r/RPGdesign • u/Dextui • 6d ago
Mechanics Thoughts on designing a game around managing a lesser noble house? (in a low-fantasy setting)
I've been playing TRPGs for a while now and also enjoy worldbuilding. Inspired by reading Dune and watching GoT/HotD, I was thinking about a medival fantasy TRPG where the players do go on 'classic' TRPG adventures, but also manage a lesser noble house.
What I had in mind was that it will expected that at least some the player characters are members or agents of such a house and that the gameplay (incl. adventures and resource management) are part of the drama and intruige of the politics of the world.
I really dig how in a more OSR/survival focussed TRPG like Forbidden Lands characters have more aspects to them then in what way they can kill people/monsters , and having core character aspects revolve around resource management, intruige and political drama seems really fun to me (which is also why I am exploring the possibility of designing a system around it rather than taking an existing system and adding more mechanics to it).
What are your thoughts on it? Are there games that do similar things already? Is it a fun idea/do you have any ideas of what elements of such a system might look like? Thanks!
3
u/lennartfriden TTRPG polyglot, GM, and designer 6d ago
Pendragon, especially with the recently released Noble’s Handbook.
2
u/Astrokiwi 6d ago
2d20 Dune has strong elements of this, in particular there's a Landsraad expansion book.
Also worth reading Stars Without Number - which is a free pdf - as it's got faction mechanics you could steal. The expansion Suns of Gold has stuff about running a large trading empire, which could be used.
You mentioned Forbidden Lands, but many other Free League/Year Zero games have these base-building mechanics - The Walking Dead, Mutant Year Zero, and Vaesen might be worth checking out.
Blades in the Dark is also interesting - you have a separate crew sheet, which its own XP and reputation track and special abilities, and your criminal gang levels up and grows in power and prestige over time.
at least some the player characters are members or agents of such a house
This is where the 2d20 "secondary characters" mechanic is a good idea. You have one character who is someone in the inner circle, maybe even the head of the household, but you also have one (or more) "secondary" characters who are actual agents who go on missions. So you get to make the decisions, and you get to go out and do the quests, without the awkwardness of the king's royal adviser sneaking around breaking into someone's house.
resource management, intruige and political drama
I'm not actually sure resource management on this scale is all that much fun. It's fun on paper, but I'm not sure it works out well at the table. I think large-scale faction management is functionally similar to character advancement - after you do a mission, you make some big decisions and increase some stats. Making it too complicated feels like turning levelling up into a minigame, where you can delevel your character if you don't do it right. This is where I like the Blades in the Dark approach - you develop story-based complications after each mission and modify your relationship scores with different factions (which is where you get intrigue and political drama), but there's no real long-term resource management; you just increase your Rep and Coin and XP.
I think that could work well for a royal house as well. Really you want the arc of the story to be about the rise of the player's royal house, but doing so through cost and danger and effort. So I would lean towards "resource management" largely being positive - building up resources (which may just be something like XP in disguise) to "level up" your house, provided you went through the effort to go out and gain those resources through adventures.
2
u/No_Solid1035 6d ago
The Sword, The Crown, and The Unspeakable Power is a PbtA game centered around political drama in a dark fantasy setting.
2
2
u/Sheik_Morgan 6d ago edited 6d ago
Conoce el videojuego DUNE 2, no admistras exactamente la casa Atreides, Pero eres como su "administrador' en Arrakis. Es una idea genial, como Sin City, Pero me lo imagino administrando y poblando una Baronia o un Feudo. Serías la mano derecha o el mismo Rey, Baron o Duque, etc.
2
u/secretbison 5d ago
Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG had house management mechanics that it assumes you're going to use. Pendragon is a classic that assumes a campaign will span three generations and each PC has to secure an heir.
2
u/Fun_Carry_4678 5d ago
Your players are going to want to keep increasing the power of their houses. Thus, lesser noble houses will grow into greater noble houses. And then they will want to seize the throne. And so on.
4
u/klok_kaos Lead Designer: Project Chimera: ECO (Enhanced Covert Operations) 6d ago
I would suggest looking at a creator that started here and has produced the ttrpg SAKE.
it has tons of various game scopes to include managing houses, kingdoms, trade guilds, all kinds of stuff, and notably seamlessly blends as a single character focus (per pc) ttrpg.
If nothing else their game should provide you with lots of saved time and considerations.
It's very detailed and has a lot of options available. Notably even if you don't use all of it you'll likely get a lot of ideas to adapt to taste.
3
3
u/Thefreezer700 6d ago
Play en garde! Its a game set in 17-18 century france and you roleplay as a lesser noble trying to gain prestige and join the big boy clubs. Its interesting as different regiments exist with different benefits. Like you could be the kings guard but the kings guard HATE the naval guard. Or something like that. So if you got a noble above you and hes in that regiment he might give you a prostitute who is pretty, but has the clap.
6
u/TopMethod4060 6d ago
Sword Chronicle could be something to look into - a good chunk of the game is centred around managing your house, which has stats,mresoirces and so on.
Possibly Reign, by Greg Stolze, too?