Developing Political Issues

[el-remmen]

My upcoming Aquerra D&D game revolves around the PCs being a group of young lesser nobles from the Magocracy of Thricia. As such, there will be a definite political component to the game, so I have been doing what I can to set up political and social issues that currently affect the nation, or that are on the minds of the people (particularly the nobility) for the players to develop opinions on from the POV of their characters – allowing them a chance to become involved in-game in those issues that mean something to them (or to avoid them if possible, if the reverse it true).

I am curious how other folks introduce political themes to their campaigns. Like I said, I set up issues for the Magocracy, kind of how in our modern society we have issues that people have opinions that flare up during elections and changes of power and times of international crisis and instability. So here are three issues as I will present them to the players.

Let me know what you think and what suggestions you have:

The Herman Land Civil War
The Kingdom of Herman Land has been fighting against its rebellious protectorate for the last couple of years. There is the slightest buzz among certain nobility regarding having Thricia enter the war on the side of the Herman-landers, as the latter have been allies in two world-spanning wars in the past, and came to their aid a few hundred years ago when the Kingdom of the Red God invaded them. Not to mention the instability that it has led to in the waters of the Wizard’s Sea; where once both navies worked to keep it free of piracy – now only Thricia does so, at increasing cost.

Others of course, consider it an internal matter for the kingdom of Herman Land to take care of itself.

The Role of Women
Despite having a female Margrave, allowing women to be knights, having a goddess as a patron deity and giving lip-service to the idea of gender equality (putting them light-years ahead of most nations in Aquerra), there is an increasing dissatisfaction in the church of Isis with the fact that there is an under-representation of women in positions of authority in Thricia, and that the talk of equality is just that.

The Disputed Territories
After the Treaty of Devil’s Grasp was signed to end the Red-Pepper War between Thricia and the newly formed Kingdom of the Red God of the West, a huge swath of land was deemed to be a neutral zone, a buffer between the two nations. However, in the ensuing centuries, groups from both sides have often entered it looking for forgotten treasure, claimable resources, and a place to settle. Fortunately, none of the ensuing skirmishes ever led to full war again. However, there is a growing opinion among certain groups of nobles that these so-called Disputed Territories should be taken back and the much-abused treaty scrapped.

However, there are others who feel that the area’s non-human sentient denizens have take advantage of the general absence of power of either nation in the area to settle there and avoid human interference. The people who point this out are strong believers in the Thrician Racial Covenant, which protects the sovereign rights of certain groups of non-humans within the borders of Thricia.

 

[Dave Turner]

Politics is about power and who gets to wield it. In a magocracy, magic-users are the rulers. If we go with traditional 3.5 conceptions of magic, anyone who is smart enough can become a wizard and, by extension, a potential ruler.

Who controls the process of learning magic? It should be a tremendously politicized issue. After all, magical universities/schools/traditions can, like modern American political parties, enmesh young wizards in webs of obligation that might never be escaped. What is the system like? What about sorcerers, who are able to get around the entrenched system and be independent voices? Are there secret enclaves of psions ready to challenge the entire magocracy idea? How are divine casters handled?

 

[el-remmen]

Politics is about power and who gets to wield it. In a magocracy, magic-users are the rulers. If we go with traditional 3.5 conceptions of magic, anyone who is smart enough can become a wizard and, by extension, a potential ruler.

I am definitely from the school of thought that intelligence (or Charisma or Wisdom) is not enough to become a spell-caster - you need an inborn talent that has to be developed.

Who controls the process of learning magic? It should be a tremendously politicized issue. After all, magical universities/schools/traditions can, like modern American political parties, enmesh young wizards in webs of obligation that might never be escaped. What is the system like? What about sorcerers, who are able to get around the entrenched system and be independent voices? Are there secret enclaves of psions ready to challenge the entire magocracy idea? How are divine casters handled?

This is actually all already built into the setting. So there are already those kinds of powerplays - but that is behind closed doors kind of thing. I was thinking more of current political issues for the people/place - and the public discussions and choices that affect them.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

. However, there is a growing opinion among certain groups of nobles that these so-called Disputed Territories should be taken back and the much-abused treaty scrapped.

However, there are others who feel that the area’s non-human sentient denizens have take advantage of the general absence of power of either nation in the area to settle there and avoid human interference. The people who point this out are strong believers in the Thrician Racial Covenant, which protects the sovereign rights of certain groups of non-humans within the borders of Thricia.

It sounds like these people would want the same thing - To have Thricia re-take that land.


A good tool for poitical power plays and the sway of power is resources. In a magocracy these people still need their material components and things they just can't make with arcane magic. Who controls the diamond trade, who controls the mining operations, who is close with the divine magic users? Maybe a lower ranking noble in an attempt to circumvent the power of a higher noble with access to some divine magic, strikes a deal with some druids and gets similar items for a cheaper cost, or even free for the promise of proctection of a large forested region from cutting and settling?

Maybe a shortcut is found in the construction of Iron Golems, making them available to lower level wizards. Whomever had that knowledge would be marked for death, mind wide, or both.

 

[Old Drew Id]

I wrote up a document at one point outlining a sort of step-by-step process for injecting politics into a game, but now I can't find it. So here's just a much shortened version:

As Dave said, all politics is about power. Start out by identifying all of the major power bases in the setting. Then roll through all of the issues you can think of, and look for places where the different power bases would come in conflict. A list of power bases is a good place to start, but don't worry if the list is short at first, it can grow later. Example power bases would be any source of money, magical power, traditional power, cultural power, public opinion, foreign power, etc.

Here's a list of some major political "issues". Most of these are modern but can be easily modified to your particular setting:

Racism				Civil Rights 
Sexism				Civil Rights 
Other Forms of Discrimination	Civil Rights 
Censorship			Civil Rights 
Religious Authority		Civil Rights 
Privacy				Civil Rights 
Disabled Rights			Civil Rights 
Welfare				Civil Rights
Corruption			Crime / Legal
Death Penalty			Crime / Legal
Forms of Punishment		Crime / Legal
Immigration			Crime / Legal
Juvenile Justice		Crime / Legal
Court Proceedings		Crime / Legal
Religious Authority		Crime / Legal
Armed Citizens			Crime / Legal
Legalization of Drugs		Crime / Legal
Government Spending/Debt	Crime / Legal
Education Standards		Economy
Immigration			Economy
Trade Agreements		Economy
Key Regions (resources, etc.)	Economy
Farm Policy			Economy 
Urban Planning			Economy 
Welfare				Economy 
Taxation			Economy 
Labor Protection		Economy 
Industrial Regulation		Economy 
Free Access			Education 
Religious Education		Education 
Industrial Regulation		Environment 
Weapons of Mass Destruction	Environment
Pollution			Environment 
Use of Natural Resources	Environment 
Foreign Dependence		Foreign Policy 
Sovereignty			Foreign Policy 
Each Neighboring Nation		Foreign Policy 
Human Rights			Foreign Policy 
Alliances			Foreign Policy 
Foreign Aid			Foreign Policy 
Key Regions (resources, etc.)	Foreign Policy 
Trade Agreements		Foreign Policy 
Immigration			Foreign Policy 
Abortion			Health Care
Circumcision			Health Care
Disease Control			Health Care 
Patient Rights			Health Care 
Tobacco				Health Care 
Universal Health Care		Health Care 
Armed Forces Personnel		Defense / Security 
Defense Spending		Defense / Security 
Veteran Affairs			Defense / Security 
Weapons of Mass Destruction	Defense / Security 
Threat Planning			Defense / Security 
Specific Conflicts		Defense / Security

So next, identify the major issues you have currently. The more the better, even if some are very minor. Often this list of issues will help you identify other power bases. If you are stumped for issues, look for places where the different power bases would come into conflict.

In many cases, these political conflicts are the result of differences in moral codes or in different priorities for the allocation of resources including natural resources, people, and money (or land, labor, and capital if you;ve taken economics). So, by introducing different power structures or power bases in your setting which have different moral codes and different priorities for how resources should be used, you can introduce politics.
So, next step is to identify the factions in your setting. For each faction, identify their power base, their stand on the major issues, and their moral code or set of priorities which determines their behavior. It may be helpful to go through each issue and list the factions that might be interested in that issue. Also, after identifying all of the factions, you may have more power bases to add to your list (and more issues, etc.) Later, you can also identify each faction's membership and relative power (see below, because a faction might be strong in one area and weak in another) Examples include guilds, churches, important families, etc.

As a side task, identify any secret factions as well.

Finally, determine a current balance of power on each issue. For each issue, the total of the power of the factions on each side should tell you where that issue is currently decided. If you realize that the current balance of power on a particular issue should lean one way, but your setting requires it to lean a different way, either adapt the power settings accordingly or else recognize that particular issue as a current controversy or "hot button" issue that must be resolved (often with the PC's help). Aside from those issues, any issue where the balance of power is too close to even to tip one way or the other is a controversial issue.

Next, identify key players. A player might be an elected or religious official or celebrity. A royal or noble player might even function as their own power base. Once identified, note any factions that they side with or are members of. Every faction should have at least one key player, and some will have more than one. Every key player will likely have multiple factions that they support.

Finally, it is helpful to identify the key battlegrounds and "weapons" where these political battles will be fought. Even in a medieval setting, not all political battles are fought in the throne room. Battlegrounds are generally tied to power bases, so look there for inspiration. Example battlegrounds include public protests and rallies, church pulpits, academic conferences, council chambers, court rooms, and secret meetings. These battlefields serve not only as settings, but they also identify the weapons to be used, such as smear campaigns, back-room deals, rallying speeches, challenges of honor, bribery, intimidation, etc.

The actual political campaign depends on what you want to do, what your players find interesting, etc., but it will typically involve one or more political players making a move on a controversial issue by using some of their political weapons in a political arena. This move will usually cause the balance of power to start to shift on a particular issue. Then the PC's will be needed to either finish the job of tipping the balance, or must move to restore the balance before it goes too far.

Here's two links for further inspiration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_controversial_issues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_epithets

 

[LostSoul]

I'm playing in two Burning Empires games, and there's a lot of poliltics in both of them. I think it's because there's a good resolution mechanic for resolving social conflicts (Duel of Wits), a high-level mechanic for dealing with major political change, and because the PCs started out with a lot of political clout. (In each game there's a PC who is the head of the government.)

Maybe one trick is to start the PCs off with a lot of political power - kings, queens, barons, dukes, head of the magic guild, head of a major religion, etc. Then make some NPCs who have a similar amount of political power who oppose the PCs.

I also think that you'd need to think how you're going to use the mechanics to influence politics. How do you determine how the people feel - are they on your side, against you, or starting to switch sides? How do you secure the support of an important person - a general, say?

I don't like DM fiat, so I wouldn't be happy just leaving it there. Other people might be okay with just role-playing it out and letting the DM decide what happens.

 

[TarionzCousin]

PC Involvement in Controversial Issues-How Much?

The actual political campaign depends on what you want to do, what your players find interesting, etc., but it will typically involve one or more political players making a move on a controversial issue by using some of their political weapons in a political arena. This move will usually cause the balance of power to start to shift on a particular issue. Then the PC's will be needed to either finish the job of tipping the balance, or must move to restore the balance before it goes too far.

Wow. Everything in this thread so far is wonderful. I would just add that you need to consider how involved the PC's are going to be in the political events. Are they going to just be "hired" outsiders? Or are they going to have viable opinions and political clout of their own? Or something in between?

For example, If the PC's have a viable stake in the "controversial issue" Drew mentions above, it will dramatically influence how involved they are. Likewise, if they are "important" political players, like LostSoul's "kings, queens, barons, etc." they will have a more direct stake in political affairs.

After you decide how involved the PC's are, you will be better able to plan the details of the campaign.