Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
How to make D&D more political?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 6131665" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>In all honesty, I would think twice before running a political game with D&D. The assumed rapid escalation in PC abilities relative to everyone else creates problems - if the NPCs are lowish level then challenges that are tough at low level rapidly become trivial; if the NPCs are highish level, the question is likely to asked why they didn't <em>dominate</em> the PCs as soon as they came on the radar. And if the NPCs level up alongside the PCs, that runs the risk of cheapening the PCs' achievements - why go to all the trouble of adventuring if the NPCs get the same boosts for 'free'?</p><p></p><p>Of course, none of that is particularly helpful.</p><p></p><p>The books that most helped me in structuring a political campaign were actually from "Vampire: the Masquerade", especially those dealing with building campaigns, the guides to the Camarilla, and especially the old "Chicago by Night" supplement (get the 1st Edition one if you can - it's probably the single best pre-gen setting I've seen).</p><p></p><p>But the crib notes version:</p><p></p><p>1. Determine how many factions you are going to have, and the nature of those factions. In my experience, it's best to keep all the factions somewhat mixed - don't have obvious 'good guys' and 'bad guys', but rather give each group some good aspects and some bad. (Oh, and if you haven't already, read "The Three Musketeers" by Dumas - Richelieu is basically exactly what I have in mind; an ambitious schemer, but also one of the key reasons France remains strong.)</p><p></p><p>2. Draw up a diagram showing how the factions relate to one another. Note that relationships don't have to be symmetrical - faction A can think they're allied with faction B, while faction B is actually using faction A.</p><p></p><p>3. Similarly, draw up a relationship disagram for the inner workings of each faction.</p><p></p><p>(So, you'd have one diagram that shows that the King's Musketeers are opposed to the Cardinal's Guard, and a second diagram showing the relationships between Richelieu, Milady, Rochefort, etc.)</p><p></p><p>4. For each major campaign element (faction, character, etc) create at least one secret. Either something they're trying to find out, or something they don't want other people to find out about them. (e.g. the Queen's affair with Buckingham)</p><p></p><p>5. Draw up a list of ongoing plots, including at least one per faction. And, ideally, put together a "random plot table", giving you as long a list as possible of stuff you can introduce to the campaign as the PCs upset things.</p><p></p><p>That gives you a pretty good starting point, before the PCs get involved, and it also should give you some indication as to how things would play out if the PCs did nothing.</p><p></p><p>And then, let the PCs start upsetting the table, by antagonising all three of the top Musketeers immediately after arriving in Paris, getting involved in a feud with Rochefort, thwarting the Cardinal's plan to disgrace the Queen, and so earning both the respect and emnity of the most powerful man in the campaign. (Seriously, read "The Three Musketeers". There's a reason it keeps getting made into movies.)</p><p></p><p>I hope that helps somewhat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 6131665, member: 22424"] In all honesty, I would think twice before running a political game with D&D. The assumed rapid escalation in PC abilities relative to everyone else creates problems - if the NPCs are lowish level then challenges that are tough at low level rapidly become trivial; if the NPCs are highish level, the question is likely to asked why they didn't [i]dominate[/i] the PCs as soon as they came on the radar. And if the NPCs level up alongside the PCs, that runs the risk of cheapening the PCs' achievements - why go to all the trouble of adventuring if the NPCs get the same boosts for 'free'? Of course, none of that is particularly helpful. The books that most helped me in structuring a political campaign were actually from "Vampire: the Masquerade", especially those dealing with building campaigns, the guides to the Camarilla, and especially the old "Chicago by Night" supplement (get the 1st Edition one if you can - it's probably the single best pre-gen setting I've seen). But the crib notes version: 1. Determine how many factions you are going to have, and the nature of those factions. In my experience, it's best to keep all the factions somewhat mixed - don't have obvious 'good guys' and 'bad guys', but rather give each group some good aspects and some bad. (Oh, and if you haven't already, read "The Three Musketeers" by Dumas - Richelieu is basically exactly what I have in mind; an ambitious schemer, but also one of the key reasons France remains strong.) 2. Draw up a diagram showing how the factions relate to one another. Note that relationships don't have to be symmetrical - faction A can think they're allied with faction B, while faction B is actually using faction A. 3. Similarly, draw up a relationship disagram for the inner workings of each faction. (So, you'd have one diagram that shows that the King's Musketeers are opposed to the Cardinal's Guard, and a second diagram showing the relationships between Richelieu, Milady, Rochefort, etc.) 4. For each major campaign element (faction, character, etc) create at least one secret. Either something they're trying to find out, or something they don't want other people to find out about them. (e.g. the Queen's affair with Buckingham) 5. Draw up a list of ongoing plots, including at least one per faction. And, ideally, put together a "random plot table", giving you as long a list as possible of stuff you can introduce to the campaign as the PCs upset things. That gives you a pretty good starting point, before the PCs get involved, and it also should give you some indication as to how things would play out if the PCs did nothing. And then, let the PCs start upsetting the table, by antagonising all three of the top Musketeers immediately after arriving in Paris, getting involved in a feud with Rochefort, thwarting the Cardinal's plan to disgrace the Queen, and so earning both the respect and emnity of the most powerful man in the campaign. (Seriously, read "The Three Musketeers". There's a reason it keeps getting made into movies.) I hope that helps somewhat. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
How to make D&D more political?
Top