Organization Framework
The key to creating tension in your world.
Step 7: Organizations
Organizations are a crucial part of building tension and deepening player engagement in an RPG world. Whether it’s a merchant guild, a secretive cult led by a dragon, a goblin clan, or a powerful noble house, these organizations provide a structure for alliances, rivalries, and political intrigue. In fact, I take the time to create organizations for all of my primary antagonists. In story first campaigns, organizations serve as both allies and antagonists, creating rich, layered storytelling opportunities where players actively interact with the world rather than passively reacting to events.
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Once you have an understanding of your overall setting you can leverage the organization creation process to create a world that feels alive and interconnected. By establishing the key organizations in your world, we can use this structure to build tension that will result in your primary campaign story arc, plots and sub-plots.
Outcomes​
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Determine your starting organizations in this region from your world overview document.
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Update your world building document with an Organizations section.
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Generate an organization overview section for each organization.
Types of Organizations
1. Religious Organizations:
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Healing Temple - Religious institution focusing on restoring health and aiding the community.
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Elemental Covenant - Followers dedicated to honoring and channeling natural elemental power.
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Prophets of the Forgotten - Keepers of ancient prophecies and lost lore, seeking to prevent forgotten disasters.
2. Criminal Organizations:
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Thieves' Guild - Network specializing in black-market dealings and acquiring forbidden goods.
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Shadow Brokers - Information dealers who buy and sell secrets for power and profit.
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Night Watchers - Vigilantes who deliver justice outside the law, often with brutal methods.
3. Trade and Crafting Organizations:
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Merchant Alliance - Union of traders ensuring prosperous commerce within the kingdom.
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Engineers' Consortium - Crafters and inventors dedicated to advancing technology.
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Gemcutters' Guild - Artisans specializing in the refinement and sale of precious stones.
4. Academic and Scholarly Organizations:
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Arcane Circle - Magic users dedicated to advancing arcane knowledge and spells.
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Explorers' League - Adventurers and scholars mapping uncharted territories and discovering forgotten secrets.
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Mystic Seers' Assembly - Prophets offering visions and insights into possible futures.
5. Military and Defense Organizations:
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Knightly Order - Chivalric group sworn to protect their land from threats and uphold justice.
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Mercenary Company - Fighters available for hire, known for their tactical expertise.
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Sentinels of the Wild - Rangers defending the natural world from encroaching dangers.
6. Political and Government Organizations:
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Noble House - Aristocratic family with deep influence in regional politics and economics.
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Shadow Council - An influential group working behind the scenes to shape political events.
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Peacekeepers' Alliance - Coalition that strives to mediate and maintain peace between neighboring factions.
7. Arcane and Mystical Organizations:
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Spirit Keepers - Shamans who maintain balance between the spirit world and the material realm.
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Warlocks' Pact Circle - A group bound by pacts with otherworldly entities, seeking power and influence.
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Oracle Circle - Prophets providing visions of future events, often sought for guidance by the powerful.
8. Guilds and Associations:
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Adventurers' Guild - Organization that supports explorers on dangerous quests.
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Healers' Guild - Group dedicated to providing both medical and magical healing services.
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Monster Hunters' Guild - Specialists in tracking and eliminating dangerous creatures.
9. Maritime and Transportation Organizations:
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Rivermasters' Guild - Controls waterways, ensuring safe transport and managing trade routes.
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Pilgrims' Caravan - A group of travelers on a sacred journey, often seeking enlightenment.
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Mariners' Brotherhood - Sailors bound by the code of the sea, protecting coastal communities and trade.
10. Miscellaneous and Hybrid Organizations:
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Order of Sand Sentinels - Desert warriors skilled in protecting their people from external threats.
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Relic Seekers - Group dedicated to recovering powerful artifacts from ancient ruins.
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Peacekeepers' Alliance - Mediators ensuring stability, often tasked with brokering difficult peace agreements.
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​Process
To create compelling organizations in your RPG world, focus on their purpose, structure, resources, methods, and relationships. These elements bring organizations to life as key players in the story, driving conflicts, alliances, and player decisions.
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Purpose: Define the organization’s goals and motivations. What do they seek to achieve, and why?
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Leadership Hierarchy: Detail the leadership structure, from figureheads to regional leaders, to show who drives decisions and actions.
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Assets: Identify the organization’s resources, such as wealth, manpower, information, or unique tools, and how they use them.
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Methods: Describe how the organization operates—through espionage, trade manipulation, military power, or other tactics.
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Relationships: Outline how the organization interacts with players and other factions, whether as allies, enemies, or neutral parties.
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Please read the following content [Insert World Overview Document], reply with “Ready to chat” when done.
Example Outline for an Organization
Organization Name: The Iron Chain
Organization Description:
The Iron Chain is a ruthless trade syndicate that controls the flow of rare minerals and enchanted metals across the region. Known for its strict enforcement of trade laws and brutal suppression of competition, the syndicate operates from the shadows while maintaining a veneer of legitimacy.
Purpose:
To monopolize the trade of rare resources and establish dominance over regional economies.
Introduction:
A shadowy trade syndicate, the Iron Chain, seeks to dominate the lifeblood of industry—rare minerals and enchanted metals—across [Region]. Led by the cunning and ambitious Rathos Blackmoor, the syndicate employs ruthless methods to crush opposition and secure its growing power. Players may find themselves in the Iron Chain’s crosshairs, drawn into schemes that could alter the balance of power in the region.
Key Questions:
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What does the organization value? Control, profit, and fear-based loyalty.
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What is the organization’s primary goal? Total monopoly over trade in rare minerals and magical resources.
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What does the organization do to achieve its goals? Espionage, bribery of officials, intimidation of competitors, and covert military actions.
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What kind of power or resources does the organization wield? A network of spies, elite enforcers, vast wealth from trade, and political influence in key cities.
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What are the organization’s internal conflicts? Rival factions within the syndicate vie for leadership, and some members question the morality of their tactics.
Leadership:
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Leader Title: Syndicate Lord
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Leader Name: Rathos Blackmoor
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Second-in-Command Title: Iron Hand
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Second-in-Command Name: Kiera Vance
Hierarchy:
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Syndicate Lord (Leader)
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Iron Hands (Regional Overseers)
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Chain Enforcers (Military/Protection)
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Merchants Guildmasters (Economic Operators)
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Informants (Spies and Smugglers)
Organization Assets:
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Physical: Control of key trade routes, fortified warehouses, and caravans guarded by mercenaries.
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Monetary: Wealth from mineral and metal exports, as well as bribes to political figures.
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Operational: Forgeries for legal documents, specialized mining equipment, and encrypted communication networks.
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Regulatory: Exclusive rights to mines granted by puppet rulers and ownership of key trade charters.
Tactics and Methods:
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Espionage to uncover competitors' plans.
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Bribery to influence regional leaders and customs officials.
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Intimidation through assassinations or public "accidents."
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Sabotage of rival operations, including supply chains and production facilities.
Headquarters:
A sprawling fortress-market, Chainspire, located in a mountain pass, serving as both a trade hub and a heavily fortified stronghold.
Detection, Deterrence, and Response:
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Detection: Scouts and spies monitor rival operations and suspicious activity.
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Deterrence: Chainspire is guarded by mercenaries, traps, and impenetrable defenses.
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Response: Swift retaliation against threats, including raids, assassinations, and economic embargoes.
Relationship with Players:
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Ally: The Iron Chain may offer lucrative deals or protection to players in exchange for loyalty.
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Enemy: Players could oppose the syndicate’s exploitation of resources, leading to open conflict.
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Neutral: Initially indifferent, the Iron Chain’s stance may shift based on the players' actions.
This outline provides a clear and flexible structure to integrate the organization into your world while leaving room for customization and player interaction
Organization Template
Purpose: This is a prompting template created with the purpose of creating interesting organizations within an RPG world. The goal is to create tension between the organization and the players.
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Organization Name: [Organization Name]
Organization Description:
[Brief description of the organization's purpose and goals]
Introduction:
[Adjective] [Noun] organization, the [Adjective] [Noun], seeks to [Verb] the [Noun] of [Place]. Led by the [Adjective] [Noun], [Leader Name], the organization uses [Adjective] methods to achieve its [Adjective] goals. Players may find themselves entangled in the organization's schemes, forced to choose sides in a conflict that could [Verb] the fate of the [Noun].
Key Questions:
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What does the organization value? [List of core values, such as honor, power, knowledge, or a specific ideal]
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What is the organization’s primary goal or motivation? [The overarching objective of the organization]
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What does the organization do to achieve its goals? [Tactics, strategies, and methods used to achieve the goal]
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What kind of power or resources does the organization wield? [The organization's assets, such as wealth, military might, magical abilities, or political influence]
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What are the organization’s internal conflicts or challenges? [Internal struggles, rival factions, or ideological differences within the organization]
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How does the organization interact with other factions, including players? [The organization's stance towards other groups, whether they are allies, rivals, or indifferent]
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What is their role in the world? [The organization's impact on the world, whether it's a major player or a hidden force]
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How do they protect what they have?
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What are the key benefits of being with this organization? [This can be monetary, association related, equipment, access to knowledge etc.]
Organization Structure:
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Leadership:
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[Leader Title]: [Leader Name]
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[Second-in-Command Title]: [Second-in-Command Name]
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Hierarchy: [Outline of the organization's hierarchy, including ranks, titles, and reporting structures]
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Cells/Chapters: [Information about the organization's regional or thematic divisions]
Organizations Assets:
Assets fall into three categories, physical, information and people. The three L’s, Loot, Lore and Lives.
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Intrinsic Value: [Describe assets that they own that have intrinsic value.]
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Monetary value: [Describe the money they have, make it relevant to the organizaiton.]
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Economic value: [A productive mine, drug operations, trade related etc.]
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Operational value: [Guards need weapons, scribes need paper etc.]
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Regulatory value: [Tends to be tied to legal systems, important records, information, legal right to something etc.]
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Intangible value: [Sentimental value, describe anything that the organization has sentimental value for.]
Organization Tactics and Methods:
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[Tactics and methods used to achieve goals, such as espionage, infiltration, bribery, or open warfare]
Headquarters:
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[Describe their main headquarters, and the population]
Detection, Deterrence and Response:
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Detection is all about identifying the threats to your assets as soon as possible. Think of guards, alarms, scouts, or spies.
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Deterrence is about showing how well your lair is protected and how difficult and or dangerous it will be to try. High walls, locks and safes, traps and or concealment.
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Response is all about how you respond to intruders. This is where guards come in.
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[Describe how the organization approaches Detection, Deterrence and Response.]
Organization’s Relationship with the Players:
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Ally: The organization may offer aid, information, or resources to the players.
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Enemy: The organization may actively oppose the players' goals or seek to eliminate them.
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Neutral: The organization may be indifferent to the players, or they may have a more complex relationship that evolves over time.
Tools of the Trade
These are the key tools that I use to create, manage, and run my RPG sessions
As a large language model, ChatGPT processes natural language input and generates human-like responses to facilitate conversation and provide information to users.
​Midjourney is an independent research lab that produces an artificial intelligence program under the same name that creates images from textual descriptions, similar to OpenAI's DALL-E and Stable Diffusion.
Game Master Platform is a story first AI enabled intelligent platform that allows GMs to create, build, mange, and run their campaigns.