I'm kicking around a game of political corruption.  My inspiration is the state of Washington, D.C. and the seemingly pervasive corruption there.  For you outside of Cali, know that we've been locked in a constant election cycle since 2002 (between recall elections, special elections, presidential elections, gubinotorial elections....); it's gotten old.

My vision: 
Characters play polititians newly elected.  Each character has one or more Goals, Perversities and Appetites.  Players try to achieve their Goals, as well as their Perversity (an illicit secret goal,) and are hindered by their unsavory Appatite.  Each character also has a spot on the continuum between Idealism and Corruption.  Idealism wins votes to achieve goals, Corruption gets money to get re-elected and be back for the next vote.  Once Idealism is sacrificed for Corruption, it is very difficult to move back the other way.

I would like this game to be short, fast, somewhat light-hearted and preferably GM-less so everyone can get into the backstabbing treason!

Mechanics:
Each round has a certain number of News Cycles, each player may take one action per News Cycle.  Actions in the News Cycle would be things such as Investigate a Rival (to try to find his/her Perversity, for example), Media Blitz (to reduce a rival's re-electability by exposing their Appatite) or Borking (manufacturing a scandal to nullify votes.)

After the last News Cycle, a bill is created, and there is a vote.  The bill may have a total of <players-1> provisions, and each provision can advance a goal by one point or hinder it by one point or appropriate up to a total of $10billion for players' districts.  Each player rolls their Idealism dice to generate their number of votes they get to cast.  Players must cast their votes in favor of their Perversity, and must accept any offer fufilling their Appatite, even if it leaves them vulnrable to exposure, and the fallout that would entail.

An election cycle consists of 2 rounds, after which players need to roll their Corruption and Money to stay in office.

Example of Goals, Perversities and Appatites:
To use a certain disgraced former house member as an example:
Goal: To bring traditional values back to washington!
Perversity:  To reduce the age of conscent to 10!
Appatite:  Sex with underage boys.

My questions:
Right now I am thinking about a basic d6 dice pool mechanic with bonuses adding dice, and the sliding scale of Idealism/Corruption moving dice from one pool to the other.  I am, however, not fond of the Yahtzee system, and I would prefer something more characterful.  Any suggestions?

My next problem is how the bill gets authored.  I would like a lot of back-stabbing to go into this.  I was thinking that one player, either rotating or a victor in some way, authors it.  I'm also trying to come up with some way that the group as a whole authors it, but then there is a problem with secrecy regarding Perversities.

I'd like Perversities to be tied to Appatites, but I'm not sure if it's neccessary.

Hi King,

I hate politics in real life, but I love the behind the scenes stories and the "concept" of politics.  I think you have hit on something here.

I was wondering if you are married to the specific situation of Washington D.C. circa 2006 or if you had any interest in a more generic setting that players could fill in on their own?  I study history whenever I can, and political backstabbing and vote purchasing is certainly not a new concept.  What if you built a framework that allowed these despicable acts to occur and then let the group create their own setting?  Some examples might include:
-Imperial Rome (2nd-3rd century AD)
-Constitutional Congress-era U.S. politics (late 18th century)
-Banana Republic in Central America (20th century)

Just a thought.

Chris
Caesar_X@yahoo.com

Idealism winning votes seems rather peculiar. Can you explain where you got that idea?

(As an Alaskan, I feel a bit surprised at the idea that an idealistic politico can get more money for his district than a corrupt one. Our Representative is the country's biggest porker by far: corrupt as can be and a loyal lapdog of Big Oil, but controlling a huge share of Congress. Short rant over!)

Make it a card game. Also, there are many political games on the market. Not sure about RPG games.

Hey Troy,

Do you mean a card game like Mille Bourne?  Or a card-based RPG like Contenders?  Sure there have been some political games on the market.  But being able to set and narrate scenes for your Politico is pretty cool.

Chris

Hey Chris,

I think Mille Bornes is a driving game, but I'm sure that could be translated to votes. A Game of Thrones is both an RPG and a CCG.

Politics change every decade depending on current events, wars, economics, trends, etc. I'm not sure that a generic political game will satisfy the unique requirements for different countries/empires and time periods. Terminology may be similar (senate, republic, democracy, etc.) but the social impact is dynamic.

Generic politics is an oxymoron. Politics is very specific and I think just a litte historical research will show that to be true. Look at the use of TV during the McCarthy era. Everyone believed what they saw and heard on TV. To an extent, people are driven by the media, but that has changed.

If the game is intended to merely spoof politics, scandals and elections then camp it up and have fun. Limit it to a certain era and make blatant references to the notable politicians, indiscretions and ridiculous antics that plaque the current election process.

Troy

@ Cesar_X:
I appreciate your input, and may include an appendix adaptation, but I like Washington for a number of reasons, most notably achieving the cynicism I would like.

@ Ramidel:
::Warning: Cynicism alert:: Corruption buys votes to get re-elected, with the folks back home.  Why?  Because people keep re-electing the politicians that pander to <insert interest group here>, bring the bacon to the homestead, and sell their soul to raise campaign monies.  In the election, idealism is a thin veneer to make the pill go down.
Idealism gets you votes on the Bill at the end of every round.  The more effective you are in Washington, the less able you are to get re-elected.

After thinking through my concept, as well as having a heart-to-heart with the Power 19, I've come up with some more notes.
Note, specific numbers have been omitted, simply because I am not at the point to make decisions regarding relative difficulties.

Characters:
In addition to the Idealism and Corruption pools, every character has 6 stats, arranged into 3 pairs:
Media / Spin
Creep / Paranoid
Blowhard / Victim
Each in the first column is an "attack" stat, while the second is the corresponding primary defense.  Substituting a different defense is allowed, but more difficult/less effective.
The player decides how to prioritize between attack and defense on each pair, as each pair must each total X.

Conflict resolution:
In a basic conflict, each player involved in the conflict rolls a number of d6 equal to the relevant stat.  Each die that comes up 3+ is "confirmed," and the total number of confirmed dice is your "coalition."  The player that has the biggest coalition is the winner.
In the case where one side has an advantage, such as when one player is substituting one defensive stat for another, dice are confirmed only on rolls of 4+.  The winner gets to narrate the conclusion of the conflict.

Actions:
Each player gets one action per News Cycle.  I'm short on a list of available actions, but here is the basic list I have.  Additional ideas are welcome.
Attack: this will become 3 seperate actions, one for each of the offensive stats.  Each will have a slightly different mechanical feel.  Basically, successes translate as a penalty to Idealism dice for the Vote.
Investigate: uses Creep to find out an opponent's secrets.  The more secrets they have, the easier it is.
Bork: uses Media to manufacture a scandal, reducing dice for the Election.
Debate: uses Blowhard to reduce an opponent's comittee standing.
Feeding the Beast: use the opponent's appatite to force a consession.
Campaign: Trades Idealism for Corruption (1d6 from one to the other?)
Sell your soul: gain X Corruption, and another Perversity..
Sister Souljah: Lose one idealism to corruption.  An opponent may remove a Perversity of their choice.  A character may not have fewer than one Perversity.
Comittee:  Gain +X Comittee standing.

"Concessions" would be things such as:  Cast X votes for/against the Bill, dictate character's next action.
I'm not sure how comittee standing should be determined.  I would like some way for it to be more than simply taking Comittee actions.

After X News Cycles, there is a Vote.  The Vote begins with the player who has the highest Comittee standing adding 2 provisions.  The everyone else, in order of comittee ranking, gets to add 1 until there are [players-1] provisions.  The two lowest comittee rankings do not get to add provisions.  Each Provision may advance or retreat a Goal/Perversity by 1 point or add +X to a player's Re-Election roll.

Once the bill is authored, every player commits dice equal to their Idealism score for and/or against the Bill.  They may split their pool, but all dice must be allocated.  After the votes have been divvied up, the dice are rolled, and whichever side has the biggest coalition prevails.