The City Guard often plays an unenviable role in stories. Underpaid, under-appreciated and underestimated, they are relegated to supporting roles. Even then, they rarely break out of one of a few boring stereotypes. Writers can fall into the trap of pushing their Guards towards one of a few overly simple clichés. This doesn’t have to happen.

Approached with care and intelligence, the constabulary can be a rich and varied source of challenges, adventure, and colorful individuals. Remember when you’re crafting your story that those (ostensibly!) dedicated to preserving order can be as interesting, patriotic, weaselly, weak, heroic, real and human as everyone else. Let’s have a look at our Guardsmen (and women!) and think about how to bring them to life.

A stereotypical member of the City Guard has the following characteristics. Have you already written yours into the story? See how many you can tick off:

• Uninspired
• Corrupt
• Bored
• Drunk
• Unshaven
• Older
• Male
• Cynical

Bleurgh! Insipid, predictable, and uninspiring. The lazy writer’s version of the guard is easily recognized and clichéd. If we approach the guard with an analytical eye, though, we can start to think of ways to make our Guardsmen stand out from the rest. Let’s run through some thoughts, starting with the basics, to try and flesh out the Guard in our story and make things a bit more interesting.
The question of the quality of the Guard is principally one of economics. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for. If the Guard is a well-paid job, then people are naturally going to view it as more respectable. Young men and women will compete for entry, and Guards will care about their jobs more.

This lets us look at the paymasters: who controls the purse-strings? Does the city particularly care about having an efficient, well-motivated guard? Is the city under threat? How highly is law and order viewed as a priority? Is the city prosperous or struggling? A city that wants to encourage trade and commerce needs to keep its streets safe and orderly. Might politics be at play? Real life Police departments are often used as political tools – increasing funding can be seen as a commitment to improving law and order, for example.

Once you’ve thought about who controls the Guard, and how much of a priority they pay to funding it, that gives you a better idea of who the Guards themselves might be. If the Guard is well-esteemed, then you might have career Guardsmen – enrolling at an apprenticing age and working their way through the ranks. If the Guard is underfunded and ill-regarded, then it’s more likely to be employment of a last resort – so the desperate and old might fill its ranks. Mercenaries too old or injured to fight professionally might settle for a life of less ‘glory’ for regular pay.

Think about how your Guard is made up as a collective body. How many members of the Guard? How are they organized? How many of them have military experience? How many are just in it for a job? How many are bullies, slovenly, inspired, psychotic, scheming, ambitious? What are their duties? Would they be expected to serve in a war? Who controls their loyalty – their commanders, the city leaders, a monarch? Which sides will they turn to in a rebellion? A riot? What would they protect? Would they desert?

Understanding who makes up your Guard then gives a good idea of what they’re going to be like as individuals. A well-paid, well-outfitted, young, fit Guardsman who has the respect of the public is going to approach situations very differently to a broken, bitter, drug-addicted old cynic. Remember that individuals within any group are always going to differ. The senior officers are always going to be better remunerated. They also have power over the Guardsmen under their control. How would they use that?

Are all Guardsmen equal? Are there special units within the force – a Day and Night Watch, for example? What about a brute squad – called in to handle riots or situations where a little extra muscle is needed? Secret Police rightly unnerve everyone they come into contact with – informers, miscreants, the ‘normal’ Guard. Any ruler who appreciates the importance of keeping tabs on their underlings will want to know the workings of their police force. How would that affect the Guard itself? Would it be discussed and gossiped about? Or ignored, leaving the inquisitors in the realm of bogeymen?

Bribing guards, for a variety of reasons, is a time-honored tradition. Before waving the Guard out of your story with a simple line or two, think the process through. Why are the Guards bribe-able? Are they being underpaid? What repercussions might there be for them if either party is caught? What internal oversight is there into any single Guardsman’s honesty? Is there systematic bribery? Is it culturally expected? How high does it go? Who wants to bribe the Guards? An honest Guard can be a devastating impediment to the best-laid plans, and happens rarely enough that it’s nicely unexpected. How would you go about trying to bribe a Guard, anyway? How would you find out the honest ones from the dishonest ones? Who would know? Where do they hang out after hours? Where do they sleep? At home with family? In a barracks?

How effective is your Guard at its’ jobs? How safe are the streets, really? Is there organized crime within the Guard’s purview – within the city or town? Are blind eyes turned, or is the Guard locked in a struggle with the criminal collective? Are there levels of discrimination – high-level smugglers and expensive transactions ignored with a wink and a tipped handful of coins? Is there an understanding, secret or open? Who benefits from the arrangements?

As you can see, there’s a lot of material you can explore when creating your Guard. Don’t let yourself get lazy and fall back on cliché’s! Keep thinking things through as you write. Re-visit your ideas. Refine them. Keep asking questions.

Until next time…
Go write!