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Mastering Intrigue / Intrigue Systems / Intrigue Themes

Law and Order

Source Ultimate Intrigue pg. 101
In a campaign where characters serve as part of the criminal justice system, such as detectives or lawyers, Measures and Countermeasures and The Power of Secrets are the two most important intrigue elements. Much like investigative or courtroom TV shows, games using this theme tend to be somewhat episodic in nature, with a “mystery of the week” or “case of the week,” though they still likely carry a significant plotline that keeps popping up over the course of the campaign.

For a group of detectives, mysteries involve unraveling the holes in the criminals’ countermeasures against detection, mirroring the way criminals seek to defeat the countermeasures defending their targets. Each mystery might draw the detectives deeper into a web of intrigue and connected plots, and they might be forced to make a hard decision when their investigations unearth disturbing truths about those around them.

Lawyer characters often also dip into investigation as well, but they focus on finding the vulnerabilities in their opposition’s case. A court proceeding before a magistrate or jury might involve one or more verbal duels between the attorneys, interspersed with investigation and interactions between the characters involved, with the case itself being a larger social conflict.

Archives of Nethys

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Law and Order