What Level is the King?

I remember well when I got my copy of The World of Greyhawk: it was 1982, the same year that The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun was released. I remember that because I justified the purchase of the folio by claiming that I "needed" it as a companion to module WG4, which was (I think) the first AD&D module specifically advertised as being set in the World of Greyhawk (unlike, say, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, which, while set on Oerth, didn't draw attention to that fact). I had to justify the purchase because, up until that point, I was a dedicated home brewer when it came to fantasy settings, at least as far as Dungeons & Dragons was concerned. The idea of buying someone else's setting, even if that someone was Gary Gygax himself, initially struck me as odd. I quickly overcame my concerns, in large part because The World of Greyhawk is a terrific product – presenting just enough detail to give the referee something to use as a foundation but not so much that he's drowning in minutiae. From that point on, I became a devoted fan of Oerth and, for a time, shifted the action of my ongoing AD&D campaign there. 

I was especially fond of the entries describing the various kingdoms of the Flanaess. Among the information they provided were the names, titles, class, and level of each realm's ruler. Thus, we learn that the king of the Frost Barbarians is a 15th level fighter, while the Overking of Aerdy is a a cleric/magic-user of 7th/12th level. Indeed, if you spend much time reading the entries – and I spent a lot of time doing so as a kid – you'll notice that the rulers are all at least 10th level and most are in the 12 to 15 range, with some ranging as high as 18th level. At the time, this seemed to make sense to me, since D&D's endgame allowed for the possibility of high-level player characters becoming rulers themselves. Why the wouldn't the king of Furyondy be a 14th level paladin? Furthermore, by making rulers high-level characters, it ensured that they couldn't be easily dispatched by unscrupulous PCs.

As the years wore on, this approach became less appealing to me, for various reasons, and I started thinking about alternative ones. However, it wasn't until I started refereeing my House of Worms Empire of the Petal Throne that the matter became more pressing. The player characters are now mostly all levels 5 and 6 (which is significant in EPT, given its experience system). More importantly, many of the characters have attained positions of political power within the Tsolyáni colony of Linyaró. Earlier in the campaign, the characters interacted with several politically important and influential NPCs but I never bothered to stat them up, since game mechanics didn't matter in these interactions. As events unfold, though, that might change and I'm not sure the best way to handle things.

What's interesting is that Professor apparently Barker wrestled with this very same problem. The disjunction between power as represented by game mechanics and power as represented by position within the setting is quite acute in Tékumel. The setting's societies are profoundly hierarchical and tradition-bound, where true power flows from sources unlike those represented by the acquisition of experience points and advancement in level. There's no necessary connection between the two: the God-Emperor is the most powerful man in all of Tsolyánu and yet there is no reason to assume he's very high level. Conversely, a very experienced fighter in the Hirilákte Arena might well be quite high level and yet, politically and socially, he's a nobody. This wouldn't be an issue if high level didn't also bring high hit points and generally better ability to survive (though the matter is mitigated slightly in EPT by the presence of an "instant kill" rule not present in D&D). 

Ultimately, Professor Barker's solution was to dispense with levels entirely and create a new game system to accommodate Tékumel better. That system was Swords & Glory and, despite its many flaws, has some interesting ideas to consider on this and other questions. Right now, though, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this topic. Have you come up with a way to deal with it or is it something you don't worry about in your own games?