The Politician
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
The Politician:
A Discourse Upon Engaging in the Political Arts
By Treadeau Du’rome of OES
What profession can you think of that involves more evil and underhanded business than politics? Those who are interested in promoting an evil agenda can transform a passably role-played character into a devious and crafty character known to all within the community. I will be breaking the discussion down into two parts. The first is what makes entering politics at a town council, or even a shard-wide, level interesting, and how to do it. The second will be how and why an evil politician behaves the way he does in furthering his agenda.
The population of Britannia has created a system of control over the people in most areas that requires them to elect leaders to executive positions. This system is inherently flawed, and can be used to the advantage of those who seek to thrust their own contrivances forward. The most basic examples are the many town councils that have been established upon each shard for each city. Within these councils exist multitudes of positions, and one can easily find a position to run for. Winning the election, however, is an all together different thing.
The eternal question for those aspiring politicians who wish to reap darkness upon the land is this: “Should I be open about my goals during the election process, or should I chose to hide my plans in the shadows, waiting until I am elected to spring them upon the populous?”
The first is definitely the most difficult, because of the population’s general nature to abhor all things that they do not understand. Being open about your political goals will leave you exposed to much criticism and many deconstructive attacks by the opposition. When running for an office, you should only be open about your objectives when you have a large group of supporters already behind you.
The second is perhaps the most interesting, and definitely brings the most pleasure once you are in office. This option should be chosen when you do not have enough votes to elect yourself within the bounds of fair-play. Deceive the population, telling them what they want to hear, when they want to hear it. Then, once you are in office, begin implementing your own agenda, and the reality of the monster they have elected will dumbfound them.
Running for a political office within a town council, or participating in town forums for the discussion of what can be done within the community, can flesh out your character’s personality and is usually very gratifying. Some of my most memorable UO experiences have been several debates I participated in, arguing against Lord British’s Virtues. Attempting to think like your character within debates and meetings puts you in his shoes, addressing things at the ground level and improving the overall experience of the game.
When choosing your political persona, you should first look at what type of character you have, and how they conduct themselves before they enter politics. Politicians behave the way they do for numerous reasons, but within Britannia I have found that there are basically two types of evil politicians. Each may have either simple or complex motivations behind their actions.
Someone who was an evil warlock or death knight before their entrance into politics is used to handling people face to face. They are not overly concerned with trickery or even deception; they would behave as they do in battle, openly engaging their enemies and destroying them.
On the other hand, a lycanthrope or vampire who is used to living in the shadows and deceiving people to attain their goals would be more used to deception and trickery, and would be the ultimate Machiavellian Prince. They are perhaps the most dangerous because no one ever knows what they are up to; their plans are known only to themselves. They can always be expected to do the unexpected.
Whether to openly engage your political enemies or to use deception to destroy them is the eternal question presented to evil politicians. There is no simple answer, but always remember that you must use any means necessary to reach your goals; let no one stop you from your End.