Running an Intrigue

The instructions for creating and running Intrigues in the 5th Edition Rule Book are not very clear. The idea of working towards a cumulative momentum goal is fine. However, in the books, it is not clear what the total momentum should be, or when intrigues should be used. In the RPG modules, there are sample intrigues. However, all of these intrigues have one, single goal. In talking with the game designers, I learned that there was an expectation of PVP in intrigues that does not commonly apply at RPG tables. Therefore, I've create this set of Intrigue guidelines to help people set up and run intrigues in their own games.

When to Use an Intrigue

Intrigues should be considered to be a Social Combat. Just as combats generally have multiple Opponents that must be defeated by the characters, intrigues have multiple Goals that must be defeated by the characters. Just as combat vs. one overpowering enemy is rare and generally not well balanced within a game and should be rare, an Intrigue vs. one large goal should be rare.

The overall purpose of an Intrigue will generally be to either:

Persuade an NPC
Discern Information or Research a topic
Discredit an NPC
Distract NPCs while something else is occurring outside of the Intrigue

Intrigues can be Investigative as well as purely Social. However, all Intrigues should be Opposed in some fashion; there should be a group or faction that is trying to stop the players from what they are doing. There should also be risks if the intrigue fails.

Example:
Kaori, Toshiki, Kotori, Tsolmon, And Kyono have learned that a bloodspeaker cult has taken over a village on the border of a Local Daimyo's territory. They need troops in order to defeat the cultists so they travel to the Daimyo's castle.
The GM decides to create an Intrigue to Persuade the Daimyo to send assistance.
The Intrigue is being generally opposed by bloodspeakers who may have infiltrated the court, and by Otomo Mori, who wants the Daimyo to focus on providing a courteous and dignified experience to him during his stay.

Step 1: Develop One Goal Per Player

The overall purpose of the Intrigue should then be broken down into a set of Goals. Each Player in the party needs to start the intrigue with one Goal.

At first, the GM should prepare the list of goals ahead of time so that the players may each select one Goal for the social combat. Eventually, all the goals can be developed by the Players, but this should be done after the players are familiar with the system and the Gamemaster's style, and when there is time to discuss preparing for the Intrigue.

If there are characters that are significantly lower in level than rest of the PCs in the party, or if a desired goal is extremely difficult, it is all right to make one or two fewer goals than PCs and allow PCs to double up, if necessary. Modify Momentum requirements accordingly.
Once the party is very experienced in working together in intrigues, it is possible to create one large intrigue task. This takes expertise to balance as an encounter and should be saved for later.

Example Goals:

Persuade an NPC	Force an NPC to embarrass themselves	Persuade a Crowd
Distract an NPC	Intimidate an NPC	Find a Key Resource in a Crowd
Block an NPC from interfering	Rally a Crowd	Find Information about an NPC
Find Information about a Place	Extol a Person (including yourself)	Disparage a Person
Provoke an NPC	Force an NPC to confess a Secret	Learn a Secret in the Environment

THE GM DETERMINES TWO OF THE GOALS WOULD BE:
1) PERSUADE THE DAIMYO THAT THERE IS A BLOODSPEAKER THREAT IN THE VILLAGE
2) IDENTIFY ANY BLOODSPEAKER SPIES IN THE COURT WHO MIGHT REPORT BACK TO THE CULT

Multiple Goals can be targeted against the same person, if necessary. Multiple PCs can also have similar Goals.

The GM Adds an Additional Goal:
3) Persuade the Daimyo to act Promptly before the Imperial Legions come to his Territory

Goals can be used to modify the TNs for other goals. A primary goal might have a very high Momentum required to complete the goal, but if a secondary goal is completed first, it will lower the Momentum required for the primary goal.

The GM decides that Otomo Mori will try to distract the Daimyo, which would make it Harder the PCs to Persuade the Daimyo. Therefore he adds an additional Goal:
4) BLOCK OTOMO MORI FROM DISTRACTING THE DAIMYO WHILE THE OTHERS NEGOTIATE

Players may choose to develop their own, alternate goal instead, if they prefer.

Tsolmon decides that he wants to use the Intrigue to Discredit his personal Enemy, Shika Oda, who happens to be a member of the Daimyo's Court. With GM Approval, He adds The goal
5) Discredit Shika Oda

If a player wants their character to undermine or oppose the actions of another PC in the Intrigue, or has a hidden agenda, they might want to create hidden goals, especially if PVP is expected.

KYONO DECIDES THAT HE WANTS TO WIN OTOMO MORI'S PERSONAL FAVOR for personal gain, BUT HE DOES NOT WANT THE OTHER PLAYERS TO KNOW. WITH GM APPROVAL, HE ADDS THE SECRET GOAL:
6) IMPRESS OTOMO MORI

The Intrigue does not require a rolled NPC actively attempting to negate the PCs goals, but it can. These NPCs should also have goals.

The GM Determines that, in this Intrigue, the PCs are opposed by Shika Oda and the Bloodspeaker Spy. He sets their goals as:
Shika Oda: Discredit Tsolmon
Spy: Discredit or Counter Toshiki or Kaori without being Caught, or flee

Step 2: Determine How the Intrigue can end

The GM must determine when the Intrigue will end. This will determine how much time the PCs have to achieve their goals. There can be more than one ending for an Intrigue; the ending reached first will terminate the Intrigue.

Possible Ways to End an Intrigue:

When the Primary Goal (often set as the goal with the highest Momentum Cost) has been accomplished
After X Number of Turns
When a character in the scene Unmasks
When an opposing Character achieves their Primary Goal

The GM determines that the Intrigue will end either:
- After 5 Turns
- One Turn After Goals 1 and 2 have Both been successfully completed
OR - One Turn after someone present at the Scene Unmasks

Step 3: Determine what happens if each Goal is not acheived

Some Goals have important consequences, and some might have very few. For each goal, the GM should determine what happens if that goal is not accomplished.
Goals can also modify the Momentum required to achieve another goal, making a harder easier to accomplish if it is completed in time.

Example Consequences:

Greater numbers of enemies later	Missed Clues	Loss of a Resource
Higher Momentum Requirements	Loss of Honor	Additional Strife
Loss of Surprise	Loss of Glory	Giving Information to your Enemies
Escape of an Enemy	Incurrence of a Debt	A Negative Rumor

The GM Determines the following Consequences of Failure:
1) PERSUADE THE DAIMYO OF THE BLOODSPEAKER THREAT = Primary Goal. The Intrigue Fails. The Players will either have to attack the Bloodspeakers alone or find another ally
2) IDENTIFY BLOODSPEAKER SPIES IN THE CROWD = ESCAPE OF THE BLOODSPEAKER CELL LEADER BEFORE THEY ARRIVE
3) PERSUADE THE DAIMYO TO ACT QUICKLY = The Village is prepared when the Final Attack is made
4) BLOCK OTOMO MORI = Increase Momentum of goal 1) by +4
5) DISCREDIT SHIKA ODA= Contested with Shika Oda - None unless Oda succeeds at their Goal
6) IMPRESS OTOMO MORI = None

Step 4: Determine Goal Momentum Values

As a Rule of Thumb, the total Momentum needed to achieve a goal is the Focus value of the target of the Goal. This can be modified greatly by the specific request and how inclined the target is to make it easy.

Very Hard: +4 or more Momentum
Hard: +2 Momentum
Easy: -1 Momentum
Very Easy: -2 Momentum

The TN for actions towards those momentum goals depend on the actions chosen by the PCs. In general, Vigilance of the target is used as the TN for most social actions. This can be modified by the Demeanor of the target. For goals where the target is a crowd of people, or hidden information, vigilance of the person hiding could be use, or the GM can make up an appropriate TN.

The GM sets the following Momentum Costs:
1) PERSUADE THE DAIMYO OF THE BLOODSPEAKER THREAT = [Daimyo Focus + 6 due to Mori's interferance]
2) IDENTIFY BLOODSPEAKER SPIES IN THE CROWD = [Spy's Focus + 2]
3) PERSUADE THE DAIMYO TO ACT QUICKLY = [Daimyo Focus]
4) BLOCK OTOMO MORI = [Mori's Focus]
5) DISCREDIT SHIKA ODA = Contested with Shika Oda, Generally Oda's Composure
6) IMPRESS OTOMO MORI = [Mori's Focus]

The GM can choose to set Momentum goals for the Opponents of the PCs, or simply allow them to attempt to reduce Momentum of the PCs.

HIKA ODA: DISCREDIT TSOLMON = 2X TSOLMON'S GLORY
SPY: Move out of the Court Chamber in 5 Rounds

Step 5: Have Players select Goals

Goals are not assigned. Each player must choose a goal from the list of goals based on their shuji and other abilities.
There should only be one Goal per Player total UNLESS a player is taking a secret goal AND wants to appear to be taking a non-secret goal. If this happens, the non-secret goal is still there, but not being advanced against.

From the list of goals:
Toshiki takes: 1) Persuade the Daimyo of the Bloodspeaker Threat
Kaori Takes: 4) Persuade the Daimyo to act Quickly and Without Support
Kotori Takes: 2) Identify Bloodspeaker Spies in the crowd
Tsolmon Takes: 5) Discredit Shika Oda
Kyono SAYS he takes: 3) Block Otomo Mori,
but He chooses to automatically fail that goal to take: 6) Impress Otomo Mori

Note: During the Intrigue, at the end of their turn, a PC may choose to abandon a goal before it is finished or trade a goal with another PC. If a goal is abandoned, it is marked lost unless another PC picks it up. If it is lost, the consequences of failure are applied at the end of the Intrigue.

Step 6: Begin the Intrigue

Once each player has selected a goal, roll for Initiative and the Intrigue can begin.
Each character takes an action in Initiative Order. If there are directly opposing NPCs, they also roll initiative and take turns.

Shuji in Intrigues can serve to make it easier to complete a Momentum goal by guiding a character to tackle the goal with a preferred approach, or allow a character do secondary goals or additional tasks while they are working towards their primary goal. This can gain them momentum or suggest approaches that would lower the total Momentum Required.

Opportunities earned during an intrigue can provide bonuses to other characters within the same scene working on different Goals.

Tsolmon has the Shuji: Prey on the Weak. They decide that they will Discredit Oda by forcing them to Unmask in public. They will use other shuji, such as Fanning the Flames, to increase Oda's strife until they are compromised.

Shika Oda has the shuji: Way of the Court. The GM decides they will use that to discredit Tsolmon to the crowd. If they succeed, the GM will give Air+Bonus Successes towards their momentum Goal of humiliating Tsolmon.

Step 7: Complete Goals

Once a player has successfully completed a goal, they can choose to assist another player in completing their goal, as long as the Intrigue is not yet complete. This allows PCs that are skilled courtiers to help less skilled PCs finish their actions, or helps lucky PCs assist with even the hardest Goals if their own is complete. It also allows goals that were abandoned due to Secret actions to be resumed.

The Intrigue is going well.
- TOSHIKI is having difficulty meeting the primary goal (1) Persuade the Daimyo of the Bloodspeaker Threat), because the total Momentum is +4 because of Otomo Mori's interference.
- Kaori completes her goal (2) Persuade the Daimyo to Act quickly). On her next turn, She chooses to assist Toshiki on Goal 1) Persuade the Daimyo of the Bloodspeaker Threat.
- Kotori has not found the Spy yet, but she is using her knowledge of Culture and Sentiment to review groups of the attendees at court to determine if any of them are behaving suspiciously.
- Tsolmon has Compromized Oda, and is holding off on using Prey on the Weak to give more time for Kaori and Toshiki to Persuade the Daimyo. He is trying to prevent Oda's rumor-mongering.
- Kyono has completed his Goal (6) Impress Otomo Mori), but realizes that Toshiki is having difficulty, so he takes the new goal (4) Block Otomo Mori) in the hopes that he can bring down the total TN for Toshiki.

When one of the completion criteria for the Intrigue is done, the intrigue comes to an end in a way appropriate to the goal: Court Ends in victory or embarrassment.
Then the consequences of the goals that are failed are summarized and played out.

Kyono succeeds at blocking Otomo Mori as well, with the GM giving him a bonus on blocking him due to the new friendship he acheived with his previous goal.
That brought the TN to Persuade the Daimyo by 4.
With Kaori's assistance, Toshiki was able to finish persuading the Daimyo.
Tsolmon succeeded on Preying on the Weak, but Oda did not unmask. They lost Glory and departed the Scene quickly.
Since Oda was able to finish their rumor before they left, they did manage to cause some damage to Tsolmon's reputation as they wanted to.
Kotori was not able to find the spy before the Spy left. When the party goes with the Daimyo's soldiers to the Bloodspeaker Village, they will find that the leader of the Bloodspeaker Cell has escaped before the Party Arrives, gone to cause trouble elsewhere.

Where they wait for our Party to follow and Fight another day.

I hope this example helps you create your own Intrigues!