Revealing Plots and Conspiracies

question
#1

Oy shields!

Something I have done wrong before is the lack of plot reveal and/or information about conspiracies going on around the PCs.
I do NOT want to make that mistake again.
We’re only 2 sessions in and the party is going out on happy go lucky adventures until they return to the “safety” of the Valley the live in.
My main plot revolves around one of the Council members wanting to expand outside of the Valley but that can only be done en masse since it’s a dangerous world and the valley is sheltered. He really means well but have put in motion a plan for when the other Council members together with the clan chieftains reject his “foolish” goals. I mean for the PCs to get involved and be smack in the middle of it sooner or later but I am unsure how much info to give or hint at.
A few of the players played a oneshot with NPCs from the campaign that uncovered by accident a member from the Hidden Hand clan rounding up Goblins for unknown reasons. It is to use them as extra warriors to take over the Valley together with another clan at the next Allting meeting of all the clans.

What is your way when it comes to plot reveals?

#2

Subtle is never good, unless your group are a bunch of paranoid conspiracy in every bush types.

If you leave it up to rolls of the dice, it can go in any direction.

Might depend on the nature of the adventure, if it is a mystery, roll a d4 and let their d4 idea that fits be the reality.

Every time I thought I was being semi-obvious, giving PCs premonitions, allegoric dreams… it never caught on. When I was being sneaky, rather it was a conclusion jumped to very fast or the players thought it was very contrived and would have been impossible with the info available.

I like the characters uncover something…or see something they are not supposed to. Not the Players trying to connect loose threads.

A patron npc that a bad guy shuts up when the NPCs name is mentioned. And the seems scared.

But RPGs are not great venues for subtlety unless the group is dialed in for that.

#3

Remember: you can always make them roll. Regardless of what they roll, you give them all the information you were going to give them. If they rolled well, they feel good. If they rolled poorly, they’ll want to investigate to find out what they “missed” because of the bad roll. :wink:

#4

I think you a) need to be obvious, and b) use a format your players like (handouts, NPCs speaking in funny voices, visions, exposition, …).

Personally, I’m allergic to dream visions in RPGs, so if I have to suffer through one I’ll only pay 1% of the attention I’d give a handout. by contrast, many of the ppl I play with find handouts distracting and much prefer silly voices. So in my experience, obvious information can easily stop being obvious if delivered through the “wrong” channel.

#5

Make a list of all the potential clues and plot threads, then pepper them throughout the locations and NPC interactions for them to start piecing together. If the clues are needed in order to move things forward, place at least 3 clues in each location for them to find.

#6

I agree with keeping things obvious. I’ve definitely been chafed by convoluted schemes as both a player and DM.

To get it out there but not so obvious a threat for now, one of the denying council members could mention this NPC’s plan while asking the PCs to do a quest for him.

"It’s all hog-wash! ‘We’re safe here’ I said. You all have seen outside the valley, it’s horrible! But that glint in his eye, I’m certain he didn’t listen to a word I said."

#7

I’ve red somewhere that if you wanted your players to find secret passages you had to give them a hint like:“Smoke comes out of the floor in the corner of the room!” So use that technic for social encounters, too.

If it’s not too obvious, use the rule of 3. The first hint players might not even notice. The second time they’ll wonder if it was just a random detail… and the third time they’ll definitely know that something is afoot! >:D

#8

However obvious it seems to the DM, it’s normally not nearly as easy for players to figure out. The players might not even be interested in figuring secret plots out - they may just want to smash goblins.

I’d make sure that the important parts of a plot or conspiracy are impossible to miss in the course of the adventure. If you originally plan that “The letter implicating the Councilman is in the Goblin’s pocket,” but no one loots the dead goblin, make sure that the letter is in the locked chest in the corner of the room that the players are all trying to get into now.

And if they start believing something else and don’t get the plot or conspiracy “correct,” consider making their wrong guess the new correct answer and change your planned plot/conspiracy to fit. It’s hard for the players to miss the conspiracy if you change the conspiracy to match the theory they came up with. Plus, its fun for them to be right.

#9

Maybe not super helpful, but I found that the Three Clue Rule is essential when trying to do any sort of mystery/intrigue campaign.

#10

:point_up:

This. This is the advice I was going to give. As others have said, subtlety is never good. As a player, I hate feeling like the truth is so far out of my gasp that I don’t know where to turn next. I don’t think there is anything wrong with giving players a few leads to follow, but they have to be explicit and help lead to a complete picture.