Thread 96919958

Trying to run an OSR Wars of the Roses campaign (probably won't find a single player but the day in which I give a shit is yet to come) and I wanted to know if there were good social mechanic for political intrigue. I watched some youtube videos on RPG politics but they all give generic, reddit-writer advice. I'd rather hear from the guys who actually played it and have tried-and-true advice on what works and what doesn't.

>>96919958 (OP)

What I mean by politicla intrigue is something along the lines of Game of Thrones (inspired by the Wars of the Roses) and Crusader Kings. Dynasties, heirs, spies, reputation, influence, diplomacy... anything is useful if you know what you're talking about.

>>96919958 (OP)
My advice? Don't do it. Every single "political intrigue" campaign I've ever been in has sucked shit hard and been just... really fucking boring as a player. Save it for a book.

>>96919992

What sucked about it? Did you play with different people?

>>96919958 (OP)
Honor+Intrigue has a social combat mechanic. You already mentioned Green Ronin's house management.
>>96919992
The trick is to still include action and for violence to be a valid solution to a lot of political and even personal problems. That mindset prevailed almost clear into the 20th century IRL. Something like Three Musketeers is very dominated by Intrigue, but well marbled with murder.

If you're gonna do your players dirty like that then just play multiplayer crusader kings, man.
Using a system and mechanics to track intrigue in a tabletop game is pointless and restrictive. Instead use whatever existing mechanics you have for social interaction and leave plotting to the players creativity. They will come up with ways to try and undermine their opponent on their own if they are worth their salt. Apply whatever opposition you deem reasonable from their opponent's side. It's way better than creating an excel spreadsheet to calculate some mathematical monstrosity just to achieve a similar result.

>Inb4 get called a redditor for giving reasonable advice

>>96920092

> muh just play a videogame

Honestly, leave the board. Didn't bother reading any further.

>>96920112
If what you want to do is simulate video game mechanics then you might as well.
Perhaps it is you who needs to consider leaving the board?

>>96920112
>Reddit spacing
>Calling someone else a tourist

>>96920134
>>96920149

Never said either of those things.

>>96919958 (OP)
>I wanted to know if there were good social mechanic for political intrigue
Yeah it's called roleplaying

>>96920154
>Instead of turning A into X consider just doing X.
>Consider doing X huh? Perhaps consider leaving the board?
>Why do you defend turning A into X?
>I NEVER SAID THESE EXACT WORDS
Kys.

>not engaging with any actual discussion on the topic, just shit flinging
Aaah, it's a potemkin thread.

>>96920083

Thanks

>>96919958 (OP)
Read The Alexandrian's blog, particularly the bits on running mysteries. Pirate or buy GURPS Mysteries and give it a perusal, too. Shape your political intrigues to your group's interests, don't try to cram them into yours. It really helps if you do these games with players you already know and are comfortable with, because these games are heavy on the interpersonal socialization, which works best if you are actually comfortable with one another, lol.

>>96919958 (OP)
Run Kingmaker with the players, run a few turns a week or so. Incorporate that into the rest of the rpg gameplay.
Other option would be using a less fantastical version aka defantasticalizing Worlds Without Numbers and giving each player a faction to use in the faction turns part of the campaign.

If what you are looking for is anything even a bit like osr, social mechanics aren't really useful. You're going to be better off reading Tony Bath's Ancient Wargame campaigns, getting players who give a fuck and putting together your own FRK sort of deal.

Kingmaker is an easy way to have a ruleset people will start negotiating and plotting about so you don't have to fuck around with making one that's going to cause inevitable disjunction with the rpg part.

Get use to mediating and making good judgments.

Its not a thing I care about much but Lion & Dragon is likely a useful resource for the rpg side. Strategic level operations is either boardgame subin, ACKS or An Echo Resounding/WwN.

>>96920042
Not that Anon, but I share similar sentiments. Alot of the time "political intrigue" games turn in the DM trying to write a bad mystery novel and the majority of the players not really caring enough to try to solve it.
Also just... alot of talking. A whole lot of talking and talking and talking. If I wanted to talk this much, I'd go out and actually do some dating instead.

>>96919958 (OP)
Establish a set of clocks Blades in the Dark style about certain plots going around and every sessions move the clock one step towards resolution unless influenced by the pc's where they can halt a plot, or set it back at least.
You can obviously tinker with that system and it really isnt player facing but it really helps you as the gm.
OSR games arent really systems meant to have elaborate player facing mechanics as i m sure you know., but if i were to take one from a narrative game it would be the social combat of Honor + Intrigue

>>96920476
>Read The Alexandrian's blog
No thanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr_80U7Bwkw

>>96922298
oh wow. he didnt give a fuck about a fascist fuck getting the bullet. why did you?

>>96922822
I don't support people being killed over words. I don't support people who support people being killed over words.
Also his TTRPG advice is mostly dogshit, he's honestly worse than Matt Coville. It only appeared otherwise because he stuck to writing a blog so he didn't have the annoying fat-fuck effect that Fatt Coville does.
Three Clue Rule was the only good article he ever had, and most DMs came to that realization if they ever wrote a mystery adventure anyway.

>>96922947
well if we are talking about a genocide promoter not even apologist mind you then yeah i kinda support their death the same way they support the death of others, basically a nation of others.
It seems only fair after all.
>Also his TTRPG advice is mostly dogshit, he's honestly worse than Matt Coville.
Nah, his advice was never revolutionary but his 3rd edition stuff was all useful and he wasnt huffing his own hair dye. Matt Colville has the worst advice in the history of the game. The fat fuck advocates for the dm to striahgt up cheat and shit.
He should be necked outside the nearest convention for saying that publicly on youtube to a million retards

>>96922298
>boo hoo muh kirkggot

AI generated and TTS voiced chud shit. Literally that hack alexandian is better than that.

>>96922087
>Establish a set of clocks Blades in the Dark style about certain plots going around and every sessions move the clock one step towards resolution
Nothing from Blades in the Dark is a good idea.
The only thing "dark" about that game, is the men that the game writer's wife has sex with.
Seriously a huge disappointment of a game. Also he stole that clockwork idea from Apocalypse World, where it was flavorful cause it represented the Doomsday Clock.
"Clocks" isn't a good way of handling entangled plot threads where things affect each other and you need to think about the situation holistically.
That's okay, though, cute little gimmick you saw in a YouTube Short is gonna be what solves all your RPG campaign issues. I forgot everyone nowadays is a snowflake with ADHD so that's the most they can handle.

>>96923946
>>96923045
kek these are the average fa/tg/uys in 2025, but people from 2014 still wanna pretend there wasn't an SJW takeover of the hobby.

>>96924013
>muh sjw boogeyman

You mean normal people. This was never a board for you. Go back to your shithole.

>>96924013
>people from 2014
tell them to buy bitcoin

>>96924013
anon i was here in 2014 and people like you were always disliked with your sjw purple hair feminist tumblrina boogyeman bullshit. It's shits like you that have been trying to ruin this website for more than a decade now with their shitposting.
So just like you were told in 2014, how does any of this shit you cry about influence your table really? because you for sure have friends and play cool games with. right anon?

>>96919958 (OP)
>>96919987
I strongly dislike Graham Turner's art

>>96922298
I said read it, not give him money.

>>96923045
To be fair, 'the GM should just cheat/use fiat' has been advice given for decades, not just by that retard. I'm not against it, if only because you'll lose your players and I might gain a good one.

>>96924013
I don't care about dead youtubers.

>>96925126
Weed crying about weeds being there.

>>96919958 (OP)
To get that you need to give the players factions to run, their resources and the goal that they want and have them comoete for it. Then the rest of it will handle itself. You don't need anything more. Embrace the wargame.

>>96924013
>but people from 2014 still wanna pretend there wasn't an SJW takeover of the hobby.


See picrel

>>96928030
is that goddamn Sinfest?

>>96928030
yeah that's pretty much exactly what happened.
now they call you a "nogames" if you bring it up, and say it doesn't affect you, and tell you how they're all based chads making 200k a year from bitcoin with virgin wives who make them gourmet meals for their weekly games with the same 4 dudes from the past 20 years and they never use any published content. And if you like published content, or want to recruit a new player, you deserve to die for being poor. The best part is I actually have most of what they're talking about, and this SJW bullshit still fucked up my games.
>b-b-b-b-but it's still all your fault because you weren't LITERALLY taken into custody by gaming companies for not indulging in their homoslop
Their level of fauxbertarianism is off the charts.