Running a Conspiracy

Running a conspiracy plays out as Conspiracy turns that occur at the end of each in-game month. This means that during an adventure, except in the rarer cases where the adventure extends over an extended period of time. there will likely only be one or at most a few Conspiracy turns to resolve, and it will mainly be done during downtime. You can still make use of your conspiracy during an adventure, but you don't have to manage its activities day to day. You have people to do that for you. In addition to assisting in the Schemes Subsystem, a few plots (such Summon Minions) can be done during normal play as well.

Each Conspiracy turn is divided into phases, and these phases are divided into steps. A table is provided that shows what plots are available during each phase and step. For more information about what plots you can hatch (that is what actions the conspiracy can take), see Conspiracy Plots.

Upkeep Phase

During the Upkeep phase, you adjust your conspiracy’s statistics based on activities you have taken during the previous month.

Step 1: Assign Leadership Roles

To assign or change characters associated with leadership roles, do so now using the New Management plot. You can perform this plot as often as you wish during this step.

Next, determine if any vacancy penalties apply. Any unassigned roles incur their vacancy penalties. Note that leaders are also required to spend some of their downtime in their roles, usually about a week, in between Conspiracy turns. If they were not able to do this due to circumstance or choice, they must give up one of their Mastermind Plots they can perform during their turn.

Step 2: Adjust Dissent

Skip this step during the first Conspiracy turn.

On all other turns, adjust your Dissent score: Increase it by 1 for every Influence token you have in excess of your conspiracy's Level+4. If you are under attack by other groups, increase it by 1. Other ongoing events may have ongoing Dissent adjustments as well; make them at this time. After making all adjustments, if your conspiracy's Dissent is 10 or higher, the conspiracy gainst 1d10 points to its Ruins, distributed by the Dungeon Master.

In addition, make a flat DC 11 check. On a failure, one Influence marker is lost; the masterminds choose which one is lost.

If your conspiracy's Dissent is 20 or higher, you face full-on mutiny and disorder. You cannot hatch any plots other than Tighten Grip, and even then you are still limited to doing it once per turn. Meanwhile, all conspiracy checks have their results worsened by one degree.

Step 3: Set Agenda

Roll your Agenda Dice to determine how much Agenda Points (AP) you have to distribute for the remainder of the Conspiracy turn. Your AP is equal to the roll result.

Step 4: Pay Consumption

Skip this step on your first Conspiracy turn.

Based on the number of strongholds, areas of influence, and ongoing plots you have going on, calculate the Consumption scores for each Asset category. You may then spend your Assets to pay this amount. If you cannot or choose not to pay this Consumption, you can either spend 5 AP per point of unpaid Consumption or increase Dissent by 1d4.

Logistics Phase

During the logistics phase, the conspiracy mostly looks to put its resources together to prepare for what the masterminds foresee to be their needs.

Step 1: Assemble Assets

If you have any Stakes, Tributaries, or Places of Power under your influence, collect Assets from these. You may distribute these freely between your strongholds as its assumed you have the means to move things around.

Step 2: Supply Operations

You may attempt to extend your operations beyond what your Agenda Dice allow by spending your Assets and attempting a Supply Operations plot. You can also Distribute Spoils in addition or in stead as a way of managing Dissent.

Step 3: Convert Resources

You may attempt the Asset Conversion plot in order to convert Assets into AP, up to once for each type of Asset. You can also attempt any of the various plots that convert one Asset into another, limited only by how much AP you are willing to spend: Blood Sacrifice, Honey Trap, Leverage Blackmail, Dark Ritual, Peer into Darkness, and Opulent Spending.

Step 4: Quid Pro Quo

Any agreements on exchanges of Assets or AP made with other groups using the Quid Pro Quo plot are resolved now. This usually means Assets or AP being traded for some set amount.

Agenda Phase

The Agenda Phase is when you hatch plots, make edicts, manage your holdings and expand your influence. It's the main "active" phase of the Conspiracy Turn.

Step 1: Mastermind Plots

This is when the masterminds act most directly from the top. The PCs decide in what order they hatch their plots in kind, each taking a turn and going around until it's all expended. Each can hatch three plots. However, if they do not have easy access to one of their strongholds to make their edicts from, they lose one of these. Likewise, if they did not have at least a week of downtime to see to their activities, they lose another of these three actions, but each always gets at least one unless they are dead, captured, or otherwise indisposed.

Step 2: Dominion Plots

The conspiracy may hatch up to five Dominion plots in a turn, which they use to expand their reach and build their holdings. The masterminds decide who rolls for each plot.

Step 3: Influence Plots

For each stronghold, agent, and marker of influence (Eyes, Claws, or Boots) on the map, the conspiracy may hatch an Influence plot, based in the fiction within or near that area.

Warfare Phase

This phase will be covered entirely under the Warfare Subsystem which will not be available until much later in the story. It will be detailed there, but always takes place between the Agenda and Reaction phases.

Reaction Phase

Evil is the active force in this story. Good is reactionary, but not completely passive. When roused, the conspiracy's enemies will begin to work against you.

Step 1: Determine Enemies

If your conspiracy has earned any enemies, make note here whether they are ignorant, suspicious, opposed or anathema to the conspiracy. Passive enemies take no action, suspicious enemies will investigate your activities, opposed ones will try and sabotage your plots, while anathema will attempt to directly attack your organization in open war.

Step 2: Enemy Action

First, each suspicious enemy will, in an area of its influence, investigate the conspiracy's activities. This will normally require a Secrecy or, less commonly, a Grasp or Guile saving throw. A failed save will likely result in an escalation of tensions, or some other penalty, determined by the Dungeon Master.

Second, opposing organizations each get an attempt to disrupt the conspiracy. Reach focused organizations tend to disrupt your public facing activities, Grasp focused organizations instead look to weaken your hold over your minions. Secrecy organizations engage in espionage and surveillance, Power organizations attempt to send sorties or agents to act directly. Guile organizations attempt to entrap or outwit you, while Depth organizations will attempt to overwhelm you. You will usually have to make a saving throw against said ability score, with a DC based on circumstance and relative puissance. These activities will escalate over time, including opportunities to use the Dungeon Subsystem to deal with the adventuring parties sent to you.

Anathema organizations act as opposing ones, but they get a second action after the first round, and they will often attempt to build armies and deal with you in the open field if called for it, and are much more likely to assault your holdings directly.

Step 3: Resolve Assaults

During this step, any assault on your strongholds are resolved using the Dungeon Subsystem or Warfare Subsystem as appropriate. If it's the stronghold you are currently residing in, it might instead be resolved as an encounter with your PCs at risk!

Fortune Phase

This is the phase for things beyond the masterminds' control or ability to plan for. Random events present opportunities for encounters, exploration, or decision making by the masterminds. You can often delegate dealing with them to your minions, though that carries some measure of risk as well.

Step 1: Check for a Random Event

Attempt a DC 16 flat check. On success, a random conspiracy event occurs, chosen from a list of random events written out for each adventure. If no random event occurs, the DC for this check in the next Conspiracy turn is reduced by 5. Once an event occurs, the DC resets to 16.

Step 2: Event Resolution

An event might involve an encounter, or even a choice to do some exploration, but more often it involves a measure of problem solving and decisions by the masterminds. We may not immediately zoom to resolving the event: the PCs can choose when they resolve it, but if they are not able to do so before the end of the next month, there will likely be consequences come the next Conspiracy turn.

Step 3: Apply Infamy

The DM now awards any Infamy earned during that turn. In addition, any AP that remains unspent is now converted to Infamy on a 1 to 1 ratio.

Step 4: Increase Conspiracy Level

If you conspiracy's infamy total is above 1,000, and your conspiracy isn't at its maximum level, increase the conspiracy's level by 1 and subtract 1,000 from the Infamy total.