Complication Table for Bureaucratic Adventuring
My home campaign setting revolves around the Department of Adventuring, a dystopian bureaucracy that oversees all discovery, acquisition, conquering, and occasional protecting/realm-saving throughout their territory. The problem is, this concept has sort of started to slip out from under my grasp over time. I still implement twists into my scenarios whenever I can, such as a devilish landlord controlling the Caves of Chaos, but the players don't often feel the boots of bureaucracy stomping all over their questing1. I just didn't like the idea of stomping down on player agency by constantly having agents tell them what they can and can't do.
This table is my solution, to generate one or two little hiccups that don't just complicate the adventuring process, but can also serve as gameable elements. These results can just as likely be part of the party's toolbelt instead of something holding them back; what if the party manages to argue for exclusive rights to delve a dungeon preventing their rivals from swiping the treasure first, or pore through tax records to catch that corrupt mayor on a technicality?
| d10 | The Department must receive _____ | for/from ______ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proof of citizenship | The adventuring party |
| 2 | A background check | The mayor |
| 3 | A permit | The wizard’s tower |
| 4 | An itemized tax form | The property owner of the adventuring site |
| 5 | A land survey | A separate branch of the Department |
| 6 | The last will and testament | The Merchant Society |
| 7 | A small processing fee | A witness |
| 8 | Insurance information | The victim’s family |
| 9 | Written consent for scrying | The town guard |
| 10 | Proof of ownership | The monster |
I do have to admit that the current hostility towards federal workers from our own government in the U.S. has made me question the overarching themes of this setting a bit. I have my answers, but it's out of scope for this post. I'll write about it if anyone seems interested.↩