The Campaign Builder's Guild

So my campaign setting has been coming along quite nicely. I've just been ripping off stuff that I liked from Dark Sun, Eberrron, and other stuff. I have been coming up with my own idea's though along with this so it's okay.

So we have a super continent called Kharlonia, with a small chunk of it broken off on the east coast to form a sort of sub continent (although it's still considered a part of the mainland like how Britain is considered a part of Europe), and that's where the American city winds up.

To make a long story short.

There's a conflict in the neighboring kingdom between two brother kings. The first is King Borse the eldest of the royal family and a complete piece of crap (inspired by Aegon the Unworthy from SoI&F) who keeps taxing the Agricultural sections of the country in the middle of a harsh famine to apiece his Lords and allies, and the other a brilliant military leader by the name of General Kharnoth who took the side of the people and took a section of the military with him. He was being hunted by his brother, but came upon the American people. Through a series of events King Borse wound up being overthrown, and the Kingdom became Kharnoths, and he desired for a strong interpersonal relationship with the Americans seeing it as a way to gain a huge asset to his nation with industrialization and the technology taht would be gained. He also kind of agreed with a lot of American political ideas, although he wouldn't go so far as to compromise his throne in the name of Federalization.

The Americans where having their own internal issues that needed to be resolved, and the population and standing army that Istar held would help a lot. Basically they feared a swamping invasion from a major land power across the continent, knowing that they didn;t have the Industrial super might that the Old world provided back home. but they were prepared for a naval war, building the first "modern" ships being small Civil War like Iron Clads.

So by the end a negotiation was settled upon and a "United States of Kharlonia" was born in the process, but I have no idea what the government looks like. Is it a federal union? A constitutional Monarchy? A confederation of states? I like the idea of a Constitutional Monarchy as a compromise between the two nations, but would that be realistic?

I reckon it would be a two-state country, with both of it's states being largely autonomous. Goverment is unified only at the topmost level and even there very loosely; probably some kind of council with a small number of seats, filled by representatives from the two states. The king would hold a permanent seat in the council and he'd also be a nominal/figurehead leader of the entire polity, but only have real monarchial authority over one of the parts.

Below that top-level goverment each state has basically it's own political system that doesn't interact with the other directly. The council's authority is limited (probably by constitution) to foreign affairs, defence, exploration and the like. Anything to do with local scale and domestic policy is in the hands of the states. Each state also levies it's own taxes and hands a specific proportion of them to the council's budget. Currency may or may not be common.

To keep this two-state structure stable, interactions between the populations will have to be managed. Crossing the border between states might require papers. There might also be a small central law enforcement agency (funded from the council's budget and answerable directly to them) that has authority to pursue smugglers and criminals that have tried to evade law by fleeing from one state to the other.

Quote from: Ghostman
1. I reckon it would be a two-state country, with both of it's states being largely autonomous. Goverment is unified only at the topmost level and even there very loosely; probably some kind of council with a small number of seats, filled by representatives from the two states. The king would hold a permanent seat in the council and he'd also be a nominal/figurehead leader of the entire polity, but only have real monarchial authority over one of the parts.

2. Below that top-level goverment each state has basically it's own political system that doesn't interact with the other directly. The council's authority is limited (probably by constitution) to foreign affairs, defence, exploration and the like. Anything to do with local scale and domestic policy is in the hands of the states. Each state also levies it's own taxes and hands a specific proportion of them to the council's budget. Currency may or may not be common.

3. To keep this two-state structure stable, interactions between the populations will have to be managed. Crossing the border between states might require papers. There might also be a small central law enforcement agency (funded from the council's budget and answerable directly to them) that has authority to pursue smugglers and criminals that have tried to evade law by fleeing from one state to the other.

Yeah I had the Idea of a two state compromise like this, but the problem is is that the Kingdom of Niereen was split along ethnic lines. There are two distinct people, and they desired a state all their own. When King Kharlon agreed to give them a seperate land if they would help him overthrow his brother, which is where he got a lot of support from. In the end it was agreed that there would be a third state in the union and that the capitol would be held there (similar to why Wash. DC was formed. It's not a small state either, and it's also where the best strategic Bay is located to place a Navy, which is where the US navy is being held at.

BUT I do like  this idea, however I don't see it as a long term government. It would make a great transitional government though, and the real internal turmoil would be between a Federalist party and a Monarchist party both trying to take control over the nation as a whole, or even between people who are trying to reseperate the states into individual nations. I'm taking a lot of elements from Eberron. Across the see is a fractured empire that fell to a great war. Circumstances, but i'm still going for that pulpy political intrigue feel in Eberron.

I think it'd take at least one generation to pass before the 2 or 3(?) states would be ready to change the initial political system much. By then there should be quite a bit of cross-pollination in the way of technology and practical modes of thinking (far less so in the way of values and customs though) among the peoples. You can't really make a stable whole out of three very different nations faster than that short of forcing it via oppressive use of military power.

Quote from: Ghostman
I think it'd take at least one generation to pass before the 2 or 3(?) states would be ready to change the initial political system much. By then there should be quite a bit of cross-pollination in the way of technology and practical modes of thinking (far less so in the way of values and customs though) among the peoples. You can't really make a stable whole out of three very different nations faster than that short of forcing it via oppressive use of military power.

This makes a lot of sense. I'm going with it.

I think it would be tough to emulate a fantasy-inspired United States without taking lots of things into account that, arguably, made the US what it is - geographic isolation, the ability to (violently) expand, immigration from an Old World and the resulting hybrid cultures and societies, religious and racial tension, it's development among imperial powers, novel political thought, the list could go on.

Another important thing to consider is what type of US city appeared in Kharlonia - is it a progressive, technologically fueled city like San Francisco or Seattle? Is it an heterogeneous metropolis like NY or LA? Is it an industrial, rust-belt city like Detroit or Pittsburgh? Is it an historic city like Charleston? Is it a libertarian-leaning, conservative city like Fort Worth? Is it a liberal-ish, old-blood city like Boston? Is it a political city like DC? Is it a different city entirely like Albuquerque, New Mexico or Juno, Alaska? Is it a religious city from the Fly-Over States or a more religiously indifferent or tolerant city from the West or East Coasts? Is it a predominantly white city? Black city? Hispanic city? I think that this idea would coalesce easier, more believably, and more interestingly if you picked an actual US city from a specific time-frame, otherwise the variables and options are mind-boggling.

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
I think it would be tough to emulate a fantasy-inspired United States without taking lots of things into account that, arguably, made the US what it is - geographic isolation, the ability to (violently) expand, immigration from an Old World and the resulting hybrid cultures and societies, religious and racial tension, it's development among imperial powers, novel political thought, the list could go on.

Another important thing to consider is what type of US city appeared in Kharlonia - is it a progressive, technologically fueled city like San Francisco or Seattle? Is it an heterogeneous metropolis like NY or LA? Is it an industrial, rust-belt city like Detroit or Pittsburgh? Is it an historic city like Charleston? Is it a libertarian-leaning, conservative city like Fort Worth? Is it a liberal-ish, old-blood city like Boston? Is it a political city like DC? Is it a different city entirely like Albuquerque, New Mexico or Juno, Alaska? Is it a religious city from the Fly-Over States or a more religiously indifferent or tolerant city from the West or East Coasts? Is it a predominantly white city? Black city? Hispanic city? I think that this idea would coalesce easier, more believably, and more interestingly if you picked an actual US city from a specific time-frame, otherwise the variables and options are mind-boggling.

So the time period is "Five Seconds in the future" or sometime in the modern era. The region is definitely Western and not really eastern states. I see it more being like a small city from the Northwest or west coast. It had a lot of western/cowboy influences (local rodeos, and a pretty strong agricultural scene with shooting ranges) but it also has a lot of industrial assets (small factories, and a pretty decent science college), and there are immigrants from Korea, Mexico, a few from Africa, and there is a small Jewish community. So not exactly a super liberal city, but it's not a hardcore white city.

So the Americans decided to go with a more "British" approach to military since they were stuck on a large Island and focused on building effective Steam ships (resembling Civil War Ironclads to rip-off Eric Flint), but the navy was integrated into the larger military structure of the USK after the negotiations were over. So I describe what the Americans are going through as a "Light Apocalypse". They try to hold on to as much of their modernity as possible, but they are being forced to retrograde to steam-powered vehicles, musket level firearms (with regular firearms being treated as fine assets).

There should prolly be a major occupational shift, with a sizeable portion of the workforce being unable to continue their old jobs that relied on networks of technology, economy and global trade that are all suddenly gone. Also a larger number of people required to do agricultural work to keep the population fed, due to necessity of rationing fuel and fertilizers. That would make their society less urbanized and less white-collar compared to what it was.

Quote from: Ghostman
There should prolly be a major occupational shift, with a sizeable portion of the workforce being unable to continue their old jobs that relied on networks of technology, economy and global trade that are all suddenly gone. Also a larger number of people required to do agricultural work to keep the population fed, due to necessity of rationing fuel and fertilizers. That would make their society less urbanized and less white-collar compared to what it was.

True about the Networking industry, however hope isn't lost. Most of them merely started working for the booming Radio industry. Computer technology is being worked on at this moment. Eric Flint (the author of 1632, the primary inspiration for this setting), wrote about this in his books. There are computers that run on fluidic circuitry, and work and progress has been heading in that direction as well. Maybe even a magical solution could be found in the neighboring nations, Hmmmm?.....

Still agriculture isn't that big a deal by now, because of the Union. The Niereenians had come back from the famine, and are now the bread basket of the nation. In exchange, Americans have been trading medicinal knowledge, and have even begun developing primitive farming machines for the booming agricultural sector.

Jumping in a little late on this, but I think the combined  Kharnothi-American nation would likely have a lot in common with a Hamiltonian federal state. Federalists and monarchists wouldn't necessarily be at odds with one another, since they both value a strong, central executive figure. What I'd see happening is that the Americans manage to negotiate the division of authority between the hereditary King and some sort of elected Viceroy who, like the Vice President, would be the head of a rudimentary legislature.

Quote from: Rhamnousia
Jumping in a little late on this, but I think the combined  Kharnothi-American nation would likely have a lot in common with a Hamiltonian federal state. Federalists and monarchists wouldn't necessarily be at odds with one another, since they both value a strong, central executive figure. What I'd see happening is that the Americans manage to negotiate the division of authority between the hereditary King and some sort of elected Viceroy who, like the Vice President, would be the head of a rudimentary legislature.

Good point. I'm definitely liking this idea.

The Americans would probably have pressured to create some sort of congress, but since we're dealing with a (presumably) feudal society, legislators would likely be appointed by whatever sort of authority governs the district they represent - to use a medieval-style household as an example, I imagine there'd be a lot of second-born nobles and village elders serving as congressmen.

Some more information on how Kharnoth is organized would be helpful for determining just how things would be broken down. Is it a series of fiefs like most fantasy realms tend to be or is it something different?

Quote from: Rhamnousia
The Americans would probably have pressured to create some sort of congress, but since we're dealing with a (presumably) feudal society, legislators would likely be appointed by whatever sort of authority governs the district they represent - to use a medieval-style household as an example, I imagine there'd be a lot of second-born nobles and village elders serving as congressmen.

Some more information on how Kharnoth is organized would be helpful for determining just how things would be broken down. Is it a series of fiefs like most fantasy realms tend to be or is it something different?

Sorry, I had finals.

So I decided to go with your idea, and just have the Kingdom be renamed Kharnothia in honor of the grand King Kharnoth.

I was reading the Wiki article on Elected Monarchy, and that is more or less what I have in mind.

So this is my national government so far.

Federal Monarchy

Leadership is structured based around the King of Kharnothia who rules in cooperation with a Vice President elected from the American Populace so that the balance of Power is never swayed towards one state.

a congressional branch consisting of six seats per state for a total of 12 seats. The means of electing these congressmen are devoted to the states. Kharnothia elects their congress from Nobility.in the state, and Americans hold an election based around population.

Would there be a senate? Or would a senate be reserved for the Americans, and the Kharnothians have a system all their own?

Also what would civil rights look like? I guess this depends on what races I select for this setting.

How big is Kharnothia? I was under the impression that it was a fully-fledged nation-state that had an American city dropped into the middle of it - it is like the size of Lichtenstein or was a whole US state transposed into it? What's the American-to-Kharnothi population ratio? A legislature consisting of only 12 representatives seems way too small; for context, the 1st United States Congress had 91 members altogether.

The title of "Vice President" doesn't make much sense if there's not a President for him to assist.

Quote from: Rhamnousia
How big is Kharnothia? I was under the impression that it was a fully-fledged nation-state that had an American city dropped into the middle of it - it is like the size of Lichtenstein or was a whole US state transposed into it? What's the American-to-Kharnothi population ratio? A legislature consisting of only 12 representatives seems way too small; for context, the 1st United States Congress had 91 members altogether.

The title of "Vice President" doesn't make much sense if there's not a President for him to assist.

Thanks for the "Vice" pointer.

So the island is a very large island, and pre-American trans-disposition there were to nations. Istar (before Kharnoth took it over) was on the northern tip of the Island, and on the southern tip there is a large Dwarven kingdom called Darska. In between these two nations is a vast forested area known as the Free Fields. These are wild and vicious areas with scary monsters living everywhere. American technology alleviates this problem a little bit, and makes more travel between the two nations more possible. This is the primary reason why cowboy culture has had a resurgence among the Americans