Do you have any ideas for a Falkovnian Political Police?

[brilliantlight]

What I am looking for is a medieval equivalent of the KGB or Gestapo. There would be a uniformed and plainclothes branch. Both are feared, particularly the latter. How do you handle them? This is canon Drakov, incompetent outside his realm and very competent inside it.

Drakov wants to know that they exist and also to know there are secret informers everywhere. How is it organized? What classes/prestige classes would they have assuming all the higher ups are lawful evil? What kind of skills would they have? What methods would they use to maintain terror?

[KingCorn]

I don't really see the necessity of such a thing, considering Drakov already has the entire nation in an iron grip of tyranny and terror. The Talons could probably do some KGB-esque tasks to make sure even talking bad about Drakov in private is punished.
If you want guys who can blend in, some Talons could go undercover into taverns, inns, other places. Keep an eye and ear in every corner. Maybe call them The Owls. Its a bird of prey known for being very observent/all seeing.

[brilliantlight]

I don't really see the necessity of such a thing, considering Drakov already has the entire nation in an iron grip of tyranny and terror. The Talons could probably do some KGB-esque tasks to make sure even talking bad about Drakov in private is punished.
If you want guys who can blend in, some Talons could go undercover into taverns, inns, other places. Keep an eye and ear in every corner. Maybe call them The Owls. Its a bird of prey known for being very observent/all seeing.

Because all tyrannies tend to have secret police , that goes back all the way back to Ancient Sparta if not earlier. Just because Drakov has it in a state of teror does not mean that there aren't rebels or that Drakov isn't paranoid of being overthrown. Also the secret police is probably one of the big reasons the domain is in a state of terror. I think it is likely that Drakov is very paranoid so he would want a secret police.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

It makes sense. They have a half dozen resistance movements in Falkovnia, and a Falkfuhrer Calons Weir managing a ministry of Intelligence. That sounds like a recipe for secret police.

I never saw the need to give them anything special beyond that, though. The PC's would learn that XYZ character is actually a member of the Ministry of Intelligence.

[brilliantlight]

I see secret police as scary and I want the party paranoid. I want a sense that they aren't sure who they can trust. So how do you think I should do that?

[The Lesser Evil]

Having moles, espionage agents, saboteurs, and covert ops types makes sense with the existence of the Ministry of Intelligence. The challenge with making it scary in Falkovnia that many of the features of a secret police (death squads, abuse and torture, arbitrary interpretation of the laws and punishment, going after political opponents) can be done out in the open by the normal military forces that govern the state. Having a "big brother is watching you" sort of horror usually requires a surface layer of normality and safety where you could let down your guard and trust the environment or other people. In Falkovnia, that surface layer is awfully hard to come by because the government is so bald-facedly oppressive and barbaric (even for brutal dictatorships). So for a Falkovnian secret police to be effective for horror purposes out-of-character, there needs to be a contrasted from the normal associations of the Falkovnian state. Here's a few ideas:

1) Eeriness- whereas the Falkovnian military often speaks loudly and carries a big stick, the secret police talk softly but maybe insidiously imply they carry a bigger stick. The secret police walk and work silently, like ghosts in the night, in such a way as to even disturb the other military-police forces. They show little emotion to the point of seeming inhuman and might never let their faces be shown on the job. This could be contrasted with the typical Falkovnian military with open bravado, violence, and sadism. Compared to these hot-blooded traits, the secret police are strangely cold-blooded, even reptilian.

2) Anyone could be one of them, even (and perhaps especially) the most unlikely. From the lowliest peasant to the most ardent anarchist, anyone could potentially be a member in disguise. Some might even go without the branding of typical Falkovnians in order to appear as foreign merchants or agitators. A person could even be an agent of the secret police without their knowledge via some horrible concoction from the Ministries of Science or Magic or just "mundane" brainwashing.

3) Inscrutability- the aims of the secret police are often so obscure and inscrutable to outside parties that they seem entirely alien or nonsensical. Unlike other agents of the Falkovnian state, the Falkovnian secret police are often indirect, setting up conspiracies upon conspiracies to foil other conspiracies. Something like encouraging the vampyr debaucheries in order to collect vampyr saliva for mind-control experiments, perhaps under a second layer of a sting operation for rooting out the vampyrs if the ruse is discovered. Or setting up an intentionally caricatured and overly violent rebel group in order to cause chaos among the other rebel groups. Or starting a new art movement to sew discord against dissident ideologies.

Basically, where the rest of the Falkovnian state is all about the certainty of doom and cruelty, the secret police is all about un-certainty. Whereas most of Falkovnia is about despair, the secret police is about doubt and dissonance. Compared to the overt horrors of Falkovnia, the covert ones might be worse because they're so bad, the goons can't tell you about them. Normal Falkovnia is the devil you know, the secret police is the devil you don't know.

[brilliantlight]

Having moles, espionage agents, saboteurs, and covert ops types makes sense with the existence of the Ministry of Intelligence. The challenge with making it scary in Falkovnia that many of the features of a secret police (death squads, abuse and torture, arbitrary interpretation of the laws and punishment, going after political opponents) can be done out in the open by the normal military forces that govern the state. Having a "big brother is watching you" sort of horror usually requires a surface layer of normality and safety where you could let down your guard and trust the environment or other people. In Falkovnia, that surface layer is awfully hard to come by because the government is so bald-facedly oppressive and barbaric (even for brutal dictatorships). So for a Falkovnian secret police to be effective for horror purposes out-of-character, there needs to be a contrasted from the normal associations of the Falkovnian state. Here's a few ideas:

1) Eeriness- whereas the Falkovnian military often speaks loudly and carries a big stick, the secret police talk softly but maybe insidiously imply they carry a bigger stick. The secret police walk and work silently, like ghosts in the night, in such a way as to even disturb the other military-police forces. They show little emotion to the point of seeming inhuman and might never let their faces be shown on the job. This could be contrasted with the typical Falkovnian military with open bravado, violence, and sadism. Compared to these hot-blooded traits, the secret police are strangely cold-blooded, even reptilian.

2) Anyone could be one of them, even (and perhaps especially) the most unlikely. From the lowliest peasant to the most ardent anarchist, anyone could potentially be a member in disguise. Some might even go without the branding of typical Falkovnians in order to appear as foreign merchants or agitators. A person could even be an agent of the secret police without their knowledge via some horrible concoction from the Ministries of Science or Magic or just "mundane" brainwashing.

3) Inscrutability- the aims of the secret police are often so obscure and inscrutable to outside parties that they seem entirely alien or nonsensical. Unlike other agents of the Falkovnian state, the Falkovnian secret police are often indirect, setting up conspiracies upon conspiracies to foil other conspiracies. Something like encouraging the vampyr debaucheries in order to collect vampyr saliva for mind-control experiments, perhaps under a second layer of a sting operation for rooting out the vampyrs if the ruse is discovered. Or setting up an intentionally caricatured and overly violent rebel group in order to cause chaos among the other rebel groups. Or starting a new art movement to sew discord against dissident ideologies.

Basically, where the rest of the Falkovnian state is all about the certainty of doom and cruelty, the secret police is all about un-certainty. Whereas most of Falkovnia is about despair, the secret police is about doubt and dissonance. Compared to the overt horrors of Falkovnia, the covert ones might be worse because they're so bad, the goons can't tell you about them. Normal Falkovnia is the devil you know, the secret police is the devil you don't know.

This is PERFECT, thanks. What I am after is showing that you don't have to have werewolves, vampires, or evil fey to be scary because ordinary men can be scary enough. After all supernatural creatures don't exist in real life and there are plenty of scary things out there most of them men. I don't know about you but if I woke up in North Korea or Iran one morning I would be terrified!

[Five]

I don't know about you but if I woke up in North Korea or Iran one morning I would be terrified!

I say the same thing about waking up and finding myself living under Trump's regime.

Or having Fox news tied directly to my brain.

The horror!

Haha

[DeepShadow of FoS]

I see secret police as scary and I want the party paranoid. I want a sense that they aren't sure who they can trust. So how do you think I should do that?

At minimum, I would make it clear that the Ministry has intel on the party, and it's increasing all the time. Don't make them roll to notice someone watching them, just have the information show up in the right hands.

If the Ministry is supposed to be an antagonist, an official meeting would be, "You went to see XYZ person on this date. What was the nature of your business?"

If the Ministry is an ally, it might be, "So, how did things pan out with the apothecary? Here's what we found out from our foreign agents."

Either way, leave them wondering how they know so much. If they want to start making rolls, make them in secret and tell them the results. Let them get paranoid.

[ewancummins]

Ugh.

No real-world politics, please.

[brilliantlight]

Ugh.

No real-world politics, please.

I'll second that.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Yeah, rereading other ideas, I'd just really push the information angle. They have dirt on everyone.

This combines well with the barbarism. It's one thing to have a bunch of soldier-thugs show up at your house and take what they want because the state needs to raise war bonds or whatever. It's another thing to have them know exactly what you have, or where you are hiding it.

"You didn't pay your full taxes," or "Taxes just went up," is so cliche at this point it's practically meaningless. When the thugs barge in saying, "You didn't pay taxes on that tobacco you shipped in from Levkarest, hidden in a barrel of beans..." it's a completely different story. When you add up the number of people who knew what was in the beans, it implicates several people you trust closely. And the beauty is, you stop trusting all of them, even though it might not have been any of them....

[Five]

Ugh.

No real-world politics, please.

I'll second that.

Didn't you just mention North Korea and Iran? Guess there's a range to people's sensitivities...

But I digress, and will honour other people's wishes.

[Five]

Somebody mentioned the Talons as being potential candidates for Falkovnia's political police (a really cool concept, btw). My view of them would say no, as I don't think their breeding would cater to the subtlety needed for such an organisation to exist. However being staffed by civilians and "working" under some kind of reward--based system could really be effective. To avoid real world politics on this message board, google "social credit system". It fits perfectly into both Ravenloft and Falkovnia in particular, given the insurrection issues going on there.

Shopkeepers, landlords, craftsmen, labourers, even the homeless...all would do just about anything for that extra handout. So I like to imagine anyway.

[ewancummins]

I like the krypteia, alluded to above, as another model.

That might be better for a different domain, though.