Help with Social / Intellectual-Themed Quest Ideas

[gr8artist]

I'm hoping to get a new campaign started in the upcoming year, and I want to focus the campaign more on investigations and problem solving than on combat (which has always been my forte). I'm fine with combat options, like mugging the bad-guy instead of making a deal with him, but I'm looking primarily for quest concepts that can't be solved with brute force. I have several ideas, and I'd like help refining them, as well as coming up with new ones.

Key Points ~
I especially enjoy surprises, plot twists, and moral / ethical dilemmas.
I don't have an over-arching campaign plot, so quests should be mostly episodic.
I need a rough idea of the optimal level range for any quest or encounter.
I haven't DM'd any D&D / PF stuff in over a year, so I'd like to avoid things that require a lot of familiarity.

Below, I'm going to list several of the concepts I've come up with or found elsewhere. If you have something you'd like to add, please clearly indicate which concept you're commenting for (preferably with bold or formatted text)

Awakening
Some roguish faction seeks to steal the secret of productivity and use it for personal gain.

Acquisition
Some pirates interfere and try to take the treasure before the players can decide on its rightful owner.

The ideas I've accrued so far...
This list may be added to as new ideas are mentioned.

Awakening
Players are hired by a merchant guild to investigate a town with unusually high productivity. The town is undercutting everyone else's prices, and the guild wants them to find out how.
The guild suspects thievery or slave labor, which are outlawed. Regional ruler and/or law enforcement officials won't investigate without testimony or evidence, which the players are sent to find.
The town is welcoming and friendly, supplies are cheap, and room & board cost practically nothing. Magical investigation (ie Detect Magic) reveals that most craftsmen have a persistent magical enhancement which is likely boosting their crafting or profession skills.
The enhancement is a blessing bestowed by the clergy (who may be blessing parishioners unintentionally). The local chapel honors a god of prosperity, and one of their weekly rituals includes the blessing of holy water to be consumed by the worshipers. Some aspect of the ritual has been altered or replaced (ie they acquired some relic chalice that was blessed by the god) so that this ritual has a powerful and notable effect on those who participate.
The clergy and townsfolk would ask that the guild not be informed of the supernatural ritual. Possible fears might include the theft of the relic, or fear that the guild would use its influence to outlaw or interfere with some aspect of the arrangement (ie passing a law that businesses receiving "divine assistance" must pay hefty tithes to the local clergy).

Rebirth
Players investigate missing vagrants, and the appearance of deformed corpses in a city's slums. A troubled entity is sacrificing others in an attempt to purify itself.
Players are hired to investigate missing persons cases in a large city. The missing people are all "lowlifes" and vagrants, and the local constables are writing off the disappearances as the normal come-and-go of impoverished people. Investigation reveals that the missing people are all of mixed heritage, such as half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings. In a possibly unrelated incident, a druid went missing before the other disappearances began.
If the players investigate law enforcement (ie to find out why they're not investigating the missing persons cases) they'll find that many of the constables are working long hours to solve a great number of grotesque murders and peculiar suicides that have been happening for about as long as the disappearances. They quickly ruled out a link between the two, because the bodies they're finding don't appear to be the people who have "allegedly" gone missing. Over time, the bodies have become less grotesque, and appear to have committed suicide despite not being found in the place where they would have died (ie someone's moving the bodies). The bodies often bear strange scars or birthmarks, though no-one in town can identify them.

The culprit is a tiefling, struggling with his inherently evil tendencies. He is attempting to create and perfect a reincarnation ritual that will remove the demonic taint from his blood and allow him to be reborn as an unblemished human. The victims are his test subjects, kidnapped and subjected to the ritual in order to measure its effectiveness or the problems that may arise. Because the process transforms them and removes their inherent nature, the resulting bodies don't bear much resemblance to their old selves. A crucial point of information is that the tiefling is also trying to heal the people after they are reincarnated, but his ritual makes him unable to bring them back to life.
As the players come to understand the situation, a survivor will be introduced. He'll be perceived as a crazy man, frightened and confused by his own reflection, and he'll have a bold and noticeable scar where he would have been killed (ie around his neck from a noose). He would have been a tiefling, but he'll have scars or birthmarks where his tiefling traits (horns, tail) would have been.
When confronted, the culprit expresses grief over the lost lives, but his fear of living "half evil" has practically driven him mad. He holds the druid prisoner, but promises to release him if the reincarnation is successful. He believes that he has finally mastered the ritual, and needs only to perform it on himself (drinking a tonic, committing suicide, and being reincarnated by the druid) to make all his problems go away. After that, he would be no longer evil, and no longer driven to do any of the horrible things that he had done (which, again, he'd tried to mitigate by healing the subjects).
Are the players willing to let the culprit be reborn? Will they apprehend him afterwards, or let him live in peace under the promise that he will do no more harm?

Famine
The land has been cursed and no crops will grow. All other magic has failed, and so the clerics are considering resorting to forbidden rituals to muster enough power to lift the curse. How much is a human life worth?
All spells and rituals known to the local clerics and druids have proven powerless against the curse. The ritual that should work calls for a "great source of power," but the mages have been unable to find anything suitable to use. With starvation and illness setting in, they reluctantly turn to necromancy. A forbidden ritual has been uncovered which would transform a living soul into a wellspring of raw magical power... exactly the kind of source that should be able to fuel the mages' ritual. There is a dilemma, however, in choosing a soul that would be "powerful enough."
The players are tasked with investigating old ruins or libraries to find information about similar necromantic rituals. This plays out like a logic puzzle, using the (erratic) notes of long-forgotten necromancers: "A fiend's power swells as the moon wanes. A child's hope outweighs an ancient's regrets. A mage's fire shines brighter than a virgin's love"... that kind of thing. The players are presented with a variety of possible sacrifices, and must decide which victim(s) would best satisfy the spell's requirements.
Alternatively, the players can postpone the ritual, seeking an alternative power source. This will likely cause several negative consequences, such as a crop not being salvaged in time for the harvest, or some sick commoners dying before the cure is found.
(Not sure what the alternate power source might be; perhaps a powerful ghost or spectre)

This quest could possibly tie into "Forlorn" (see below). In that case, the Lich's necromantic aura would be the cause for the famine.

Forlorn
A powerful lich has been redeemed by a cleric's spell, but his powers still negatively infect the land. To lay the lich to rest, the players must find his phylactery, though the cleric's spell has made the lich forget where he'd hidden it.
The lich was once a good man who was enticed by the power of necromancy and the promise of eternal life. A cleric's spell bound the lich's memories, reinstating the heart of a good man who knows he has made some terrible mistakes. The lich no longer threatens anyone, but his mere existence creates a curse upon the land in which he resides. Crops wither and livestock fall ill. People suffer, but the lich cannot do anything to help them. He would die or move away, but his curse would still radiate out from his hidden phylactery, infecting the innocent townfolk regardless of where the lich chose to reside.
So, the lich with no memory hires the players to travel to the places he'd visited (old ruins, crypts, etc) and to seek out the place that he may have hidden his phylactery. If they can find it, the lich will cast a spell to destroy it, which would in turn allow him to be killed.

Alternatively, the players could track down the cleric who'd cast the memory-wipe spell, and perhaps persuade him to undo the magic. This would allow them to glimpse the lich's memories and discern the location of the phylactery, but it would also reinstate the lich's evil mindset. They would then have to race for the phylactery, hoping to destroy it before the lich recovered it and hid it once more. Should they take this route (and be too low-leveled to actually fight the lich) they'd have a troop of clerics or paladins to handle combat with the lich while they searched the ruins for the phylactery.

Obviously the safer bet is to leave the memory magic in place, but it would take much longer to find the phylactery that way, and the locals would suffer from the lich's curse until they did.

Acquisition
Some old treasure, thought to be lost at sea, is discovered by a small community. The players must resolve a property dispute between the divers who found it, the guild who'd financed the vessel, and the original owners of the treasure.
An old trading vessel was lost in a terrible storm, but the ship was never located or recovered. Divers searching for pearls outside of their traditional spot happened to come across the wreck, and quickly discovered the treasure it held. They generously turned it over to their community, and the village began trading the recovered treasure to travelling caravans.
Some guild officials appraised the items, and realized that they were from the lost wreck. They then decided to hire a crew to retrieve the treasure, which would legally belong to the guild, since the guild had financed the vessel that sank. To make matters worse, some disenfranchised foreigners (possibly merely from a different region) came across some of the pawned treasure, which they claim was stolen from their ancestors.

Deformity
Players are asked to investigate a town in which many children are born with slight deformities. They come to find out that a shape-shifter is taking advantage of the women in town by posing as their husbands and lovers.
The town has a disproportionate number of deformities among their children, but the deformities are very minor. Some children might have 4 knuckles instead of 3 on each finger, or might have an odd number of teeth, or might have a pigmentation issue like heterochromia or expansive birthmarks. Fearing some environmental pollutant or curse, the townsfolk ask for help in understanding why their children are misshapen, and whether they are in any danger. Investigations would reveal that the environment is safe and normal, and that there are no unusual magical auras in the town (though perhaps a few transmutive ones linger around the children). The mothers and fathers would also have lingering enchantment auras. The children look more or less like their parents, and the women claim to have slept with no one but their husbands.
The enchantment auras don't seem to have any adverse effects, but when the men and women are asked about their history, they quickly realize that there's a memory they can't quite grasp. Asking them details about it yields answers like a person remembering a dream, with bits and pieces and specifics that are incoherent or absent. Both men and women remember romantic encounters, usually involving a picnic (all at the same location) and a full moon overhead (at this point, the next full moon would be a day or two away). Once they start to remember, the women begin to recall more and more details with greater and greater clarity, while the men still have trouble recounting the story. Furthermore, the women always remember the men making the plans, but the men never remember why they did. Oftentimes, the men would remember being away from town during the time that the encounter took place, which would make them confused.

The town has a resident shape-shifter, likely an alchemist or mage, but who changes his appearance physically rather than by illusion. He is an old hermit, widowed by a few years, and generally accepted as a kind and generous man. It turns out that the man is coping with the grief of losing his wife by assuming the guise of local men and having romantic encounters with their wives. Despite committing such heinous acts, the man does not view himself as a predator; rather, though he knows what he's doing is wrong, he swears that he makes the encounters as pleasant for the women as possible, and does not force them to do anything they don't desire.
To cover his tracks, he gives the men his own memories of the evenings, and then enchants both the men and women to forget the specific details so that only a general romantic feeling between the two remain.

Additionally, the man may focus specifically on couples who are arguing or going through a period of strife. In this context, he views himself as a sort of marriage counselor, giving the couples a pleasant romantic evening and helping their marriage in the long run.

The children are deformed because they were conceived by a person in a warped or non-native physiology.

Collapse
The players are on an emergency mission to lead a community of helpless commoners out of a place of great danger.
The commoners would be either travelers or townsfolk who fall into an underground lake after a sudden sinkhole destroys the land beneath their feet. Alternatively, they might have been travelers on an airship or similar vessel that crashes in an area far from their home. The challenge in either case would be to lead the group back to a place of safety while making decisions that minimize risk and danger. Do you risk starvation by taking the long way around this ravine, or do you risk falling by taking the group around a narrow ledge? Only about 10% of the group has darkvision, how many torches should you keep lit?
Managing rations and survival gear would be immensely important, as would making wise decisions about opposing factions. Should your group flee from the small band of goblins, or stand their ground and fight them off? Do you let the dwarves take advantage of you in your time of need, or do you press your luck for a better deal?
This would likely begin as a surprise, with the players subjected to the calamity as suddenly as the NPCs are.

Deception
The players are hired by a trickster god in disguise to investigate a temple of the trickster god that has been desecrated by the trickster god.

(several of the ideas were pulled from here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2hfmg8/onesentence_dungeon_concepts/)

[TheCorsairMalac]

Get your players' permission to railroad them into quests occasionally. Then give them impossible tasks. Force your level 5 party to retrieve an item from the horde of a great wyrm red dragon. Make the low-level rogue break a man out of jail alone. Force the wizard to escape from slavery in a drow city.

Make it clear that the enemy cannot be beaten by strength of arms, and the challenge automatically becomes one of logic and intrigue. With most players you'll be pleasantly surprised by the strategies they come up with.

[gr8artist]

Force your level 5 party to retrieve an item from the horde of a great wyrm red dragon.
Hmm... that could certainly work, as could anything else with a similar concept (retrieve an item from the dragon's / drow's / vampire's / wizard's hideout). I feel like it needs more purpose or story, though, such as "why do they need this particular item."
It could certainly work as the mcguffin item in Famine. Perhaps the clerics already know the item would be powerful enough, but there's no one brave enough to venture into the monster's lair. The players would have to choose between figuring out a suitable sacrifice OR risking their own hides to retrieve the relic from a place of great danger.

[Dragolord]

The Forlorn one doesn't quite seem to work properly. Firstly, why doesn't the lich just destroy himself, and wake up next to his phylactery 1d10 days later? Secondly, if the lich needs to cast a spell to destroy the phylactery, how will the quest succeed if he regains his memories and becomes evil again? Thirdly, I don't see anything to stop the players confiscating the lich's spellbook, removing his hands and lower jaw, tying him up, restoring his memories, and then having the cleric look after him while they saunter to the hiding place.

[gr8artist]

Firstly, why doesn't the lich just destroy himself, and wake up next to his phylactery 1d10 days later?
Primarily because I didn't remember the specifics of lichdom. It would be an easy rewrite, making the phylactery function more like a horcrux, in that the lich can't be defeated or destroyed until the phylactery is broken.

Secondly, if the lich needs to cast a spell to destroy the phylactery, how will the quest succeed if he regains his memories and becomes evil again?
The redeemed, amnesiac lich will cast the spell willingly. I suppose the players could also get someone else to break the phylactery first. Breaking the phylactery once it's found isn't intended to be the challenging part.
The lich will only become uncooperative if the players undo the cleric's spell, restoring the lich's memory. They'd have no reason to do so, except that they would be able to see the memories as they returned to the lich, which would allow them to pinpoint the phylactery's location.

Thirdly, I don't see anything to stop the players confiscating the lich's spellbook, removing his hands and lower jaw, tying him up, restoring his memories, and then having the cleric look after him while they saunter to the hiding place.
Again, I don't know the specifics of lichdom. I suppose they could restrain the lich prior to restoring his memories. Heck, he'd even agree to it. It would be a smart solution to the problem, so they'd probably get a slight reward. Perhaps they'd still have to fight him, but he'd have far fewer spells at his disposal?

[Seto]

I'd be careful about the greatly overleved opponent (Great Wyrm Red Dragon for example)... In my opinion, failure and success should both provide interesting results. But in that scenario, unless the players have a very foolproof instant escape plan, messing up even slightly will result in a guaranteed TPK. Which is not going to be fun if you enforce it, and probably will make you want to cuddle your players and prevent them from failing (not very fun either).

One option to avoid that would be making the Dragon ransom them if he catches them.

[Dragolord]

Primarily because I didn't remember the specifics of lichdom. It would be an easy rewrite, making the phylactery function more like a horcrux, in that the lich can't be defeated or destroyed until the phylactery is broken.

The redeemed, amnesiac lich will cast the spell willingly. I suppose the players could also get someone else to break the phylactery first. Breaking the phylactery once it's found isn't intended to be the challenging part.
The lich will only become uncooperative if the players undo the cleric's spell, restoring the lich's memory. They'd have no reason to do so, except that they would be able to see the memories as they returned to the lich, which would allow them to pinpoint the phylactery's location.

Again, I don't know the specifics of lichdom. I suppose they could restrain the lich prior to restoring his memories. Heck, he'd even agree to it. It would be a smart solution to the problem, so they'd probably get a slight reward. Perhaps they'd still have to fight him, but he'd have far fewer spells at his disposal?

Fair enough. I just thought that a quest based on intellectual thought shouldn't have quite so many obvious plot holes.

[gr8artist]

One option to avoid that would be making the Dragon ransom them if he catches them.
I like that idea. I'm not sure "Ransom" is the right word, but perhaps there's some task the BBEG needs help with that they might be able to perform. If the players aren't significant or famous, no one would pay a ransom for them.
Perhaps a place warded against the BBEG's type, or a place with an entryway too small or complicated for the BBEG to get through.
The trick then becomes figuring out why the players would bother going through with the plan after being set free to do so. Maybe some kind of curse that will kill them if they don't succeed within a week's time?


Fair enough. I just thought that a quest based on intellectual thought shouldn't have quite so many obvious plot holes.
Most of my players are inexperienced or are well aware that I often rewrite the specifics of traditional creatures to make them interesting for players who've been DM's in the past. So I think I can get away with writing up a new Lichdom mechanic without ruffling too many feathers.

[Segev]

A young, idealistic king has just assumed the throne of a mildly tyrannical nation, and there were high hopes amongst the people that he would clean up some of the corruption that plagued the land. Despite his words to the contrary, and some very public orders, things keep going on as they always have. In some cases, they've gotten worse, as those who dared point out that the King's words and the nation's deeds are in conflict have been suddenly discovered to be guilty of horrific crimes and summarily tried and executed.

The King is also developing a bit of a reputation of paranoia and ill management, which is in stark contrast to the kind of principality the young Crown Prince ran before he ascended the throne. Was it all just an act? Have the pressures of rulership made him crack?

Investigations into the outspoken people's crimes yields oddly mixed results. In several cases, the evidence really does seem incontrovertible, up to and including the executed one being witnessed performing the heinous acts. In others, evidence is a little more sketchy, and the hasty nature of the trial seems suspicious if one wishes to assume there was an ulterior motive.

Looking into the King's court, and the courts of his nobles, he really does seem to be giving the orders his ideals would indicate. Even when he seems to think he's alone, should the PCs spy on him carefully enough, he's tormented over the fact that his orders are not being followed. Worse, it's hard to say who is specifically undermining him. Initial evidence may point to a vizier, or an influential Duke, or heads of bureaucratic departments, but he'll confess he's caught some of that, and that's why he's fired so many of his inner circle, replacing them with other men who had previously proven loyal.

Either the replacements are immediately corrupted, being caught countermanding or undermining his orders, or another of his court becomes the new source of difficulty. And sometimes, the problem seems to lie at key points deeper in the chain of command.

There is a cabal ghosts that has been running this kingdom for generations. They possess key members of the court at just the right times, spy on meetings, replace messages, and even possess messengers to change their reports. They allow just enough room for more corrupt leaders to think they're getting what they want, and to blame anything that serves the ghosts' purposes on other corrupt elements.

This idealistic prince has proven a problem. He's actually a cleric - albeit low level - but has a habit of going around with protection from chaos running, and moreover could potentially detect or turn them if he realized they were there. The ghosts therefore make a point of avoiding him, and keeping their own primary agents of possession in lower-ranking positions of influence which manage things like the castle pages, the maid staff, and the guard rotations. They possess high members of court just long enough to give orders that muddle the King's efforts to remove the powers the ghosts want over the populace. To protect the easily-corrupted nobility that serve their purposes due to years of grooming.

They've been allowing the King to get rid of advisors and servants who are, essentially, their puppets because they can take over whoever replaces them, or somebody else in the hierarchy who's already entrenched. And making the King look a bit mad, paranoid, and hypocritical helps them undermine his popularity; they may eventually be able to stage a coup if he becomes too much of a problem.

The outspoken ones are being executed to stop them from creating rebellion against the established order. Some really have committed the crimes...while possessed. Others are framed and then run through a kangaroo court, whether by the ghosts possessing the court officials, or by court officials ordered to perform the corrupt proceeding through already-corrupted agents.

One or more of the ghosts could instead be a wizard with magic jar or a psion using mind switch or true mind switch to jump from body to body. A doppelganger, or team thereof, could also issue the various orders that mix up the King's (and his advisors') good intentions, though they couldn't actually possess people and would have to be careful not to be seen in the same place as the real one.

[Vogie]

A young, idealistic king has just assumed the throne of a mildly tyrannical nation, and there were high hopes amongst the people that he would clean up some of the corruption that plagued the land. Despite his words to the contrary, and some very public orders, things keep going on as they always have. In some cases, they've gotten worse, as those who dared point out that the King's words and the nation's deeds are in conflict have been suddenly discovered to be guilty of horrific crimes and summarily tried and executed.

The King is also developing a bit of a reputation of paranoia and ill management, which is in stark contrast to the kind of principality the young Crown Prince ran before he ascended the throne. Was it all just an act? Have the pressures of rulership made him crack?

Investigations into the outspoken people's crimes yields oddly mixed results. In several cases, the evidence really does seem incontrovertible, up to and including the executed one being witnessed performing the heinous acts. In others, evidence is a little more sketchy, and the hasty nature of the trial seems suspicious if one wishes to assume there was an ulterior motive.

Looking into the King's court, and the courts of his nobles, he really does seem to be giving the orders his ideals would indicate. Even when he seems to think he's alone, should the PCs spy on him carefully enough, he's tormented over the fact that his orders are not being followed. Worse, it's hard to say who is specifically undermining him. Initial evidence may point to a vizier, or an influential Duke, or heads of bureaucratic departments, but he'll confess he's caught some of that, and that's why he's fired so many of his inner circle, replacing them with other men who had previously proven loyal.

Either the replacements are immediately corrupted, being caught countermanding or undermining his orders, or another of his court becomes the new source of difficulty. And sometimes, the problem seems to lie at key points deeper in the chain of command.

There is a cabal ghosts that has been running this kingdom for generations. They possess key members of the court at just the right times, spy on meetings, replace messages, and even possess messengers to change their reports. They allow just enough room for more corrupt leaders to think they're getting what they want, and to blame anything that serves the ghosts' purposes on other corrupt elements.

This idealistic prince has proven a problem. He's actually a cleric - albeit low level - but has a habit of going around with protection from chaos running, and moreover could potentially detect or turn them if he realized they were there. The ghosts therefore make a point of avoiding him, and keeping their own primary agents of possession in lower-ranking positions of influence which manage things like the castle pages, the maid staff, and the guard rotations. They possess high members of court just long enough to give orders that muddle the King's efforts to remove the powers the ghosts want over the populace. To protect the easily-corrupted nobility that serve their purposes due to years of grooming.

They've been allowing the King to get rid of advisors and servants who are, essentially, their puppets because they can take over whoever replaces them, or somebody else in the hierarchy who's already entrenched. And making the King look a bit mad, paranoid, and hypocritical helps them undermine his popularity; they may eventually be able to stage a coup if he becomes too much of a problem.

The outspoken ones are being executed to stop them from creating rebellion against the established order. Some really have committed the crimes...while possessed. Others are framed and then run through a kangaroo court, whether by the ghosts possessing the court officials, or by court officials ordered to perform the corrupt proceeding through already-corrupted agents.

One or more of the ghosts could instead be a wizard with magic jar or a psion using mind switch or true mind switch to jump from body to body. A doppelganger, or team thereof, could also issue the various orders that mix up the King's (and his advisors') good intentions, though they couldn't actually possess people and would have to be careful not to be seen in the same place as the real one.

In lieu of Ghosts, you could have the group be Strangers with burning eyes (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Stranger_with_the_Burning_Eyes_(3.5e_Prestige_Clas s))... They bounce around the city making whatever changes they desire, jumping to the next body once the deed is done.

[gr8artist]

A young, idealistic king has just assumed the throne of a mildly tyrannical nation, and there were high hopes amongst the people that he would clean up some of the corruption that plagued the land. Despite his words to the contrary, and some very public orders, things keep going on as they always have. In some cases, they've gotten worse, as those who dared point out that the King's words and the nation's deeds are in conflict have been suddenly discovered to be guilty of horrific crimes and summarily tried and executed.

The King is also developing a bit of a reputation of paranoia and ill management, which is in stark contrast to the kind of principality the young Crown Prince ran before he ascended the throne. Was it all just an act? Have the pressures of rulership made him crack?
I was a little worried at first that this was political commentary. Clever political commentary, but controversial.
After reading the spoilers, though, I got to say I think it's a great idea. I'll probably tweak it and tone down the scope (from king to local governor) but the idea of using possession to slightly alter the flow of politics is pretty awesome.

[Segev]

I was a little worried at first that this was political commentary. Clever political commentary, but controversial. While I am certainly not above political commentary, I don't think I have it in me to be that subtle. I had to re-read it a couple times to think how it might be read that way.


After reading the spoilers, though, I got to say I think it's a great idea. I'll probably tweak it and tone down the scope (from king to local governor) but the idea of using possession to slightly alter the flow of politics is pretty awesome.

Thanks! If you use it, please enjoy. :smallsmile:

I've been contemplating various ways a genuine shadow government would work in hypothetical societies for a while. I even have a rough concept - though it isn't to a believable level where it doesn't have obvious "this wouldn't work" flaws yet - for a society where everybody knows there IS a government, and probably more than half the citizens are part of it. But it's all so "secret society" with powers and authorities distributed around that nobody knows who anybody else in the government is, except by code name.