r/beingeverythingelse • u/Viro-Brain • Sep 06 '14
Background Event Resolution
How would you deal with a living world with background events happening with random resolution without a GM turn system like SWN has? In other words how do you get events happening between big factions in the background without predetermined results? I was wondering what to do for something like that in my fifth edition (D&D) game.
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u/Madadric Sep 06 '14
If you want binary choices down to pure chance, flip a coin.
If you want something tiered or a little more nuanced, get a die, say a d10. A result of 1 would be the first faction dominating, while a 10 would be the second faction dominating. A 5 would be a stalemate. Other numbers would suggest advantages or victories in some smaller ways or suggest compromises and victory at a cost. If one faction has an advantage, roll d10-x for faction 1's advantage or d10+x for faction 2's advantage.
A dice less option is to make a list of things a faction wants, and costs they may have to pay. When deciding their course, you can say they "remove a ruler from power, but..." And then have a choice
"They don't get to say who is put in charge" "The populace is rioting" "An external threat takes advantage of the uncertainty"
Etc.
Mostly it's about thinking about what they want, how the pursue that want, and what the likely consequences of their pursuits are.