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View Full Version : Coup de etat on the cheap, help needed



PhoenixPhyre
2017-03-29, 03:12 PM
So one of my groups decided finally to go off whatever loose rails there were and stage a coup. They have some justification, and there are pre-established groups of possible allies. That's not the problem. The problems are two fold:

1. The group has a hard real life time limit of about 4 30 minute (effective time) sessions. It's a school club and they're graduating.
2. This (politics) is the area of DM'ing that I'm least comfortable or familiar with, in a system that does not have much mechanical support for it (5e). I can adapt mechanics, and am not above just making it up out of whole cloth, so the mechanics aren't there biggest concern.

How do I make this fun and interesting under these constraints? Any help would be welcome.

Herobizkit
2017-03-29, 07:38 PM
Get To The Good Parts, Fast.

I'm no history buff, so I don't quite know how coups work outside of media.

But if you only have 30-minute sessions, skip the boring parts (negotiations, spreading rumours, shoring up supply lines, sending assassins) and get into the action. Make a three-stage combat where they've cornered the enemy leader in his stronghold and it's a room-to-room duel to get at him. Use 'minions' - make every enemy 1 HP and just let them run wild.

At the end of third stage, they should have defeated a lieutenant and his crack team of whatever, and ready to kick in the door of the final room.

That last day is your Big Boss Battle™, where the ruler has [done something horrible] to gain crap-tons of power in a short time.

Or, if they prefer a more peaceful approach, your BBB happens on the third day and the last day can be the denouement where everyone lives happily ever after.

Koo Rehtorb
2017-03-29, 08:52 PM
How many players do you have? If you have four people then I have a weird suggestion. Let each player direct one session/scene. They can volunteer in any order, but the scenes should probably be in chronological order.

Basically, they have four scenes to stage their coup. Each person picks one of those scenes and you play through it. Maybe one of them wants a scene about gathering their allies and convincing them all to join them. Maybe one of them wants a running fight through the castle towards the king's chambers. I don't know what they want. But presumably they do. If you're good at improv then you can do it all on the spot. If you feel more comfortable with prep then maybe get them to submit their scenes in advance.

Cealocanth
2017-03-29, 11:37 PM
How many players do you have? If you have four people then I have a weird suggestion. Let each player direct one session/scene. They can volunteer in any order, but the scenes should probably be in chronological order.

Basically, they have four scenes to stage their coup. Each person picks one of those scenes and you play through it. Maybe one of them wants a scene about gathering their allies and convincing them all to join them. Maybe one of them wants a running fight through the castle towards the king's chambers. I don't know what they want. But presumably they do. If you're good at improv then you can do it all on the spot. If you feel more comfortable with prep then maybe get them to submit their scenes in advance.

That's not a bad idea. My group does some scenes like this, and it generally ends up working out quite well. What I would recommend is that you either run the scenes mechanically as noncombat encouters or large battles, unless the scene relies on one key battle involving a maximum of 10 combatants. In Savage Worlds (the system we play), I would recommend Dramatic Tasks, Chases, or Mass Battles. In D&D 4e they have a similar system called Skill Challenges. How you run this depends almost entirely on what system you're running. If your system doesn't have a system like this, then just make sure to reduce the scene down to a few key rolls to determine success or failure, and do the rest through roleplay.

Also, unless your group is the type to try to break the game any time they're given the reins, then you might want to loosen your control on the group and allow them to make some stuff up. Making up factions, NPCs, magic-item macguffins, locations, so that they can help to tell the story. With some groups, this works beautifully. With other groups, this is an absolute disaster. I leave that up to your discretion.