Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 139 - Betrayal

Episode Date: August 28, 2022

Betrayal is a common story trope you see in movies, books, and even let's play podcasts.  It can be an amazing moment to include in your game but should you?  How can you use this dangerous tool to the betterment of your Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons game without it backfiring on you?  Tune in and find out.   #DungeonsandDragons #DnD #Pathfinder #Betrayal   Resources https://jennethdyck.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/seven-ways-to-write-betrayal-in-your-novel/ https://wildwritingdreams.wordpress.com/2020/03/16/how-to-create-the-perfect-betrayal-character/

This week on the Taking 20 Podcast. The PC who's been with the party since the beginning and you get to the boss battle and that PC says, Father, here are the heroes you asked me to bring to you and watch the stares around the table. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 139 of the Taking 20 Podcast. This week, cursing your sudden but inevitable betrayal. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 139 of the Taking 20 podcast. This week, cursing your sudden but inevitable betrayal. This week's sponsor, dating. I was going out with Lorraine, but we broke up.

Now I'm going out with Claire Lee. I can see Claire Lee now. Lorraine is gone. Please like and rate the podcast wherever you happen to find it. It'd even be better if you could leave a review as well. I'd love to reach more people who are curious about the tabletop hobby and maybe encourage them to give it a try, join a table, and hopefully make some lifelong friends in so doing. The dictionary defines betrayal as violation of trust or confidence.

Oh, God. I just realized I started this episode the same way a lot of my students start their academic papers. Well, if I'm starting a paper, let's keep this idea going. Let's see, if I'm writing a paper for one of my classes, now's the time to include an example that doesn't really apply to the topic, add some grammar errors, leave just some conclusions that can't be backed up given the information provided in the paper, and submit the episode. What do you mean I gotta grade of C plus? That's some weapons grade bullshit. Starting over, remember last week's episode, 138, making useful

NPCs? Ah, the world was young and the air smelled cleaner and we were all happy, right? Well, it's been seven full days, so it's time to shit all over that feeling and go the opposite direction. Let's assume your PCs trust someone. Mayor Greg, Ilyana the Cavalier, Valthus the Butcher, little Jenny Nickers who brings the party their food every morning at the hotel. The party are fond of this person, and for reference I'm using person to mean any NPC regardless of ancestry. Hell, person could mean human, centaur, devil, kitsune, whatever. And that person violates that trust, discards the respect and deference the party has given to the person,

and instead throws it all away for some reason. Why? We loved you, little Jenny. You told us about your dream of being a starship captain. We even bought you a hat. It was too big for you, but you wore it all the same and looked adorable in it. Now we find out it was you who told the jackbooted thugs of Interstellar Shipments Incorporated where we were hiding? What would make you give up our love?

Betrayal. Juicy, delicious, mind-shattering, heartbreaking betrayal is one of those things that is a long time coming and amazing when it happens in your story. When done right, a good betrayal can shock and entertain the players. Even the most jaded veterans seen it all been there and bought the t-shirt RPG players. Our chef was working for the big bad this entire time. No wonder I keep having to make constitution saves when we go home. The lady giving us quests was keeping us busy collecting MacGuffins that won't help against the big bad? The king of the planet was using us for his own personal gain?

That means we're not going to get paid! Son of a b***h! Betrayal has a prerequisite, though. Trust. Without that, betrayal means nothing. It'll have no impact whatsoever. It'll be just another event that makes the PCs shrug. Eh. If you want to know more about that,

see episode 138 for more information about building NPCs shrug. Eh. If you want to know more about that, see episode 138 for more information about building NPCs the characters can trust. But for this episode, the takeaway is that trust, like love, is not something you can force someone else to give. It must be built and earned. So what does betrayal look like in an RPG? Well, we're going to talk more about this later, but not all betrayal is the same. like in an RPG. Well, we're going to talk more about this later, but not all betrayal is the same. NPCs could betray the PCs, or if you have a good role-playing group that's also very mature, a PC can betray the rest of the party. The PC who's been with the party since the beginning, and you get to the boss battle, and that PC says, Father, here are the heroes you asked me to bring

to you, and watch the stares around the table. That's a slightly different type of betrayal than the young squire the PCs rescued from the Battle of Delmonico Beach that was working for the enemy the entire time. She was just posing as a squire just to be on the same side as the PCs and keep an eye on them. The bounty hunter who helped the PCs clear out the caves of calamity was using the party to help them get to the jewel at the end. If you listen to enough Let's Play podcasts like Critical Role, Dice Camera Action, Venture Forth, or any other, eventually you're going to hear a betrayal of some sort. But why are betrayals common in stories? Well, it's a dramatic moment when somebody that you thought was on side A turned out to be on side B.

Betrayals also create tension both between the characters and the game world, the characters and the big bad, and sometimes within the characters themselves. Also, betrayals make players and their characters start to second-guess whom they should trust. But for these same reasons, we players and GMs should be very cautious about using betrayal in our game worlds. Remember, betrayal is a violation of trust or confidence. For a lot of players, it's hard to separate what they feel as a person and what their character would feel in that moment. NPC Shin the Elf betrays the character Greg the Destroyer. It may be Greg's player Greg who feels like Jeremy the DM betrayed him, not Shin the Elf betraying his character Greg.

Really, Jeremy? Greg the Destroyer played by Greg? That's what you came up with? He probably drinks grog and has a pet Grig. Betrayal is always dangerous to include at your table. Have you ever walked through a functioning power plant or a room full of UPS batteries that powers large buildings? There's this tinge of ozone in the air that indicates if we touch the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, we'll get a shock so strong that we'll void our bowels. In these areas, we must proceed with caution and only after careful consideration. Including betrayal in your game is just as dangerous as walking through another's rooms.

Betrayal is a shocking moment and can leave some players, not characters, feeling betrayed, lied to, and hurt. Now that being said, betrayal is rare in real life and it should be the same in your game. But betrayal works best when it's done by someone close to the PCs. In most campaigns, our characters don't trust all PCs and NPCs the same. It won't have a lot of impact when someone the PCs met once three towns ago betrays the PCs' intentions. Granny Warwick swords you out to the Dark Lord, and now you'll pay. Who the fuck's Granny Warwick swords you out to the Dark Lord and now you'll pay. Who the fuck's Granny Warwick? Hell, some of my players can't remember NPC names of close allies working right next to them for months.

They sure as hell aren't going to remember the name of a stable hand six inns ago who overheard that they're trying to steal the Crown of Destiny. So if you're going to have someone betray the PCs as part of the story, make it to be somebody that they know and remember. As I hinted earlier, not all betrayals are the same. Betrayals have some motivation behind them. I mean, somebody betraying you or betraying your PCs just because they can, that's chaotic evil and that doesn't really have a lot of impact. But a betrayal that has a motivation, a purpose, a driving factor behind it will really resonate harder with the PCs. Now, what are some motivations that you can

use? Let's start with a very basic one, greed. Selling the group out for money. This is a tale as old as time. In the Bible, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The betrayal in the movie Coco, which I thought of next, that movie only came out in 2017, so I'm not going to go into details. But if you've seen it, you know. Prince Hans and Frozen, who wanted the throne for himself and betrayed one of the heroines to do that. Hell, Cousin Hogwallop from Oh Brother Where Art Thou. They got this depression on. I gots to do for me and mine.

He was greedy, and that's why he betrayed them. You could argue that a subset of greed is self-preservation. For example, in the movie Matrix, the character Cipher betrays Neo for basically what he admits is the experience of eating steak and the experience of being reinserted into the Matrix, even though he knows it's not actually real. Lando Calrissian betrays Han, Leia, and Chewie to maintain his gas mining rights and to keep out of the clutches of the Empire. In Fifth Element, Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg

betrays the entire human race for money. Bringing this back to the game table, though, maybe the NPC promises the PCs a chest of loot if the PCs will escort them to a certain room. The quest giver knows that the chest of loot contains just a single powerful magic item that her people had no intention of letting the party have to begin with. So the party fights through the traps and the monsters and they get to the end room with the chest of loot. They open it up, and the NPC grabs the powerful magic item and just teleports away, leaving the party alone and angry

and probably wanting revenge. It could be that the big bad promises this NPC gold, riches, and wealth if they'll turn on the PCs, so it may just be money as the motivating factor. The NPC could turncoat because they are vindictive. They want to get revenge on the PCs, and betraying them is the best way to do it. The PCs committed some act earlier on that negatively impacted this particular NPC, so they use this opportunity to betray them at a weak moment. Fredo in The Godfather Part II feels like the family doesn't value him, so he betrays the family to get back at them.

Ephialtes in 300 betrays the Spartans because they won't accept him as a warrior, so he gives the Persian army intelligence to defeat them. Another potential motivation is that they are scared. Someone could betray a group because they're scared of the likely outcome if they don't. An example of this would be Anakin in Star Wars Episode III betraying the Jedi because he wants to try to save Padme's life, only to later kill her himself. There's another more obscure example that I'm going to pull from. There was a book series by Brian Lumley called the Necroscope series.

And in a number of cases, people would betray someone who told them their fate, only to run right into that fate by the act of betrayal. Maybe the person betraying the party has been misled or they're misguided in their beliefs. The person betraying the party believes they will receive X or that the world will be better if the PCs fail. They've been lied to about the rewards they will receive because of their betrayal, or they have an incorrect belief that the PC's success means disaster for another group of people that they care about. They think that if the PCs, for example, collapse the Ankhag tunnels that are plaguing the town, the town will be destroyed in so doing. So they betray the PCs in an opportune moment to leave them for dead in an Ankhag nest. Or maybe they believe that the PCs are attempting to overthrow the government when they really aren't.

But because they believe that, they go to the authorities and they make the PCs wanted criminals at the major quest hub. Or coming back to love. Maybe they can't comprehend that their spouse was working on the big bad side. They refuse any evidence. They deny it. They may even have had a mental break because of it. Their love can't be evil. They love them. They could only be good. And if they're good, then the people that killed them must be evil. So the PCs must be evil. It could be those actions taken because of misunderstanding by the betrayer that they trusted the wrong person who's betraying them to get at the PCs. The last motive I want to talk about is different beliefs or different missions than what

the PC has. Now those beliefs could be ideological, political, religious, doesn't matter. I'm lumping them all into the same big bucket. The NPC believes something different than what the PCs do. So since they have a different belief system, they believe that the PCs have to be out of the way for their belief system to be proven right or for their belief system to win out in the end. Brutus helped slay Julius Caesar because he was concerned Caesar planned to dissolve the Senate and set himself up as emperor. You could argue that Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton betrayed each other over ideological differences. And I know, I know, in the musical, Burr is portrayed as the villain.

But you could easily flip that script and have Hamilton be the villain of the story to Burr's attempt to save America through reasonable discourse. Even in the musical, they take great pains to make sure you understand Burr's point of view and why he's acting the way he is, which, by the way, is what makes a compelling bad guy or bad girl or bad anything. Years ago, I ran a Pathfinder 2E one-shot, which sounds weird to say, but this was back before the pandemic, which automatically feels like years ago. I had four PCs that were given a mission to solve this mysterious fog that had started pouring out from the local museum and hurting and even killing people along the way. And by the way, if you're thinking artifact gone awry, ding ding ding ding, we have a winner.

Anyway, the four characters represented four different factions who were all concerned with stopping whatever was in the museum, but also taking advantage of the opportunity while the group had unfettered access to the building. All four were given secret missions they had to fulfill as well and were instructed not to tell anyone else about them. If I remember right, one was tasked with collecting information about like the financial records from the museum, one was tasked with destroying a different item, someone else was tasked with collecting this malfunctioning artifact for study. And then one of them was making sure that they killed one of the curators who owed a separate organization money. From behind the screen, it was amazing to watch unfold,

because of the four, I had two really good role players in that group who did a great job of keeping their motivations secret, and it slowly dawned on all four of them that there were other machinations at play. To the two good role players' credits, they never revealed what their secret was until after the one-shot had ended. God, give me four players like that and we got a Let's Play podcast on our hands. Well, maybe one of these days. Anyway, that group later broke up because of lack of availability,

but Secret Missions is a form of betrayal trope that capitalizes on ideological differences between PCs. It was so much fun, and it can be amazing when it's done right. That being said, regardless of motivation, I believe the vast majority of betrayals fall into one of four broad categories. The traitor, the converted insider, the secret agent, or the unwilling. Traitors are someone who is bad from the very beginning, but they can put up a false front of being good. Someone who's been working for the beg-bad the entire time has posed as a shopkeep, bartender, potion salesman, squire, hairdresser, or specialized centaur proctologist to get close, or in the case of the proctologist, very close, to the PCs for some purpose. They could also be a converted insider, someone who used to be good, used to be on the side of the PCs, but for one reason or another

isn't anymore. They experienced a loss or a trauma. They experienced some sort of pain, or they're making a decision in an attempt to avoid that pain, even if it's not real. The one that jumps to mind is Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight. Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face after experiencing the pain of the death of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes. Now, one that sounds similar to the traitor is the secret agent. This is someone who is working for someone else and implanted as part of a different group or someone with different motivations. Imagine your campaign has multiple organizations, both on the side of good and on the side of evil. This could be a secret agent from a different organization, also good, but they have very different motivations. In my one shot, for example, the four characters all wanted to accomplish the goal of

stopping the malfunctioning artifact, but they also worked for different groups with other ulterior motives. That is a variant of the secret agent, and it's slightly different than traitor in my mind. The last type of group that I want to talk about are the unwilling betrayers. They don't want to turn against the PCs, but they're being forced to do so or they have no choice. One way this can happen is blackmail. The one I automatically think about is Vesper Lind in Casino Royale. She was being blackmailed by Quantum. They kidnapped and threatened to kill her lover Yusef if she didn't cooperate with them. I mean, her last words to James Bond are, I'm sorry, James, before she dies.

She's the classic tragic traitor who has no choice but to do what she does or she'll lose her love. Which, by the way, before I leave Vesper Lind, apropos to nothing in this episode, but some of my beloved DMs and my beloved players out there who are listening, they probably cringe when they have to think up the names of things, characters, NPCs, towns, etc. I mean, we all struggle to think of names at times. And sometimes we have to improvise names when the players take things in an unexpected direction.

It's okay to make up weird and stupid names. I'm telling you now, fuck your fear, pick a name and go. How do I know that's good advice? The Bond series of novels were written by Ian Fleming, one of the most prolific British authors of all time. Sold 30 million books in his lifetime and I don't know how many cents. Some of his themes were problematic in modern light, but it's safe to say that the man knew how to craft a novel. After World War II, Germany was split into East and West Germany and the capital was split into East and West Berlin. So the hell what, Jeremy? What

does that have to do with anything? West Berlin's name comes from the term West Berlin. West Berlin, West Berlin. Of course, her sacrifice is later completely cheapened when it's revealed that Yusef was also working for Quantum and was tasked with seducing high-profile women to blackmail them. was also working for Quantum and was tasked with seducing high-profile women to blackmail them. That's a whole subplot about who was right about her, Bond or M, etc. I wish they hadn't gone that route and just let it be what it was in Casino Royale. Not every damn villain needs a redemption arc. Anyway, another example of why people would betray the PC unwillingly would be mind control. Many times calling these actions betrayal feels strong, but they're acting in ways that are counter to the goals of the party. Ash the android on the

Nostromo from the first Alien movie was given special order 937 to ensure the xenomorph would be brought back for further study, and likely weaponization by the Weyland-Yutani corporation, even if it meant that the rest of the crew had to die in the process. Being programmed to do something like that and not having a choice to disobey would be an example of mind control. A more traditional example would be Loki mind-controlling Hawkeye in Avengers to attack the Helicarrier. In Age of Ultron, Wanda mind-controls the Hulk to cause destruction in a nearby city and requires Iron Man to don the Hulkbuster armor and use Veronica to help fight him.

In what was probably my fucking favorite fight of Phase 2 MCU. I need to watch that again. I'm back. Damn, those early movies were just mainline joy from my childhood. Put that shit in my veins. Hulk didn't want to cause damage and destruction, and in the following scene, you see Banner pretty distraught over what he'd done. While calling Hulk a betrayer, it did cause the entire Avengers team to have to go into hiding

afterwards. So even if he wasn't willing, his actions caused harm to the party as a whole, and I would say that's a form of betrayal. Maybe the NPC is mind-controlled by the great old one who wants to pierce the veil of reality. It is an option to have that NPC that's betraying the party not want to do so, maybe not even aware that they're doing so, but that's an example of being an unwilling betrayer, if you will. The NPC could be unwittingly giving information away without their knowledge. It could be that the person who betrays the party has no intention of betraying them. They're just chatty. They provide the wrong information to the wrong person who uses it against the party. The squire

is chatting up the local desk clerk while they're both at the pub. The squire isn't trying to betray the party. He's just trying to impress someone. He wants to plow like a fallow field. He isn't aware that she's on the payroll of the big bad or some competing organization and will happily act interested if he keeps talking about all his work with the party. There are so many examples to name here. Name a movie and it's probably in there. So besides the motivations and types of betrayal, there's also the issue of who's doing the betraying and who is being betrayed. So you could have an NPC betray the PCs. This is easily the most common type of betrayal,

and it's taken up the bulk of the discussion of this episode. Establish trust through multiple interactions, give the NPC a sensible reason for them to betray the PCs, and wait for the right moment to do so. Years ago, while playing with my brother-in-law, we came across this lone female NPC walking in the woods, close to a suspected layer of baddies with my brother-in-law, we came across this lone female NPC walking in the woods, close to a suspected layer of baddies. My brother-in-law role-played trusting her, while the rest of us were skeptical in our roleplay. He immediately went on a rant about how he couldn't believe that we didn't trust her, and it was disgusting that just because we encountered a one lone beautiful woman that it was stupid to assume that she would betray us. He finished his

rant with something along the lines of, well, I guess if she's good at math, you'll call her a witch. We all stared at him before everybody burst into laughter. Now, come to find out, she was working for the big bad and turned on us at an opportune moment. The whole table just slowly pivoted our heads to stare at my brother-in-law, who grinned because he knew he had role-played that well. I mentioned that betrayal can be dangerous, and that's certainly true of NPCs betraying the PCs. to stare at my brother-in-law who grinned because he knew he had role-played that well. I mentioned that betrayal can be dangerous, and that's certainly true of NPCs betraying the PCs, but man, that's doubly or triply true when PCs betray other PCs. Ooh, smell that ozone in the air that I was talking about earlier when you're walking in a dangerous area? Yeah, that's what that smell is. PC-on-PC betrayal is the very definition of high risk, high reward. In a lot of ways, PC betrayal of other PCs is a violation of the social contract of RPGs that say we're all here to have a good time together.

This should only be allowed after very careful consideration of the party dynamic. Because in a PC-PC betrayal situation, it's one of those times when some of the party will win and some of the party will lose. Are the players mature enough to deal with a betrayal like this? Are the players experienced enough not to be put off RPGs by a betrayal like this? Do the players understand the difference between player actions and character action? Under no circumstances should any PC betrayal of other PCs be a surprise to your GM. This is something that should be worked out well in advance and should happen at a mutually agreed upon time.

You need to talk to your DM or GM about what you want to do one-on-one away from the rest of the party. GM about what you want to do one-on-one away from the rest of the party. And most importantly, if your GM says no, you don't get to do it. Period. That's it. Full stop. Before you pull out torches and pitchforks and say, oh, well, no, that's not right because I should be able to do what I want to in the campaign. Understand, this is collaborative storytelling and players should have control of their character arcs, but the DM knows what's coming, and there are times when betrayal just isn't appropriate. Maybe it doesn't fit the campaign as designed. Maybe the DM knows a better moment down the road that can tell you about a time upcoming when the betrayal will be better. Or the DM could tell you

that the betrayal has a high likelihood of making one or more of your fellow players very upset. And if any of those things are true, betrayal shouldn't happen right now, if at all. And I know, I know, you have this juicy betrayal idea that you think would be wonderful to execute. But talk to your DM first. Talk to your GM. Make sure they know what you want to do and listen to them if they say no. Finally here, 24 minutes in or so, let's talk about some tips for players. RPGs are the most part collaborative and you are a team.

Generally, plans should be made and executed as a team. Do not betray an NPC unless you've talked about it with around the table first. The only exception I can think of is if you have a very experienced table and you're doing a role play heavy type campaign, then maybe surprising your fellow players may be a good thing. But, in a lot of tables that I've sat around, surprising your fellow players may make your players extremely upset. More importantly, don't even think about betraying the rest of the party without extensive discussion with your DM. If you think you'd like to do this because it's what my

character would do, then you need to have that one-on-one conversation. If your character is betrayed by an NPC, remember, it's not personal. The DM doesn't have it out for you, and they're not trying to upset you or make you frustrated. The NPC in question has betrayed your character. The DM hasn't betrayed you as the player. Remember, keep those emotions separate from one another. For my DMs, any betrayal, whether it's NPCs betraying PCs or PCs betraying other PCs, should have a clear purpose and motivation behind that can easily be understood or discovered. Think about what happens if the betrayer disappears away from the party right after the betrayal.

Ask yourself, how will the party learn about the betrayal and the reason why? One way you can do this, by the way, is for the betrayer to leave a note for the PCs to find. It does help the PCs know the why of the betrayal and it lets them plan their next steps. Dear morons, I'm stabbing you in the back so I can loot the Wand of Orcus for myself. Nothing personal, just business. If the betrayer is going away after stealing the Wand of Orcus or the Staff of Colon Cleansing, then give them a final word before they teleport away. Master Laverna thanks you for your service.

Your sacrifice will mean that Lolth's brood will live, feeding on your life force for decades. Or maybe just a note. I turned you into the authorities because do you remember the bandit leader that you killed a few months ago in the Caves of Sorrow? She was my mother. And now my family has revenge. Good luck escaping those traps without me. Maybe I'll come back and see your rotting corpses when I need to be cheered up. Deuces, losers. Poof, and they're gone.

All that being said, betrayals should never end the campaign. Even if it's a complete success and catches the entire party flat-footed, so to speak, none of them expected the betrayal and the betrayer's plan went off without a hitch. You need to come up with a way for the PCs to recover what was lost, get the campaign back toward their winning on their end, and at least get revenge on the betrayer. Give the PCs an opportunity to avenge the betrayal one way or another. That will close that story arc. Betrayals are best planned in advance. Foreshadowing is your friend, but I will admit it is difficult to do without telegraphing the intention. My favorite way and a tool that I use is to have another NPC question the advice that the PCs are receiving from the future betrayer. Maybe have the NPC make helpful suggestions to the party that, aw shucks, help the big bad too,

even if the party doesn't find out until later during the reveal or a monologue. The party takes out the thieves guild because it helps keep the city safe, but come to find out the thieves guild was keeping the big bad in check or thwarting their plans. So yes, they helped the city, but they also helped pave the road for the big bad to execute their plan. If you struggle with foreshadowing, you can always just do a Benedict Arnold and have a surprise betrayal. Benedict Arnold was a loyal American general until he very suddenly wasn't. He pivoted because of debt, greed, lack of recognition, or maybe just a character flaw, but with very little hint that he would do so. There's nothing wrong with doing a betrayal like

that either, but it can feel cheaper. And, GMs, there will be a backlash after an NPC betrayal. Expect the players to be very wary or even outright hostile towards NPCs for a time. They will be hurt and will likely be a little bit less trusting or maybe even more violent when Jacob the server tries to chat up the NPCs at the next tavern. So what do you guys do? Stab! Next, has this NPC or someone to them, betrayed other groups, by the way? Imagine the PCs have been left in a trap-filled dungeon as the rogue skips away with the Horn of Healing. The PCs begin to wind their way back to the entrance very carefully, but set off a covered pit trap, and they find the remains of another adventuring party impaled on spikes at the bottom.

One of them has a note eerily similar to the one the PCs receive to start the adventure. Lastly, if any player gets alarmingly upset by a betrayal, whether that's NPC on PC or PC on PC, immediately call for a break at the table and speak with the player one-on-one. Give them the opportunity to voice their concerns and, if applicable, displeasure, and have a conversation about it. Help them understand the difference between people betraying each other and characters betraying each other. There's so much more that could be written about betrayal, and this episode has already gone, damn, ten minutes long, so I'm ending it here.

Betrayal is a dramatic moment in a campaign when true motives of someone whom you trusted, liked, maybe even loved, gets laid bare to the PC's horror. Betrayal is one of the relatively few in-game actions that can elicit out-of-game emotional reactions. If your group is not mature, doesn't like the role play aspect of the game, maybe keep betrayal to a minimum if you have it in the game at all. But if you have the right group for it, if they like the role play aspects of it, if they like the realism and there's an NPC that the players seem to trust, give that NPC a motivation for turning on the party. Wait for the right time to strike and I

guarantee you and your players will have a good backstabbing time doing it. There's a slight change this week as I'm going to start listing resources in the description of the episode rather than having a separate resources page. I'll probably revamp that page over on www.taking20podcast.com over the next few weeks. If you like this podcast, please consider giving a like or subscribe. Also, I'm putting podcast episodes on YouTube. Don't worry, no video, just a waveform. You don't have to worry about seeing my bald head from treatments or the scar that looks like somebody dragged a battle axe along the ground. Remember, I have the perfect face for podcasting. Tune in next week when I'll talk about 5e's new Spelljammer game setting. Well, an old Spelljammer setting, but it's new for 5e. But you know what,

fuck it. We'll talk about 5e's astral plane and space adventure game setting called Spelljammer. But before I go, I once again want to thank this week's sponsor, Dating. There's a new dating service for chess players based out of Prague that I'm thinking about trying. It's called Checkmate. This has been episode 139, Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube media production. Copyright 2022.

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