Dungeons & Dragons: How To Implement Spying And Espionage

Spies, intelligence gatherers, and double agents have been part of military strategy since the dawn of recorded history. Leaked plans, advanced knowledge, and sabotage all play a role in keeping the powerful in power. For their plans to work, the kings, queens, lords, and ladies of Dungeons & Dragons need stealthy adventurers.

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Fantasy features its fair share of spies and saboteurs, too. The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E Feist and The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch are both full of sneaking, stealth, and spycraft. If it excites you and your players, consider an adventure for assassins, masters of disguise, and daring spies.

Spying And Espionage Tips For DMs

Great spy stories share common tropes and setups. Some of these seem foreign to the fantasy genre at first glance. But with some minor modifications, many ideas from the spy genre translate pretty well to D&D.

Factions Need Spies

One of the great Kurt Vonnegut's writing tips tells us that every character should want something, even if it's just a glass of water. Factions in D&D are similar. Without a goal or ambition, a faction has no reason to be in your story. When you know what a faction wants, quests can focus on the party getting it for them.

Whether it's intelligence, a captive, troop numbers, or info about a secret weapon, stealth often works best in D&D. A lively set of factions with conflicts, intrigues, and politicking ensure there's plenty of espionage available to the party.

Macguffins

Classic James Bond films (and other spy fiction) often revolve around reels of microfilm, codes, or schematics. The beauty of these macguffins is that they're small, portable, and have the potential to drastically change the world in some way.

D&D macguffins sound different to spy ones, but they're mostly just semantic differences. Schematics for weapons work in any genre, microfilm can be swapped for magical memories (tears and pensive anyone?), and magical rings are a fantasy staple. Use these powerful objects to intrigue and guide your players.

Bombs On Timer

Spy films and novels maintain tension in a variety of ways. One of the most common is the ticking time bomb. Timed explosions are easy to set up in D&D. You can give your players a literal counting clock at the table. The consequences of failure should feel significant.

Important or beloved NPCs should die, opportunities should be lost, and locations should be destroyed when the players fail to defuse the bomb. Ways to resolve the bomb plot could include finding the culprit, finding and defusing the bomb, or, worst-case scenario - evacuating the affected buildings.

Cinematic Setups

Spy heists feature elaborate set pieces. Death-defying leaps, chandelier swings, and mind-bending feats of reaction and timing pepper classic spy films. These scenes don't just happen in a D&D game. Like in a movie, setups are required. As DM, you need to give your players enough information through description (and potentially images) so they can get creative with what's available.

It helps to try to predict when and where confrontations and battles will begin. Doing so allows you to make sure there are props, multiple exits, improvised weapons, and some verticality to key locations. No one wants the climatic battle to play out in the cloakroom.

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