A Roleplaying Focused Game

[Draco_Lord]

Hi guys, I am going to be starting a new campaign soon, and have decided to do something different, my players love roleplaying, and in the past I usually will make sure there is space near the beginning or end for character interaction, this time I kind of want to try the opposite, and build a campaign around intrigue and roleplaying. I have an idea in mind, but I was wondering if there is any advice other DMs would give me on how to run, prepare, and so on a campaign of this nature?

They will be in a noble house, already decided on that, all members of it in some form or another (Family, servants, etc).

[GilesTheCleric]

I think having this kind of game is easy. In my games, I just start them off in or near a large city, and have their first few quests introduce them to political figures. Most of the foes they fight end up being humanoids with class levels. It would also help if they have good backstories that you can include in the game. I've also used what's called a Bonds system, in which each PC has some sort of relationship with one or two others that hasn't yet been resolved (eg. they played cards a few years ago, one cheated, and they haven't come to a conclusion about how their relationship might change on account of that). I award xp to both characters when they "complete" a bond.

[Venger]

Hi guys, I am going to be starting a new campaign soon, and have decided to do something different, my players love roleplaying, and in the past I usually will make sure there is space near the beginning or end for character interaction, this time I kind of want to try the opposite, and build a campaign around intrigue and roleplaying. I have an idea in mind, but I was wondering if there is any advice other DMs would give me on how to run, prepare, and so on a campaign of this nature?

They will be in a noble house, already decided on that, all members of it in some form or another (Family, servants, etc).

I'm running a campaign like this currently, and it's a lot of fun.

The most important thing to keep in mind when doing an rp-heavy game is organization. everyone keeps their notes differently, but as long as you have a system that works for you, that's what's important. I like to use scrivener to keep all my campaign notes, outlines, character sheets, etc in order. some people use a binder or legal pad.

At the beginning of each session, I'll say "previously, on x-men" and then the players will go around the table and give a recap of what happened in the last session.

During this phase of the game, it lets me know a couple of important things:
1) what players remember
2) what they were interested in from last session and are excited about working on next
3) erroneous conclusions they've jumped to
4) secret things they have not noticed
5) planned hooks that they weren't interested in

it's important during this phase I don't interrupt them. I'll write down what they say in my notes because then I'll have an accurate portrait of what the game is like to the players, since I know it's going to be different from my pov as a gm.

in my notes, the next section has things I plan on them working on this session. I'll take the most important things in bullet point form so I don't forget about them, and try to prioritize them as follows:
1) urgent, important
2) urgent, unimportant
3) not urgent, important
4) not urgent, unimportant

the next section I keep for observations on player behavior during session. this is how I make sure I'm keeping everyone engaged, and forestall potential issues. this way I can notice things when I'm doing prep for the next session. For example, I may look at my notes and see "pc1 didn't get much spotlight time this session. make sure to spend more time with him next session" or "pc2 and pc3's goals are opposed in-character, make sure it doesn't get out of hand."

the next tab I keep is things the pcs have done last session that might come back to haunt them later. this helps the game to feel more player-controlled rather than them just having random social encounters, like random combat encounters. when the pcs do something during the game that you can see having consequences, I like to pop it down to tap it later during another session. it helps npcs feel more real, like they do stuff when spotlight's not on them, and is a great stopgap when the game hits a lull for whatever reason.

after that, I have ideas for where the story might go next. this is usually a bulleted list of potential hooks I can foresee the party getting into by the next session . I try not to write stuff down too many sessions in advance here so I don't overwhelm the party with choices.

after that, I'll have a section on random observations, usually little pieces of important contextual information I can see myself forgetting or I can see the pcs asking me to remind them of in the future.

last, I'll have a section on secret information that's come up, meaning something the party has learned about, or has happened, but they don't grasp the true significance of. this will remind me what not to say during the next session.

my template looks like:


(Recap of sesson)
players tell me what they remember about last session
if they forgot something really important, I will remind them, but otherwise stay out, this is to get a bead on what is important to them

THIS SESSION:
bulleted list of important things they do during this session

THINGS TO GET TO:
stuff from the previous session you foresee getting to this time
strikethrough points as they're dealt with, roll over things that don't get finished to the next one

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
notes on player behavior/engagement/etc

CONSEQUENCES:
things they do you can foresee coming back to play an important role in later sessions

PLACES TO GO NEXT:
ideas for future arcs one session in advance, new hooks to drop, etc


STRAY PIECES OF INFO:
anything important that comes up during gameplay you can see you or your players forgetting for whatever reason

HOOKS/TRUTHS:
important things the party discovers without knowing their significance to keep you from tipping your hand by accident.

[John Longarrow]

From the get go, you will want to avoid the long, drawn out dungeon crawls. Get prepared to have encounters be more meaningful, intense, and short.

As an example, instead of the party going through 37 rooms and 22 encounters in Dungeon X, you plan out a series of encounters that lead from one to another.

Party goes to land of BBEG. Party encounters large number of weak enemies (so players get to do the hero think and cut down a swath of enemies). Party encounters Boss monster (+1 to 3 CR over party). Party faces two more groups of mooks after resting. Party faces Boss monster at story relevant location (maybe after taking out its guard or guards, depending on how much tension you want to build). Then Party faces BBEG by proxy.

Not a lot of "Another orc in a room" type fights. Very little of the grind most dungeons relish in. LOTS of "This fight has a story driven reason" and little or no "Random monster". Running like this will avoid having most of the session played out on the battle map a free up a lot more time for role playing.