Playing Intrigue, wat do?

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

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DSMatticus
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Post by DSMatticus »

Heads up - the 5E artificer is supremely, stupendously, staggeringly, indescribably shitty. Your big thing is that you get a couple free magic items as you progress and that you can put your spells in objects for anyone to use. The magic items you can choose from are complete shit and your spell list caps out at a whopping level 4 and is also complete shit, so it's impossible to have any fun whatsoever with this. Artifacer doesn't get anything. It has nothing to offer to anyone who is trying to do anything.

Generally, if you aren't sure how you're going to fit into a campaign, just play Supporty McEnabler. Figure out what the other characters are trying to do. Think of a character that will make them say "hey, it would be nice to have this person around to do a thing." Figure out what the other characters' motivations are. Think of a motivation that lets you help them without any awkward conflicts as obstacles.

In the context of an intrigue game, muscle is a Supporty McEnabler. You don't have to scheme, but because you're there other players are going to think about how to use you in their schemes. But note that 'muscle' in an intrigue game is not Mr. Punchman. It's Mr. Cloak and Dagger. It doesn't have to be a secret what you are, but you do have to do what you do quietly with plausible deniability. And if it is also a secret what you are, that's fine too. It's also a role that can grow into proper intriguing. Spymasters are a thing.

Diviner is a Supporty McEnabler. It, too, is a role that can grow into proper intriguing. If you're a cleric, that leaves the door open to the wonderful world of religious politics.

I honestly do not know what else I would do in D&D 5E. The system just doesn't have interesting abilities for this kind of shit, so what does it matter? Either I'm a monk/rogue because it will generate the most generous DM rulings for a skillmonkey or I'm a wizard/cleric because they have ALL THE MAGIC!!1!.
Last edited by DSMatticus on Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
hyzmarca
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Post by hyzmarca »

Prak wrote:Knowing the group, I believe we'll be working with each other. Our previous game was ended due to my paladin's impetuousness. Just being a paladin who goes and strikes out against evil without much concern for what future complications that will cause (we'll burn that bridge when we get to it) was enough to cause issues, so we're most likely going to be working together.
Play an Old Spice Gentleman.

It's technically for Pathfinder, but can be adapted. Ask your GM.

Or act like an Old Spice Gentleman, anyway.

In this set up, you'd be the Front Man.

The Frontman isn't supposed to be subtle. He's the social and diplomatic equivilant of a tank. He talks to their front so that the other players can stab them in the back.



Alternately, method act. Instead of trying to make one subtle character, write up several character sheets, at least five, with all the same stats, but different classes, motivations, and personalities, maybe genders. And use all of them.

One of them would be your real character, that is, the character that you're actually playing, and he would be that class and have those skills.

The other sheets would be personas he has cultivated for his spy games and cons. You don't really have those class abilities or those skills, but when you're in those disguises no one knows that.
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Prak
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Post by Prak »

Ok, so we did a session 0 today, and I talked to both my femmefriend/DM privately, and the group as a whole about my reservations about the game. I have a better handle on things, and a better idea of what I do that causes bad tension in the group.

One concern that I had about the diviner/artificer idea/s was that I was creating a character who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, because I was trying to make a character who wouldn't cause problems in the group the most assured way I knew how- make a character who doesn't do anything. Which sounds incredibly boring to play.

I thought about playing a character based on Sam Vimes from the Discworld books, and then found out that one of the players was looking at playing a LE Rogue/Monk, so that wouldn't work at all.

So I thought a bit, and decided I wanted to play a Fixer. That seemed like a character who would be fun to play, and incentivize me to think a bit more before I go off and fuck shit up in ways that come back on the group.

So I've got a Ghostwise Halfling Bard of the Whisper College who happens to own the Bathhouse in Baldur's Gate and I'm way more excited about this game, now.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Hicks
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Post by Hicks »

Lemme preface this by saying that I don't 5e, so some or all of my stuff my either not work or not exist in that edition.

Enchantment, divination, Bluff, diplomacy, Sense Motive, listen. The whole thing about intrigue is that you know things and by knowing those things you have leverage on other people. And then there's mind control / charm / Diplomacy, all of which just give you leverage on other people. The point of intrigue is to get other people to fight your battles for you, whether those battles be social in nature (gaining the influence of the king because you have the right answer to the crisis at hand that saves his kingdom and his advisors didn't have a plan of action, because you manufactured the crisis and had allies of allies stymie the efforts of the king's advisors to act or plan with any effacy) or just regular combat (where you win because you arranged for the enemy to be without food for the last week and you convince a tribe of giants to smash their faces in; you are far from the front lines og giants and starving enemies because you arranged for your enemy's situation and failure last week, and now get to dine on dates and ambrosia while your foes taste the buisness end of a giant's club).
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