Alternatives to a Decadent Court

I get that the reason Deadly Decadent Court is such a common trope is because it provides an easy source of intrigue and in real life power often corrupts. However, I want to use some different variations on the royal court, so not every court is a Deadly Decadent Court.

The nature of power and a court makes a deadly decadent court fairly common, but keep in mind that there's a very large range that constitutes "deadly" and "decadent". Rich people want to flaunt their wealth, but there's a very big difference between just rich dudes running the country and rich dudes running the country into the ground for no reason. Similarly, deadly may mean the occasional malcontent gets sent on an impossible mission, or everyone is constantly backstabbing everyone.

Sabre's Edge wrote this post a while back explaining different pre-industrial government models.

I feel like I don't fully understand what you are looking for; are you looking for a different type of societal group that you can write as "deadly and decadent", or a different depiction of a royal court?

The latter, a different depiction of a royal court that isn't deadly and decadent.

Well, that depends on how you write the characters. If the majority of characters in the court aren't scheming, selfish, greedy, or decadent, then it's not a deadly decadent court.

Edited by A_Really_Big_Cat on Dec 19th 2019 at 4:37:00 AM

Feudal courts were, above all, built on trust (or class solidarity, if you want to put it that way). The monarch and their vassals need to know that they have each other's back. That means cultivating personal relationships through banquets, tourneys and marriages, paying their debts on time and helping out each other in times of need.

A monarch who breaks their promises to their subjects would be cut off from aid and left to drown in debt. A noble who breaks their promises to their ruler would be cut off in turn and be ganged up on by rival powers. On top of that, you'd have common value systems and higher authorities like the Church to ensure that those folks have something to believe in other than the blind pursuit of power. A royal court dominated by Westeros-style power plays wouldn't last very long before it tears itself apart.

That's true. You could study medieval literature like Arthurian legend and Beowulf for some depictions of the courtly society in action. An important part of the medieval social structure was largesse, or generosity. Kings were wealthy, and part of the way they gained the support of vassals was by granting them gifts of that wealth. IIRC, in Beowulf the king is referred to as a "ring-giver" because of his role in that society as a distributor of rings, or torcs, made of gold.

Oddly, noble generosity can come off as decadence. Nobles would often sponsor artists in exchange for their work. Thus a palace would end up lavishly decorated by all manner of art. Extravagant parties would be seen as generosity to the guests. Even etched and gilded armor could be gifts from a king to a knight.

I would say, personally, that it depends on who gets the gifts. If it's the upper class spending money on arts and green spaces and fancy feasts for each other, the lower class is going to notice. But if the upper class is sure to throw the lessers a bone or three, or is serious about sharing their money with everyone, that's going to create a much different vibe.

So, picture a lord who commissions murals and parks for the peasantry, who shells out for fairs and feasts and entertainment, and who's willing to cut their own rations in a famine. Is that what you're looking for?

Related: Blue Rose has a country called Aldis, where noble titles are non-hereditary and anyone looking to get ahead has to have good publicity. I bought the gamebook for ideas, and some of what I found are royal theaters and such that play to the general public and not just the nobles, government-funded programs for the general good like lamp-lighter unions and magical waste management systems, and a bill of rights which limits what land-owners can do to those living on their property.