If You Were A Dictator, What Would Be The Secret Of Your Sucess?

[CurtSibling]

Hah!

Even before the concepts of Order and Chaos, there are far
darker beings!

Slithering from the ancient cataombs of Ur, The Dreamer watches,
amused at man's battles with each other.

This primordial horror awaits it's chance to strike and engulf the
earth in gibbering madness!

And of course; this being is under the Enemy Ace Empire's control,
Guarded by the ancient watcher as pictured below

 

[Blackadder]

Originally posted by Mikoyan
I am talking about the Chaos-god who used to be Bane! Someday i will kill him and take his place!

Isn't Bane back though? After all, he 'erupted' from the 'sentinent seed', his half demon son Iyachtu Xvim (Why a demon and not a devil though?).
I suppose doing that would quell the masses, as well as destroying Zentil Keep.
Iwould like to add that the power of Manshoon to have clones of himself is a vital Dictator plan. After all, a dictator should rule for life!

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Yes, but Zhentil Keep itself was destroyed, whether by monster hordes in c1368, or the allied armies in 1378, depending on which account you have heard (official FR, and my campaign).

So, we must assume that Mikoyan is employing those most excellent tools of the evil dictator - illusion, exaggerated bravado, and the strategic use of malversations. After all, the Moonsea is a long way from Stockholm

One has a number of methods of maintaining control, including the interesting step of showing pictures of my recent state trip to Europe.
Here should be a happy snap of me with one of the locals:

Argh!! Screwed the pic attachment. Have to try and fix it.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Here now is a picture of me with a local. I'm the one on the left with no moustache.

 

[Mikoyan]

Ah!
But i said north of Zhentil Keep, not in Zhentil Keep!
And just so you'll be knowing, i'm going to infiltrate the Sembian army headquarters, and infiltrate and brainwash the Amnian council of five, two considerably formidable armies will be at my command! Looks like your beloved Cormyr has a pretty bloody war to look forward too!
(Hmph! but those damn Harpers are proving to be a real nuisance, and one im finding quite difficult to ignore!)

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Mikoyan, I welcome your attention to Realms politics, but I fear that in your youthful ardour, you have not looked at the right intelligence reports. Neither Sembia nor Amn have standing armies of any description outside city defence (the nearest thing to it is the Amnian forces stationed in Maztica, but they were mercs), nor do they give a great deal of creedence to military matters. Amn is also quite a distance from Cormyr, and would have to go through the Lords Alliance first.
Also, in the last official installment on the matter, Amn was being overrun by Tethyrian armies and underdark monsters, which was a most silly move IMO (See "Lands of Intrigue)
On the other hand, Cormyr has one of the few standing professional armies in the Realms, even under the official version, and an unparalleled record of recent military triumph (The Crusade, anyone?)

(a note on the versions: My campaign history parts from the TSR line in about 1368, and has a lot of nice stuff happening for the next 24 years. I might dig out some of my stuff one day)

Anyway, as you will remember from your first semester at Evil Dictators college, there is what is known as the Infinite Possibilities Theory, which postulates the existence of parallel dimensions which bear but a passing similarity to one another. Therefore, we are most probably talking about different realms. That is, you would remember if you were listening in class, but I suspect you were off skiving with the Dark Elf Anarchist League, or some other campus group

BTW, Amn is ruled by the Council of Six.
And for dealing with Harpers, I recommend mustard gas or a nice contagion spell. They typically also have trouble when they are not the centre of attention and having a Chaotic Good- loving book written about them.

 

[Mikoyan]

Council of Six, oOuncil of Five... Ugh!! It has been some time since i played SoA... And, sorry Simon, but 'good intelligence' is hard to come by here in Sweeten! I have two FR books: 'Crusade' and 'Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast', but i try to manage the best i can with my imagination.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Tell you what, I will lend a little hand in the Realms intelligence stakes if you want, using the full resources of the Cormyrian Intelligence Agency, and the Darkshade Intelligence Corps. Their files are voluminous, and contain all of what is contained in the libraries of Candlekeep itself.
If ye need to know anything specific, or want details of my archives, convey a message in the usual fashion - a flying margoyle who knows how to watch his manners

The everpresent secret of the success of the evil dictator is knowing how to cooperate with his peers!

P.S: What is SoA?

 

[Mikoyan]

SoA: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, don't tell me you've never played it!

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Not only have I never played it, I've never heard of it

The last Forgotten Realms computer game I played was Pools of Darkness, released in 1991! Or Unlimited Adventures, which was put out in 1993, depending on how you look at it.
My interest in the Realms is more of the paper variety, but I have large computerized archives of many 2nd edition AD&D FR stuff that is free for public download. Check your PM box for details.

 

[Mikoyan]

Dude! Have you been like, asleep or something for the last years?
It was Baldur's Gate that got me into FR, and Baldur's Gate 2 made me even more interested. The setting is ca. 20 years after the time of troubles (insert date here), and you play as the son of the dead god Bhaal etc. I strongly recommend the Baldur's Gate series for any big fan of Fantasy.
www.planetbaldursgate.com

 

[Simon Darkshade]

No, I have been methodically taking over the world
One has only had a "modern" computer for the past year, and Civ2 sufficed as my one computer game on it, and so it shall remain for the next few years, until the introduction of Civ10.
Anyway, one has no wish to be anything associated with Bhaal. It took enough time to get rid of the bugger before, and I don't want to associate with his illegitimate relatives

 

[Mikoyan]

Ahh, but you should at least give it a try! I bet you can download the entire games from some mo-fo servers or sumpin, anyway, there are many interesting things to do in this game: Ending an Iron plague, Saving the Sword Coast from war with Amn, have interesting dialogues with people like Elminster, Volo, Drizzt and Cyric, and eventually, take over the Throne of Bhaal, what sort of god you become depends on which alignment you choose from the beginning, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak!
With the risk of being hung, i have to say that i like BG more than Civ.

 

[Blackadder]

I don't know about Sweden, but the Forgotten Realms campaign setting was released in England last year. It goes up to 1372, and mentions the :

a:Reappearence of the city of Shade.
b:The return of Bane
c:Tilverton obliterated.

Mikoyan, Volo's guides okay (never try plotting a map with it however), but you need the campaign setter to see Aber-Toril.

Baldur's gate is now in DVD (or something like this:crazyeyes ).
The interesting part of Baldur's gate series is its like a book, the characters in BG2:SOA react to what you say, even allowing you to start romances.

And I reiterate, the greatest weapon any dictator has is his mind and so Psionics are the Dictators greatest tool!

 

[Mikoyan]

Tilverton obliberated? HAH! Now the bloody Cormyreans get what they deserve!

 

[CurtSibling]

Forgotten realms aside,

I think The Elder Scrolls II, Daggerfall, was one of the coolest
computer RPG's.

It has totally non-linear gameplay,
Imagine Dave Braben's 'Elite' only in a medieval world!

It set the scene all fantasy computer RPG's try and copy now,
even the vaunted Baldur's gate.

PS
I though BG was ok, but found it kind of restricting, in that you
had a limited map and were forced to carry out the quests...

 

[dannyevilcat]

The original Baldur's Gate was very limited, but SoA was great because much of it you could screw around with just for fun and get away with it if you weren't in a big rush for XP. I can't tell you how many times I just slaughtered the church of the morning god (Lathander? Forget now.).

I rarely got past chapter two because it was where all the good stuff was. Hmmm. Maybe I should start a new game some time...

 

[Mikoyan]

I too have raided the Temple of the Morninglord! Both in BG1 and BG2, in the name of my god BANE!
And it's after chapter two you get the real goodies! Besides, i always play through the Asylum and the Underdark so i can get to ToB!

P.S, The 'Slayer Change' ability can be really useful against certain Vampire queens and mad Wizards.

 

[dannyevilcat]

By "good stuff" I didn't mean items (although if I remember right, with a lot of effort, you can get the Ring of Gaxx in Ch.2), I meant stories. It's hilarious some of the stuff that happens! Me and my friends used to be in tears laughing so hard telling our stories.

 

[Mikoyan]

Well, did I mean items? Sure you can get the Silver blade and hilt to forge the Vorpal Blade and such, but you also get to kill hundreds upon hundreds of Drow (never liked em', i left their bloody city in ruins), you get the awesome Slayer change ability and you get to fight Jon Irenicus for the first time!