Troupe-style play is perfect for solo RPGs

It's probably the best way to play as an entire faction and it works with most RPGs out there.

Preface

This idea came to me while preparing for my multiplayer Traveller game I'm starting next week. We're doing an exploration campaign where the PCs are part of the crew of a larger ship. The players aren't interested in handling the nitty gritty of spaceship operations so I'm just doing it behind the scenes while the actual gameplay focuses on the missions itself.

Originally, I offered the players to control the flight crew and mission leaders themselves. They could manage the logistics of the expedition itself and make major decisions along the route. Once they encountered something worth investigating, they could pick a team of specialists, who would then became their PCs for the specific mission.

What I just described is exactly how a Troup-style campaign would function. The players control a larger faction/organization/group and pick from a cast of characters to play through their respective missions/quests/adventures. This allows for a plethora of different gameplay decisions and enables a huge variety of mission types to be explored.

Ultimately, my players didn't want to worry about the macro scale of the expedition and preferred a more guided traditional style of play. I, on the other hand, couldn't get the concept out of my head. It really resonated with me and I wanted to explore it further through solo play.

The Campaign Concept

As far as I know, Troupe-style play was coined in the historical fantasy game Ars Magica (Core Book & Product Line). It's baked into the core design of the game and allows the players to be part of a magical Covenant somewhere in medieval Europe. The main character is the wizard trying to master the art of magic, while the Companions actually go out there and do all the adventuring. I haven't played it yet but I always hear great things about it. It's on my (all too long) to-play list.

Without knowing anything more, we can already extract all the necessary elements for such a campaign to work:

• A faction/organization/group that has a common goal in mind
• Anything from a federation of planets to a small band of thieves can work here
  
• A 'main' character in a position of power or leadership
• Someone who has the authority to make major decisions and to send other people on missions
• A colorful cast of secondary characters with different specializations
• Should be limited and act as another resource that the 'main' character has to manage
• Background characters that handle anything not interesting enough for actual gameplay
• The menial labor force that actually implements all the macro decisions of the 'main' character

I hope you can already see the solo potential for this type of campaign. The decision-making character is basically already doing a lot of the legwork a normal GM would make - much like a solo player does.

Just grab your favorite random tables and roll up a few scenarios that the 'main' character has to manage. Maybe the faction only has enough resources for one of the missions? What are the consequences for failing the others?

The campaign structure of the GEMulator should be perfect for this concept. It already has a mechanic for dynamic stakes and differentiates between the overarching Campaign and the individual Adventures. That being said, pretty much any GM emulator should work as Troupe-style play is just another layer to put on top of your normal solo adventures.

Example Campaigns

In general, I highly recommend that you start with a looming threat that endangers the very existence of the player faction. It should be difficult to fix and require more resources than your faction currently has available. Maybe even add a specific time frame (e.g. number of adventures or years) as a loss condition.

Science Fiction

Battlestar Galactica (kind of)
Suited for: Medium-hard sci fi games
Faction: A large fleet
Main character(s): The elected president or the military leader
Secondary characters: Marines, specialists (engineers, scientists, etc), diplomats, pilots
Background characters: Fleet population, refugees, work force
Looming threat: An overwhelming enemy fleet is in close pursuit.
Goal(s): Reach the refuge of the promised garden world

Deep Space Exploration
Suited for: Any sci fi game
Faction: The expedition (a single large ship)
Main character(s): The expedition leader(s)
Secondary characters: Scientific experts (various fields), marines, scouts, pilots
Background characters: The rest of the crew
Looming threat: Space is dangerous and supplies are limited. Any minor mishap could lead to disaster.
Goal(s): Explore the unknown, make contact with other civilizations, chart the galaxy

Fantasy

Some Honor Among Thieves
Suited for: Most fantasy games (e.g. Blades in the Dark, Warhammer Fantasy)
Faction: Thieves Guild
Main character(s): The guild master or a council
Secondary characters: Smaller gangs, experts (burglars, pickpockets, etc), corrupt guards, fences
Background characters: Low-level thieves, orphans
Looming threat: The new governor can't be bought and is pushing hard against crime. The city guard is becoming more ruthless by the day.
Goal(s): Amass wealth and influence, replace the new governor with someone who can be bought

Good Shall Prevail
Suited for: Heroic fantasy games
Faction: An order of holy knights
Main character(s): The head(s) of the order
Secondary characters: Paladins, clerics, fighters, and anyone else willing to give their life in the fight against evil
Background characters: Loyal labor force, clerical staff
Looming threat: Evil within and without. It is a never ending struggle against the ever encroaching forces of Evil.
Goal(s): Vanquish Evil wherever it rears its ugly head.

The Game of Thrones
Suited for: Low fantasy or skill-based games
Faction: A royal house vying for power
Main character(s): Head of the House
Secondary characters: Members of the House, diplomats, mercenaries, assassins, spies
Background characters: Loyal subjects, peasants, merchants
Looming threat: Everyone is plotting against everyone. You have to strike before it's too late.
Goal(s): Seize power and establish a long-lasting dynasty that history will never forget.

Cyberpunk

Turf War
Suited for: Most cyberpunk games
Faction: Local gang
Main character(s): Gang leader(s)
Secondary characters: Gang members
Background characters: Low-level gang members, applicants, chums
Looming threat: Rival gangs are encroaching on your territory and are stealing your business
Goal(s): Defend territory, defeat other gangs and take their stuff

Modern

Black Ops
Suited for: Any game with a modern setting and espionage
Faction: State sponsored intelligence service
Main character(s): Head(s) of the intelligence service
Secondary characters: Field agents, mercenaries, diplomats, spies
Background characters: Loyal work force, desk agents
Looming threat: Everyone is a potential enemy. An attack is coming and you need to stop it before it happens
Goal(s): Gather intelligence, counter intelligence, sabotage enemy countries

The End of the World
Suited for: Delta Green or Call of Cthulhu
Faction: Secret organization
Main character(s): Head(s) of the organization
Secondary characters: Field Agents, mercenaries, supernatural investigators
Background characters: Government workers, contractors, diplomats, politicians
Looming threat: The world is ending. You can only try to delay it as long as possible.
Goal(s): Contain supernatural threats, investigate strange events, delay the inevitable

Honorable Mentions

West Marches style campaigns are popular and work very well with Troupe-style play. Just replace the player faction with a location. This can be an interesting change in dynamics because not every adventuring party is necessarily working for the same goal. The 'main' character should still be someone with the location's best interest in mind.

The fantasy classic
Suited for: Heroic Fantasy or OSR games
(Faction) Location: A small frontier town surrounded by untamed wilderness
Main character(s): The town mayor or the city council
Secondary characters: Traveling adventurers, mercenaries, local heroes
Background characters: The local population
Looming threat: An ancient evil has awoken and is slowly corrupting the surrounding wilderness
Goal(s): Vanquish the ancient evil and protect the town

Between Empires
Suited for: Most sci fi games
(Faction) Location: A lone space station between the borders of three large empires
Main character(s): The station governor or a board of directors
Secondary characters: Mercenaries, diplomats, merchants, local specialists
Background characters: The local population, tourists, traveling merchants, rotating workers
Looming threats: It's only a question of time before one of the neighboring empires makes a power grab.
Goal(s): Balance the interests of your powerful neighbors and establish a long-lasting independence.