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View Full Version : DM Help How to run a peace summit



braveheart
2018-09-09, 10:18 PM
My players unexpectedly convinced the several factions to meet for a peace summit (5e rogue with persuasion expertise, given help and bardic inspiration makes people listen).
The factions are two already aligned, though tenuously, goblin tribes, and an adult dragon with a cult of kobold.

All of the factions are trapped in a megadungeon and the only way out is to gather the 6 magical totems and gather them at the gate. This will open the gate and allow them to leave. For several years the Goblin's have been using guerilla warfare against the dragon and have had great success against the kobold when it isn't around. Though neither faction has managed to win any fight decisively enough to make attacking their strongholds viable.

Currently the dragon has 2 totems (was gifted one of them by the party) and the Goblin tribes have 1 totem each. They know that a currently sleeping terasque has eaten one of the totems, and the 6ths location is unknown to all parties. Each faction's primary goal is to escape the megadungeon and it seems plausible that they will be convinced by the party.

So how do I make the peace talks interesting for the players, and an actually dynamic event.

Blymurkla
2018-09-09, 10:46 PM
Perhaps this blogpost (https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37995/roleplaying-games/game-structure-party-planning) on running festive events can help a bit.

Anxe
2018-09-09, 11:59 PM
I handled something like this by letting the players be there tribe leaders for that session. They choose which they want to play then give them a short bio with secret info and motivations. Let them make it fun!

Pex
2018-09-10, 01:18 AM
My group has managed to forge an alliance between The Cult of the Dragon and Silvery Moon against a Fiend invasion. It's now spreading to include Waterdeep and Cormyr. We also convinced a group of Slaadi to side with Team Good Guys. It was accomplished by player initiative and DM fiat. The party befriended both sides separately and then initiated the idea to team up. We were the intermediaries both sides could trust to get them to talk to each other and get over their mistrust. There were bumps along the way, but we kept the alliance going.

The DM fiat is in letting it all work, but it's not a bad thing. The players were the driving force. The DM just chose for the NPCs to accept our point of view. Follow the players' lead. Each side has their own agenda, but let the players figure out how to make it all work. As long as the party doesn't mess it up, it works. Truce is declared. The groups work together for their common goal. They don't have to become BFFs forever after. It's enough to work together to escape then go their separate ways.

You can have an NPC bad guy try to mess it up for some reason. He's greedy and wants something another faction has. Maybe he secretly works for whoever controls the megadungeon. Maybe he has power in the megadungeon and doesn't want to leave nor anyone else because he likes being in the megadungeon for the power. Whatever the reason, the party finds out and stops him. Success is further incentive for the factions to accept the party's lead in working together.

You can still have checks if you want for persuasion, insight, deception, etc., but don't have the success or failure of the talks hinge on those rolls. Rather, those rolls represent the mood of the meeting. If the mood is going wrong the players can react to bring them right.

braveheart
2018-09-17, 09:04 PM
Some good ideas, thank you for them, several unfortunately don't work based on what I've set up so far. But I will drgginstrlu consider incorporating those I can.

Calthropstu
2018-09-21, 08:00 PM
Make sure to have the two sides break eachother's mid leg joints so they can all live in harm a knee.