."

I would like it better if the game kept track of the royal bloodline. Instead of kings appearing from nowhere, a member of the monarch's house becomes the new king.

If there are no heirs or if the royal lineage has been exhausted, a power struggle would take place among influential figures in the empire (not just your fortress).  Empires split, civil wars are faught, and/or a rival kingdom sees the chance to come in and take over (your fortress gets occupied by a foreign power).  That's what I want to see in the future.

[jester]

Id love to see the nobles getting around with daggers in hand if the king got wounded, Guilds jockying for position and assasinations in the back corridors, dumping refuse in your rivals bedrooms.  Historically kings cracked heads on the battlefield, If dwarvern nobles cant be useful they should be armed and ready.  Besides if you could elect a king (?) you would always use a hauler or a cripple because you know that that is the last work you will ever see out of that dwarf.  (Id also like to see knighthoods/titles for dwarves who contribute enough to the fortress, Sir Urist the Doormaker or Sir Modom Elfsmiter would be great to see)

[Sir Edmund]

quote:Originally posted by jester:
<STRONG> Besides if you could elect a king (?) you would always use a hauler or a cripple because you know that that is the last work you will ever see out of that dwarf. </STRONG>

i like your thinking mate

[AlanL]

An idea: since the local civilizations king would take precedence, then I would imagine 2 situations in which you would name your own king

-You're a group of people who wish to leave the kingdom, so you go far far away and start your own new civilization.

-You're mad at the king and want a revolution.

In the first case, it would be business as usual, only potentially little interaction with your home kingdom. You'd have to play the diplomacy game to get trade and immigrants.

In the second case, you would face the large army, but it would be possible to win, and if you win, you get to control the whole civ as the new king.

[Tamren]

Edit: Spelling ftw -_-

There are two exceptions. If your fortress gets no trade then obviously you are far from any dwarf civilization. Therefore you could found a new monarchy without raising cries of treason and whatnot.

Or you could rebel and take over the current dwarven kingdom. Of course you would have to prove yourself as a better ruler, but thats easy. Just dont demand platinum and adamantine every 5 minutes.

Both of these options would require some pretty serious diplomacy. We can kill the rulers of kingdoms in adventure mode combat, but to assume the crown after that is still a long way off.

[ October 22, 2007: Message edited by: Tamren ]

[Jonathan S. Fox]

I'm tend to agree with Tamren's thought that you should be able to start your own monarchy if you're totally isolated.

[jester]

I think that the whole thing shouldnt stop at monarchy.  
Too many deaths due to creatures and unhappy military and you could change to a miliarized dictatorship, mandates from champions for booze, food and weapon productions.
Too many unhappy peasants and the dwarves could go commie again but dwarves could be scapegoated for things like not giving water to wounded and having them die, famines or Evlish attacks.
Having rich dwarves able to buy their way into positions filled by deaths and then being excluded from hauling (guild positions especaily) would be good to.
A dwarvish constitution with a right to bear hammers would be great fun.

[Leonidas]

I think that Klokjammer has it right: A king is a hereditary position.  The royal family tree is always important.

Why do the dwarves do what you say?  I think it's because they're loyal subjects of the crown.  If the king dies with no successor, then there's no central government to be loyal to, and the commoners dissolve into family and clan loyalties.

The nobles should ensure that your dwarves stay loyal to you.  A minor noble can keep a couple dozen dwarves in line, but it takes a king to manage over 180.  You might modify that number according to the noble's authority skill, and according to the loyalty and military strength of the royal guard.

If your top noble can't do his job of wandering around and inspiring loyalty, then dwarves should eventually become disloyal.  Low loyalty would slow down work.  Really low loyalty combined with really low happiness would spark a rebellion in which some number of dwarves would either 1) leave, 2) claim a chunk of the fortress as their own, or 3) try to take over the entire fortress.

This would make the king, his heirs, and their health a source of constant concern---which is exactly how it worked in the medieval world.  The death of the king with no clear successor often meant years of civil war.

[Leonidas]

And speaking of kings,
here's how a real king does it.

[mickel]

I'm not sure about you, but I get visions of renaissance Italy, with city-states and political assassinations. Dwarf Fortress enters Machiavelli Mode.