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Author Topic: Intrigues in Gameplay  (Read 856 times)

Battle Mad Ronin
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Intrigues in Gameplay
« on: August 05, 2015, 04:12:48 AM »
My group has been playing a lot of swashbuckling action recently. Now we've pretty much done all that can be down with our game of choice's combat system, and the players are looking for something different.

So, I thought I'd make a scenario centered around intrigues and character conflict more than combat. Problem is I'm stumped for a good intrigue adventure.

Can anyone recommend a good, not too combat heavy adventure centered around a plot being slowly uncovered or similar? I'm trying to find all the inspiration I can get.

To give a few clues as to what would fit; we are playing in a 1600s-esque setting, musketeers and femme fatales galore. The world is fantasy, but most reminiscent of fantasy France. We are four players, two warriors and two rogueish types.

Beagle

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« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2015, 04:56:22 AM »
Okay, a quitessential 17th century drama and intrigue story with all the important elements (sex, crime, despotism):

The Prince,  local aristocrat, bored and overstrained with his tasks to rule his fiefdom, falls in love with a beautiful, but common girl. Obsessed with winning her as his mistress (he is probably married for political reasons), he tries to discredit her father - a well-regarded but not too wealthy merchant or respected craftsman - and ruins her marriage, assuming that if her plans for the future are ruined, she better has to become his playmate.

The prince will tell the girl's fiancĂ© that she is not as virtuous as it seems, and that she was the paramour of one off his men, a mean-spirited chevalier and famed duelist, the marriage is off.  Obviously the PCs can enter here to help the fellow to challenge said duelist so that he admits to have lied about having carnal knowledge of the girl.

At the same time, the Prince tries to bancrupt the father by placing an order a very fancy order with him, that requires the father to spend a lot of his money in advance  (alternatively, the Prince borrows the necessary money for that endeavour and use one of his allies to place the order) to  buy the raw materials or gather the goods. Then, the Prince (or more likely, the villaineous chevalier in his services) order a sabotage (burning down the warehouse, capture the freighter that transports the goods, whatever seems to fit) and then demands his goods or his money, knowing that the father cannot deliver and has to break the contract).
Again, at this point, the PCs can get involved and find evidence for the sabotage which would allow to blackmail the Prince to repay the father and leave the family alone.

If everything goes to the Prince's plans, he will invite his soon-to-be mistress to his hunting manor/ summer palace / garden of frivol frolicking and will suggest that if she will be his misstress, he will be merciful with her father and not demand compensation for his losses. She either agrees, or more likely, commits suicide (death before dishonor and all that).

With this as a starting point, the Prince - pretty much untouchable due to his social rank and connections to the royal family, despite being a selfish and entitlted man-child - has the format to be a reoccuring villain of sorts- either because the PCs ruined his masturbation fantansies about a girl he fancied, or because the players will develop a strong dislike for him.

Gruntfuttock

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« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2015, 07:38:43 AM »
Quote from: Beagle;846680
Okay, a quitessential 17th century drama and intrigue story with all the important elements (sex, crime, despotism):

The Prince,  local aristocrat, bored and overstrained with his tasks to rule his fiefdom, falls in love with a beautiful, but common girl. Obsessed with winning her as his mistress (he is probably married for political reasons), he tries to discredit her father - a well-regarded but not too wealthy merchant or respected craftsman - and ruins her marriage, assuming that if her plans for the future are ruined, she better has to become his playmate.

The prince will tell the girl's fiancĂ© that she is not as virtuous as it seems, and that she was the paramour of one off his men, a mean-spirited chevalier and famed duelist, the marriage is off.  Obviously the PCs can enter here to help the fellow to challenge said duelist so that he admits to have lied about having carnal knowledge of the girl.

At the same time, the Prince tries to bancrupt the father by placing an order a very fancy order with him, that requires the father to spend a lot of his money in advance  (alternatively, the Prince borrows the necessary money for that endeavour and use one of his allies to place the order) to  buy the raw materials or gather the goods. Then, the Prince (or more likely, the villaineous chevalier in his services) order a sabotage (burning down the warehouse, capture the freighter that transports the goods, whatever seems to fit) and then demands his goods or his money, knowing that the father cannot deliver and has to break the contract).
Again, at this point, the PCs can get involved and find evidence for the sabotage which would allow to blackmail the Prince to repay the father and leave the family alone.

If everything goes to the Prince's plans, he will invite his soon-to-be mistress to his hunting manor/ summer palace / garden of frivol frolicking and will suggest that if she will be his misstress, he will be merciful with her father and not demand compensation for his losses. She either agrees, or more likely, commits suicide (death before dishonor and all that).

With this as a starting point, the Prince - pretty much untouchable due to his social rank and connections to the royal family, despite being a selfish and entitlted man-child - has the format to be a reoccuring villain of sorts- either because the PCs ruined his masturbation fantansies about a girl he fancied, or because the players will develop a strong dislike for him.


With my players, the prince would be sooo dead!

Friendly servant NPC: But he's the prince - you can't just kill him!
PCs: Dig. A. Deep. Hole. NOW.

Hilarity ensues.
"It was all going so well until the first disembowelment."

Greentongue

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Intrigues in Gameplay
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2015, 07:50:23 AM »
Quote from: Gruntfuttock;846919
With my players, the prince would be sooo dead!

Friendly servant NPC: But he's the prince - you can't just kill him!
PCs: Dig. A. Deep. Hole. NOW.

Hilarity ensues.


Are these the same players that would complain it is always about combat?
(When you have a hammer, all the world is a nail.)

Don't any of the barmaids/women they sleep with get pregnant?
The kid sure looks like a "little me" of one of them.
Pity he was sold to that rich merchant for child labor.
=

Beagle

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« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2015, 09:23:03 AM »
Quote from: Gruntfuttock;846919
With my players, the prince would be sooo dead!

Friendly servant NPC: But he's the prince - you can't just kill him!
PCs: Dig. A. Deep. Hole. NOW.

Hilarity ensues.


One of the pillars of socially motivated and intrigues is of course, that for social mechanisms and customs to have any impact, the implicit or explicit role of the PCs cannot be deliberately anti-social. The PCs can - and probably should - bend "the rules" (for instance, challenging the captain of the guard to an almost certainly illegal duel, or blackmailing the Prince with compromitting letters) but outbright breaking them marks them as psychopaths.
Or, by the logic of a game like this: trying to murder the prince should be really, really difficult (not impossible, but difficult) and should have serious repercussions for the PCs and their loved ones (the aristocracy really hates it when someone kills aristocrats; it gives bad ideas to the hoi polloi).

tenbones

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« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2015, 07:38:57 PM »
Little Intrigue Formula

Intrigue is easy - its the thing that happens without explanation. Anything can generate intrigue. It can be innocuous. Create a rumor. Let it litter your game. Let the PC's come in media res to a scenario that even you as the DM don't know the outcomes too. Something absurd.

The PC's witness Goodman Sweatypits urinate in a barrel then corks it, having his apprentices roll the barrel into his bakery every evening. Every morning, he rolls out the same barrel, apparently empty, then does it again.

Why?

PC's are in a busy tavern. It's really popping. There is a small stage where a half-elf is playing a real toe-tapper. He's telling the story that sounds *remarkably* like one of exploits of the PC's, but adds something horrifying to it at the end - he fucks a goat, was born from a donkey - whatever. The PC's might blow it off (they might try to kill him.) But if they do nothing, maybe this little song becomes a common tune played throughout the City.

Why?

Pick a PC - splash him with liquids all session. Someone accidentally spills a drink on him. Someone rides past quickly, spattering him. He/she walks past an open window - laundry water (or chamber pot if you're an asshole) gets tossed out. PC takes a drink, bottom of the glass falls out spilling its contents all over them. PC steps outside... it starts raining.

Why?

Why? = Figure it out for yourself.

These are little things to toss into your game. Intrigue is not necessarily what YOU the DM find interesting - it's what you do that the Players find of interest. If you're wanting plots that require intrigue and socializing - then that's a point of character motivation which you have to instill into your NPC's by asking the quintessential question:

"What does this NPC need that can only be had via the PC's without anyone knowing?"

Consider that in your game.

Omega

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« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2015, 09:59:37 PM »
The first Blackmoor module. Adventures in Blackmoor has some political intrigue going on.

Also the Creature Crucible module Night Howlers interestingly enough had a fair amount of political intrigue in the werewolf run kingdom.

arminius

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« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2015, 01:29:01 AM »
Consider that intrigue in these sorts of stories is often introduced by having the powerful people trying to use the protagonists as tools or patsies. Cash flow problems and deference to authority (or to "social betters") is what creates initial willingness to get involved.

Things go off-script from the perspective of the powerful when the protagonists' sense of honor or morals, or emotional attachments, conflict with their assignment. Or they suffer repercussions from another party, or even outright betrayal, that causes them to question the point of loyalty.

At the same time in terms of raw ability or plain luck, they basically outclass their "betters".

Skarg

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« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2015, 12:00:58 PM »
Adding love interests helps, and can add intrigue when some or all of them have multiple interests and motives, which they aren't being entirely honest about all of, and they are trying to get the PCs to do things. This may be likely if the PCs are the same ones who mastered the combat system and so now have reputations as reckless and none-too-sophisticated, but dangerous men of action. The same can be done with patrons, superiors, family and friends. Add enough different people and groups who want different things and aren't all being straight about it, and a few people sneaking about and making up rumors and stories, and let the players get involved and start passing notes, and you may soon have way more intrigue than you need.

I often only have to have a few NPCs present, only one or two of whom have anything particularly interesting about them, and once the PCs start passing notes, they start generating their own intrigue, which is great because then they're also interested in it. I'd much rather have the players doing their own crazy stuff, than coming up with my own complex plots and hoping the PCs care or figure it out.

Tenbones wrote several great examples. Players tend to get fascinated and interested in odd details like that. Especially if only their character notices something - that depends on whether you want the players to interact with the intrigue as a group, or as split perspectives, of course.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2015, 12:04:48 PM by Skarg »

Ravenswing

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« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2015, 11:04:21 PM »
A plot hook I used for my Scarlet Pimpernel group might do you well, I think; it's eminently portable into Fantasy Effing France.

The backstory on one of the PCs -- an actress working as a double agent for the League -- was that at age 16, she was a peasant girl seduced an impregnated by a dashing young noble roistering about in the provinces with his band of aristocratic hoodlums.  She thought it was real, and of course he and the band drifted on when they felt like drifting on.

So fast forward a few years; she's a famous actress, and keeps the truth of the child very, very quiet ... little Celine stays with a family friend a few miles from the city.  Solange's (NPC) lover is an up-and-coming Representative of the National Assembly (you could port this into being a rising young minister, an influential Turenne-in-the-making-general, whatever), who comes to her frowning.  Seems they've captured the notorious ci-devant Marquis de Bergevin, whose infamies scarce bear recounting.  He is in prison awaiting trial, but ... well, cherie, he's asking for you.  You by name.  What could he want with you?

Up until she walked into de Bergevin's cell, I had no idea how I'd play it.  Then he started to speak, in a low drawl: their daughter, Celine, was in the hands of his men, and if Solange ever wanted to see her again, she'd do well to see to his release ...
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Bren

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« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2015, 08:21:47 AM »
If you want to purchase adventures, Flashing Blades has The Man in the Mask and Monsieur Le Droit's Secret are intrigue based and they come with the game rules which are marked down to a ridiculously low $6.

FB includes a lot intrigue based supplements which are all marked down to $4 on Drive Thru.

Ambassador's Tales is a multi-part picaresque campaign rife with intrigue.

The Cardinal's Peril is all intrigue based.

Parisian Adventure has several scenarios with intrigue: The Fencing Master, The Grand Theatre (which can be played for intrigue or slapstick fun), and The Great Marksmanship Tournament.
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finarvyn

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« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2015, 09:28:59 AM »
Quote from: Bren;847410
If you want to purchase adventures, Flashing Blades has The Man in the Mask and Monsieur Le Droit's Secret are intrigue based and they come with the game rules which are marked down to a ridiculously low $6.
I gambled and went with the core rule book plus all four modules, all for a total of $22. I'm thinking that even if I don't play the actual game, the intrigue ideas ought to be worth it. :)
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Battle Mad Ronin
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« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2015, 11:24:49 AM »
Plenty of good ideas here to choose from. Thanks everybody for contributing! I think I have enough material to run a couple games on...

My first idea was having the characters take part in a meeting, as ambassadors of their country. Throw in some NPCs with dark secrets, hidden motivations and see where it goes.

Bren

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« Reply #13 on: August 08, 2015, 11:31:13 AM »
Quote from: finarvyn;847413
I gambled and went with the core rule book plus all four modules, all for a total of $22. I'm thinking that even if I don't play the actual game, the intrigue ideas ought to be worth it. :)
I've found them helpful. I've tweaked a few of the adventures to suit our campaign and then sprinkle them into play or fond and idea that I can adapt and use.

There was a great random generator for creating swashbuckling adventures created by some Storygame/Indie guy using the handle Valamir for his never published Robots and Rapiers game, but sadly the site no longer seems to exist. Though you can still see it via the Wayback Machine.

Black Vulmea turned me on to the generator in his blog. I used it a few times to generate some random hooks for the PCs.

If anyone knows Valamir, I'd be delighted to host the rules for his Scenario Generator with attribution as a resource on my blog.
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Bren

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« Reply #14 on: August 08, 2015, 11:32:58 AM »
Quote from: Battle Mad Ronin;847427
Plenty of good ideas here to choose from. Thanks everybody for contributing! I think I have enough material to run a couple games on...

My first idea was having the characters take part in a meeting, as ambassadors of their country. Throw in some NPCs with dark secrets, hidden motivations and see where it goes.
That's worked well for my group. The one thing I have to be careful of is overwhelming the players with too many NPCs. The names and titles for 17th century aristocrats just add to the complexity and confusion.
Currently running: Runequest in Glorantha + Call of Cthulhu   Currently playing: D&D 5E + RQ
My Blog: For Honor...and Intrigue
I have a gold medal from Ravenswing and Gronan owes me bee