If you have built castles in the sky

Let not your dreams go to waste;

Just build the foundations under them.
—Henry David Thoreau

Nearly every great duet campaign I’ve ran or played in shared one common element: building, growing, and preserving something. This might be a castle, a spaceship, an ocean-going vessel, a wizard’s tower, a monastery, or perhaps an alternate dimension but it’s all the same: it’s an object or place that comes to define the PC’s place in the setting. This article is to help narrators handle these situations. Throughout, I will use the term “castle” to refer to any location, object, or the like that the PC controls and puts a lot of thought and effort into.

The Basic Rule

It really doesn’t matter what the PC’s “castle” is, the basic rule is that the most important aspect of the “castle” are the NPCs connected to it. This may seem counterintuitive. The “castle” will bring status, possibly wealth, and definitely opportunities for adventure. The player may draw detailed maps, inventory everything, and constantly crunch numbers. Despite all of this, it is the NPCs that matter most. This is because the PCs will be reacting to the NPCs and their connection to the “castle” will determine its emotional value to the player.

You can have detailed maps, spreadsheets of data, and pages of flavor text for the “castle” but this is meaningless if it’s not anchored by NPCs. A castle is a shallow construct without the bickering between the seneschal and the castellan or the serving girl who is hopelessly in love with the chaplain. A spaceship is nothing without the friendship between the PC and the ship’s doctor or the mentorship of the young ensign. People are everything. This doesn’t mean you don’t do maps, provide numbers to crunch, or write up flavor text; it’s just that you don’t do all of this at the cost of developing the NPCs and their dynamic with the PC.

Personnel Management

NPCs are key and variety is the secret. If the PC acquires a “castle” there need to be a variety of personalities at play. Some should be loyal and dutiful. Some should be incompetent and/or disloyal. A few can be interesting, but if the “castle” has a lot of people then most should be pretty boring and noble. Believe it or not, normal people can seem quite exceptional in a roleplaying campaign. This is a fascinating phenomena. When it comes to who players trust among NPCs - the humble, hardworking person always comes up on top.

It is the process of dealing with the NPCs that brings the “castle” alive. You need to present problems for the PC to solve. Perhaps the purser of the ship is siphoning off funds but generally manages his duties quite well. How does the PC handle this situation? This is what defines the “castle” and the campaign. The best problems are ones without solutions, muddled situations that force the PC to make a judgment call. A caveat on this: not every NPC interaction should be about a problem. In fact, a third should be problems, a third should be positives, and a third just sort of filler scenes - that are often quite popular.

Complexity Controlled

It must be the player who determines the complexity of the “castle”. The narrator shouldn’t be giving the PC maps, spreadsheets, and so on unless the player requests the information. Additionally, when possible punt responsibilities to the player. Have the player draw the map of the “castle” he is building or detail the staff/crew he wants to recruit. Sometimes, the player will initiate this process herself and come to you with maps and lists for your blessing or expansion. It’s best to support this rather than feeling like the player is trying to co-opt the campaign. If the player feels strongly enough attached to the setting and her PC to want to detail the “castle” that is a very good sign.

The information you provide about the “castle” should serve a few points. First, it should establish resources/limits the player has to manage, whether that is the agricultural production and staff of the manor house, the costs of expanding the wizard’s tower to add a bigger library, or the types of cargo that the spaceship can transport and a crew manifest. Second, it should provide a catalyst for NPC interactions or adventures. Third, it should be intuitive and simple.

If the player really wants an extremely detailed management experience, then there are plenty of computer games to do that. The ultimate advantage of roleplaying is, well, roleplaying. It is with NPCs and nuanced, tailored story-arcs that a duet campaign trounces any computer game. Go to the strengths and you’ll deliver an incredible experience.

Some Specific Advice

The “castle” will become a strong connection between the PC and the setting, so treat it with respect. For example, if there is a threat to the “castle” this should occur when the PC is at the “castle” or at the least can respond before it is too late. Never take cheap shots at the “castle” while the PC is away, such as having a massive storm sink the PC’s ship when the PC is off adventuring on land. This is cowardly and unfair for the narrator to do.

Reward the PC for good decisions. If the PC is managing the NPCs well and making sound management decisions, then reward the “castle”. If you are using random tables for certain results, don’t hesitate to adjust them in favor of the PC for good decisions. For instance, the farms that support the PC’s manor house should yield a particularly fertile harvest if the PC has been taking a lot of time to manage the estate or has carefully chosen and rewarded a good seneschal. This is a big theme of these articles: positive reinforcement is important. Players want to do well by their “castle” and when they at least try to do this you should reward them.

On the other hand, treat mistakes carefully. Usually I sort of have a three strikes rule. For instance, a PC decides to trust an NPC who is untrustworthy. That’s strike one. The PC gets some evidence the NPC might not be trustworthy and continues to not do anything. That’s strike two. The NPC makes a mistake of some sort and the PC doesn’t react. That’s strike three. If the PC has not acted by this point, then you have full rein as narrator to make serious consequences take place. Sometimes if strike one and strike two are pretty strong you can deliver mayhem earlier. The important thing is that you haven’t blindsided the PC, because if you do that, then the PC may withdraw from trusting NPCs. Still you have to have consequences just don’t make them seem unfair without at least a foundation for why they’ve occurred.

The more dynamic the setting around the “castle” the more dynamic the campaign. There should be enemies, both direct and subtle, potential allies, mysteries, and opportunities all around, perhaps even within, the “castle”. Just remember the points from above about not making every NPC traitorous or incompetent and not having every event involving the “castle” be a harrowing potential disaster.

Computer games often have settings from easy to insanely difficult; duet campaigns are no different. If you are providing easy challenges to a player who wants more, the campaign will be dissatisfying. If you overwhelm the player beyond his ability to handle, then the campaign will be extremely frustrating. Communicate with your player and find a “setting” that works for both of you.