Run Your Party Through a Party Like a Dungeon

It can be tough to plan activities that are as fulfilling and feel just as worthy of giving out experience to players as a combat encounter. One of my favorite ways to make sure social “combat” gets plenty of showtime is planning a party like a dungeon.

First, select a main antagonist and several smaller antagonists to set up as “bosses” and “Minibosses” for your dungeon. You can divide the attendees into those loyal to the antagonists, those indifferent, and those who may already be sympathetic to the party. You may even add some extra mechanics. Maybe the party is being held by your PCs, add an intoxication meter to see if things get out of hand. If they have disguised themselves to sneak into a party, keep a record of failures to stealth, so one less stealthy person can’t ruin the mission in one fell swoop.

Decide how long the party should last and break down the time into sections that can be seen as rounds. You can have various ways of interacting in each phase that gives everyone a chance to join in. One favorite I have seen used in modules is allowing different people to be influenced by different skills, this could include a martial-type character being impressed by a quick feat of Derring-Do (acrobatics, performance combat, non-lethal attack), a lawful character being impressed by someone pointing out people brazenly breaking rules (perception, sense motive), a noble can be spoken to by multiple party members to gain access to them. Either in an actual bid for sponsorship or possibly something more heavy-handed once the rope is set.

Having different games, phases, or activities can greatly enhance the atmosphere of the party. When people are winning prizes in the same way treasure might be gained in a dungeon it will be fully realized. If you plan a dance contest, possibly offer a low-level magic item that adds to acrobatics, or even dance specifically, if dance might come up again in your campaign. If you have some sort of speaking round, possibly offer an item that gives a small boost to a social skill, or linguistics, which is a highly underrated skill. Maybe if the players end up assisting someone, they can offer a reward, and even hire them in the future. There are as many activities to plan as there are varieties of parties to plan.

While playing through a social dungeon like a large party you should make sure that your players know what the main objective is going in. You might also want to have one or two secret objectives or surprise encounters to liven things up. Maybe a friend they thought had died, or a returning villain would be the perfect person to sit down next to them at the banquet dinner. Players will have to continue with the decorum of the event while trying to deal with the surprise you have dumped in their lap. People don’t like drama in real life, but boy do they eat it up in the game.

Whatever you plan for your players, as always, it should be fun for everyone!

It’s a game after all, and no one person should be having all the fun while the rest are carried along for the ride.

K. B. Silver

As a note, I play Pathfinder 1E, You may find some of the terms I use are not exactly the same as you are used to. This may just be a system or edition variation. You should still be able to catch my meaning. Thanks for reading!