Politics for RPGs
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What is the Game of Shields?
The Game of Shields is a complete system for introducing politics into your campaign.Many players love political intrigue and would like to include politics into their role-playing games. But playing at politics in RPGs is notoriously difficult. Without a clear system¸ it's hard to keep track of everything. That is why I created the Game of Shields:
Here are some highlights:- Works with any gaming system
You can use the Game of Shields with any gaming system. It works both with systems that require preparing stories like Dungeon & Dragons or Pathfinder¸ and with game systems that have a ‘play to find out' type of gameplay¸ like Faith Core¸ and Dungeonworld. - A visual system
When players do a dungeon crawl¸ they have maps to keep an overview. When they play out an epic combat¸ terrain pieces and miniatures help them keep track of everything. But when playing a political campaign there are no visual aids to keep an overview. In fact¸ most role-playing games don't even have a system for doing politics. - 81 Heraldic shields
The Game of Shields uses a set of 81 Heraldic Shields that allow you and your players to instantly see what the political landscape looks like. Players will know right away who can make an alliance¸ and who isn't even in the same political arena. This saves a lot of time because the DM doesn't have to explain the hundreds of possible interactions between political parties. A unified set of rules helps players and DMs know what to expect¸ which helps with making informed decisions. The visual system also makes it much easier for the DM to track events. - Generate a complex political landscape
Just by placing a set of shields on the gaming table¸ DMs can create a complex political landscape in seconds. No two political arenas will be the same and players can encounter an endless variety of political factions to align with¸ manipulate¸ bribe¸ blackmail¸ or anything else they set their minds to.
In short¸ introducing politics into your campaign is easy with the Game of Shields. It's a simple system that allows for a lot of variety.
This pack includes:- A deck of 81 Heraldic shields.
- A page instruction manual with 4 chapters on setting up¸ managing a political campaign¸ and examples of play.
- Playing the Game of Shields card game as a separate game.
- A set of 20 Political Puzzles (and their solutions) for players to solve.
- Both in printable format for table tops and in digital format for virtual tabletops.