30+ Kings
A minor mess of magnates for myriad monarchies.
Now with Scroll functions! Add your own!
The Legend
A potentially mythical king whom everyone admires. He is the hero of the people, a paragon of chivalry, friend to the church and nobility - in short, a larger-than-life ruler.
The Pharaoh
More than a king, this ruler is worhsipped as a god. He is the center of the local pantheon and a very mysterious figure.
The Beowulf
A warrior king who is champion of his people. He has performed great deeds and won many battles for his kingdom. He is boastful and a poor peace-time monarch.
The Nero
An opulant ruler who cares only for himself. He is a fully incompetent ruler and commits countless debaucheries and self-indulgences at the expense of his people. His exploits have made him a villain in the eyes of most everyone.
The Expansionist
This king is bent on expanding his domain. His reign is marked by unending land grabs, and the government of the homeland thins as a result.
The Puritan
A monarch who is bent on a particular religion and imposes it upon his people. He stamps out anything he sees as immoral, and those who don't follow his dogmas are severely punished. At home and abroad, the nation suffers for his zeal.
The Aurelius
This king is known as a philosopher. His writings adorn every library and are widely read. He is a comptetent ruler, but his true strength lies in his wisdom.
The Commodus
A ruler obsessed with his own physical prowess. He exhibits himself in the gladiatorial ring, the races, and elsewhere as an athlete.
The Caligula
This monarch is plainly mad. He considers himself to be a descendent of the gods, ordering the seasons to change and the ocean to drain, being outraged when they do not. He is a horrific ruler and cruel despot.
The Meiji
The king who is obsessed with progress. He overthrows tradition in favor of following the latest world trend in technology, fashion, and culture.
The Mussolini
The opposite of the Meiji, this ruler wants to restore the nation to its storied and glorious past. This means expelling foreigners, decrying the influence of non-traditional culture, and eliminating political opponents.
The Shogun
A militaristic ruler who wins the people by protecting them from outside threats. Political dissidents are intimidated into silence. His people eat well from the spoils of war.
The Henry
A king who is obsessed with siring a scion. He has had several wives, none of which have provided him with an heir. They were... removed for their failure.
The Paranoid
Uneasy rests the head that wears the crown. This monarch is in constant fear of the world. Many heads have been removed to satisfy his fears of conspiracy. He is rarely seen as he never leaves the safety of his castle.
The Figurehead
A king only in name, this is not a ruler but a mouthpiece for the senate or military. He lives the royal life without the royal responsibilities, making him awkward even as a front man.
The Lothario
A well-known womanizer, this monarch has bedded many, from nobles to wenches. He is rumored to have a number of bastard off-spring in various tiers of society.
The Conquerer
This monarch rules over many lands, all of which he forced into his reign. He rules fairly, so long as his newly acquired constituents assimilate and cooperate.
The Atilla
Even more obsessed than the Conquerer, this king wages war for its own sake. The treasury fattens from his constant intake of spoils, but the people grow distrustful as his need for conscripts increases.
The Politico
A silver-tongued king who knows how the political world operates. He appears to be a very successful ruler, but this is mainly because he sweet talks the nobility and various political advocates.
The Richard
A noble king who is engaged in foreign wars. He is loved by the people, but does very little reigning as he crusades in far-off lands.
The Messiah
More than a king, this ruler is believed to be a god-send. He is both monarch and bishop, rousing the people with his words of faith.
The Plato
This king frankly doesn't care if he is king. He is disinterested in politics and royalty, focused on being a good ruler. His lack of personal interest, however, can cause even this to falter.
The Reluctant
This monarch would really rather not be king, but has been forced into the position by the royal family. He is an unwilling Figurehead and would gladly hand the crown to another if he thought he could get away with it.
The Tutankhamun
A regent in name, this king is a child who was the only successor to the crown. Most of the decisions are made by his viziers, while he sits in the royal throne playing with toys. His royal servants do his bidding, however, and he has a mean streak for a kid; it's best not to cross him.
The Ayatollah
Like the Messiah, this king is seen as a religious leader, but he directs his people toward religious warfare. He is outspoken in everything and enforces his faith like the Puritan, but with the approval of his zeal-frenzied people.
The Octavian and the Anthony
The last king recently died, and these two are fighting for succession. The nobility has divided into factions, different sides jockeying for the man who will support them the most. The people meanwhile suffer with no functioning government and the army divided between rulers.
The Qin
This monarch is one of several in a confederation of kingdoms, but he is subdjugating the others in order to make himself the sole sovereign of the lands. He is a harsh tyrant, but sees a higher purpose in unting the quarreling nations.
The Gilgasmesh
This king has a single obsession: immortality. He has devoted a huge portion of the treasury to alchemists and soothsayers to find the secret to eternal life. Many say he is mad.
The Khufu
This life is simply preparation for the next. A large percentage of the kingdom's resources are dedicated to building an enormous monument and tomb for when this king eventually passes. He is a decent ruler, but his reign will not stand out in the minds of the people; he will be remembered only by his tomb.
The Cleopatra
In order to keep the kingdom free, this monarch is willing to do anything - and I do mean anything. She freely offers her body to powerful men in order that she too might gain influence. The common people, of course, know nothing of this, though the nobles are well aware and have mixed feelings on the matter.
The Constantine
The gods of old are pushed aside at the command of this newly-converted monotheistic king. As temples are torn down or rededicated to the new deity, many convert either out of reverent zeal or desire to save their rank in the kindgom. Other, however, stubbornly resist and outright ignore the king's will.
The Baron:
This King took an oath loyalty to another King before he conquered his current Kingdom. He is still a landed Baron in another Kingdom, responsible for taxes and duty bound to obey his King. But he is also a King in his own right and the interests of his two realms may come into conflict.
The Mao
This King really wants to modernise his kingdom, but he does not care who gets hurt, and many of his ideas for his 'Great Leap Forward' are terrible. His kingdom is wracked by famine, but his police and secret police have managed to ruthlessly suppress all opposition. He has a very active personality cult.
The Ammullah
This king is trying to change his nation but he is going too far too fast, the clerics are worried about him, and many people who supported him earlier are backing away.
Not Registered Yet? No problem.
Do you want Strolenati super powers? Registering. That's how you get super powers! These are just a couple powers you receive with more to come as you participate.
- Upvote and give XP to encourage useful comments.
- Work on submissions in private or flag them for assistance.
- Earn XP and gain levels that give you more site abilities (super powers).
- You should register. All your friends are doing it!
? Responses (16)
Great work. Very handy reference for any worldbuilder. My favourite 30 so far.
Not a big fan of 30 anything, but I like this one! I think its the historical headers that jump out and endear me to the piece. I'll agree with B9, this is my favorite of the thirties.
nice work!
5/5 for this medly of monarchs.
Love the historical headers! Good work Dozus.
Great work. I find this much more useful than the other 30s.
What they said. :)
5/5 - Awesome indeed.
really good sub man, cool!
Perhaps there might be made a scroll for other monarchs to be submitted as their thought up? If there are 30, there are bound to be more, such as The Solomon, the king who rules with wisdom and intelligence, whom the people favor due to his fairness; or perhaps The Edward, a king who rules because the true king is off fighting a war, and makes a mess of the country while his brother is gone. I'm seeing awesome potential for a scroll.
But a good concept and reference. It sparked some good ideas, in me at least.
Updated: Good idea, CM.
A great scroll, though it looks like it needs a wee bit of cleaning.
Ah yes. This is the one that originally got my mind to wondering how many different ways I could go with a 30!
A fantastic 30 -- extremely useful in its elegant simplicity. Taking actual historical figures and distilling them to brief archetypes make them immediately accessible. Anyone can adapt these to their game. I'm also glad that you left the names as-is -- this way there is just enough detail to be useful, but can still look up more about them if we were curious.
The is a long list of rulers with little expansion on or exploration of the rulers or the governments they created. I enjoyed the quick review of mytho-historical characters, and while it is tempting to argue your view of Mussolini or whether a Plato, King could be disinterested in politics and still be interested in being a good leader, those are only disagreements of phrase or word choice. Your points are made clearly