So in a few sessions time, I'm planning to do a little political thing, with a person trying to overthrow the mayor of the town my party is currently in, with a focus on social interactions rather than combat. I'm not really sure how to go about structuring it though. Does anyone know any good resources on this, or any good segments of adventure modules (official or community-made) that I could read to see how they've handled it?
I guess my first question is, what is the problem or conflict the party is meant to resolve? Is the mayor corrupt and the party needs to help oust them? Are there vicious rumors going around and the party is sent to investigate? What is their resolution condition? Are they turning a file over to someone? Is this a point fingers and name names sort of thing? Are they some sort of intimidation squad to quell the scandal in some way?
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
First, I'll suggest this very good article from the Angry GM about how to run layered social encounters.
Now, my general outline for how to put this kind of scenario together.
Map out the factions and individuals who are involved: the mayor, the person overthrowing the mayor, and any relevant third parties.
Who are their allies and enemies?
What are their strengths? Their resources?
What are their weaknesses and pressure points?
What are their goals?
What are their methods? Both their general approach and the steps required to complete their goals.
Map out the scenario in a vacuum. If the PCs don't get involved, how is this going to play out? Assuming the person overthrowing the mayor would succeed, what needs to happen for that to occur?
Based on the above details, what are the ways the PCs could put a stop to the villain's plans? Consider how they might disrupt specific steps in the villain's plan, perhaps by undermining their strengths, playing on their weaknesses, or turning the villain's approach against them.
Consider complications. What contingencies does the villain have if their first plan fails? What third parties or other external factors might affect the course of events?
For each step of the villain's plan and for each complication, create one or more open-ended, non-combat encounters that the PCs can engage with to put a stop to the villain's plans. Consider other potential outcomes you might need to improvise.
You should also give the PCs some references and props to keep track of the intrigue. These scenarios can get very involved, and players often find it hard to keep track of many different NPCs with varying motivations, so it can help to create some cards for them. Encourage your players to map out the relationships between the relevant factions or provide such a map yourself (with room for them to add more details).
Also, you'll want to think about what kind of encounters you actually want to run. Encounters focused on social interactions can be a lot of different things. This could be simple talking, either to ascertain motives or to convince someone of something. It could be a social event, like a party, with many minute interactions. It could be a competition or a game of chance with high stakes, where the PCs are trying to learn something as they complete other challenges. You could also add some open-ended investigations or exploration for uncovering pieces of the intrigue, such as finding out the villain's plans or their weaknesses, etc.
Lastly, you should consider how to handle things if the PCs do end up resorting to combat. Is it a viable solution for some of the problems the scenario introduces, or does violence result in failure? It's important to make sure you prepare for the PCs finding ways to cut the Gordian knot you're trying to create.
So in a few sessions time, I'm planning to do a little political thing, with a person trying to overthrow the mayor of the town my party is currently in, with a focus on social interactions rather than combat. I'm not really sure how to go about structuring it though. Does anyone know any good resources on this, or any good segments of adventure modules (official or community-made) that I could read to see how they've handled it?
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
I guess my first question is, what is the problem or conflict the party is meant to resolve? Is the mayor corrupt and the party needs to help oust them? Are there vicious rumors going around and the party is sent to investigate? What is their resolution condition? Are they turning a file over to someone? Is this a point fingers and name names sort of thing? Are they some sort of intimidation squad to quell the scandal in some way?
First, I'll suggest this very good article from the Angry GM about how to run layered social encounters.
Now, my general outline for how to put this kind of scenario together.
You should also give the PCs some references and props to keep track of the intrigue. These scenarios can get very involved, and players often find it hard to keep track of many different NPCs with varying motivations, so it can help to create some cards for them. Encourage your players to map out the relationships between the relevant factions or provide such a map yourself (with room for them to add more details).
Also, you'll want to think about what kind of encounters you actually want to run. Encounters focused on social interactions can be a lot of different things. This could be simple talking, either to ascertain motives or to convince someone of something. It could be a social event, like a party, with many minute interactions. It could be a competition or a game of chance with high stakes, where the PCs are trying to learn something as they complete other challenges. You could also add some open-ended investigations or exploration for uncovering pieces of the intrigue, such as finding out the villain's plans or their weaknesses, etc.
Lastly, you should consider how to handle things if the PCs do end up resorting to combat. Is it a viable solution for some of the problems the scenario introduces, or does violence result in failure? It's important to make sure you prepare for the PCs finding ways to cut the Gordian knot you're trying to create.