Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-17-2014, 01:16 PM   #1
Anders
 
Anders's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Default A dragon as Leviathan

Hope I don't get thrown out for spamming, this is the third thread today... :eek:

Anyway, Hobbes wrote that in the state of nature the life of man was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." The cure for this was the Leviathan - an impartial force that was the only institution able to use force, but was limited in its role to keeping the subjects safe (at least, that's the interpretation I'll go with here).

So, imagine an island with several small neolithic communities. They trade with each other and sometimes feel tempted to go to war over some insult or dispute or other. When they get close to coming to blows, they take sacrifices and go to the mountain plateau at the center of the island, to speak to the Leviathan.

The Leviathan is a large dragon - large enough to be effectively immune to the slings and arrows of the islanders (remember, armor is doubled against cutting and impaling weapons). The Leviathan will hear the affair and settle the dispute - and it is in his interest to settle it somewhat fairly, to minimize costly conflicts. Going to war against the Leviathan's decision is to invite swift destruction.

The dragon also communicates with the various chieftains in the individual communities. Should anyone threaten a chief that the Leviathan favors, he is turned into a snack.

This explains why the dragon has such a big hoard - that's all the gifts and sacrifices - and why the islanders keep him in awe.

Now suppose that someone figures out how to make metal weapons. Suddenly there's a weapon that can challenge the Leviathan and bring the whole edifice crashing down...

Sound interesting?
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius
Anders is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2014, 02:08 PM   #2
Not
 
Not's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Default Re: A dragon as Leviathan

Sounds like an episode of (old) Star Trek.
Not is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2014, 02:29 PM   #3
gilbertocarlos
 
gilbertocarlos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Caxias do Sul, Brazil
Default Re: A dragon as Leviathan

Sounds like a bad attempt of revolution, just because you know a way to kill a dragon, doesn't mean you will be able to do it.

Also, now he has access to metal, the dragon could simply order the smiths to make an armor for him.
__________________
I've revised the Low Tech weapons table:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=112532
gilbertocarlos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2014, 03:03 PM   #4
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: A dragon as Leviathan

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Now suppose that someone figures out how to make metal weapons. Suddenly there's a weapon that can challenge the Leviathan and bring the whole edifice crashing down...

Sound interesting?
Eh, it's a typical situation where a ruling authority is destabilized. However, if the dragon has been a reasonably 'good' ruler, would-be dragonslayers will tend to get thumped on by humans long before threatening the dragon is an issue.
__________________
My GURPS site and Blog.
Anthony is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2014, 04:24 PM   #5
gilbertocarlos
 
gilbertocarlos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Caxias do Sul, Brazil
Default Re: A dragon as Leviathan

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Eh, it's a typical situation where a ruling authority is destabilized. However, if the dragon has been a reasonably 'good' ruler, would-be dragonslayers will tend to get thumped on by humans long before threatening the dragon is an issue.
If he was a hobbesian leviathan he was a good ruler.
__________________
I've revised the Low Tech weapons table:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=112532
gilbertocarlos is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
dragon, politics, stone age

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.