Fun with Diplomacy

[Jürgen Hubert]

After reading the recent excellent Pyramid article on medieval diplomacy, I was wondering:

Have your PCs ever been asked to conduct a diplomatic mission on behalf of a sovereign or other powerful influential person? And not just by babysitting some NPC diplomat, but by doing the negotiations themselves?


I think that that would be an excellent way of getting the PCs into all sorts of interesting trouble, and if you have any experiences with this kind of adventure, I would like to hear your stories.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

*bump*

No one?

 

[Piratecat]

No one else can see the article; it requires a subscription.

That being said, I love sending the PCs to negotiate. They're not very good at it and usually create international incidents, but that's half the fun. Last time I tried it, they ended up killing - in a public place - the former Doge of the city.

I have a plot line coming up where the PCs might need to negotiate with the most powerful, important people in the world. Dozens or hundreds of kings and adventurers, all in one place! I'd welcome any ideas on how to pull this off and make it a meaningful challenge for the PCs.

 

[Celebrim]

a) Yes, I have had PC's tasked to handle negotiations.
b) Yes, it makes for a good time.

 

[BlackMoria]

Yes, I frequently have the PCs do negotiations on behalf of some minor power like a baron, head of a church and the occasional king.

Sometimes it turns out quite well.

Sometime it turns out like Bruce Willis's character in the Fifth Element 'negotiating' with the mangalores on the bridge of the cruise ship....

Fun all around, regardless of how it turns out.

 

[heirodule]

The Xen'drik Expeditions Crimson Codex scenario "The Korranberg Affair" is a great example of negotiating on someone else's behalf, although there is the quirk to that in the actual plot. You could take out the quirk and make it pure negotiation though.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

In my Epic-level campaign, one of the players has long been the herald to the God of Fire on the Material Plane.

One day she was invited to the City of Brass by the Grand Sultan of all Efreet. Turns out, there hadn't been someone in her position for ages and the Grand Sultan wanted to make a good impression [ie buy her off].

That whole adventure was mostly non-combat. Instead, she and her "retinue" (the other characters) had to mediate the that year's diplomatic meeting between the Efreet, the Salamanders, the Phoearch, and the Azers - the major factions in the Plane of Fire.

Needless to say, it was full of twists and treachery, placating royal egos, and out maneuvering "loyal" assistants in social settings. I even threw in a few surprises, such as a fake assassination attempt that masked a real one, the surprise appearance of the Fire Giants and more!

Good times,

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I've found that pretty much anytime the PCs are sent to negotiate or be diplomats, or whatever...they kill someone important that they shouldn't have killed.

Its always fun.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

No one else can see the article; it requires a subscription.

Surely I am not the only person on these boards with a Pyramid subscription?

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I love good negotiation game play. I've had diplomatic sorts of things with the PCs negotiating as both a GM and a player.

One of the key things to think about in designing a negotiation encounter (or a setting where negotiations are likely) is how to make it interesting. The worst negotiation encounters are "persuade so-and-so" encounters, where there's no means other than just talking to them and browbeating them into cooperating. The second worst are "horse-trading" sessions: you want them to do X for as little as possible, they want to get as much as possible, how much do you agree to pay them? In both cases, there just isn't much interesting for the PCs to do.

To make negotiations more interesting, think about what makes a negotiation interesting in real life. Give people more than just one want, and give them multiple types of resources with which to negotiate. Give some thought to both sides BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement). It makes the encounter more difficult, but it can make it a lot more interesting. (BTW, giving the players more resources or opportunities with which to negotiate doesn't mean flagging them for the PCs. Just make sure that the PCs are in a position to come up with/bring into the negotiation other options. Part of the opportunity in negotiation comes from one person having things that they don't value highly that the other person does, so that's another fruitful area for negotiation game play.)