Keeping Secrets: Secret Societies in RPGs

For lack of a topic today, I'm going into my RPG Suggestions Box (contribute in the comments section!) and coming up with El Chalif's offering: Secret societies. Well, it so happens I've run a number of games with secret societies, so I've got experience. I can't tell you about it because I'd have to kill you, of course...Secret societies can take many forms, of course. They might be secret cabals, guild with public faces, political factions with closely guarded objectives, or secret agencies. No matter their goals or level of public recognition, they all have one thing in common: A membership that has access to certain things non-members have no knowledge of, whether that be handshakes and rituals, or an agenda with both long-term and short-term objectives. Before including one or more secret societies in your campaign (and if there's one, there's most likely AT LEAST its opposite number), you should answer this question: How much do the characters know about it (from the start or down the line)? Are they in the background, or are the characters members? How frequently do they influence characters? And if the characters ARE members...

What do they get?
People don't usually join secret orders on a whim. They have something to gain. Being asked to join in an opportunity. Power, whether political or financial, is a good incentive, though for others, it may just be the chance to contribute to the group's objectives. This would certainly be true of, say, a secret Time Corps protecting history from meddlers. The job is its own reward. For player characters, secret societies can also be full of opportunities. A Thieves' Guild, for example, would offer a wealth of contacts and contracts. These are good shortcuts to adventure, certainly, but there's more to be don.e Since leveling up is part of the RPG culture, rank in a secret society can add an extra wrinkle to the leveling process. Just as leveling brings new or heightened abilities, so can moving up through the ranks of a society (Planescape's factions do this, for example). Rank can be a function of a character's level (its experience would relate directly to its rank) or be based on other factors entirely. Planescape's faction ranks were based on purity of belief, for example, while rank in U.N.C.L.E. might be achieved through successful missions or even boot-licking. And unlike levels, rank can be lost, as powerful a motivator as death, when you think about it. And in games with no levels, rank might be the only "leveling" reward available.

So what are these abilities? Again I mention Planescape because greater belief = greater power, and rising through one's faction meant access to spell-like abilities or other bennies. Rising through a cabalistic order might initiate one to secret rituals with similar results in a conspiracy/horror campaign. Special training and equipment might be "unlocked" in SF and more technically-driven settings. Opening up the world with new information might be enough for some. Don't forget about the concept of initiation though. The characters shouldn't KNOW what abilities will become accessible unless they see a higher-up demonstrate it (and even then, you wouldn't be sure). Part of the fun of rising in rank is uncovering the mystery of just what your society, cabal, faction, agency or party is all about.

How to use Secret Societies
Characters in the same society: Though the characters are in the loop, the rest of us aren't. The most important use of this scheme is giving the characters a common patron or boss they do missions for and report to. Usually, this is the secret agency set-up, but even the Masons might have tasks for their members to do, even if it's on an occasional basis.

Characters in different societies: What happens when the characters necessarily have different agendas, are perhaps even being steered at cross purposes by their high ups? GMs should probably be careful not to allow characters from enemy factions (at least not fanatical ones) to mix together. But moral dilemmas involving a choice between friends and ideals (or ambition) are pure role-playing fodder. Will characters be driven to hide things from their buddies, or will a healthy debate spark up? This is in fact a good de facto alignment system, with a lot more bite and practical application than the usual D&D ethics.

Characters vs. societies: The characters aren't members, but they know the societies exist and actively fight them (or run from them). This is your basic "stumbled upon the Conspiracy and now they want me dead" scenario. In this case, secret societies are basically just villain organizations like SPECTRE or the cult of an evil god, an umbrella for your characters' enemies.

Clueless but manipulated: Similar to the previous set-up, but this time the characters DON'T know the conspiracy exists. Of course, conspiracies in fiction exist to be uncovered, so the characters must eventually find out about them. This is good for more slowly unfolding games in which the characters find clues and start seeing a pattern. Maybe things aren't as they thought they were and everything is connected somehow.

The Masters campaign: For advanced players who read my post on Role-Playing the Upper Echelons, what would a campaign where players took the roles of the Secret Masters be like? Trying to change the world using underlings and puppet agencies, while also getting their hands dirty à la Mission: Impossible when the need arises. This is exactly where I'd break out my Illuminati New World Order card collection and let them organize a starting hierarchy.

Obviously, this blog will self-destruct in FNORD seconds...