Jesters & Fools: History & Myth
Happy April Fool's Day! To celebrate this holiday, I wanted to write about the history of court jesters, a staple trope in popular imagination about the medieval European royal court, as well as share some resources for this classic image for use in your Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
The second half of this post is a collection of resources and supplements, but I want to include links at the top for my creations for anyone looking for them specifically. The Fools of April, a system-neutral collection of court jesters for a political intrigue campaign, is available on DriveThruRPG and Itch.io. The Court Jester Background, a D&D 5e-compatible character background, is available on DMsGuild.
This article may include affiliate links, which allows me to get a small portion of the price you pay, at no extra cost to you or to the creator.
Key Historical Elements
For this, I'm drawing extensively from the scholarship of Beatrice Otto, whose 2007 book Fools Are Everywhere was the seminal work in academic studies of the jester.
The concept of the court jester is a far more global phenomenon than just medieval European--something I was surprised by. Otto writes that the jester "crops up in every court worth its salt in medieval and Renaissance Europe, in China, India, Japan, Russia, America and Africa." Naturally, the exact manifestations of the jester vary between these locations, but there are several key similarities in the role of court jester that exist across the globe.
Role As Advisor
One of the common stories about the court jester is that they were an advisor to the monarch. Memes about "jester's privilege" circulate every so often, sparking questions about the veracity of whether or not jesters actually got to speak their minds (examples on Reddit and Quora). Armchair historians online disagree about how true this story is--just take a look at the differing answers on Reddit & Quora. However, academics like Beatrice Otto take a strong affirmative position: jesters did act as genuine advisors to monarchs despite their lowly status.
"Of at least equal importance with his entertainer's cap was the jester's function as adviser and critic. This is what distinguishes him from a pure entertainer who would juggle batons, swallow swords, or strum on a lute or a clown who would play the fool simply to amuse people. The jester everywhere employed the same techniques to carry out this delicate role, and it would take an obtuse king or emperor not to realize what he was driving at, since 'other court functionaries cooked up the king's facts for him before delivery; the jester delivered them raw.' An informal survey of the man in the street has shown that most people will pinpoint the jester's right to speak his mind as one of his salient characteristics." - Beatrice Otto
Otto particularly notes the importance of the court jester as an important advisor in China. "We have seen numerous examples of a jester advising or correcting his monarch and the recorded instances are particularly abundant in China. The Chinese records give us an idea of just how effective a jester could be in tempering the ruler's excesses."
I had always thought of this as an exaggeration; surely, the idea that some comedian was a genuine advisor was invested by Hollywood or some other fiction. Learning that this role of jesters was true is one of the best things I learned while researching this post.
Social Standing
One key global element of the jester is that they tended to be commoners. Beatrice Otto reports that "the recruiting of jesters was tremendously informal and meritocratic." Court jesters could emerge from a wide variety of backgrounds, from "an erudite but nonconformist university dropout... [to] the apprentice of a village blacksmith whose fooling amused a passing nobleman."
This lower-class origin was important in their role as an adviser. "Jesters are also generally of inferior social and political status and are rarely in a position (and rarely inclined) to pose a power threat." In other words, a nobleman might be vying to advance their own interests, and so their advice might be considered biased; a commoner with no true path to power in a feudal society could be more trusted to offer candid advice because of the impossibility that they could rise into the ranks of the truly powerful.
For our purposes in RPGs, particularly in a court filled with yes-men or in a court filled with noble politicking (such as in a political intrigue campaign), having a court jester as a key, lower-class, unambitious, and unbiased advisor would be a valuable addition to the court.
That is not to say that the court jester would not be well-known or have their own legacy to think of. Otto also writes that there was, particularly in China and Europe once the practice of court jesters had become long-established, a sort of recruitment system that parallels modern-day standup comedy. One might begin doing a circuit of jokes at small-time local taverns for other commoners, be recruited if you are funny enough into a position in the household of a lower noble, and then--if lucky--be spotted and brought into the royal court. And once you had made it into the royal court, you could become quite famous. Otto notes: "In Europe and India the most eminent jesters were household names, as top-class comedians are today, and stories about their jokes and tricks circulated freely, as they still do in India—there is even a kind of lentil soup named after Birbal [a court jester]."
This opportunity to go from local outcast university dropout to renowned throughout the kingdom was an opportunity that we often don't see in the stratified social structure of a feudal realm. Otto notes that the recruitment and advancement of jesters "perhaps indicat[es] greater mobility and fluidity in past society than is often supposed."
Physical Characteristics
Another, more problematic element nearly universal to the court jester was some sort of physical difference from what was seen as typical. According to Beatrice Otto, court jesters were often dwarfs, hunchbacks, or even just those with a "gawky or gangly physique or a loose-limbed agility" whose movements were "somehow exaggerated or unusual". This gives us the image of the dancing, jingling jester who bounces from foot to foot in a little dance. That said, the more innate physical elements (such as dwarfish or being a hunchback) are not things to include as "mockery" in a game, as these could be insulting to real-life groups. Instead, more intentional slapstick comedy--that "gangly, exaggerated" style of movement is more appropriate to include.
As for costume, however, the bright clothes and bells are tragically likely fiction. Otto writes, "despite the visual archetype of the jester that Westerners carry around with them—the chap wearing the cap and bells—his distinguishing characteristics aren't so much to do with costume. In some places he perhaps occasionally wore some kind of outfit that would mark him out from other entertainers, but by and large it's his qualities and function that make him different."
The Decline of Jesters
The jester died out as a fixture in royal courts in Europe during the early 18th century--late enough that they would still exist in the standard Medieval-Renaissance border era most common to D&D-style high fantasy–and in China in the 16th or 17th century. Lower nobles in Europe still held onto their jesters for another century or so beyond the royal court, but ultimately it would fade out there as well.
Still, particularly in Western culture, the image of the jester persisted, if not its advisory role. Our image of the clown, with its colorful patterning, is a clear descendant of the stereotypical image of the jester, even if that was not always the historically accurate image. The same is not as true in the jester traditions of China and India, where people may still know of certain famous historical jesters (such as the aforementioned Birbal, for whom a soup is named), but where the larger notion of jesters is less culturally remembered (according to Otto in this interview).
Adapting the Fool
There are several ways that we can take historical lessons from the court jester to utilize them in D&D or other RPGs. I've collected various supplements that are available for sale and included them below, separated by genre and how they use the image of the jester.
The Evil Clown: Horror
One of the most obvious is through the evolution of the jester into the clown. Clowns are a staple in various forms of media, but I think one of the most interesting is the use of the evil clown--seen in the character of Pennywise, from Steven King's It, for example.
Using clowns as a horror villain may not necessarily be the most accurate usage of the court jester, but I think it is nevertheless a fun villain. One of my favorite D&D adventures that I've read recently--and one of my sources of inspiration for an evil carnival that I ran in my home games--was the highly praised Happy Jack's Funhouse. One of only 140 products to ever hit Adamantine status (over 5000 copies sold) on DMsGuild, Happy Jack's Funhouse is a wonderful clown-themed horror adventure. If you're looking for an evil clown adventure, this is definitely a must-read.
The Advisor: Political Intrigue
One of my favorite genres for RPGs is political intrigue. While it does not always fit D&D's combat focus, I think the stories surrounding court life and scheming nobles are one of the best genres for classic fantasy, and most of the games that I run have at least some political intrigue element.
It is here that the historical jester-as-advisor shines. Jesters, as lowborn representatives, can serve crucial roles as supporters or antagonists to a party. Their blunt assessments to a monarch, their willingness to speak truth to power, and their comparative lack of political ambition making them harder to manipulate can all make them interesting resources--or threats--to a politically driven party's agenda.
However, in searching for something to fit this archetype, I struggled to find any products online centering on the serious advisory role of the jester. So, I've created my own. The Fools of April (a system-neutral collection of NPCs) is available for purchase on DriveThruRPG and Itch.io for $1. Featuring original art by Carissa Knickerbocker, this collection focuses on characters for a more serious political intrigue campaign. It includes six fleshed-out different court jesters, each with their own backstory, portrait, agenda, humor, and political positioning at court.
The Comedian: Silly Supplements
Of course, the most straightforward use of the jester--particularly given that today is April Fool's Day--is simply their use as comic relief. One of my favorite examples of this in officially published D&D sources is the nilbog, published in Volo's Guide to Monsters. The nilbog (goblin spelled backward) is a possessed goblin, inhabited by the spirit of a dead trickster god, who exists to thwart the exploitation of goblins by the more powerful and organized hobgoblins and bugbears. If a nilbog is slain, the divine spirit will simply hop to another goblin to sow discord, requiring that the nilbog "be treated with respect and praise" to avoid it wreaking havoc in a goblinoid camp. Undoubtedly a silly creature and a fairly weak one in terms of combat, the nilbog is nevertheless a fun and chaotic monster to use.
One comedic use of the nilbog is in a Gold Best Selling one-shot on DMsGuild, Urbil's Fools. This one-shot adventure is centered around a nilbog that inverts the structure of dice rolls (meaning low d20 rolls hit and high rolls miss). While I have not run it myself (I very rarely run premade adventures) and so I'm not going to pretend to have an expert opinion on how the one-shot actually plays in practice, its best-seller status and positive reviews both on DMsGuild and on Reddit make me optimistic about its quality. From watching some actual play streams of the one-shot as well, it seems packed with content--easily enough for a full session, possibly multiple depending on the efficiency of your party--with a good mix of combat and (mostly comedic) roleplaying opportunities.
Player Resources
For players, the authors of Happy Jack's Funhouse also have Bard & Rogue subclasses available themed around playing as a jester or clown. Those subclasses are available here. There are also similar supplements available on DMsGuild, but the Happy Jack's Funhouse creators are the best ones that I found in terms of balance & theming. Plus, their work and the tie-in with the best-selling Happy Jack's Funhouse gives them a high level of repute when it comes to making evocative clown supplements for D&D.
For those who play Pathfinder 2nd edition, there is a similar archetype available on Pathfinder Infinite here. However, it does focus far more on the jester as slapstick comic rather than as political advisor. Resources for that important role of a jester were surprisingly lacking.
I also wanted to create a product bringing the court jester as a background for a character--a previous profession, before your character became an adventurer. The background was a character element that I had not seen tackled for the court jester archetype, so I hope this fills a gap for someone looking to explore being a court jester but who does not want it to dominate their character as much as a class or subclass would. That background is available as a Pay-What-You-Want title on DMsGuild.
Wrapping Up
That's all from me! I hope you've enjoyed this collection of resources and history about jesters for this April Fool's Day. If you've enjoyed it, please subscribe to the blog (button in the top right corner) to get weekly TTRPG resources and related history content delivered to your inbox. And please check out the Court Jester background or the collection of fools that I've published – all purchases go to support the site!