My Life As A Gamer: Patrons And The Campaign (Part Two): The Patron Game Defined

(This is a series. Part One is here.)

Introduction

The Patron level of play is a form of play in tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs) that hews far closer to the wargaming roots of the medium--to Kriegspiel specifically--than the typical TRPG party-of-adventurers style of play.

This key difference is why it is handled as a seperate and distinct mode of play, one best handled away from the table, and focused upon a strategic big-picture perspective that interacts with--but remains separate and distinct from--typical play at the table.

The profile of the individual player that finds this mode of play appealing in itself is not that of the individual that finds typical TRPG play around the table appealing. The wise Referee acknowledges this and recruits his Patrons and his Adventurers seperately.

Below I will define the Patron Game, and then how the Referee should recruit for it specifically.

Big Pictures, Big Moves, Big Time

The Patron and the Domain that he runs takes the place--returns to his proper place--as a major figure, so far as a campaign is concerned. They are kings, popes, merchant lords, mighty industrialists, heads of powerful institutions, leaders of influential groups, and so on. What they have in common is that their words and deeds command respect, be it out of love or fear, and have the ability to shape the events of a campaign by themselves.

In typical play, this is a Non-Player Character (NPC) run by the Referee. Most players think of this character as a quest giver, primary or ultimate antagonist, resource or service provider (for intelligence, power, or item/gear provision), or some similar pseudo-Narrative functionary- and in Current Edition (and those who think in such terms) that is exactly what a Patron is believed to be, with all that Narrative logic that perception brings with it.

Restoring the Patron to the hands of a player removes all pretense of Narrative logic. The Patron player pursues his objectives independent of what happens at the table; it does not matter if a particular party of Player Characters (PCs) follows up on an offer or lead that a Patron (by word or deed) generates. Likewise, as Patrons operate under the same rules--and thus the same constraints--as ordinary PCs those ordinary PCs can find that a Patron is unavailable to interact with them as they desire; the Patron is not there, has reallocated his resources away from what the PCs want, or decides to interact with them on terms that the PCs in question did not expect (for good or ill).

In short, player-controlled Patrons and Domains restore a palpable sense of verisimilitude to a campaign that is typically lacking in typical (wrong) play.

Put more than one Patron into a campaign, and provide them with objectives that guarantee conflict, and now you have a proper wargame happening.

That big picture wargame, where armies and fortunes (as in actual material wealth, not metaphorical ones) are marshalled and deployed in support of Patron moves towards their objectives or against that of a rival or enemy, casts shadows by its nature. It is in those liminal spaces where ordinary PCs find opportunity within this grand game, be it as agents of one Patron or as independent operators exploiting opportunites to profit from the problems of their betters, that those ordinary PCs can make a name for themselves- and, maybe, show that they too can become a Patron.

The Patron Game takes advantage of the features of strict timekeeping and the wargame roots of any proper TRPG for its power, and its constraints; a powerful Magic-User still needs to spend time resting to recover spells spent in action, and a powerful Fighter still needs to monitor the morale of his troops and keep them properly provisioned, while all but the most powerful are constrained by the simple fact that they cannot be in two places at the same time.

The dynamism of the Patron Game, when the Referee does his job properly, ensures that the campaign remains entertaining until it reaches its conclusion- and that is the final benefit of the Patron Game: Finality. Each Patron has, by necessity, an objective to pursue because campaigns do not exist without there being an objective to pursue; as soon as one Patron achieves that objective, and no other can achieve theirs, then that Patron wins and the campaign is over. The game is won and done.

Profiling The Patron Player

The Referee should screen out prospective Patron players that have neither the head nor the patience for playing a wargame where morale, logistics, timekeeping, and playing remotely by email or some similiar method to relay orders to the Referee and receive reports from him on a regular--but not necessarily frequent--basis is how this is done.

Oldtimers may recognize "Play-By-Mail" wargaming as the model in use here; others will remember "Double-Blind" play, or are familiar with Diplomacy or similar games (such as Kriegspiel or maybe even participated in a War College wargame. The Patron player does not need to be at the table, ever.

"Need", however, is not "forbidden". At the Referee's discretion, a Patron may appear at the table from time to time as circumstances warrant it; most of the time, it should not- a Patron's time and attention should be elsewhere, leaving such interventions for when the party is just degrees removed from being Henchmen of that Patron or deliberately put themselves in a position to encounter the Patron (such as an attempt to kill him- remember, "primary antagonist" is just an enemy Patron).

Therefore aim for someone with the interest in participating in the campaign, someone with the ability to play a wargame (even if the Patron is a merchant and the "wargame" is economic and neither military nor political), but unwilling or unable to play at the table. Ensure that they have communications access to the Referee, by whatever means set up for that purpose, and know where to go for public-facing updates on the campaign in general (session reports, map updates, etc.).

With a handful of such players recruited, next we look at how to set up your campaign to make the most of their participation.