Diplomacy Scenarios. . .

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

I got one coming up and I'm looking for tips, tricks, and especially stories from your past campaigns. What works? What doesn't?

[selek]

What is your basic thrust?

I've worked a number of diplomatic scenarios, but you've given us little information to go by....

[Eryx_uk]

Diplomacy based scenarios are the one type of story that I faind doesn't really work very well in any RPG system. Either the players waffle on and the GM either goes with it or doesn't, or it comes down to a dice roll (with or without the waffling).

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

What is your basic thrust?

It's the adventure I posted in the "seeds" thread here.

I've worked a number of diplomatic scenarios, but you've given us little information to go by....

Sorry, I was more interested in hearing other GM stories, but okay!

I decided to do this one to balance out the action/adventure stuff. I try to keep the themes as varied as the TOS eps themselves.

This week is "fairy tale" per my wife's request.

So. . .I got the cultures of both planets set up. The NPCs are pretty well developed. Very Capulet/Montague in tone, but they're willing to thaw out relations if the kids are truly in love.

So here's the problems I'm throwing at them:

- Starfleet is sending the Captain in as officiate for the royal wedding, and therefore as a third party arbiter for the subsequent treaty. The Captain is very inclusive and frequently solicits the advice of the rest of the crew, so no one gets feeling left out.

- I'm throwing in a couple nitpicky "culture clash" issues for captain and crew to settle between the 2 royal families.

- The planetary system is close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. Naturally, it would be unacceptable for a Federation-sponsored peace treaty to be brokered so close to the Empire. So the Tal Shiar is sending in a spy posing as a female Vulcan "Starfleet diplomatic liason." *

The spy's mission is to keep relations destabilized. The spy is also to glean as much info on a cloaking device that was recently stolen, as well as all relevant data on "corbomite." <- The only clue the PCs get that something is amiss. Everyone at the table is a TOS fan, so these are some pretty obvious clues, IMO.

- Later on, the PCs will have to deal with a runaway groom (same as in the video). What's worse is that the groom is a latent empath and can't control it. His dark secret is that women in general want to violently mob him.

Does his fiancee truly love him, or is it just the pheromones or whatever that he's giving off? If the crew manages to catch him before his obsessive ex-GFs do, all's well that ends well. <3 <3 -lol

* While this is an NPC, I also sometimes invite friends who can't play regularly to play as the "special guest" NPC. This would be the 1st time I've had a guest play "the bad guy" though, and she's pretty excited about it. Kinda "KoDT"/PvP in tone. Should be interesting.

[Dan Gurden]

OK, so the synopsis makes it seem more playable. As Eryx has warned a full on diplomatic scenario does not really translate well to an RPG setting unless you have a group that likes to talk in character... All the time... While dwelling over maps and stats (ie brokering a treaty, setting limits to military levels, setting new borders, etc)

I suspect that the perfect diplomatic scenario would be as sopoforific as a works conference. Either they are go0ing to need to stand up and make a speech, or you are going to have to make several. From opposing viewpoints... (If you do this, have them make secret endurance checks to stay awake, either that or the first heckle or snigger, have it held under their breath/whispered and noticed by the captain who sends them outside pronto... Where of course the real adventure is waiting...)

So you need to throw in a twist.

TBH based on what you have said and hinted, you should play up the spy infiltrtion side of things and make it harder based on the runaway groom. If he is an empath you could even start to draw any female characters into an attraction.

Meanwhile the actual diplomacy side of things I would have in the background, something happening that frames the events thus the players are key influences over the treaty in protecting it from interference and from phalandering royal's, even if they never have to set foot in the negotiations...

[The Tatterdemalion King]

If you want the characters actually to care about the diplomatic part, and actually have an effect on the diplomatic part, you gotta figure out what each side actually wants (and, by the same token, why they're at the negotiating table in the first place). It's the same as brokering a deal between a cobbler and a cow farmer in D&D.

[selek]

Dan Gurden stole most of my thunder, but his post (and TDK's) are right on the mark.

Diplomatic meetings are usually (and by design) very dry affairs where the principals state and restate their positions, then repeat the process.

From a gaming perspective, such meetings range from the mind-numbingly soporific to the shrieking-someone-pull-the-fire-alarm-so-we-can-all-escape dull.

Such affairs make for very poor roleplaying experiences.

Best to have the diplomats and state officials doing the monotonous part while your players wander around behind the scenes and deal with the crunchy bits.

For dramatic purposes, the story's climax (and the fate of the negotiations) should rest on one critical event or piece of information- a newly developed weapon that renders the negotiations pointless, a third party spy who's actually trying to prevent a settlement by feeding the paranoia on both sides, or a crisis that threatens them all.

In the case of your run-away groom, the McGuffin will be his safe return- but what if the greatest threat isn't an ex-girlfriend?

Your spy has orders to stop the wedding at any cost- so why what if she planted the "I can't take it and am running away" note as a red herring to cover her kidnapping attempt?

What if the young man was threatened in some way, and is acting to save the girl's life?

If the young prince (this is a fairy tale afterall) really did run away. While the panting mob is looking in the wrong place (disinformation from teh spy?), it then becomes a race between the heroes and the villains to locate the prince first.

An excellent climax for the story (and a bit of a twist) would be to have the heroes and the bride arrive just as the spy and her forces are preparing to kill the poor young fool- and the bride risks her life to save him (thus proving her love for him).

If the spy (once unmasked) turned into a Romulan version of the Baronness (from GI Joe) and tried to seduce the Prince, she could be responsible for the "running away" all along- and offer the Prince a genuine choice between true love and false.

There are a lot of dramatic and thematic possibilities to the scenario- but they cannot take place if they're stuck in a conference room listening to the 23rd century equivalent of Ben Stein droning on about macroeconomics and the mating habit of the Aldeberaan tsetse fly.

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

TBH based on what you have said and hinted, you should play up the spy infiltrtion side of things and make it harder based on the runaway groom. If he is an empath you could even start to draw any female characters into an attraction.

Oh yeah. I agree totally. I was just trying to be brief was all.

If you want the characters actually to care about the diplomatic part, and actually have an effect on the diplomatic part, you gotta figure out what each side actually wants (and, by the same token, why they're at the negotiating table in the first place). It's the same as brokering a deal between a cobbler and a cow farmer in D&D.

Check. Got that. This is a one in a million group of players that really gets into the environment. They ask a lot of questions and I have to be ready for it. So, like what you wrote above, the players will have a stake in it. I don't want each planet to be a mere backdrop, "You've dropped into orbit around Planet Kleenex." That sort of thing.

- The cobbler supplies shoes to the regulars holding the line against Iuz (poor footwear on the battlefield is a -1 Dex penalty).

- The cow farmer is having a very good year and we could really use the beef cattle (malnutrition is -1 to Constitution).

- Both are bitter in-laws of a Master War Wizard, breathing threats to each other that they have favors just waiting to be cashed in w/him.

For dramatic purposes, the story's climax (and the fate of the negotiations) should rest on one critical event or piece of information- a newly developed weapon that renders the negotiations pointless, a third party spy who's actually trying to prevent a settlement by feeding the paranoia on both sides, or a crisis that threatens them all.

Okay, cool. The spy and the arms race are totally covered.

Your spy has orders to stop the wedding at any cost- so why what if she planted the "I can't take it and am running away" note as a red herring to cover her kidnapping attempt?

What if the young man was threatened in some way, and is acting to save the girl's life?

Good ideas.

If the young prince (this is a fairy tale afterall) really did run away. While the panting mob is looking in the wrong place (disinformation from teh spy?), it then becomes a race between the heroes and the villains to locate the prince first.

An excellent climax for the story (and a bit of a twist) would be to have the heroes and the bride arrive just as the spy and her forces are preparing to kill the poor young fool- and the bride risks her life to save him (thus proving her love for him).

Brilliant! That ties it all in nicely.

There are a lot of dramatic and thematic possibilities to the scenario- but they cannot take place if they're stuck in a conference room listening to the 23rd century equivalent of Ben Stein droning on about macroeconomics and the mating habit of the Aldeberaan tsetse fly.

No-no. This was never my intent. I just didn't have a good name for the theme/genre was all.

Thanks again you guys. *thumbsup* Looking forward to hearing your stories.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

- The cobbler supplies shoes to the regulars holding the line against Iuz (poor footwear on the battlefield is a -1 Dex penalty).

- The cow farmer is having a very good year and we could really use the beef cattle (malnutrition is -1 to Constitution).

But why are they talking to each other? What do they need from each other? What's behind the Capuloids' and Montagulians' social or economic position that is pushing them into an adversarial stance?

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

But why are they talking to each other?

They're not. They're threatening each other, but agreed to separate corners for the time being. The Federation brokered a "47 day cease fire." The captain's intervention, along with the wedding, are the only things that will guarantee a treaty.

What do they need from each other? What's behind the Capuloids' and Montagulians' social or economic position that is pushing them into an adversarial stance?

The Genovians (Capuloids) have the favorable orbit in the system and have the most resources. The Andalasians (Montagulians) share the same evolutionary ancestor as the Genovians, and feel their economic rights are being violated. As the less favorable location in the system, they're being passed over during an economic boom--one that keeps growing along with FTL travel.

Thus, the Andalasians are demanding "100% duty free status" in order to maintain equality. The Genovians think the Andalasians are just jealous; they don't see themselves as their sister's keeper. Thus, both sides foster suspicion of one another and feel totally justified in a buildup of orbital tricobalt launch platforms.

Good questions, BTW. I'm never sure how much to post.

[Eryx_uk]

If they have capability to build these orbital weapons platforms, I assume they have warp travel space flight. So, if the Andalasians feel that they are being shafted, why not go to someone else - the Federation or perhaps even the Romulans if they are that close, for trade and stick the finger up at the Genovians?

Not trying to pick holes but for this sort of scenario you need to consider these things.

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

If they have capability to build these orbital weapons platforms, I assume they have warp travel space flight.

Right, but my planets of late have very-very limited warp capability. They're not huge explorers.

So, if the Andalasians feel that they are being shafted, why not go to someone else - the Federation or perhaps even the Romulans if they are that close, for trade and stick the finger up at the Genovians?

Not trying to pick holes but for this sort of scenario you need to consider these things.

Hence, the Federation brokered 47 day cease-fire.

BTW, a 23rd century Romulan Bird-of-Prey can beam down crew while cloaked at the same time. . .right?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

They're not. They're threatening each other, but agreed to separate corners for the time being. The Federation brokered a "47 day cease fire." The captain's intervention, along with the wedding, are the only things that will guarantee a treaty.

Cease-fire implies firing. Who's firing, at what scale?

The Genovians (Capuloids) have the favorable orbit in the system and have the most resources. The Andalasians (Montagulians) share the same evolutionary ancestor as the Genovians, and feel their economic rights are being violated. As the less favorable location in the system, they're being passed over during an economic boom--one that keeps growing along with FTL travel.

Thus, the Andalasians are demanding "100% duty free status" in order to maintain equality. The Genovians think the Andalasians are just jealous; they don't see themselves as their sister's keeper. Thus, both sides foster suspicion of one another and feel totally justified in a buildup of orbital tricobalt launch platforms.

So the Andalasian economy is competing with out-system providers of goods that the Genovians, a richer planet, want (or need)? What kind of goods and services? Are the Andalasians firing on off-worlders coming into the system to drive off competition?

Good questions, BTW. I'm never sure how much to post.

Hell, as much as you want. We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to talk about it : P

[The Tatterdemalion King]

BTW, a 23rd century Romulan Bird-of-Prey can beam down crew while cloaked at the same time. . .right?

Only if they precisely time the transporter beam at the nadir of a limited microsecond decloaking cycle (you know, like the Defiant in TaT). Being on the other side of the planet from the scanning Federation ship might also help. Of course, since it's probably in comm blackout while there, getting to a pre-arranged beamout site on the planet, at the right time, would be necessary for the return trip.

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

Cease-fire implies firing. Who's firing, at what scale?

Gah! Good one.

*thinking*

Hmm. If they ask. . .I'll make it a Cuban Missile Crisis kind of thing. Say some spy ships were shot down. Saboteurs captured on the satellites perhaps?

So the Andalasian economy is competing with out-system providers of goods that the Genovians, a richer planet, want (or need)? What kind of goods and services?

Unobtanium!

lol, I should charge for tickets to this.

Are the Andalasians firing on off-worlders coming into the system to drive off competition?

Interesting! That could be something the Genovians accuse and the Andalasians angrily deny.

*scribble-scribble*

Most of this stuff is already included in the Starfleet orders. Instead of narrating the intro, I email it to the captain in the form of "orders," where he begins the game and directs the crew. Then whatever he does fuels the reaction of the in-game environment.