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Ideas to flesh out a web of intrigue
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9272758" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>My best advice for structuring an intrigue-heavy scenario is to give every participant three things:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">a public motive and a secret motive that, while maybe not totally opposed, are not pointing in the same direction. I can see that the Merchant has both (pretense of merchant interests/greed, actually a cultist). The Noble's situation is almost there, but a bit weak--I'd work on expanding his reasons for wanting to claim the title of the region. E.g. he's already a noble so he has lands of his own. Is he intending to use this new land to start a war? To pressure an erstwhile ally into a favorable trade agreement? To avenge his house against those who wronged them? To persuade another powerful noble, whom he is madly in love with, to marry him? Etc. Finally, the Scholar seems to be a bit <em>too</em> straightforward. Even if both his public and secret motives are totally benign, it would behoove you to provide him a secret motive deeper than "I want to keep getting funding," which is....kinda banal. Maybe there's some ancient magical secret buried here? Maybe he's old, and has heard rumors that the people of this place knew how to reverse some of the effects of aging. Maybe a fragment of a god's power is thought to be here, which could give him a form of lesser immortality while he looks for a way to live forever that <em>isn't</em> a lich transformation. (This last one is particularly juicy, because the party could come across notes of his that ambiguously reference becoming a lich, thus potentially casting HUGE doubts on his sincerity and goodness unless they're careful enough to read through and realize he's rejected that option.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Personality quirks and features which point both toward and away from them in terms of suspicion. So, perhaps the Merchant is gregarious to the PCs (since they're useful to him) but rude to his hired help (because he sees them as beneath him). Perhaps the Noble is foppish and foolish, but consistently stands up for even his lowest servants out of a sincere <em>noblesse oblige</em>. Perhaps the Scholar isn't so much "suspicious" of the party as outright paranoid that they're spies trying to steal his research, but he is also kind to children and animals. Things like this, consistently inconsistent portrayal, help to keep the players confused and jumping at any signal that might confirm their prejudices, whether or not those prejudices are founded.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Leave LOTS of clues, but have plenty of them be red herrings. An abundance of information is an excellent way to keep the players from quickly coming to the correct conclusion, but also (paradoxically) a good way to help them eventually solve the puzzle, too. Don't underestimate the power of a subtle clue, either. I've had a murder mystery solved by the critical clue that the actual murderer (not the framed one) received a <em>blue</em> dress in the mail, but wore a <em>red</em> dress at the party which followed.</li> </ol><p>As part of the above, it would probably help to think about the cultural, social, and economic backgrounds of these three individuals. If the Noble is looking for his father's grave, I assume that means his house is probably on hard times, as a noble would normally inherit his father's titles upon said father's death, and generally would know where said father is buried. The Merchant is a cultist--how, and why? Was it like the Wheel of Time, where the Dark One is always recruiting new Darkfriends to act as eyes and ears, and he just happens to have been put on the spot? Was it more like Harry Potter, where being a Death Eater was almost a political faction for a time before the Wizarding War started, and now ex-DEs try to disclaim all connection while secretly still wishing Voldemort had won? Etc. Likewise, the Scholar seems hungry for recognition and prestige--has he led a relatively dull, ordinary career, with no stand-out achievements? Is he in a Walter White kind of situation, where he's been pushed by exploitative former friends and other such things to pursue risky ventures in order to secure what he believes is his by right? Or perhaps he had great glory days as a young wizard, but struggles to match them, like Richard Daystrom from Star Trek?</p><p></p><p>There's a hell of a lot you can get out of mining the psychology, family history, socioeconomic background, and cultural trappins of the characters involved in this.</p><p></p><p>And that's not even touching on, y'know, the cult itself and why it's doing what it's doing. Perhaps even the Merchant is an unknowing patsy, with the cult playing all sides against the middle. That's another great way to add even further layers of intrigue--if the subversive cult is wiling to sacrifice even its own members in order to set up a Xanatos gambit, they'll come across as ruthelss and driven, while if they're deploying him with more care and have multiple prepared escape options, they'll come across as more patient and cunning.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9272758, member: 6790260"] My best advice for structuring an intrigue-heavy scenario is to give every participant three things: [LIST=1] [*]a public motive and a secret motive that, while maybe not totally opposed, are not pointing in the same direction. I can see that the Merchant has both (pretense of merchant interests/greed, actually a cultist). The Noble's situation is almost there, but a bit weak--I'd work on expanding his reasons for wanting to claim the title of the region. E.g. he's already a noble so he has lands of his own. Is he intending to use this new land to start a war? To pressure an erstwhile ally into a favorable trade agreement? To avenge his house against those who wronged them? To persuade another powerful noble, whom he is madly in love with, to marry him? Etc. Finally, the Scholar seems to be a bit [I]too[/I] straightforward. Even if both his public and secret motives are totally benign, it would behoove you to provide him a secret motive deeper than "I want to keep getting funding," which is....kinda banal. Maybe there's some ancient magical secret buried here? Maybe he's old, and has heard rumors that the people of this place knew how to reverse some of the effects of aging. Maybe a fragment of a god's power is thought to be here, which could give him a form of lesser immortality while he looks for a way to live forever that [I]isn't[/I] a lich transformation. (This last one is particularly juicy, because the party could come across notes of his that ambiguously reference becoming a lich, thus potentially casting HUGE doubts on his sincerity and goodness unless they're careful enough to read through and realize he's rejected that option.) [*]Personality quirks and features which point both toward and away from them in terms of suspicion. So, perhaps the Merchant is gregarious to the PCs (since they're useful to him) but rude to his hired help (because he sees them as beneath him). Perhaps the Noble is foppish and foolish, but consistently stands up for even his lowest servants out of a sincere [I]noblesse oblige[/I]. Perhaps the Scholar isn't so much "suspicious" of the party as outright paranoid that they're spies trying to steal his research, but he is also kind to children and animals. Things like this, consistently inconsistent portrayal, help to keep the players confused and jumping at any signal that might confirm their prejudices, whether or not those prejudices are founded. [*]Leave LOTS of clues, but have plenty of them be red herrings. An abundance of information is an excellent way to keep the players from quickly coming to the correct conclusion, but also (paradoxically) a good way to help them eventually solve the puzzle, too. Don't underestimate the power of a subtle clue, either. I've had a murder mystery solved by the critical clue that the actual murderer (not the framed one) received a [I]blue[/I] dress in the mail, but wore a [I]red[/I] dress at the party which followed. [/LIST] As part of the above, it would probably help to think about the cultural, social, and economic backgrounds of these three individuals. If the Noble is looking for his father's grave, I assume that means his house is probably on hard times, as a noble would normally inherit his father's titles upon said father's death, and generally would know where said father is buried. The Merchant is a cultist--how, and why? Was it like the Wheel of Time, where the Dark One is always recruiting new Darkfriends to act as eyes and ears, and he just happens to have been put on the spot? Was it more like Harry Potter, where being a Death Eater was almost a political faction for a time before the Wizarding War started, and now ex-DEs try to disclaim all connection while secretly still wishing Voldemort had won? Etc. Likewise, the Scholar seems hungry for recognition and prestige--has he led a relatively dull, ordinary career, with no stand-out achievements? Is he in a Walter White kind of situation, where he's been pushed by exploitative former friends and other such things to pursue risky ventures in order to secure what he believes is his by right? Or perhaps he had great glory days as a young wizard, but struggles to match them, like Richard Daystrom from Star Trek? There's a hell of a lot you can get out of mining the psychology, family history, socioeconomic background, and cultural trappins of the characters involved in this. And that's not even touching on, y'know, the cult itself and why it's doing what it's doing. Perhaps even the Merchant is an unknowing patsy, with the cult playing all sides against the middle. That's another great way to add even further layers of intrigue--if the subversive cult is wiling to sacrifice even its own members in order to set up a Xanatos gambit, they'll come across as ruthelss and driven, while if they're deploying him with more care and have multiple prepared escape options, they'll come across as more patient and cunning. [/QUOTE]
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