My players just cleared out a monster infestation in a town, and one of them has the idea of running for mayor of the town. I absolutely love this idea, but I have no clue how to run an interesting roleplay encounter of this type. How would I run an election, and what would be the benefits I could provide?
So much scope here, come up with some rival NPCs maybe one of them is part of a thieves or smuggling guild, or one is part of a cult. Maybe there is a populist, or a union leader.
Now let the player decide how they want to do things, have the NPCs running hold meetings, easier cash, get volunteers and then have the normal election shenanigans, candidates killed, campaigns sabotaged etc.
While the player wants to win, in game have various NPCs remind them that becoming mayor will restrict the ability of the character to travel, the mayor will need to be present to make decisions on rebuilding, reforming government and putting the various civil services in place. This is not a role that should be taken lightly and the more the character is away the greater possibility they are ousted in a coup.
This is not a role that should be taken lightly and the more the character is away the greater possibility they are ousted in a coup.
This is important to keep in mind. Townspeople will want a mayor who’s actually going to be in the town. Does the player plan to retire the character if they win? Or is the whole party, and you, on board for shifting the campaign to just staying in this one town?
That said, if you go ahead with it I’d suggest only 2 other candidates. For practical reasons, it’s just easier to track fewer factions. And it’s easier to make them different enough for the choices to be clear. But if there’s two, it makes it harder to tell who was sabotaging who.
Thrm instead of knocking on doors or kissing babies, I’d have there be 4-5 power centers in town: rich people, a couple popular churches, a merchant’s guild, some other group or two. Decide what each power center wants, make some of the opposites, so the characters can’t possibly please everyone. Then see which candidate can make the promises that will make the most groups happy.
Mayor is a title that describes a lot of different jobs, but the main BENEFIT you can offer is the opportunity to use the office for corruption, I’m afraid. Mayors can use the office to break the law with impunity, extract bribes from businessmen, all kinds of sleazy crap.
The main beneficiary of this scenario is YOU.
Because the Mayor and appointed Department Heads of a fantasy city is a show that would run 200 episodes. It is an oil gusher of storylines that could keep your campaign running forever.
Mayor is a title that describes a lot of different jobs, but the main BENEFIT you can offer is the opportunity to use the office for corruption, I’m afraid. Mayors can use the office to break the law with impunity, extract bribes from businessmen, all kinds of sleazy crap.
That really depends. A blatantly corrupt mayor will attract a lot of negative feelings from the townspeople. If the mayor is both corrupt and neglects the responsibilities of office, the end result is often a recall conducted with torches and pitchforks. Or handled via the local assassin's guild.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think any political intrigue encounter should include factions. Different people around the town will want different things from a mayor, and they'll organize around the candidate they think is best/ manipulates people into thinking they're best.
How many factions are there?
What do the factions want?
What are they willing to do to get it?
This doesn't need to be just a social encounter either depending on how much work you wanna put into it. It can have blackmail, stakeouts, investigation, interrogation, conspiracy, even assassination (depending on how far the factions are willing to go to secure power). If you want something lighter you can also maybe have the party canvas the town door to door for their chosen candidate and come up with some quirky npc's for them to try and convince in RP (don't just roll persuasion, ask your players to convince you).
Another thing you could do is maybe insert a distant threat, like an approaching bandit army or something, so there's an issue that the candidates can differ on that urgently effects the town (just *how* do they propose to deal with the army? Pay them off or risk lives to fight them? Argument ensues).
I think if you don't know about something -- say running for political office-- then you shouldn't include it in your campaigns. If you insist, then research the topic. Watch political dramas for inspiration. Read about famous historical elections. To make something like this, you need ammunition for your imagination beyond the concept.
I'm not sure throwing in a few challenges or skill checks will accomplish your goal, even if they are the right way to simulate it. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but I think the answer is you are going to need to do your own homework.
That said, what I would do is abstract the campaigning. Maybe have the player give a speech as part of a rally. Have them roleplay and skill check accordingly. But have the focus of the campaign not being "campaigning" but being problem-solving. Have the campaign last several sessions and simulate the passage of time and have the players having to deal with sabotage.
Maybe have the players have to make some difficult decisions about courting support from unsavory people: like a merchant who is willing to help the player get elected in exchange for something when the player is mayor. A lot of campaigning is building alliances with influential people. Politics is the art of the possible, so the player should be dealing with people they might not expect to.
Lastly, don't make the election as a result of the character's actions. The election DC should be influenced by the character's actions, but success or failure should never be a foregone conclusion. Even if you do everything "right", sometimes you still lose.
What I would do is make a chart of all the movers and shakers in the community (and maybe powerful actors outside of the community who can influence events). Each should be one of three states: for, neutral, against. Make sure the landscape initially represents the opponent's "final" position. This is to say the opponent will not be moving the positions on the chart outside of one or two tailored events. It's the illusion of a two-player contest. The person who will be moving the needle is the players. The people they offend will move towards their opponent and the people they appease will support them. Throw out some events that can make their allies lose faith in them. Focus on gains and pay-offs. Each decision has no right answer and carries a weight. Also, maybe give them more things to do than they have time to do it. This should be a strategic affair.
My players just cleared out a monster infestation in a town, and one of them has the idea of running for mayor of the town. I absolutely love this idea, but I have no clue how to run an interesting roleplay encounter of this type. How would I run an election, and what would be the benefits I could provide?
So much scope here, come up with some rival NPCs maybe one of them is part of a thieves or smuggling guild, or one is part of a cult. Maybe there is a populist, or a union leader.
Now let the player decide how they want to do things, have the NPCs running hold meetings, easier cash, get volunteers and then have the normal election shenanigans, candidates killed, campaigns sabotaged etc.
While the player wants to win, in game have various NPCs remind them that becoming mayor will restrict the ability of the character to travel, the mayor will need to be present to make decisions on rebuilding, reforming government and putting the various civil services in place. This is not a role that should be taken lightly and the more the character is away the greater possibility they are ousted in a coup.
This is important to keep in mind. Townspeople will want a mayor who’s actually going to be in the town. Does the player plan to retire the character if they win? Or is the whole party, and you, on board for shifting the campaign to just staying in this one town?
That said, if you go ahead with it I’d suggest only 2 other candidates. For practical reasons, it’s just easier to track fewer factions. And it’s easier to make them different enough for the choices to be clear. But if there’s two, it makes it harder to tell who was sabotaging who.
Thrm instead of knocking on doors or kissing babies, I’d have there be 4-5 power centers in town: rich people, a couple popular churches, a merchant’s guild, some other group or two. Decide what each power center wants, make some of the opposites, so the characters can’t possibly please everyone. Then see which candidate can make the promises that will make the most groups happy.
Mayor is a title that describes a lot of different jobs, but the main BENEFIT you can offer is the opportunity to use the office for corruption, I’m afraid. Mayors can use the office to break the law with impunity, extract bribes from businessmen, all kinds of sleazy crap.
The main beneficiary of this scenario is YOU.
Because the Mayor and appointed Department Heads of a fantasy city is a show that would run 200 episodes. It is an oil gusher of storylines that could keep your campaign running forever.
That really depends. A blatantly corrupt mayor will attract a lot of negative feelings from the townspeople. If the mayor is both corrupt and neglects the responsibilities of office, the end result is often a recall conducted with torches and pitchforks. Or handled via the local assassin's guild.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think any political intrigue encounter should include factions. Different people around the town will want different things from a mayor, and they'll organize around the candidate they think is best/ manipulates people into thinking they're best.
How many factions are there?
What do the factions want?
What are they willing to do to get it?
This doesn't need to be just a social encounter either depending on how much work you wanna put into it. It can have blackmail, stakeouts, investigation, interrogation, conspiracy, even assassination (depending on how far the factions are willing to go to secure power). If you want something lighter you can also maybe have the party canvas the town door to door for their chosen candidate and come up with some quirky npc's for them to try and convince in RP (don't just roll persuasion, ask your players to convince you).
Another thing you could do is maybe insert a distant threat, like an approaching bandit army or something, so there's an issue that the candidates can differ on that urgently effects the town (just *how* do they propose to deal with the army? Pay them off or risk lives to fight them? Argument ensues).
I think if you don't know about something -- say running for political office-- then you shouldn't include it in your campaigns. If you insist, then research the topic. Watch political dramas for inspiration. Read about famous historical elections. To make something like this, you need ammunition for your imagination beyond the concept.
I'm not sure throwing in a few challenges or skill checks will accomplish your goal, even if they are the right way to simulate it. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but I think the answer is you are going to need to do your own homework.
That said, what I would do is abstract the campaigning. Maybe have the player give a speech as part of a rally. Have them roleplay and skill check accordingly. But have the focus of the campaign not being "campaigning" but being problem-solving. Have the campaign last several sessions and simulate the passage of time and have the players having to deal with sabotage.
Maybe have the players have to make some difficult decisions about courting support from unsavory people: like a merchant who is willing to help the player get elected in exchange for something when the player is mayor. A lot of campaigning is building alliances with influential people. Politics is the art of the possible, so the player should be dealing with people they might not expect to.
Lastly, don't make the election as a result of the character's actions. The election DC should be influenced by the character's actions, but success or failure should never be a foregone conclusion. Even if you do everything "right", sometimes you still lose.
What I would do is make a chart of all the movers and shakers in the community (and maybe powerful actors outside of the community who can influence events). Each should be one of three states: for, neutral, against. Make sure the landscape initially represents the opponent's "final" position. This is to say the opponent will not be moving the positions on the chart outside of one or two tailored events. It's the illusion of a two-player contest. The person who will be moving the needle is the players. The people they offend will move towards their opponent and the people they appease will support them. Throw out some events that can make their allies lose faith in them. Focus on gains and pay-offs. Each decision has no right answer and carries a weight. Also, maybe give them more things to do than they have time to do it. This should be a strategic affair.