Domain Level Play Part 1 – What is it?

Domain level play is when, in a fantasy world, a player’s character establishes a domain of their own.  This could be a castle, fortress, wizard’s tower or fortified cathedral and its surrounding land.  This gives the character a home base and makes them the lord of a place and its people.  This is considered a new “level” of play because the character is no longer just concerned with their own affairs but the affairs of the area in which they’ve settled down.  These new arrangements give the character new responsibilities along with status, wealth and power in the game world.  They tax the people living in their domain and build an army to exert their will.

The theme behind this is maturity.  In our own world we’ve all heard the stories told by older men of how they started in the company’s mail room, worked hard and eventually became the company president.  In western legends the brave adventurers leave home to face danger and eventually return home to lead a kingdom and start the next generation of heroes.  Fantasy roleplaying mirrors this progression.  The adventurers who aren’t good at their job die.  The ones who survive dungeon traps, monsters and evil sorcerers increase in power and gain reputations.  In time, they realize the limits of doing everything themselves and recruit an army to carry out their will.  Establishing a domain is intended for higher level characters for two reasons.  First, the character has amassed wealth from many adventures and can afford to hire builders, engineers, etc.  Second, the character has created a reputation over time for mighty deeds.  It is this reputation that brings commoners to live under their protection and men of arms to serve under their banner.

Domain level play has always been a part of fantasy roleplaying.  The first fantasy RPG, Original Dungeons & Dragons, had a title for the different character levels.  Around level nine these titles topped out at what was known as “name level”.  By this time it was assumed the characters saved up the treasure taken from dungeons and used it to finance the construction of a stronghold.  Although new construction was assumed a character could also conquer a villain’s stronghold or find an abandoned one.  The cost of building a stronghold would be spent on renovation.

Even before characters establish their own domain they are hiring servants and soldiers.  After exploring a dungeon or two the player characters had enough money to hire people to carry their luggage, fight with them in the dungeon, etc.  Building up a group of hirelings naturally transitioned to leading a kingdom and directing a larger staff.

Dungeons & Dragons was built on the Appendix N literature so can an example of domain level play be found there?  Robert E. Howard’s Conan is a good example.  Conan started out as a penniless adventurer in stories like The God in the Bowl and The Tower of the Elephant.  Later, Conan was the king of Aquilonia in The Phoenix on the Sword and The Scarlet Citadel.

When D&D was first created it was an offshoot of the tabletop strategy games that Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson liked to play.  In hindsight it seems natural that higher level characters would graduate to leading armies.  The domain level of play in D&D was meant to flow into medieval strategy games.

Because Gygax and Arneson already had strategy games there was no need to write one for D&D characters to join.  The result was poor support for domain level play.  It was assumed that game masters would either use their favorite strategy games or write their own rules to handle the details of running one’s own domain.  Prices were listed for building parts of a stronghold accompanied by rudimentary rules for clearing land for that stronghold.  What the founders of D&D didn’t realize was roleplaying games would become popular with many people who didn’t play strategy games.

Over the years most D&D players didn’t engage in domain level play.  Some liked the idea but weren’t sure how to do it.  Many weren’t interested.  Controlling just one character and visiting progressively more difficult dungeons was what they wanted.  When D&D passed to new hands who wrote later editions domain level play faded away.  My Fifth Edition books don’t seem to mention it.

Domain level play simply isn’t for everyone.  The focus of the game changes and there are more moving parts to consider.  It isn’t surprising – there are a lot more novels and movies about one or a few heroes alone in a hostile world than there are about leaders of kingdoms deciding how to govern their affairs.  Many gamers like the romantic idea of an endlessly wandering hero taking on new quests.

Those who do try domain level play tend to lean in one of two directions.  Some gamers like to shift from roleplaying to directing armies on a strategy game map.  Others like the roleplaying possibilities and never place their army on a strategic map.

Domain level play can keep a higher level campaign fresh.  Instead of facing tougher and tougher monsters the players can deal with situations that involve many people and resources.  Combat skill becomes replaced by leadership and diplomacy.  Innovative tactical thinking in the dungeon replaced by innovative strategic thinking in the larger world.  Fifth Edition D&D’s tiers of play (local heroes / heroes of the realm / masters of the realm / masters of the world) are better realized through this kind of play.  Many game masters look for ways to make players want to engage with their fantasy world.  Domain level play is an excellent way to do this.

One common misconception is that once domain level play begins the character retires from adventuring.  Domain level play does not mean the character has hit old age and will never leave home.  Characters with their own domain can leave it in the hands of a trusty servant and continue traveling for adventure.  With a piece of the world map bearing their name, characters become more invested in what’s going on.  They can effect change in ways they never could before.  Domain level play opens up many possibilities.  In part 2 of this series I’ll put domain level play in its proper context and discuss some objections that have been brought up.  Part 3 looks at how you can implement domain level play in your own games.  Part 4 offers some ideas that just might spark some of your own.