View source for Races of War (3.5e Sourcebook)/Logistics and Dragons

== Administering your People ==
''"Alright, let's hear it... for '''Me'''!"''

So you've slain the dragon and the local hobgoblin clan has arranged an elegant wedding between you and the most beautiful daughter of the daimyo… and then what? Most of the people you just became the ruler of are commoners. That doesn't mean that they have the Commoner class – holy crap was that thing a bad idea all around. No, in fact, we're phasing that class out completely. No, it means that your people mostly come with a humanoid hit die that if they ever tried hard enough would be replaced by a character class of some kind.

But while these people can end up with a character class, they aren't going to. Your peeps are pretty much useless, and you've got to accept that. Some of them will have their humanoid hit dice transferred out to be Experts or Warriors – but those classes only go up to 5th level and aren't good. These guys pay taxes and need to get rescued. Really, that's why they are there.

=== Conquered People ===
''"Spare the man in the kangaroo suit, he amuses me."''

Sometimes you just don't get along with people at all. Sure, if you kill the local Remorhazz, the locals will probably make you the lord. This is basically short hand for the fact that most people realize that you ''could'' overpower society, but right now at least you're fighting ''for'' society and they want to make sure it stays that way. But sometimes they don't. Either they already have a lord or they just really don't like you.

But you can still make yourself master of these ingrates by ''actually'' overpowering their society. Smack their lords around, beat their guards in combat, and crush their fortifications and temples beneath your sandaled feet. And then... you have a bunch of people that resent you. Sure, you can buy some of them over with promises of power over their own people, and if you rule a land for a generation the children will grow up not even knowing the taste of any lash but yours. And you could even be a kind king and make your people prosper and such, and some people will respect you for that.

But policing and improving an economy filled with people that resent your presence is ''expensive''. Whether you're trying to bribe them into loyalty or just sending guards to execute trouble makers, this is simply much less efficient than getting occasional voluntary taxation. In fact, it's roughly half as lucrative as administering non-confrontational civilians.

Furthermore, regardless of how nice you're being or how hard you come down on potential troublemakers, there will be heroes who come to kick you out. Maybe they just refuse to take your filthy halfling lucre, maybe they object to your daily executions for failure to work hard enough. Whatever, the actual injustice of your regime has little to do with how often it is overthrown in the D&D world. The point is that in addition to getting less taxes, you have to deal with a stream of hostile adventurers. And that's why so many groups just don't bother – after beating the lizardfolk in the field, most adventurers just sack the temple and move on.