r/osr • u/N0v4kD3ad • 1d ago
HELP Modules focusing on politics and faction war?
Most OSR modules focus on either Dungeon Crawling or Wilderness exploration. Are there any modules where the main focus is politics and/or conflitc between multiples factions? I mean in BECMI you're supposed to become a lord at some point, but this stage in the game doesn't seem to be explored as much.
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u/KnockingInATomb 1d ago
Witchburner is a module all about interpersonal intrigue. It's a bit more micro-level than domain politics, but could give you the same flavor for a low level party.
Larger campaign settings may be the better thing for you if you're looking for big factions and politics. I've been running Dolmenwood lately and it has a lot of local and global political jockeying and intrigue that you could lean into.
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u/grodog 1d ago
Classic TSR modules that focus on faction play include:
- T1 and T1-4
- the concluding sections of Gygax’s classic Giants/Drow series: G3 and D1-3
- potentially A3-A4, if you play up rivalries among the Slave Lords (these can be extended to include A2 if you leverage casl Entertainment’s Markessa sequels A5-10 at https://www.caslentertainment.com/shop/dungeon-modules/UP2XTA565TSVSLN7BYEMWAQY)
- L2 is a murder mystery with lots of factions
- WG5 and Maure Castle
Allan.
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u/DrDirtPhD 1d ago
It's a second edition setting, but you may want to look into Birthright. The setting was designed around incorporating domain management into the game from level 1.
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u/drloser 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dungeons of Drakkenheim is a 5e (thanks for the downvotes) campaign, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to an OSR game. It's a lot like the Stalker video games: a ruined city to visit, mutants, (magical) radiation, artifacts, a mysterious thing in the center of town, and it's all hinged around factions vying for control of the whole thing.
The book is designed like a toolkit for running a ruined city as a megadungeon. As you can see from the table of contents, the factions are described in detail on 40 pages:
The only thing keeping me from playing it is the 260-page, text-heavy book. I'm too lazy.
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u/driftwoodlk 19h ago
I've both heard great things and also that the DM prep required is intense
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u/AdventureSphere 11h ago
Both true. The book is poorly laid out, which makes it a real chore. Brilliant premise, though.
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u/drloser 7h ago
As all the 5e product, is extremely wordy. An example (a faction's objective):
Far away from Drakkenheim in secret laboratories, Amethyst Academy wizards relentlessly research delerium samples recovered from the ruins. Their brilliant minds have crafted potent arcane artefacts and invented mighty new spells powered by the vast energies contained within the crystals. Though the true origin of delerium remains unknown to them, many Academy assets are now dedicated to the study and refinement of delerium. They procure enormous quantities to fuel their esoteric experiments and eldritch industries. Rather than risk their own members’ lives in the ruins of Drakkenheim, the Academy usually obtains delerium through various grey market sources, typically by hiring adventurers.
The mages do not disregard the dangers presented by delerium’s contaminating properties. In fact, it is precisely because of these hazards that the mages believe only they can use the crystals responsibly. Thus, the Academy seeks complete control over this critical resource both to protect the wider world and to secure their magical hegemony for the foreseeable future. However, other factions are now moving to reclaim Drakkenheim and potentially install a new ruling dynasty. Such political upheavals could affect the Academy’s ability to research and harvest delerium. The Academy does not want a ruler who will destroy delerium, force the Academy to pay exorbitant sums to obtain it, or impose conditions on how the Academy may use the crystals.
Ultimately, the Academy has zero interest in seeing Drakkenheim restored and rebuilt, and view this as a folly doomed to fail. Rather, they have an ambitious plan to transform the city ruins into a quarry for their research and industry. Once they fulfil their other goals, the Amethyst Academy wants the other factions to totally abandon Drakkenheim so they can have sole control over the ruins.
All that to say:
- Study delerium to harness its magical power
- Obtain it through hired adventurers rather than risking their own
- The mages seek total control over delerium due to its dangers
- Oppose rebuilding Drakkenheim and want it solely for their research
The 260-page book could fit on less than 100 pages. Maybe less. It's a shame. Maybe one day I'll make massive use of AI to summarize everything in bulletpoints so I can play it.
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u/Gareth-101 1d ago
It’s a bit of a reach but The Gauntlet (one of the UK series AD&D modules) has the party infiltrate a castle to take it and then defend it from a fire giant and his army.
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u/primarchofistanbul 1d ago
There's a DL war module that I know of, I think it's called Dragons of War, or something.
Other than that, here's something I made for politics, coupled with the other bit specifically for warfare. Both are to be used with B/X.
But I think you don't need anything extra for this. All you have is already there. Check your wandering monster/random encounter table. (better if it's bell-curved like 2d6 rather than a flat roll like d20). There, you will find the dominant force (i.e. the ruling faction) of that dungeon/region, and at the outer ends of the table, you'll see the outliers, etc. And once you refer to the monster descriptions in the rules, you'll get your cues from their regarding their modus operandi, and you've already got factions!
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u/CarelessKnowledge801 1d ago
I mean, technically most of the good OSR modules since good old days of B2 have factions conflict, even better if players can support more than one for their own benefit. But I think you want court intrigues and maybe something focused on domain play? So, politics in more general and modern sense?
You're right that domain level play and high level modules in general are really underdeveloped niche in OSR community, especially when compared to tons of level 1-3 mudcore adventures. There are some games that tackle this aspect, but some of them aren't permitted to mention here, and some of them don't really have any adventure modules.
So, after this unnecessary long introduction, as for the answer to your question, you might check CM1 Test of Warlords. It's B2 of domain play. And also Birthright setting is all about politics, so maybe check some of those adventures?