Yeah, the title of this thread is awful...
...just like my lack of experience in running games with political intrigue!
Which is starting to worry me as my group begins to finish up book 4 and move into War of the River Kings. There's gonna be some kingdom time and I want the players to feel like their kingdom exists in an active political world. However, my ideas on how to create this intricate web of espionage, trade, allying, and ultimately, betrayal are quite limited. Should I just read more George R. R. Martin?
So far, all I got is Irovetti's grand scheme to get the PC's kingdom to alienate themselves from Brevoy by opening up river trade again through the slough. Brevoy enjoys their monopoly on trade, but the PC's will ruin it because they want BP for their kingdom. Not only will Pitax prosper, but when Irovetti betrays them, Brevoy won't help them.
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Check out this thread.
/drool
Wow, this is great stuff!
Yeah, I've stolen liberally from Redcelt and the gang. We haven't finished up the Stag Lord yet, but I plan on making the party earn their initial BP investment. They'll receive about 15 from the Swordlords and then need to bargain with other interested parties for start-up funds. I'm really interested to see if they hop in bed with the Surtovas or not, or if the cleric of Sarenrae will give up the High Priest seat so that the Church of Abadar will invest.
I also stole from this thread.
Considering how rotten the GoT crew is, mass burnings would be in order.
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The simple answer to filling your game with intrigue, conspiracy, politics, etc is IMO twofold:
- You have to take the time identify key power groups in the region. Then you have to break that list down into key NPCs and motivations and goals for each group. Do this for "good", "neutral", and "evil" groups. This is the hard part and involves quite a bit of world building.
- Figure out how these NPCs and goals fit in with your group. For instance, will they oppose them, try to recruit them, try to dupe them, steal from them, etc. Then have them react to the decisions that your PCs make, even if these decisions are independent. This can result in unexpected consequences at times, some pleasant and others troublesome.
These two simple things let you figure out who is going to step onto your group's stage and every step along the kingdom growth timeline. It also lets you know key tidbits of information that your PCs spies can uncover that will help them nagivate thru the political seas in your campaign. Nothing is sweeter than having your players exclaim as they realize the magnitude of some small piece of information or action and how it relates to things on a grander scheme!
As far as Irovetti, this seems a bit obvious to metagaming players if you dont muddy the waters quite a bit earlier in your game. This means having others offer incentives and alliances, some of them genuine and helpful and others not so much. If you are in a game and you only get a single political event, it obviously is important, so it sticks out like a sore thumb instead of being a few threads in a larger tapestry.
I hammered my veteran group with so much politics and agendas that they now overthink things a bit and are a bit wary in general, which is the correct mindset for a heavy GoT themed game. For a lighter game, just pick a few political groups and tie them heavily to your party, then have just those few intricate relationships evolve in the game.
For a lighter game, just pick a few political groups and tie them heavily to your party, then have just those few intricate relationships evolve in the game.
Yep, this is the route I went, at least for the mortal politics. The fey however were pretty much all over the place.
My group is nearing the end of book 1, and the only politics have been in the background. One character is a half-human bastard of a Brevoy noble, for example, but most of the characters are not well-connected to the region. That will change between books 1 & 2. I'm using the "venture capital" idea, and have already drawn up most of the offers from Brevoy's movers and shakers (and some minor players as well). They will get a crash course in Brevic politics as they have to figure out who to ally with and who to refuse.
I imagine that they will angle for maximum autonomy, although who knows, really. The bastard's father is going offer them a few BP to keep his son out of the public eye, while the bastard's church (he's a cleric) will give more BP if he's made High Priest. House Surtova will erase his bastard taint if they recognize Noleski as the rightful ruler of Brevoy and prove themselves to be allies of the Dragonscale Throne for 5 years. Of course, making a deal with Surtova closes off other avenues of revenue, and will even make them some enemies...
I think the key is to give the players choices, but they have to be aware of the consequences of those choices. And there needs to be consequences, obviously. That requires them taking an interest in the world, and in having their own goals. Politics is all about alliances and enmities and favors and betrayals. The PCs should have some natural allies, which means they could be drawn into the allies' conflicts. If they don't have any allies, they should need to acquire some to accomplish what they want to do. Self-sufficiency is what PCs typically strive for, but it's the antithesis of political narratives.