Hey all!

I am toying with an idea for an upcoming game (at a local gameday, but with a possible repeat at GenCon) wherein one player may or may not be a traitor. I am hoping to do this in a way that lets the players decide who the betrayer is if there is one at all. I know that some games like Wilderness of Mirrors already has mechanics for this sort of thing in place, but I am more looking for a stand-alone technique for use in a traditional game or two.

What techniques are out there/have you seen used?

Right now, I am thinking of making the pregens with a pecking order for betrayal. The player who choses the pregen on the top of the "betrayal" order gets a card that lets them opt to be a traitor. If they choose yes, I either or both:
1) give them more info on who their contact is and the nature of their betrayal, or
2) give them the option to narrate their own

The later sounds more interesting, but the Con situation may make it a little less practical if I try to keep the presence of the betrayer secret from the rest of the group.

If the first player decides not to be a betrayer, they get a consolation... the player now knows there will be a betrayer; give that player a reason that their character suspects there is a traitor.

So what do you think? Any other games that do things like this, and con experiences like this, or any further ideas along these lines?

I've done this myself before (though not in a Con game) and played in a Con game that did something similar.  In both cases, the basic way that it worked was to provide every player with a "secret victory condition".  Every player gets a card that lists what their character's personal motivation is, and all are secrets that the individual character doesn't want to divulge to anyone else, for whatever reason.  These secrets may be either specifically tailored to pre-gen characters, or written generically so that they might even be shuffled and handed out at random to any player.  Most importantly, it is entirely up to the player to determine how the secret is implemented in the character's personality, how well the secret is kept, and how important it truly is in actual play.

For convention play, the secret isn't a game-ending circumstance, but is instead a sort of victory point bonus.  Assuming the game is scored, players who succeed in achieving their secret goals are awarded bonus points.

Now, as far as betrayal goes, I worked this angle in a Call of Cthulhu game I once ran.  I had players roll up and create exactly the characters that they wanted.  I then gave each player a secret that they could work into their character concepts however they wished.  One of the players was surprised to find that her character was, in fact, one of the Serpent People, masquerading as a human.  Her goals were exactly the same as the rest of the adventurers (in this case, getting the ancient hulk of a space ship to fly again), but with the added twist that she really hated all of humanity and that they were ultimately expendable.

The upshot of the CoC story is that I'd recommend, whatever the secrets are, that they all be compatible with each other, or even encourage cooperation...up to a certain point.  At that certain point, all of the players should realise that, while helping each other out was mutually beneficial at first, the only way to achieve the special victory condition will be to switch tack and turn on one another.

Hmm.  Now that I think of it, this is pretty much how The Mountain Witch works -- essentially a boardgame in RPG format.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaHmm.  Now that I think of it, this is pretty much how The Mountain Witch works -- essentially a boardgame in RPG format.

Heh. Funny you should mention that. That's the first thing mentioned on another board I posted this on. :cool:

At this point, I am more interested in one or maybe 2 betrayers; everyone else has compatible goals even if they have reasons to suspect each other.

The way I am trending right now is every player fills out a secret ballot with 2 maybe 3 questions.

1) Do you want to play the betrayer
2) Who do you think is the traitor? Why does your character suspect them?
and maybe
3) Who does your character implicitly trust?

Then the GM tallies the vote. If the character voted as the betrayer has declined to be the betrayer, there is no traitor, but all players already have seeds of doubt now. Otherwise, the player voted on is the traitor.

Then the GM hands back a card telling the player either they are not the traitor, or with info on their MO/history/who they work for.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadAt this point, I am more interested in one or maybe 2 betrayers; everyone else has compatible goals even if they have reasons to suspect each other.

This is one of the reasons I think that handing out secret victory conditions to all players is a good approach -- everyone knows that the other players have a special secret, too, so they all have their eyes on each other to some degree.  This may also lead to surreptitous cooperation, as individual players may figure that their particular goals will be more easily attained by working with others.

A question: Do you intend to inform all players at the outset that a traitor lurks among their characters' ranks?  And a follow-up: Will that knowledge be integral to the scenario?

Also, I really quite like the notion with your secret ballot that, seeing how the GM has suggested the notion that a traitor might be among their ranks, an atmosphere of distrust and paranoia is created, even where a threat may not really exist.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaA question: Do you intend to inform all players at the outset that a traitor lurks among their characters' ranks?  And a follow-up: Will that knowledge be integral to the scenario?

Well, I wanted the players to be uncertain/suspect... thus explicitly allowing for the possibility that there are no traitors in the voting system.

When to vote on it was sort of up in the air. I thought about delaying the ballot until an event triggers the notion that there is a traitor.

QuoteAlso, I really quite like the notion with your secret ballot that, seeing how the GM has suggested the notion that a traitor might be among their ranks, an atmosphere of distrust and paranoia is created, even where a threat may not really exist.

Exactly. :cool: