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Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? They whisper together in the darkness, creating a vast and intricate web of secrets, lies, and power. Only the most perceptive can spot their work amongst the chaos of everyday life. And only the most persistent can unravel the networks, one small thread at a time, to reveal the spider that sits at the center of the web.

A conspiracy can be a powerful and deadly opponent, but building a good one requires more than a secret handshake. Here are some tools to help you create a secret society, from a local plot to overthrow the governor to a vast world-spanning network dedicated to bringing on the apocalypse.

THE TARGET

Conspiratorial goals vary widely from group to group. A group’s goals can be as simple as gaining treasure, power, or vengeance, or they can be as complex as you can imagine. Regardless of the conspiracy’s specific goal, its elaborate ploy always seeks a change in the status quo, some alteration of the present situation that leads to the benefit of those involved. Some changes are so subtle that the average person would never know the difference. Others are so sweeping that your world would be barely recognizable if the conspiracy succeeds.

TRUST NO ONE

The most important part of any successful conspiracy is secrecy. It is subtlety that sets a conspiracy apart from more direct organizations. Common crime or open rebellion. Conspiracies hide within established power structures, perverting legitimate authority to their own ends.

Their dependance on secrecy means that conspiracies are usually compartmentalized. Although the ultimate direction of the group’s machinations usually comes from an individual, any scheme can involve hundreds or thousands of operatives, each only partially aware of her ultimate purpose in achieving her masters’ desires.

Conspiracies can be divided into three broad levels. At the bottom level are those doing the grunt work. These minions are the least cognizant of the consequences of their actions and are always ignorant of the identity of their leader. They may be reporting trivial information to a well-paying stranger or hiding what they believe to be the possessions of an old friend. The actions of conspirators at this level should seem innocent, motivated by perfectly guileless desires.

Slightly higher on the chain of command are the handlers. This group, which can be divided into a number of sub-groups, is generally aware of the conspiracy’s goals, plans, and methods. At least part of what they know is deception, but they are far better informed than their underlings. Less innocent than their minions, handlers can comprise several levels of the conspiracy, each slightly more aware of the totality of their purpose than those below.

Handlers use any means at their disposal to accomplish their ends. Skilled in the art of manipulation, they may use bribery, extortion, deception, or even simple persuasion. No matter their method, they work tirelessly to achieve the purpose to which they have been set.

At the top of any conspiracy is a director. Usually a single person, but sometimes a small group, the director is the only one involved in the conspiracy who knows the whole story. While the handlers immediately subordinate to a director are generally conscious of some portion of the purpose of their actions, even this awareness may be no more than an elaborate ruse to mislead those who would unravel the mystery.

Directors usually have the unquestioning loyalty of those below them. Most directors rarely feel the same loyalty in return. If it furthers the cause, a director would sell out his closest companion in a heartbeat. A director is driven to achieve his goal at all costs, any other consideration is a mere shadow in comparison.

All members of a conspiracy should operate behind a shield of legitimacy. Everyone involved leads a double life to one degree or another. They twist the power they legitimately command, slowly warping it to meet their own dastardly needs.

COINCIDENCE?

In a game world that contains a major conspiracy, it’s important that the seemingly coincidental be anything but. Apparently innocent events should be harbingers of later disasters, and each seemingly unconnected happening becomes part of a chain of events that leads to whatever goal your conspiracy’s director has chosen.

Effective conspiracies cannot be introduced quickly. While you should avoid making your conspiracy’s aims too obvious, you should make it seem as if nothing happening around the characters is a coincidence. Everything has a purpose, although sometimes that purpose is merely to mislead your PCs. As time passes and more seemingly unconnected events reveal underlying complexity, your conspiracy should appear to have vast resources that make it capable of influencing everyone from the head of the Church of Wee Jas to the innkeeper at a roadside tavern.

No matter how extensive the actual conspiracy is, you should make sure that it seems to be both omniscient and omnipresent. There should be subtle hints that nearly every NPC in your game could be a part of the events that are happening around the characters. Clues are important, but you should put as much effort into coincidence and false leads as you put into the real clues.

UNRAVELING THE WEB

The purpose of bringing a conspiracy into your campaign is usually to have your players stop it. While the mystery you create should not be so obvious that its lack of previous discovery is inexplicable, it’s important that your characters have a chance to uncover the reality of what is happening around them. Gradually, the players should figure out that things are not as they seem. Once they do that, they can finally begin to unravel the knot that you’ve tied for them.

Most often, your PCs’ investigation starts at the lowest level of the conspiracy, slowly working its way up to the director, uncovering pieces of the larger plot as they go. In the beginning, the players should know almost nothing, save that something beneath the surface is occurring around them. By the end, they should know almost as much as the director. At worst, they should be missing only the one vital clue he has kept hidden even from his most trusted lieutenants.

By giving your players a powerful conspiracy to discover and unravel, you can add depth to your campaign while giving players a mystery they can’t help but want to solve. A carefully crafted plot headed by a truly diabolical villain is guaranteed to keep your players jumping at the shadows, always eager for more.