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Untitled Document
Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #56
5 Tips On Using Bureaucracy In Your Game World
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
5 Tips On Using Bureaucracy In Your Game World
- Bureaucracy Makes Good Roleplaying
- Use Bureaucracy As A Pacing Tool
- Be Creative Where You Install Bureaucracy
- Bureaucracy Is A Method For Villains
- Examples Of Bureaucracy's Methods
Return to Contents
A Brief Word From Johnn
Your Tips Submissions Always Welcome!
=====================================
Thanks to everyone for your tips emails! I've been receiving feedback on topics
from recent and archived issues and always enjoy hearing from you. I read every
one and then permanently file them in a special folder for future reference. I
publish the best 1-5 tips in each week's issue.
I also frequently peruse all the tips and feedback you send in for topic ideas
and improvement ideas. If you don't see your tip published in the ezine or in
a supplemental issue, please understand that it is still valuable to me and all
the subscribers because it's helping me publish a better newsletter.
Good Consumer Experience At Hyperbooks.com
==========================================
While our sponsor, FunUSA.com, is an excellent, secure and very reliable place
to purchase your RPG sourcebooks and games from, HyperBooks Online has a few products
which can only be obtained through their web site. The Fractal
Mapper software is one example.
I've known about Hyperbooks.com for awhile, and I was taken to their site this
week after clicking the order link at the Fractal Mapper's web site. I just wanted
to report that my credit card transaction was successfully processed within 24
hours. I received a professional and orderly email confirmation statement along
with clear download instructions. And Fractal Mapper downloaded quickly and easily
and worked perfectly after installation.
Sometimes e-purchasing can be "iffy" if you don't know much about who your are
doing business with, but my experiences have proven to me that Hyperbooks.com
and FunUSA.com are definitely trustworthy merchants.
(HyperBooks has not rewarded me in anyway for this testimonial -- I'm just letting
you know about another good online RPG resource, one that I've wondered about
for some time now :)
Cheers,
Johnn Four johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Return to Contents
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Return to Contents
5 Tips On Using Bureaucracy In Your Game World
- Bureaucracy Makes Good Roleplaying
Dictionary.com says bureaucracy is "an administrative system in which the
need...to follow complex procedures impedes effective action."
GMs, you can use this to your great advantage to create roleplaying-based
encounters in your sessions!
Imagine the following:
- The party's mage needs to use the city's library for research. The librarian
asks to see the mage's pass. The mage asks where she can get one and is
told to see the mage's guild office. She goes there (it's across town)
but is told she needs to get a membership first. The clerk is all out
of applications but there are some at the library. The mage returns to
the library only to find that it closes at noon, unless you have a pass
to show the guard outside...
- The barbarian, victorious from a recent dungeon raid, plunks down his
bag of gold and points at the big, shiny axe mounted on the wall. The
arms merchant starts counting the coin but suddenly stops and says "oh,
this coin doesn't bear the King's face. I'm afraid you need to exchange
it for King's currency with the exchequer at the palace. It's illegal
for me to take this money."
The barbarian stomps off to the palace and demands an appointment with
the exchequer. Upon hearing that the money is fresh from a dungeon, the
official asks where the barbarian is staying and who else was travelling
with the warrior. Then the official discreetly orders a small army of
guards to go to the barbarian's inn, seize all money and goods and to
arrest the barbarian's friends. Then he also places the barbarian under
arrest.
You see, the barbarian and his friends broke a number of laws concerning
bringing loot into the city. Ancient loot can carry strange diseases,
curses and plagues. The original owners of the loot may try to get it
back. Not to mention there's the royal tax, of course....
Next time you want to create an encounter that involves roleplaying, tension
and conflict, think bureaucracy. :)
Return to Contents
- Use Bureaucracy As A Pacing Tool
If you want to slow things down, buy time to think and plan, or just limit
the PCs in some way, bureaucracy is the perfect tool.
Use laws, procedures, paperwork and delays between each step to accomplish
what you need.
This technique is best used if the PCs' are already somewhat aware of what
they are up against ahead of time. Suddenly springing strange rules or laws
on them may appear arbitrary or heavy-handed to the players (unless they are
new to the area).
So, plant seeds before the bureaucratic need arises:
- Create your own loose set of guidelines (i.e. tax everything you can
without pushing the area into rebellion) so you can GM consistently
- Officials can post vague notices about new and changed laws
- Friendly warnings from helpful NPCs
- Area knowledge skill checks
Examples of pacing:
- Travel permits (local and foreign) restrict travel plans
- Treasure Tax (it will take time for officials to count all that loot,
detect for magic and curses and record everything--the PCs may be without
their treasure for awhile)
- Passes and visas (i.e. libraries, city districts)
- Building permits slows those castle plans down
- Party and special event permits
- Magic item and foreign technology quarantine
Return to Contents
- Be Creative Where You Install Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is not just an affliction of big government. Be creative where
you use it:
- Guilds (i.e. dues, memberships, approved activities, promotion)
- Churches (i.e. tithes, promotion, meeting with officials)
- Social organizations (i.e. membership, rules of conduct, favours)
- Tribal councils (i.e. making decisions, passing laws, granting priviledges)
- Committees and meetings (i.e. co-ordinating, consensus, agendas)
Any place where there's organization and authority you have a chance to add
in a little bureaucracy to liven things up.
Return to Contents
- Bureaucracy Is A Method For Villains
You can help players become more involved in your stories by making them really
despise the villain. And bureaucracy is a perfect way to do that!
Perhaps your villain is employing cruel or unusual laws and rules. Or, in
indirect attacks against the PCs, the villain pulls bureaucratic strings to
make sure the heroes are delayed, severely penalized or worse.
Return to Contents
- Examples Of Bureaucracy's Methods
Here are some examples of the evil methods of bureaucracies you can easily
insert into your campaign:
- Taxes and processing
- Memberships
- Permits
- Unsympathetic officials
- Corrupt officials
- Distant offices
- Confusing hierarchies
- Public scrutiny
And:
- Processing time
- Delays
- Mistakes
- Lost files
- Prying questions
- Application forms
- Audits
- Unjust decisions
- Bribes
- Inflexible rules
Return to Contents
Do you have any bureaucracy tips or stories to share? Send 'em in to johnn@roleplayingtips.com.
Thanks!
READER'S TIPS OF THE WEEK:
- Helping Players Empathize
From: Tris
============================
The best device I ever dreamed up while GMing, was to make the players meet
themselves....or to be more precise meet people in their situation.
The characters had, at that point, deserted from an army, and were making
their way back towards their home city. They met a group of men, some of whom
had items of clothing which the group had seen before while they were marching
with the army. The characters approached slowly and were approached equally
cautiously by the men. It took about 15 minutes of tense roleplaying, neither
side willing to volunteer information, until they finally realised that they
were both in the same boat.
The players actually laughed with nervous release when they realised what
was going on.
- Blindness & Silence Tricks
From: Pete Stevens
=============================
My tip on how to make good role-playing sessions:
Used sparingly, having enemy spell casters can be extremely effective. Casting
blindness or silence on the party is great fun. When I cast blindness on a
character I force the player to wear a blindfold the whole time. Since I draw
out all of my room maps rather than desribing them this means that the other
players have to do all of the room description to this player. Similar for
silence spells I forbid the players to talk to anyone other than to the GM.
This encourages hilarious role-playing between the players and makes these
spells *greatly* feared. It requires players who can take a joke and public
humiliation though.
- Finding Inspiration
From: Roberta Barnhart
=========================
Shake the cobwebs loose from your brain by reading a sourcebook from a completely
different game. Even if you never plan on PLAYING the game, just thinking
in a different genre might be enough to trigger an adventure idea or two.
For instance, if you normally play D&D, reading the Vampire: The Masquerade
or Werewolf: The Apocolypse might shake some ideas loose (how about a SYMPATHETIC
vampire or werewolf pack?).
- Perfect Gaming Environment?
From: Gareth Hodges
==============================
We have just shifted from gaming in our living room, sprawled on couches,
to gaming at the kitchen table, and it's made a huge difference. The players
aren't falling asleep as much, and out-of-game conversation has dropped off
a lot since people are much closer together. I know that most people probably
already game at the table (hence tabletop), but it'd be interesting to see
what other groups do to structure the gaming experience at a player level.
The props issue had a few ideas. What are people's "perfect" game situation?
[Johnn: I'd be interested in hearing about perfect gaming environments too.
Send your gaming environment tips to johnn@roleplayingtips.com]
- A New Year's Idea
From: Jim Anuszczyk
======================
Hi Johnn,
Your question about whether or not worlds include new years celebrations inspired
me to write in for the first time. The world I'm currently running, The City
States of Shaturia (home grown), has a very distinct new years that others
might find interesting.
In this land, the moon only cycles once per year. At the dead of winter the
days are very short and there is no moon at all for roughly two weeks. This
time is hell on earth. The evil powers plan all year for the destruction and
domination that will occur during the days of darkness. Many of the evil organizations
based out of the northern wilderness have prizes for the best trophies their
members can bring back from the "civilized lands".
The player characters in this game are no heroes, but even these scoundrels
recognize the need to protect the people they buy all their equipment from.
So, come mindwinter night (new years), the towns on the edge of the wilderness
become very strange places where everyone puts aside their differences and
band together for common defense.
I think it's quite likely that the player characters will find themselves
fighting right beside the local baron who they've had all kinds of trouble
with since the autumnal equinox. It should be interesting.
Thanks for the great newsletter.
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