Kings and Pawns

This is more of a template than a game idea in and of itself. It could be accomplished in Fantasy, Space, Historical or possibly even Modern genres.

The Big Idea

I suspect that this game will work best with two GMs. It will allow a good deal of flexibility with what the players want. It will also allow the game to have multiple foci, and still not leave people behind.

The two GMs will work together, running the game during each session sometimes as a team, sometimes separately. Neither will have PCs, but sometimes one or the other will exclusively play an NPC during a session.

The Kings

Players who choose to play kings will be what the names signify, movers and shakers in a business or political world of some sort. These guys will deal with the abstractions of running their empires, make deals, dream up plans, and put the wheels in motion to bring about the effects they desire. One GM will deal with the Kings players.

The Pawns

The pawns are less like their moniker than the kings. What the pawns do is the actual dirty work of the kings. The kings plan a hit on an enemy corporation, while the pawns break in to the opponents stronghold and bring about the outcome. The pawns perform espionage, violence and whatever is necessary to ensure the goals of the players are being forwarded. One GM will will deal with the Pawns players.

Interaction

All of the players need not be members of the same group. The players could be from two rival groups, which could cause a different split in the GMing duties. More likely, however, the Kings and Pawns would be members of groups that work together often, and in this instance sometimes all the players will be at the table together, with both GMs working at once.

Another addition to this template could involve the use of larger types of actions. So, for instance, the Kings might control a fleet of starships which patrol or control an area, while one of the Pawns is a captain of one of these ships, possibly the Fleet Captain. The King might receive intel (possibly from another Pawn who is an agent of some sort) which suggests movements of an enemy fleet, so they commit their fleet to action, and the Pawns which are in this fleet would resolve the action then report back with their results.

How Can We Implement This

Because this is just a framework a lot of things need to be established. If people are interested, and a specific genre has been chosen, more can be done to make this a reality.