In history, kings were assumed to have super kingdom ruling powers granted directly by god. They were, in some stories, even linked to the land to some extent.

In the D&D setting Birthright the rulers had such kingdom ruling powers from their ancestors being exposed to dying gods.

Has anyone ever encountered other cool ideas for how someone can come to possess 'rulership powers'?

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;877107Has anyone ever encountered other cool ideas for how someone can come to possess 'rulership powers'?

Selection by a magical herd animal.

• Well there is the old sword in the stone wheeze.


• Magical or special bloodline.


• Defeating all rivals.


• Succeeding in a quest.


• Marrying the king's daughter or the Amazon Queen.
• Having the glass slipper fit your foot.

Pact with nature:
Bury the would-be-king in the ground. Dig him up three days later. Is he still alive? King!

Possessed by aliens/demons:
Some weird looking bottle of thick black slime. Would-be-king drinks it. Does he shrivel and die and melt all over the stairs? Or does he get visibly stronger and slightly larger with a vague light behind his eyes (like all other kings have)? King!

Feed would-be-king to the thing in the palace basement. When he comes out the back end... King!

Little black rock that fell from the sky gets put up the backside of would-be-king. After a week of fever and changes... King!

Secret knowledge:
Would be king is given sacred words of power to access the ancient machines in the caves under the castle, they teach him everything and he comes back King!

Quote from: Bren;877126Selection by a magical herd animal.

Quote from: SimlasaFeed would-be-king to the thing in the palace basement. When he comes out the back end... King!

I LOLed.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;877129

Good. I worry sometimes that I am not obvious enough.

The King or Queen is chosen by a council of electors, each of whom is a representative of one of the Guilds of Wizardry. The Guilds exact dues from members not in monetary form, but in magic, and a cut from each members' dues is passed to the Crown, to be used to power massive magical effects that can shape the entire land.

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Whenever a King or Queen dies their ghost rises after the rites of mourning are performed. The ghost will track down their chosen successor, bestow the powers of the Crown on them, and serve them for a year and a day as their closest and most trusted advisor. If the new monarch dies during that time, they don't get to come back as a ghost - that's the last secret the old monarch imparts, and they will be the ones who pick a new leader if your reign ended early.

If you want to conquer this nation, you must not only kill its ruler, but also possess suitable magic to compel them to do your bidding when you rise. Even then, you may have a hard time; whilst magic can force them to pick you as their successor and serve out their term, and even compel them to obey your direct orders, it can't make them pretend to do so gladly: you may command their actions, but not their bearing. Many an usurper's reign has been ended prematurely by loyal friends and advisors of the previous ruler, who couldn't bear to see their late liege enslaved in such a fashion.

Conversely, if a ghost-monarch heartily endorses and approves of how their successor is doing, then they can be a new ruler's best resource. A population which hasn't yet been won over by its new King or Queen can have its morale markedly improved if a well-loved dead leader can be prevailed on to speak in support of the new boss.

Have a watery tart throw swords at people.

Kill the current ruler in battle. (Riddick)

Be a dummy who is willing to be a tool for hidden wealthy powers (George W. Bush. Having a wealthy and influential father helps here.)

Buy your way into power while stoking the fears of idiots. (Trump)

Those with the most wattage of magical or psychic power becomes king.

Genetic manipulation creates the Kwisatz Haderach. (Dune)

Go through the Academy and aliens give you a Lens.

Everyone else dies and you're the last man alive.

Reprogram the computers to swing the vote your way.

Gathering a group of followers and leading them into either taking over an existing realm, or building a new one in the wilderness.

The royal seal of office is no mere token - it's a powerful artifact bound to the earth of the nation so intimately that were it ever destroyed, the very landscape itself would be devastated. Whoever holds the seal rules the nation.

Assassination attempts and other acts of violence against the monarch are extremely rare, and even in the cases of the most unpopular King or Queen would-be assassins are despised by all and are typically torn to bits by the mob, for to attack the ruler is to risk breaking the seal and destroying all of us.

Succession by thievery, however, is substantially more common in the annals of history.

Might go with the Tibetan Buddhist option: the True Monarch is the reincarnation of the preceding one.  There are standard signs and portents commonly acknowledged to point out the right child, who is then whisked away and raised to rule by a special Order dedicated to the task.  The realm is run by caretakers in the meantime.

Another option - what Robert Heinlein did in Glory Road: a cybernetic dingus with the memories and personalities of all the previous incumbents, which every new monarch absorbs in order to gain their experience and knowledge, and to which he or she in turn adds their own.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;877107In history, kings were assumed to have super kingdom ruling powers granted directly by god. They were, in some stories, even linked to the land to some extent.

In the D&D setting Birthright the rulers had such kingdom ruling powers from their ancestors being exposed to dying gods.

Has anyone ever encountered other cool ideas for how someone can come to possess 'rulership powers'?

I can't accept this as a premise.

Historically, there's been a tension between "legitimacy", "power", and "effectiveness", and questions of which flowed from which, and which might be granted or mediated by god (or a god's representative such as the Pope or a prophet). Perhaps read Richard II or the Iliad for a review.

The Divine Right of Kings per se was a codification of certain ideas in the early modern period--although granted they had roots stretching back millenia, and parallels in non-European contexts such as "The Mandate of Heaven".

Historically, some rulers claimed to be literally (the children of) gods either directly or by descent. Example: the emperors of Japan are all descended from the sun goddess. Some claimed to be literally divine by some sort of mystical mechanism it would seem. Julius Caesar claimed to be a descendant of Venus, but I think the Roman Emperors were generally deified after death more on general principle. The Pharaohs of Egypt were literally gods during their lifetime, but I don't think it was by descent unless each new dynasty made up a genealogy.

Rulers in the Judeo-Christian tradition weren't divine themselves but they generally did have God's sanction, starting with Saul & David, and generally following the model which accepted descent as the default form of legitimacy from the previous ruler, but also allowing for the principle of intervention by holy men such as Samuel or various Popes. This was generally on the overt grounds of upholding God's law, but when it came to the replacement of the Merovingian dynasty by Pippin I, the Pope simply gave holy sanction to the argument that the person who exercised actual power ought also to have the legal title. Almost needless to say, Pippin was also calling in a favor in exchange for rescuing Rome from the Lombards.

However it was very, very common for cultures to not replace kings even when evidence of loss of divine mandate was pretty obvious in terms of facts on the ground. Socially of course this can be seen as the reason for divine mandate in the first place--it helps kings through rough patches and provides an argument for expansion of powers. So, how do kings get and hold "divine power"?

In addition to claiming a sort of legendary ancestry, the Merovingians were known for their long lustrous hair. Yeah, they were sort of the Breck kings. As time went by, the various Christian rulers of Europe also sought and maintained divine favor by building/endowing cathedrals and monasteries, fighting heresy, collecting saints' relics (gotta catch 'em all!), and engaging in Crusades to protect pilgrims' access to the Holy Land--and/or maintain Christian control of Jerusalem itself.

There are certainly parallels in other religions. Muslim rulers have also wanted to control Jerusalem (and of course Mecca). Everybody builds temples to the gods, and/or construct mausoleums for themselves during their lifetimes that will demonstrate their eventual spiritual awesomeness.

Quote from: Simlasa;877128Little black rock that fell from the sky gets put up the backside of would-be-king. After a week of fever and changes... King!

This just made me laugh so that I coughed beer trough my nose.
"Wow, a rock just fell from the sky. I´ll bet, if we put it up that guys arse, he´ll make a great king!"

Quote from: Arminius;877286Everybody builds temples to the gods, and/or construct mausoleums for themselves during their lifetimes that will demonstrate their eventual spiritual awesomeness.

Which means a great method of selection would be the winner of a build-off becomes king. Whoever can put together the most impressive design along with the money, resources, man-power, and organization sufficient to get it built in the allotted time (say 1 year) wins.

It bears a sort of resemblance to potlach culture of the Pacific Northwest since the builder has to be wealthy enough to fund the construction himself or influential and persuasive enough to get other people to volunteer their wealth and labor to his project.

All hail the Supreme Architect! Long may the Builder reign!

Quote from: zx81;877289This just made me laugh so that I coughed beer trough my nose.
"Wow, a rock just fell from the sky. I´ll bet, if we put it up that guys arse, he´ll make a great king!"

It's like a riff on premise of The Gods Must be Crazy.

"Divine Right" is actually a small portion of historical basis of kingship.

The most fundamental is "I'm the meanest fucker around."
Next comes "I've got the biggest fucking army around."

In Beowulf you became a great "lord" by being a mighty warrior, charismatic enough to attract followers, and successful enough in warfare to continue to lavish gifts on your followers.

"The first Capetian monarch was Hugh Capet (c.940–996), a Frankish nobleman from the Île-de-France, who, following the death of Louis V of France (c.967–987) – the last Carolingian King – secured the throne of France by election."

So, yeah, "divine right of kings" is not all that common.