Creating classic rivalries

[Phaezen]

This is an idea which came to me while watching the current Cricket series between South Africa and Australia.

In sports you often see two individuals or teams which develop an intense rivalry. This often leads to players within these teams performing well above their normal performance levels in games between these two teams, as has been the case time and time again in the current series.

This has led me to wonder how you can build this kind rivalry in a campaign, with the players reacting with a large amount of animosity to a particular organisation or group that (hopefully) they will pull out all the stops when facing off, both in combat and roleplaying situations, with representatives of said organisation.

So how do/would you go about creating this kind of rivalry in your campaign?

Phaezen

 

[Jack99]

Note: In my campaigns, players usually have 3-5 things they can do at any time. They have to choose what they want to focus on.

This is what I did once: Every time the players chose to not focus on a certain adventure/assignment, I had a rival group swoop in and complete it while the players were off doing other things. Oh, and I made sure the rewards they missed were rubbed in their faces. After a while, they hated the other group with a fiery passion. It made for some interesting encounters.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Setting up rivalries between PCs and NPCs is easy: 1) have one do (obtain, achieve, win) what the other wishes he could, but cannot. 2) reverse. 3) repeat.

Building up rivalries between PCs is a different matter, and would probably require some setup in their initial design.

 

[Phaezen]

Note: In my campaigns, players usually have 3-5 things they can do at any time. They have to choose what they want to focus on.

This is what I did once: Every time the players chose to not focus on a certain adventure/assignment, I had a rival group swoop in and complete it while the players were off doing other things. Oh, and I made sure the rewards they missed were rubbed in their faces. After a while, they hated the other group with a fiery passion. It made for some interesting encounters.

This will work, especialy as I am looking to run a semi sandbox campaign.

I think I was guilty of trying to overthink the situation and making things too complex.

Phaezen

 

[Kraydak]

One thing to watch out for: (normally) sports rivals don't "resolve" their rivalry through use of lethal force. If you want a rivalry between PCs and NPCs to develop, you should decide before hand whether or not your NPCs will receive plot-protection (i.e. will always be able to escape the PCs). I suggest against, but it is an important decision that you should resolve before it comes up.

 

[Phaezen]

One thing to watch out for: (normally) sports rivals don't "resolve" their rivalry through use of lethal force. If you want a rivalry between PCs and NPCs to develop, you should decide before hand whether or not your NPCs will receive plot-protection (i.e. will always be able to escape the PCs). I suggest against, but it is an important decision that you should resolve before it comes up.

Well the idea will be to have them develop the rivalry to an organisation (Say for example the cult of Orcus). Some parts of the organisation may well get plot protection.

Phaezen

 

[Rel]

My experience has been that any enemy who manages to escape from the PC's becomes despised. If they manage that more than one time the hatred seems to multiply.

In my Faded Glory campaign the party had a battle with an OgreMagess who managed to escape (they can be really tough to kill what with the regeneration and invisibility in 3e). She attacked them a couple other times later (and escaped then too). The party Wizard became so paranoid and obsessed with defeating her that he had developed this entire methodology of invisbility detection/lockdown spells that he would employ at the slightest hint that she might be around. It became pretty hilarious and the joy and celebration when he finally managed to kill her (on the last night of the campaign) was not to be missed.

Since that time I've come up with another guideline that I like to employ whenever possible. I try to set things up so that, in the very early going (often on the first night of the campaign), the party runs afoul of some sizable evil organization. This doesn't have to become the focus of the campaign by any means. Just so that the players know that they are on the fightin' side of those guys. That allows me to have that organization crop up from time to time whenever I need to spice things up if they are getting slow.

It tends to have the effect that you are after. Remember to give them some kind of distinct "calling card" that is instantly recognizable by the PC's any time they are encountered.

 

[Stalker0]

One way to develop rivalries is to the same way you develop villain's, by allowing a villain to survive.

Having a party fight a guy, who we will call "Heinous Awesome". Heinous is the member of an organization, "The Dread Society".

Heinous escapes, and later on the party meets another member of the Dread Society.

PC: The Dread Society? Wait a minute...isn't that...
DM: Yes...the same organization who has your hated nemesis....Heinous Awesome!!

Push it further by having Heinous deliver taunting messages through Dread Society members.


I found there's no way better to spark hatred of an npc than the one that got away.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Good suggestions - my only extra advice is "don't push it." Let the rivalries develop naturally. You can send any number of NPC's at the PC's with the idea that they might make good rivals, but it'll e up to the players who they respond to, and up to the situation who manages to escape to fight again another day.

 

[Rel]

One way to develop rivalries is to the same way you develop villain's, by allowing a villain to survive.

Having a party fight a guy, who we will call "Heinous Awesome". Heinous is the member of an organization, "The Dread Society".

Heinous escapes, and later on the party meets another member of the Dread Society.

PC: The Dread Society? Wait a minute...isn't that...
DM: Yes...the same organization who has your hated nemesis....Heinous Awesome!!

Push it further by having Heinous deliver taunting messages through Dread Society members.

Suddenly I want to make a group of evil bards named "The Dread Poet Society". Heinous Awesome would of course be the Head Poet In Charge.