Political Intrigue

Political intrigue is a genre and genre element that deals with power, status, and influence in the political arena. Whether it's a subgenre of a larger setting or the central focus, political intrigue involves struggles for dominance, shifting alliances, treachery, manipulation, secret backroom deals, and political maneuvering of all kinds. It might be subtle and conniving, all about characters maintaining appearances while stabbing each other in the back; or brutal and uncompromising, about the unscrupulousness and desperation of war. As a genre, political intrigue is an exploration of ambition, loyalty, and the nature of power. Unsurprisingly, power politics and intrigue make excellent fodder for tabletop roleplaying games. Political intrigue RPGs might cast players as part of the same faction or mutual coalition working together to achieve a goal, or it might not assume cooperation between players at all, actively setting them at odds with each other and allowing alliances to shift like sand. Intrigue games challenge players' political, tactical, and strategic acumen, and a keen mind and good information can be just as valuable (if not more) than military force. Roleplaying games of political intrigue frequently play with various different types of power: the hard power of strength and violence, the soft power of influence, knowledge, and public opinion, and of course, wealth. These games also explore faction play, where groups of characters, their collective goals, and their combined power are as important as individuals.