Stephan Hornick
Community Goblin
Staff member
Wizard of Adventure
Faster Combatant
Adventure Builder
Dear fellow GMs,
Do you know the feeling that you want to do something spectacular that the players don't expect? To surprise, fool or trick them with a great tactic or strategy?
Some of you find it hard. Some of you might already have a list of tactics which came from creativity or experience. I am far from being an expert, but I know a bit about tactics and strategies.
Some of you know about the 13 tactics of Sun Tzu's The Art of War (孙子兵法), others have heard about Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince (Il principe) or The Art of War (Dell'arte della guerra), and some even know about The Book of the Five Rings (五輪書) by Miyamoto Musashi or Carl von Clausewitz' On War (Vom Kriege).
Although their intent was all different and they do not contain the same strategies, I find all of them are in a way contained in the Chinese 36 Stratagems about warfare and civil strife. That is why I got my master's degree in Ancient Chinese (specializing on the 36 Stratagems) by THE man who introduced them to the Western public and who is still the expert on this topic, even in China, Prof. Harro von Senger.
Since ancient China's Eastern Zhou dynasty (403-221 BC) there has been a tradition in China to collect strategies for war and outside of war and categorize them into similar strategies. Since the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD) these were submitted to a reform and formulation and published, later known as Stratagems. Nowadays there are 36 Stratagems (based on a proverb by General Wang from around 500 BC), of which I believe we can use many if not all in our games to really plan and understand strategies to trick, fool, or even surprise the PCs.
Now, in the coming days I want to discuss one stratagem at a time and give examples of its use for us GMs in our games. I hope you like it.
For a short overview, let me shortly list the 36 Stratagems.
Do you know the feeling that you want to do something spectacular that the players don't expect? To surprise, fool or trick them with a great tactic or strategy?
Some of you find it hard. Some of you might already have a list of tactics which came from creativity or experience. I am far from being an expert, but I know a bit about tactics and strategies.
Some of you know about the 13 tactics of Sun Tzu's The Art of War (孙子兵法), others have heard about Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince (Il principe) or The Art of War (Dell'arte della guerra), and some even know about The Book of the Five Rings (五輪書) by Miyamoto Musashi or Carl von Clausewitz' On War (Vom Kriege).
Although their intent was all different and they do not contain the same strategies, I find all of them are in a way contained in the Chinese 36 Stratagems about warfare and civil strife. That is why I got my master's degree in Ancient Chinese (specializing on the 36 Stratagems) by THE man who introduced them to the Western public and who is still the expert on this topic, even in China, Prof. Harro von Senger.
Since ancient China's Eastern Zhou dynasty (403-221 BC) there has been a tradition in China to collect strategies for war and outside of war and categorize them into similar strategies. Since the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD) these were submitted to a reform and formulation and published, later known as Stratagems. Nowadays there are 36 Stratagems (based on a proverb by General Wang from around 500 BC), of which I believe we can use many if not all in our games to really plan and understand strategies to trick, fool, or even surprise the PCs.
Now, in the coming days I want to discuss one stratagem at a time and give examples of its use for us GMs in our games. I hope you like it.
For a short overview, let me shortly list the 36 Stratagems.
- Stratagems for improved position
- Deceive the heavens to cross the sea
- Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao
- Kill with a borrowed knife
- Wait at leasure while the enemy labors
- Loot a burning house
- Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west
- Stratagems for confrontation
- Create something from nothing
- Openly repair the roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang
- Watch the fires burning across the river
- Hide a knife behind a smile
- Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree
- Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat
- Stratagems for attacks
- Stomp the grass to scare the snake
- Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul
- Lure the tiger off its mountain lair
- In order to capture, one must let loose
- Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem
- Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief
- Stratagems for confusion
- Remove the firewood from under the pot
- Disturb the water and catch a fish
- Slough off the cicada's golden shell
- Shut the door to catch the thief
- Befriend a distant state and strike a neighboring one
- Obtain safe passage to conquer the state of Guo
- Stratagems to gain distance
- Replace the beams with rotten timbers
- Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree
- Feign madness but keep your balance
- Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof
- Decorate the tree with false blossoms
- Make the host and the guest exchange roles
- Stratagems for dire situations
- The beauty trap
- The empty fort strategy
- Let the enemy's own spy sow discord in the enemy camp
- Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust
- Chain stratagems
- If all else fails, retreat