Political campaign

[poolio]

Hello, so i have a group about to finish their campaign and already know what they want to do next; one pc is a king of some place, but while he's been away, he's been replaced, so the game would be revolving around trying to get his kingdom back,

Sounds simple enough, i know exactly what they want to do, don't need any hooks or anything, right? Only problem, i have never run or been apart of any sort of political adventures, so i was hoping someone could fill me in on some other written adventures i could draw inspiration from, or even just reskin a bit?

Any and all helpful advice would be really appreciated, the only thing i know that needs to happen story wise, is that the king was replaced when after he left, his queen took a new man, and he's the manipulator responsible for this, and I'm thinking about having that guy be a demon lord in disguise (ether fraz-urb'luu or graz'zt from out of the abyss) but other then that, i have no idea how to start this thing or what to do, please help!

[Sigreid]

What leaps to mind first is the party will need to start by getting support of the people, merchants and mobility. That or find a way to assassinate the pretender to the throne and his wife.

[nickl_2000]

I feel like many things could be taken from Game of Thrones for this. The Stark's getting support of the Nobility in the last season would certainly be very fitting.


It would be an interesting twist if the new king were an incubus and the queen were under it's spell. Does the PC forgive her? Do the people forgive the things she has done?

[Sigreid]

I feel like many things could be taken from Game of Thrones for this. The Stark's getting support of the Nobility in the last season would certainly be very fitting.


It would be an interesting twist if the new king were an incubus and the queen were under it's spell. Does the PC forgive her? Do the people forgive the things she has done?

It's generally a good rule to make examples of traitors.

[Vogie]

Political Adventure? I'd play this concept as a The Emperor's New Groove with a light sprinkling of Aladdin & Game of Thrones.

[nickl_2000]

It's generally a good rule to make examples of traitors.

Probably a good idea, but by doing this you are introducing some grey area and giving the PC more agency in the story and RPing opportunities.

[Mercurias]

Curse the crown. When the PC puts it back on, the entire world forgets who he is, and all the while the usurper has taken his place in the world and coerced the other players into hunting down the king PC. You could even change his appearance!

King PC has to convince the other PCs of who he is and gain the support of the people street by street, deed by deed, based on zero reputation other than what he makes for himself after the curse. Finally once he has the heart of the country can the PC can have the big confrontation, reveal the usurper, and break the curse.

Basically my take on the Emperor’s New Groove suggestion.

[Sigreid]

Probably a good idea, but by doing this you are introducing some grey area and giving the PC more agency in the story and RPing opportunities.

It would be a player decision, of course. Really what is described should be a sandbox campaign. The DM roll is to know the kingdom and it's people. It's up to the players to figure out how to win the kingdom.

[strangebloke]

Think of it like a big dungeon.

When you make a dungeon, you map out the rooms, the monsters in each room, and figure out their tactics and behaviors. The ogre will investigate loud noises. The Gnolls will wander the halls. The imp will offer helpful advice, but will also try to get the party to walk into the blade trap. In other words, you add details. A dungeon of 50-some random monsters who sit on their hands until the PCs show up to kill them is boring.

Same thing for the political world. Go to each major region, name the local nobility, give them tactics, behaviors, and stats. Lord Bertrand has an elite force of wizards and will try and prevent them from entering the capital unless the party is backed by an army. Lady Violet is an ally and can be trusted, however, she herself is in a vulnerable position (cue a quest to render her some security). Sir Brax is in the service of the pretender and has many friends in low places... if he isn't appeased, expect assassins and spies. High Priest Talos finds the civil war distasteful and won't take side unless he's persuaded that the cause is righteous, but he has great pull with the common folk. By defining the moving parts of the political landscape, you can be sure that the party will always have challenges to overcome.

as to the mechanics...

Some of the 'encounters' will fall outside of dnd's wheelhouse. DND doesn't do social encounters or mass combat well. I'd highly suggest that you look up Grod_the_Giant's social combat rules. I intend to use them in my next campaign. There's also a number of ways to resolve mass combat... I really haven't found a better one than making a little game-within-a-game. Morale(HP), Discipline(AC), Force(attack), combat speed(use 100s of feet) and attack range(bows, catapults). Ultimately these kinds of subsystems add a lot of work, but in my experience players love to see all the armies they've accumulated in one final battle.

[Nidgit]

I think your first step is to figure out why the PC can't just claim his crown on the spot. Did the usurper fake his death, discredit him in some way, or bewitch the kingdom to not recognize him? If so, one major goal would be to reclaim his identity and convince others that he's the real deal. If the usurper is in power because of an exchange of bribes and loyalties, consider what factions of the kingdom might dislike this new rule and allow the PCs to gain their support in some fashion. Better yet, find examples of misrule under the PC that make the usurper preferable to some groups and confront the PC with their past mistakes. Maybe he in order to reclaim the throne, he needs to learn how to be a better ruler?

[poolio]

Hmm looks like this might be a good bit of work lol someone mentioned to me to try looking up a pathfinder adventure called kingmaker, anybody have any experience with that? Would it be worth the read?

[Mellack]

I played Kingmaker and while it was a fun adventure, it did not deal much with political maneuvering within the country. Mostly whatever the PC leaders said is what happened. It was more focused on how to run the country. Things like costs, disease outbreaks, military attacks, things like that.

[Laserlight]

IMHO, D&D isn't well suited to a political game, so you'll need to tinker with things a bit. Off the top of my head, I would at a minimum add Status/Reputation with several factions (merchants, a couple of competing groups of nobles, hierarchy, army) and figure out some of the things the PCs can do (or promise to do) to increase their rep. And I would cook up a Social Combat system. CHA and INT as attack stats, perhaps, and when you lose HP you get closer to Losing Your Temper / Get Flustered, or losing Status, or changing your mind.

[Vorpal Crowbar]

Only problem, i have never run or been apart of any sort of political adventures, so i was hoping someone could fill me in on some other written adventures i could draw inspiration from, or even just reskin a bit?

I would try to draw inspiration from:


"The Hour of the Dragon" by Bobby E. Howard
"Richard III" by Billy Shakespeare
"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alex Dumas
"The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later" by Alex Dumas


Cheers,

VC

[EvilAnagram]

Hello, so i have a group about to finish their campaign and already know what they want to do next; one pc is a king of some place, but while he's been away, he's been replaced, so the game would be revolving around trying to get his kingdom back,

Sounds simple enough, i know exactly what they want to do, don't need any hooks or anything, right? Only problem, i have never run or been apart of any sort of political adventures, so i was hoping someone could fill me in on some other written adventures i could draw inspiration from, or even just reskin a bit?

Any and all helpful advice would be really appreciated, the only thing i know that needs to happen story wise, is that the king was replaced when after he left, his queen took a new man, and he's the manipulator responsible for this, and I'm thinking about having that guy be a demon lord in disguise (ether fraz-urb'luu or graz'zt from out of the abyss) but other then that, i have no idea how to start this thing or what to do, please help!

I would look at this video on the keys to power (https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs) by CGP Grey. It might spark a few ideas.

[GreyBlack]

To make a political game, one does not make a game focused on the politics.

So, as cool as a high fantasy version of Game of Thrones sounds to people, that's only happening at the highest levels and gets kind of boring and sloggy to some people. If I were you, I would make a game where you have multiple factions vying for control of something, and as the adventures are maybe just some hired muscle for one of the factions. As the games progress, pull back the curtain and show gradually show how all of these factions the PC's have been working for have been interacting.

Alternatively: Have all of the PC's start as the local lords of given kingdoms that they come together and defend against bigger threats. Each kingdom has their own concerns and needs and they have to balance that against the good of the rest of the party.

[EvilAnagram]

By the way, I love that you're referring to it as a political campaign. "Vote Ragnar for king, and he will stab someone you hate!"

[strangebloke]

Hmm looks like this might be a good bit of work lol someone mentioned to me to try looking up a pathfinder adventure called kingmaker, anybody have any experience with that? Would it be worth the read?

It's not awful, really. You basically need three things:

1: A reason why the PCs can't just walk into the capital, kill the pretender and take the throne, because that is the first thing they'll try if they're mid-level or higher.

Usually a couple of rebel wizards backed up by a big freaking army is a good enough force, usually, unless the party is level 13+ in which case you need, like, a lot of wizards or a dragon or a couple pit lords or something.

2: A number of factions that the party can gain political support from. (so that they can make a campaign about it.)

For Example:

Loyalists:Still support the crown. Good guys, but weak.
Rebels: ultra-loyal to pretender. Lots of power (they're the boss, here)
Clerics: only care about the people. Currently support the pretender, but might be persuaded.
(and so on)



3. Define each town they visit like a dungeon.

Decide a couple ways they can flip the town to their side if it isn't on their side already (persuasion, replacing the lord with a puppet, rescuing the lord's daughter from the pretender's clutches.) Map out the castle like it's a dungeon, with a secret entrance or two to make things interesting. Then set up a branching path of encounters. Something like:


Guards are inspecting everyone who comes into the city. If the guards realize that the party is a group of loyalists, the city will go on high alert. If the city is on high alert goto #5. If they get into the city without alerting anyone, goto #2.
They see a well-dressed nobleman hurling obscenities at the castle. This is the Lord's nephew and heir. He is an idiot, wants his uncle's title, and will make any promises to the party. If they choose to help him steal his uncle's throne, goto #4 otherwise goto #3.
At the local tavern, they're approached by a man. If they can convince him that they're trustworthy, he will tell them that the Lord's daughter is a hostage in a nearby fortress. If they choose to free the hostage, goto#6.
They meet with Nephew's friends and plan the assault. Give them a secret entrance or something as payoff for getting a good outcome. Have them run through the castle, goto #7 when/if they come face-to-face with the Lord.
They fight the guards at the gate, they fight a group of militia in the town, they're warned that more militia are coming. They can either raid the castle (where everyone is on high alert) or retreat for a few days. If they fight their way to the Lord goto #7
Run the castle dungeon you prepared earlier, except that it's a fortress a day's travel from the city. If they get to the Lord's daughter and free her, the Lord will happily join the loyalist faction. Goto #8
The Lord doesn't want to fight. He breaks down and tells them that his daughter is being held hostage. If they choose to free his daughter, goto #6. He can be persuaded (DC 20) that he should sign on with them anyway, or he can be beaten in combat. Either way, goto #8
The loot! Gold and magic items, of course, but more importantly, troops! Gotta hype up that final battle, right?



That sounds like a lot, but remember that this is one really long session, or perhaps 2-3 shorter ones.

The more you prepare, the less you have to improv, and vice versa. You know where your strengths lie, so play to them.

[Sigreid]

The Prince is about 100 pages, available free online, and still pretty much the definitive work on how to gain and maintain power. Reading it would be helpful to you and the party.

[Tanarii]

The first question you should probably ask is "why do I want to use D&D 5e for this?" There are many game systems out there that will handle it better.

If you are going to do it, you probably want to either design the campaign to run from levels 5-10, or just put in a hard level cap at level 10.

You're also going to have to expect lots of Cha-based classes among the players. This sounds like the kind of game where they probably can't get away moving around as a single team all the time, with one party face representing them in any talking. And also Bards, Sorcs and Warlocks are incredibly useful in social games anyway.

[strangebloke]

The first question you should probably ask is "why do I want to use D&D 5e for this?" There are many game systems out there that will handle it better.

If you are going to do it, you probably want to either design the campaign to run from levels 5-10, or just put in a hard level cap at level 10.

You're also going to have to expect lots of Cha-based classes among the players. This sounds like the kind of game where they probably can't get away moving around as a single team all the time, with one party face representing them in any talking. And also Bards, Sorcs and Warlocks are incredibly useful in social games anyway.

1. he isn't running this for a new party, he's running it for an existent party. So the question is more: "How to make things fun for the barbarian?"
2. DND 5e is fine for this, so long as you make the politics very simple and ensure that the campaign can't be wrapped up 3 session due to unforseen applications of magic. Dragon Age Origins had a great political struggle at it's center and there were basically no mechanics that supported it, beyond good old-fashioned choose-you-own-adventure choices.
3. I would agree that this is best done if the campaign caps out around level 10, though you could maybe push it to twelve by the end.

[Tanarii]

1. he isn't running this for a new party, he's running it for an existent party. So the question is more: "How to make things fun for the barbarian?"
What makes you think this is the case? OP talks about a campaign ending and starting a new one. That almost never means carryover characters.

There is one good reason to use 5e, or another system the group knows, even if it's not optimal for the type of game being run: it's often better to use a system the entire group knows and understands than try to learn something new. Learning new system can take a while and doesn't always allow you to do things like drop a bunch of brand new never played before but level 5 characters (or equivalent for the new system) in situ.

[strangebloke]

What makes you think this is the case? OP talks about a campaign ending and starting a new one. That almost never means carryover characters.

There is one good reason to use 5e, or another system the group knows, even if it's not optimal for the type of game being run: it's often better to use a system the entire group knows and understands than try to learn something new. Learning new system can take a while and doesn't always allow you to do things like drop a bunch of brand new never played before but level 5 characters (or equivalent for the new system) in situ.
Hmmm, you're right. For some reason I read the 'one of the PCs is the king' as 'the kings been out adventuring, only to return home and discover his kingdom is a mess.' I see now that you're probably right.

As to your second point, it's not just a matter of learning a new system... many systems take a lot of work to fit them into a standard fantasy kingdom. Like, you could use standard FATE or L5R, but you're going to have to finesse them a bit.

[EvilAnagram]

If you're really intent on running this in 5e, I would focus heavily on factions. In political games, there are essentially three kinds of faction:
Military
Financial
Political

Military
There are usually at least two military factions in any struggle for the throne. City guardsman, standing armies, ragtag rebel groups, powerful nobles, and somewhat independent navies are all classic examples. E.g.: Henry Tudor won his throne when his mother bargained with a powerful Northern baron to turn him against Richard III. The baron led the most powerful armed force in England, so when he turned against Richard at a critical point, Henry Tudor became Henry VII.

Financial
Unhappy guilds and merchants will gladly support a rebellion financially if doing so protects their business. E.g.: When BP faced the prospect of Iran confiscating their lands, they pulled the strings of British politicians, who supported a coup installing a dictatorship. BP continued to financially support the shah's reign until he was overthrown.

Political
The essence of political power lies in convincing others to do what you want without having to actually do anything. This intersects with the other two formsof power, but is nonetheless distinct. E.g.: Alexander Hamilton was not particularly wealthy compared to his peers, nor did he possess an army, but he decided the outcome of a presidential election and ruined Burr's career.

In a game, there will be multiple factions for each category.