Fantasy Espionage Plots?
- Thread starter Trip
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Lalato
Adventurer
There are several kinds of espionage...
Military spying on military...
Gov't spying on Gov't...
Merchant spying on Merchant
Mage spying on Mage...
Military espionage can be kingdom X has heard rumors the kingdom Y has an incredibly powerful new weapon... can kingdom X steal the secret of the new weapon?
Government espionage can be kingdom X needs an alliance with Kingdom Y... because kingdom Z is encroaching... What can kingdom X learn about kingdom Y that will help them enlist their aid?
Craftsmen espionage can be Craftsman X has learned that Craftsman Y has developed a new method for making widgets. Can Craftsman X steal the secret?
Merchant espionage can be... the caravans of Merchant X never seem to be raided or have theft problems... Merchant Y is envious... can he discover Merchant X secret... is the secret nefarious?
Mage espionage... Mage X has discovered a scroll/spellbook... Mage Y wants it... how can he steal it from Mage X?
I'm sure there are several permutations of the above that you can come up with...
Good Luck...
--sam
Military spying on military...
Gov't spying on Gov't...
Merchant spying on Merchant
Mage spying on Mage...
Military espionage can be kingdom X has heard rumors the kingdom Y has an incredibly powerful new weapon... can kingdom X steal the secret of the new weapon?
Government espionage can be kingdom X needs an alliance with Kingdom Y... because kingdom Z is encroaching... What can kingdom X learn about kingdom Y that will help them enlist their aid?
Craftsmen espionage can be Craftsman X has learned that Craftsman Y has developed a new method for making widgets. Can Craftsman X steal the secret?
Merchant espionage can be... the caravans of Merchant X never seem to be raided or have theft problems... Merchant Y is envious... can he discover Merchant X secret... is the secret nefarious?
Mage espionage... Mage X has discovered a scroll/spellbook... Mage Y wants it... how can he steal it from Mage X?
I'm sure there are several permutations of the above that you can come up with...
Good Luck...
--sam
Just a few ideas...
Twist on break in and steal - break in and plant some kind of incriminating goods. Forged letters implicating the target in some kind of scandal, wiping clay into the treads on their boots (to make it seem like they were at the river last night), or just general contraband.
Twist on assassination - break in and kidnap. Or, break in to protect someone from another assassin, sent by a third party. Breaking in during a siege of a city to let in the army?
Lastly, counter-espionage is a good way for the PC's enemies to get their own back. Any of the suggested ideas can be used in reverse.
As a reference, Robin Hobb's series the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest) and the sequal series, the Tawny Man (Fool's Errand, the Golden Fool) have some of this sort of thing, but mainly sneaking around and spying than breaking in a stealing. They are also a pretty entertaining read.
Some of Feist's work has this sort of stuff as well, particularly the Acoma trilogy (Daughter of The Empire, Servant of the Empire, and Mistress of the Empire.) Full of political machinations, infiltration missions, etc. Lastly, Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay has some political stuff, though that's probably the least useful.
Hope that gives you some ideas.
Twist on break in and steal - break in and plant some kind of incriminating goods. Forged letters implicating the target in some kind of scandal, wiping clay into the treads on their boots (to make it seem like they were at the river last night), or just general contraband.
Twist on assassination - break in and kidnap. Or, break in to protect someone from another assassin, sent by a third party. Breaking in during a siege of a city to let in the army?
Lastly, counter-espionage is a good way for the PC's enemies to get their own back. Any of the suggested ideas can be used in reverse.
As a reference, Robin Hobb's series the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest) and the sequal series, the Tawny Man (Fool's Errand, the Golden Fool) have some of this sort of thing, but mainly sneaking around and spying than breaking in a stealing. They are also a pretty entertaining read.
Some of Feist's work has this sort of stuff as well, particularly the Acoma trilogy (Daughter of The Empire, Servant of the Empire, and Mistress of the Empire.) Full of political machinations, infiltration missions, etc. Lastly, Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay has some political stuff, though that's probably the least useful.
Hope that gives you some ideas.
Byrons_Ghost
First Post
If you don't want to have the PCs sneaking and burglarizing things all the time, another big espionage theme is sabotage. This is especially common in wartime, they could ambush scouts, destroy supply lines, steal equipment, etc. Would give a chance for more travel and wilderness-type adventures.
That was just off the top of my head, I don't have much in the way of ideas for plots here. However, I did want to point out a link to a page talking about this sort of campaign style:
http://www.second-world-simulations.com/FantasyTechnothriller.htm
That was just off the top of my head, I don't have much in the way of ideas for plots here. However, I did want to point out a link to a page talking about this sort of campaign style:
http://www.second-world-simulations.com/FantasyTechnothriller.htm
Thanks to everybody so far. A few idea's have came to mind already. Some other idea's I had are getting "pictures" of certain things. This will work via a small glass lens that has wax cap. once the wax cap is removed the players would have only a few seconds to get the object they are getting a picture of in the lens, at which time it will take several moments to fully capture. During this time the lens cannot be moved, or else the image is lost (great time to have a battle!).
Another idea included escorting specialists over to the enemies side to sort out things (like an alchemist or something).
Anywho, thanks!! Keep any idea's coming
Another idea included escorting specialists over to the enemies side to sort out things (like an alchemist or something).
Anywho, thanks!! Keep any idea's coming
Shadowdancer
First Post
Another type of sabotage could involve merchants or trading companies. One side hires the PCs to sabotage the warehouses and trade goods of a rival. Could commit arson, or sink a ship, or damage wagon wheels, or throw goods into the harbor (think Boston Tea Party).
I once ran a 2E ninja campaign in a large city in which a powerful trading family from an Eastern kingdom had just established themselves in a large city which was a key trade crossroad between East and West (sort of like Constantinople). This trading family had a ninja clan which had served it for centuries. Some of the younger ninjas (the PCs) came with the family to the new city to serve as spies and sabotuers.
One humorous plot involved the PCs having to sabotage a large trade caravan about to set out across country. One of the PCs was a spellcasting ninja. He polymorphed several of the caravan's draft horses into mice! Then the allied merchant family bought up all the available draft horses in the city, so the caravan couldn't leave on time becaue it was short on horses.
The players were always coming up with new and novel ways of committing sabotage.
I once ran a 2E ninja campaign in a large city in which a powerful trading family from an Eastern kingdom had just established themselves in a large city which was a key trade crossroad between East and West (sort of like Constantinople). This trading family had a ninja clan which had served it for centuries. Some of the younger ninjas (the PCs) came with the family to the new city to serve as spies and sabotuers.
One humorous plot involved the PCs having to sabotage a large trade caravan about to set out across country. One of the PCs was a spellcasting ninja. He polymorphed several of the caravan's draft horses into mice! Then the allied merchant family bought up all the available draft horses in the city, so the caravan couldn't leave on time becaue it was short on horses.
The players were always coming up with new and novel ways of committing sabotage.
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