Aristocrats and Agendas

[falloutimperial]

In an upcoming installment of a campaign I am running, the PC's will be encountering a classic case of political ploy pile-up. Think papal succession, if every cardinal was a professional assassin. Almost every aristocrat is going to have an agenda. There will be soldiers dressed as assassins. There will be assassins dressed as soldiers. Threats shall be subtle and dangerous. Intrigue will peer out from around corners and whisper an almost-remembered nursery rhyme.

Specifically, I will be tying together disparate factions from around the world and having them discreetly sponsor an important candidate for a commander-in-chief grade succession. The movers and shakers of the campaign will be there. The nefarious order the PC's have been fighting will be secretly attempting to get their man on the big chair. I also plan to have a few secret actors of groups which were mentioned once or twice and then forgotten making their bid. The outcome of this crisis will have dramatic consequences for the campaign and its world.

So that's what I'm up to. What about your previous encounters with plotting politicians in RPG's? For my reference and that of others, honor me with your methods, tales, and warnings.

[TroubleBrewing]

I recommend a plot-web. Big circles for the major players, small circles for the little ones. Arrows indicating alliances, dotted lines representing enemies. Figure out who's there to watch, who's there to act, and who's there to make sure things go smooth.

If the PC's are movers and shakers, have some of the aristocracy court them as allies, and some place hits on them. Don't craft an elaborate scenario and then make the players watch it all go down without being involved.

[_Zoot_]

My advice is to make sure that everyone knows the deal before they start. Take the time to make sure that they understand that these people are extremely powerful and not to be taken lightly.

I find when my players find dealing with Aristocrats the only real problems are when the players themselves don't follow how powerful they are meant to be. Obviously this is because we don't really have Nobles with the power of life and death any more, but this becomes a problem when you get characters mouthing off to Dukes because their player has no idea how powerful the company they keep is.

Other than this I just advise that you make sure you are clear in your own mind what the different parties want, what information they have on hand and who their friends and enemies are. If you keep a little list somewhere (seeing as you've got so many groups) then that means that no matter who the PC's go and thumb their noses at, you've got the material to work out their response.

Oh, and as a final bit of advice, make sure the NPC's have a body guard to some other obvious deterant to being stabbed in the face, you know how PC's are...

[Berenger]

There will be soldiers dressed as assassins.

Your assassins dress in a recognizable way?

[Scow2]

The big problem I've had with attempts at morally-grey political shenanigans is the players killing all the options and taking power themselves...

[Beleriphon]

The big problem I've had with attempts at morally-grey political shenanigans is the players killing all the options and taking power themselves...

I think the easiest way to avoid this is to make the players ineligible for taking power for any of a variety of reason. They might not be relations of the previous ruler, they might not be old enough (or young enough), they might not be members of the right organization (like the papal elections), they might not have declared their intentions soon enough (like most western country's elections), or you can just say you can't take control via murder like players are prone to do. That said nothing should stop control via proxy, that should play right into such a scenario as described by falloutimperial.

[TroubleBrewing]

Your assassins dress in a recognizable way?

When I want them mis-identified as assassins, yes.

It's like you've never heard of "false flag" attacks.

[Berenger]

So... do these soldiers shuffle around in the worst lit corner of the room, clad in a dark cloak and a badly hidden bandolier of daggers, or do they wear bright and flashy DC-0-to-spot assassin-uniforms à la Assassins Creed?

[falloutimperial]

So... do these soldiers shuffle around in the worst lit corner of the room, clad in a dark cloak and a badly hidden bandolier of daggers, or do they wear bright and flashy DC-0-to-spot assassin-uniforms à la Assassins Creed?

This is a campaign world the players and I made together using Dawn of Worlds, the cooperative world-building game. One player made a society that has an official order of assassins who are basically Assassin's Creed assassins who can phase. That same player currently has a character who is a member of that order. Go figure.

[DeadMech]

My warning is more for the players.

They want you to assassinate their rival or kidnap the duchess's daughter for blackmail, you aren't being paid enough. Avoid doing the dirty work for stuffed shirt nobles and aristocrats. These people have connections and loyal men coming out their backsides. If it's a job that they aren't putting their most trusted man on then you should expect to be greeted by his sword and a line of crossbows pointed at your throat when you come back for the pay. Killing the assassin is all part of their plot. Even if you survive the ambush you'll be left on the run or trying to get the proof you need to clear your name. And worst of all you won't even be paid.

[Mastikator]

The default agenda would be to promote oneself at the expense of other aristocrats by using non-aristocrats as pawns.
Some might have love interest, ideological interest or religious, but the bread and butter of political intrigue is power grab. As long as the aristocrats are fully fleshed out persons then those agendas are also interesting.

[Tiiba]

Your assassins dress in a recognizable way?

Thermoptic camo is a great uniform for an assassin. Or a soldier.

[Blackrook]

You need to make sure your players are going to enjoy the gray morality and the lack of clear choices that this kind of campaign will have. Also, if your players aren't the kind to catch on to subtle hints, they may be completely oblivious to what's really going on around them.

[elliott20]

prep work side:

figure all of the parties that are involved
Think of the factions in terms of competencies and relationships to a major player, that way they can all stand out. (i.e. if faction a and faction b both bring the same thing to the table, and support the same larger faction c, differentiating them is pretty meaningless then)

a quick list

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Factions that you need to think about
The current ruling power: The Wizard, in this case, as per your post
The old ruling elite: nobles from the older generation, surely they would have something to say about all of this
The ambitious old ruling elite: They might have their own Kubota who is vying for the throne
The commoners: they don't necessarily have power per se, but they do augment the way the different factions act. Best way to handle this one is to have an NPC who might not actually have power over the commoners, but simply express their sentiment through proxy.
The slaves: as commoners
The military
The religious: again, multiple parties can be involved here, as different religions / patron gods might use this as a chance to strong arm their way into power
The arcane
The merchants
The criminal elements
Foreign interests: I actually would try to keep this to a minimum if you want to focus on the internal political factioning, as having too many foreign powers butt in can greatly diminish the role of not just the factions, but the players as well.

I recommend a cheat sheet that shows the following on each faction

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Name
Faction role (as in, military, arcane, etc)
Agenda / Goal
Strength: what does this faction bring to the table? use the faction role to guide this
Relationships
Interaction Point: who would the PCs be interacting with? You don't necessarily have to have a single person, but this is the person that forms the initial relationship with the PCs and frames their perception of the faction