Fantasy Tribal Governments: Important Things to Know About them

You would be hard-pressed to find a fantasy world that doesn’t have any functioning tribal governments. Popular worlds like Skyrim have them and they’re exclusively used for nomadic groups of people or communities too small to be considered a village or town.

A large number of the groups of nomads are barbarian in nature which means they only follow those who they consider strong. They follow their leaders into battle to raid villages and steal animals and food from other people or clash with rivals. Furthermore, they have no qualms about razing houses and other structures to the ground.

While some fantasy tribal governments are warlike in nature, others are more pacifist, preferring to be left alone. Their people like to wander from area to area, following the animals they hunt. They speak with outsiders only when they absolutely need to. Though they may not want to fight, they’re more than capable of holding their own in battle since they carry weapons to protect themselves.

One thing all fantasy tribal governments have in common is how the hierarchy of power is structured. Tribes are led by a group of people, who they consider the wisest of them all and the group selects someone to lead them and by extension, the whole tribe. The way the hierarchy is built makes it difficult for the head of the tribe to remain in power for a long time.

The conclave holds both legislative and judicial powers, since it determines what laws the whole tribe must abide by. Equally important, it punishes lawbreakers.

All executive powers are held by the head of the tribe. He is responsible for keeping everyone safe and to maintain the peace among warring factions. Yet if the tribe suffers for an extended amount of time, he takes the blame and becomes vulnerable to being cast out of power.

From the first day he takes power, the leader of the tribe must keep not just the conclave in line, but everyone else as well. There will always be someone who desires to overthrow him and he will wait for the opportune time to strike. He cannot afford looking weak at all.

Many stories feature a tribe in some capacity. The tribe itself can be simply passing through the land when it crosses paths with the protagonist or vice-versa. How then does the tribal government become part of the story?

Remember many tribes are merely traveling around the world, journeying through one country at a time. While many countries are aware of them, they don’t do anything to stop them, for they don’t consider them a problem or they have other, more pressing issues to deal with.

When they enter the story, they can be one of two things: friendly or hostile. Friendly ones help the hero somehow. They can either point him in the right direction to go or they can accompany him for part of his journey. This proves valuable if the protagonist is venturing through very dangerous territory where the tribe is all too familiar with.

Some tribal leaders need some convincing to help the hero on his quest. After all, many are isolationist, wanting nothing to do with the world and while they’re aware of the encroaching darkness, they believe they can simply weather the coming storm like they have throughout the years. The protagonist has no choice but to speak with the leaders in an attempt to persuade them to force them to accept reality and to help him stop the servants of evil from triumphing.

While it might be fun to have friendly tribal governments, hostile or antagonistic ones present more obstacles for the protagonist to overcome. Swayed by the sweet nothings uttered in their ears by the minions of darkness, they actively interfere in the hero’s quest in a number of ways. They can capture him when he’s within their territory or they dispatch their best riders to eliminate him.

One way or another, the hero winds up meeting their leaders and he must make a choice. Will he flee or fight? Whichever choice he makes will reverberate throughout the remainder of the story, both good and bad.