While I have a set of plot points that I want to bring in, I don't want to labour the whole event. I want to keep things relatively punchy but still give my players something to get their teeth into.

We have one Tremere character and the others are of different houses and they intend to at least travel with their friend.

So what I am looking for are some suggestions on how to run a council meeting of magi where only one of the PCs can attend, while giving the other players parts to play and/or the characters stuff to do.

These should be big set pieces but I think I need some suggestions on how to run these.

Hints, suggestions and pifalls all welcome.

Mark

In my experience of attending conferences and being in delegations, there is a huge amount of behind the scenes work that goes on. What happens on the floor is just a formality; it's all worked out before hand.

There are several big things (these apply to everything, not just Tremere politics):

Firstly, the agenda. Deciding what is on the agenda, what order things are discussed or decided, and so on, is *really* important, since in a meeting like this, you can be sure that nothing that is not on the agenda will be discussed.

Secondly, the chairmainship. In House Tremere's case, the chair will be the Primus, but perhaps that's only a convention, and someone is planning a certamen challenge to take it. Being chair gives huge powers, meaning you can direct the flow of debate, order people to be quite or to leave, and do a whole bunch of procedural things.

Quorum and voting rights. In House Tremere where only a few members can vote, finding out who has their sigil, who has proxies, who can vote, are all very important. If you can somehow prove that X person does not hold their sigil, that could be vital and powerful information, and vice versa. Furthermore, meetings need to be quorate, so you can try to influence meetings in this way.

Preference deals. If the agenda has already been set, trying to get people to vote your way is one of the most time consuming and important things that can be done prior to the meeting. In the case of House Tremere, powerful people with complex agendas are playing for high stakes. If you want something, they also want something. Find out their pet issue and try to get on their good side. In my sagas, I've divided House Tremere into three factions, the Conservatives, the Evolutionists and the Independents. These factions control everything that happens inside the House, with the Independents holding the balance of power. If you don't have this however, trying to form a like-minded faction within the House would have lasting repercussions. Factions then wield huge blocs of votes, which can have huge impacts on voting and grant a lot of power to the faction. (This is how House Tremere opperates within the Order at large.) Remember also, to have each faction have an agenda. A conservative faction may wish to ensure the dominion of the House, while the Evolutionist faction wants the House to rapidly expand, and in the process democratise. The Independents are self-serving and will take the best deal offered to them by the other two factions. Also, remember that compromise is what characterises politics. No one gets their way entirely, and inevitably each group needs to accomodate another.

Cogs: The Cogs are the people who run between groups, factions or individuals to negotiate voting. While factional heavyweights may decide policy within their own faction, the cogs are the ones who actually go between factions to try to lobby a faction to do one thing or another. In your game, making all the PCs cogs, who move between the other factions or groups to negotiate on issues would allow everyone to be involved, and would get to the heart of Tremere politics. Also, in House Tremere, cogs would be where Tremere apprentices get their Intrigue practice, as they are the ones who ultimately have to run errands, etc.

Whip. Once the actual result of the meeting has been finalised, ensuring that each group or person votes correctly is the role of the whip. The whip needs to make sure that the numbers (the people voting) are present at the important meetings, that everyone attends, that people are up on time, that they know what is being debated, and that they know which way to vote. The role of the whip is unforgiving and often hated, but it is one of the most important positions on a meeting floor.

Minutes. The results of the meeting are recorded in the minutes. Whoever writes the minutes has the power to decide what happened during a meeting. While Hermetic magic can counter or foil fraud and tampering, there is still a lot of power attached to minutes, particularly since knowledge is power. By ensuring that only a certain group of people have access to the minutes, you can control that information and the House as a whole. Being the minute-taker, or the person with the sole copy of the minutes is a tremendously influential position. Ultimately, it is the bureaucrats who have the real power.

As for story ideas... well, consider that the Tremere PC may want any one of these positions, or may want to prevent another person from gaining it. Trying to find lost minutes, a missing cog, or a kidnapped delegate/sigil are all possible story seeds. Furthermore, disproving the validity of a voting member, negotiating factional deals, forming a faction, trying to ensure that your issue is at the top of the agenda are also possible story hooks.

Hope that helps.

~Alex

I hadn't thought factions through at the high level. I am using the line of Muj from Mysteries and these are going to be my marginalised Tremere faction which if handled correctly could aid the PC Tremere. I'll blend these guys into a larger factional group. I like the idea of the higher level ideologies and I'll look at working those in.

I was going to have a set of instructions handed down to the PC Tremere as a result of the council, but you've given me ideas for horse trading that will allow him to decide what he does and when. If the rumour is that all the Tremere are to be given 5 seasons worth of obligations, he can try and limit his obligations by offering additional resources and/or trying to find the best assignment.

Our pc Tremere is young so I don't want to give enough power for him to steer things yet. That should come with time. I do want to give opportunities to influence things however, and I think I an use the other characters to achieve this by feeding them information from below stairs that they could then feed upstairs to give him an advantage.

Interesting points on the Cogs and Whips. I constructed a chart showing a whole load of Tremere magi and their respective parens and sigil holders. By the end of the council our pc Tremere should be able to add a few more connections.

Mark

I might even make up some personality cards for the others to handle. List things they want to achieve during this meeting and what they are prepared to offer and try and get our Tremere to act as the cog to go between them and broker bargains.

Have you done anything along those lines?

It should only be a session of a few hours at most so I don't want anything too intricate. I'll retain control of the chair or meetings and some high point adversaries but then I want all the fringe stuff to be largely handled by the others.

Tricky this, but if it works I'll probably use the same model for the upcoming tribunal.

Mark

So neither of them is willing to challenge the other. Instead they struggle over peripheral matters as each tries to get one up on the other, and they also try to provoke each other into issuing a Certamen challenge. And if they let their competition get out of hand they just might end up losing the bigger objective that is the supposed rationale for the faction's existance.

The players could be involved in this as potential peacemakers, as victims of their elders' plots, or they could try to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

Gene

With regard to conflict resolution in House Tremere, refusal to engage in Certamen would be the utmost expression of weakness. All factional head honchoes would be certamen masters, or have certamen champions.

Remember, the Tremere invented certamen so they could use it. A certamen challenge between two factional heavyweights would be a battle of the titans, and would certainly have story potential in and of itself.

In my saga, I make Certamen within House Tremere to be highly ceremonial and significant. Each combatant is supported by a number of co-attendants and symbol/sigil barers. It is very much a duel.

In any case, certamen would be really a formality, just like all politics. The two groups within the faction would decide prior to the certamen battle, the result, and any acceptable spells, vis-use, and so on. The certamen itself would be a demonstration of flashy skills and secret techniques.

~Alex