The real question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.

-- B.F. Skinner

The party fought long and hard, employing every weapon at their command. Yet the enemy could never be completely destroyed, but rose again and again to take up the challenge. Finally, they gave up in disgust. They had been defeated by that most insidious of beasts, a bureaucracy.

Player-characters in RPGs are typically independentminded, dynamic individuals working somewhat outside of the mainstream. But sooner or later they will have to deal with the entities that every society needs to operate. These large, departmentalized, hierarchical organizations are bureaucracies.

Bureaucracies exist everywhere in almost every time period. Governments are not the only bureaucracies; the military, educational institutions, big corporations, major religious sects, and sizable social, professional, and charitable l groups are all organized into levels of officialdom. No one has 1 yet invented a better way of managing large groups of people, although it might be argued that "better" is a relative term in this context.

Bureaucracy was probably invented before true writing even existed, when some king wanted to know exactly how many cows and sheep his people had, so he could get his "fair share". This entailed assigning inspectors to go out and count the animals, others to file the data (scratches on stones), and still more servants to determine what was owed and how to collect it. Even large-scale engineering projects, like the pyramids or other megalithic monuments, undoubtedly required a bureaucracy.

The term bureaucracy comes from bureau, a wooden desk with compartments that a ruler could put his written orders in. Each niche corresponded to a functionary with his own department, which eventually became synonymous with a government agency. The GM can use the following information to understand bureaucracies and handle bureaucratic encounters.

bureau q through y

Bureaucracies are divided into a hierarchy of departments. Each unit has its own areas of responsibility and level of authority. More often then not, information is not shared between different bureaus; in some cases they may be active rivals. Some sections may actually have no useful function at all, but have managed to hide that fact for a long time.

The work of an agency is determined by rules and regulations which spell out precisely how things are to be done. Some are set by law, others are simply self-imposed restraints. There are policies for all routine circumstances. Whenever a situation comes up that is not covered by an existing policy, consternation is the usual result.

Paperwork is the hallmark of a bureaucracy; most everything, however mundane, must be reduced to writing, routed through the proper channels, approved or disapproved, and filed. The amount of paperwork is staggering, and the use of computers only increases the amount of documents and data collected. A bureaucracy might be compared to a factory, except that instead of producing a product, the output is paperwork.

While the paperwork may seem like a nuisance at best and a waste of time and resources at worst, it really is necessary for a viable society. Records must be kept of vital statistics, economic indicators, purchases, sales, ownership, legal cases, petitions, votes, agreements, contracts, etc. Information is compiled on virtually every subject, analyzed, and distilled into reports, proposals, and recommendations. Unfortunately, bureaucracies often get bogged down and take a long time to handle the workload.

Although there are, in fact, many people in bureaucracies who do "real" work, the management's measure of their effectiveness is found in the reports they generate, not in the simple accomplishment of their tasks. The structure of a bureaucracy is designed around the flow of paperwork. Documents are compiled, transcribed, checked, modified, analyzed, and summarized, all through several layers of authority. The number of people who handle the paper exceed those who do the actual work. 

For example, in a science fiction RPG, the party may land at a spaceport which requires safety checks on their ship. A team of four overworked inspectors may have a supervisor (who does not do checks, except in emergencies), a dispatcher (who arranges the checks with ship captains), two technicians who maintain the inspection equipment, and a secretary who handles the purchasing and payroll for the group. Four out of nine? That's just for starters. What if a ship fails a check? A security or port officer has to be notified so they can officially ground the vessel. If the PCs want to complain, they must see the spaceport's legal department - another bureaucracy to deal with. Anywhere along the line an obnoxious official can hold up the paperwork, or worse, decide that the ship or its crew need to be investigated further.

Some bureaucracies are notoriously corrupt and operate by a set of unwritten rules rather than what is publicly promulgated. These exist most often in nondemocratic societies. Jobs are assigned to political hacks as a matter of patronage; employees are rarely qualified for their position. Some jobs are sinecures, which require no real work, and legions of ghost employees pad the payroll. Bribes are required to get even the slightest amount of cooperation. Officials use their positions for personal gain, and care nothing for their assigned duties.

Note that the bureaucrats who PCs normally interact with are the lowest level in the hierarchy. They do not make up the rules, interpret them, or grant exceptions. They simply follow established procedure.

Although PCs may prefer to avoid bureaucratic entanglements, there are a number of occasions when it is simply unavoidable. Any time licenses, permits, passports, visas, privileged data, or certain products are required, red tape rears its ugly head. Whenever anyone dies, is born, goes to a hospital, buys expensive items, or deals with a financial institution, paperwork must be done. Officialdom requires taxes, information, and endless forms to be filled out. Even characters who are complete outlaws may have to deal with a bureaucracy someday - the justice system comes to mind.

priorities in a vacuum

People who work in bureaucracies have a different set of priorities than the party, which often causes conflicts. Lifetime employment leads to inertia, inefficiency, and an indifferent attitude. They carry out their duties in a methodical, unhurried manner. Red tape and burdensome internal rules make it difficult to fire anyone, so bureaucracies can become a haven for mediocre and oddball employees.

Everything must be done according to regulations. Requests for exceptions to the rules inevitably get refused or bumped up to higher levels, where they are passed around indefinitely, since no one wants be accountable for mistakes or allegations of impropriety and favoritism.

Although bureaucrats are entrusted with great authority and responsibility, they are hemmed in with regulations and their power is diffused among many levels. Consensus is required for most decisions, and endless meetings are necessary to get anything done. Important projects can be held up by a single foot-dragger in the right position. Many items sit on desks while the person needing to approve it is unavailable. [cf. Abraham Lincoln's pocket veto.]

It is often the case that really important decisions are made in a clandestine manner, outside normal channels. The structure of bureaucracies make truly extensive conspiracies difficult, but they are ideal for cover-ups. Blame can be spread in every direction, and inquiries buried under a mountain of red tape. The enormous amount of confusing paperwork that must be sifted through can daunt even the most intrepid investigator, and documents are routinely lost, misfiled, or destroyed.

Despite what the PCs may feel, most bureaucrats are fairly immune to payoffs in cultures where corruption is not the norm. After all, the official has a lifetime of easy employment and comfortable retirement to look forward to; why throw it away for a bribe? A certain amount of rigidity and narrowmindedness overpowers the greed reflex.

PCs can interact with a bureaucracy in a variety of ways. Certain skills ("administration" or "bureaucracy") can help with official encounters, but they are not a panacea. Approvals can be made more sure, and the paperwork may move a little faster, but the government moves slowly in the best of cases. Despite the fact that bureaucracies revolve around paperwork, sloppy record keeping affects many organizations. Even when they want to help, their inertia can make even the simplest request a major effort. Going straight to the top may be useful, but the head of a bureaucracy does not have absolute control. The best method combines knowledge of procedures and the right contacts: character abilities and role-playing.

bureaucracy 62%

Many role-playing games ask the players to put points into this skill, without explaining to then how to use it, or why they would want it. Campaigns that use esoteric skills - heraldry, , archaeology, botany - need to have a reason for their application (and possible waste of points) or players may find themselves constantly devoting their energies to rifle, grenade, and kung-fu. This article contains a lot of important information of the structure of modern and/or civilized worlds, and its application outside of the realm of paperwork should be equally useful.

brazil

The world of Terry Gilliam's Brazil brings bureaucratic fervor to a fatal pitch. A society that revels in paperwork, codes, indoctrination, and organizational detritus shows us the complex dysfunction of a world over encumbered by its own security, second-guessing, doublechecking, and fascism. An honest, surreal, and often too reflective look at a system overrun with its own sepsis, Brazil is haunting and brutal while reminding us what happens when we lose sight of why the rules were created.

2001: space odyssey

Mankind has grown lazy and worthless, and the next step of evolution might as well be a computer. In 2001 humans have lost the will to live. A trip to the moon, might as well be a trip to the store for milk and cheese. Discussions about television programs are more important than discussions about the future of mankind. The world of 2001 can easily be identified by mankind's lack of care for its own surroundings.

Bureaucracies reduce our own humanity to forms, figures, statistics, and polls. The desire to know how much, reduces the concern for " who". GMs interested in increasing the level of bureaucratic involvement in their campaigns (whether for realism or to spite the players and diminish their hopes of every attaining good) should take into account its effects and its place in a world of over dogmatic governmental structure.

Listed below are a variety of generic bureaucratic encounters that can be use in many RPG's. The first twenty (almost) are with individuals who the party may run into in the course of adventuring. The last ten are more likely to be met after prolonged contact with or investigation of an agency.

The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly but surely, and grind very fine indeed. While a character may not appreciate the red tape and delays, he benefits from the services bureaucracies provide. The battle against bureaucracy cannot be won, but it can be endured.

lairs of the bureaucrat

1. The Uncivil Civil Servant
2. The Short-timer
3. The Long-Timer
4. The Bean-counter
5. The Invisible Employee
6. The Officious Paper Pusher
7. The Happy Lackey
8. The Disgruntled Employee
9. The Party Monster
10. The Rules Bender
11. The Trainee
12. The Person Who Really Knows What's Going On
13. The "Disabled" Staffer
14. The Program Person
15. The Troublemaker
16. The Petty Tyrant
17. The Goofball
18. Incomprehensible Regulations and Policies
19. The Janitor
20. The Runaround

advanced encounters

21. Rivalry
22. The Fiefdom
23. The Rumor Mill
24. The Supply Closet
25. The Mail Room
26. The Committee
27. The Advisory Group
28. The Catch-22
29. The File Room
30. Distorted Data 

bureaucratic encounters of the worst kind

1. The Uncivil Civil Servant
An annoying, obnoxious, lazy jerk who brings new meaning to the word unhelpful. quote: "Can't you see I'm on my break?"

2. The Short-timer
Ready to leave or retire, they will cheerfully inform anyone nearby that they could care less. quote: "I'm glad I'm getting out of this place."

3. The Long-Timer
This slow-moving, ancient employee mistrusts anyone who hasn't been around as long as he has, and is suspicious of anything "newfangled". He thinks everything should be done one way - the old way.

4. The Bean-counter
Any requests must be reduced to numbers and statistics to get the attention of this hyped-up accountant. Their only interest is in the bottom line. equipment: ledger or portable computer.

5. The Invisible Employee
He always seems to be in private meetings, conferences, on leave, out of town, or just away from his desk. This person can never be reached when information or decisions are needed.

6. The Officious Paper Pusher
Reveling in the minutiae of regulations and the enforcement of trivial rules, this person embodies the worst of bureaucracy. They love to find trifling mistakes in paperwork and send it back to be done all over again. quote: "I'm sorry but we can't find your application. Please fill out another one in triplicate, and don't forget to sign pages 6, 7, and 8."

7. The Happy Lackey
This oblivious employee is as pleased as punch just to show up for work every day. They like filing index cards and cleaning out the fridge. And, of course, they don't have a clue.

8. The Disgruntled Employee
A whistle-blower or someone with a grievance. They ar cynical and hateful of the bureaucracy, and act only in negative way. A few go off the deep end, with unfortunat consequences. equipment: attorney's phone number.

9. The Party Monster
Cheerful and easy-going, the party-er is always ready t take time off for a celebration. Unfortunately it seems the suffer from an inordinate amount of sickness on Mondays an Fridays (the "bottle flu"). equipment: car full of trash. 

10. The Rules Bender
The maze of official regulations can be deftly circumvented by this skilled manipulator. PCs should be happy to encounter this individual. Being nice, buying gifts, doing favors for this bureaucrat should be part and parcel to maintaining a working relationship. The rules bender is likely to know where the bones are buried, too.

11. The Trainee
Still new enough to be enthusiastic, the trainee is helpful and productive. They have no influence outside their immediate work area, however, and should try desperately to help, even when it is obvious that nothing can no longer be of any real assistance.

12. The Person Who Really Knows What's Going On
Upper management is usually in the dark about everything, but there's always someone in the know (like a secretary). The chief really couldn't get the job done without a little help, but of course, this bureaucrat is powerless to do anything about the situation, until the boss leaves.

13. The "Disabled" Staffer
Supposedly injured in an onthe-job accident, this employee claims to be too impaired to preform any useful work. He is not too incapacitated to constantly annoy his co-workers, however. Sometimes the disability is mental, and the persons claims to be too stressed out to do anything other than pick up a paycheck, and even then they gripe about it. quote: "Ow, my back! Worker's Comp!"

14. The Program Person
Hired as a consequence of some mandate or social service function, the program person is usually poorly skilled, poorly trained, and poorly motivated. They are assigned menial tasks and are otherwise ignored.

15. The Troublemaker
This employee goes out of their way to antagonize others, flout regulations, and goof off. They know the rules well enough to avoid real punishment, at least most of the time. Alternatively, the office flirt, who does everything except work.

16. The Petty Tyrant
The manager from hell who is never wrong. Nothing more needs to be said. quote: "Get in here!"

17. The Goofball
Working at a level just barely above the minimum to get fired, this individual is quite paranoid, forgets about personal hygiene, likes to talk about weird cult beliefs, dresses badly, sleeps in clothes, hides in closets to avoid work, and so on.

18. Incomprehensible Regulations and Policies
Inanity and convoluted legalese are part and parcel of the bureaucratic system. Asking the staffers to help out does little good, because they will tell the questioners that they lack the authority to interpret the rules, and he needs to consult his own attorney. quote: "All of the above criteria apply except subparts B and C of sections 21 through 26, excluding paragraph 7..."

19. The Janitor
Virtually invisible to other employees, the custodian is usually a doddering relic or doltish fool. He has plenty of time to go through wastebaskets, steal stuff, and spy on people.

20. The Runaround
A form of non-answer, or meaningless advice that imparts no useful information and only leads the questioner back to where they started. The written version of the runaround is the official press release.

21. Rivalry
Some agencies are fierce competitors with others in the same business. Managers do everything to make the opposition look bad, and they give out conflicting information.

22. The Fiefdom
This agency is completely autonomous, due to its power, secrecy, obscurity, or the spinelessness of superior managers. It has its own way of doing things (different from everyone else), and is immune to criticism or complaints.

23. The Rumor Mill
Every organization has an alternative means of communication apart from the bland and uninformative official channels. However, 50% of rumors are incorrect.

24. The Supply Closet
A repository of highly coveted office items. Alternatively, the water cooler or break room, where one can usually find the troublemaker (#15), the janitor (#19), the "disabled" staffer (#13), or the rumor mill (#23).

25. The Mail Room
A great place for meeting people and finding out what's happening. One can often find the trainee (#11), program person (#14), rules bender (#10), or rumor mill (#23).

26. The Committee
Established to accomplish a specific task, the task fore. spends months grappling with things like agendas any scheduling meetings. Chances are whatever they decide wil' be moot by the time they're done. quote: "After six months, we've almost agreed on a agenda, but a subcommittee is still studying the issue."

27. The Advisory Group
A group of concerned but misinformed citizens who ar; gathered to provide input to the bureaucracy. Thei, recommendations are duly noted, assembled, reported, filed and forgotten.

28. The Catch-22
In order to comply with the requirements of department A, the PC finds that he has violated the regulations o department B. There's little hope in seeking a quick solution; it will probably take years to iron out the problem.

29. The File Room
It varies from a moldy basement closet to a warehouse filled with mountains of crates. Occasionally inhabited by the happy lackey (#7), the goofball (#17), the long-timer (#3), or the officious paper pusher (#6). Most of the records are trivial and worthless, but occasionally a gem can be found. [Remember the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark?]

30. Distorted Data
The super top secret plans are on a single memory crystal hidden in the security vault, right? It's doubtful. More often than not, information is spread out among a variety of locations, including places that even the staff are unaware of. Paperwork gets botched, lost, destroyed, sent to the wrong place, altered, censored, mixed, misinterpreted, and mangled.

Something kind of sad about the way that things have come to be Desensitized to everything What became of subtlety? And how can this mean anything to me? If I really don't feel a thing at all.

-- Stinkfist, Tool

paranoia

Let's not forget about all those wacky forms the Computer asks you to fill out in the Paranoia RPG. Computer forms make a great addition to the piles of bureaucratic manure that line the bed of a good "giant society" campaign. The Empire in Star Wars, the Court system in Fading Suns, the Camarilla in Vampire, Traveller's Imperium, the Mega-Corporations of Shadowrun and Cyberpunk, (at various levels) the U.S. Government in Conspiracy X and Delta Green, the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek, and the customs office on Al-Amarja in Over the Edge make these worlds perfect candidates for non-user-friendly societies. GMs should get their hands on various, unique forms from their regular jobs and adapt them to their own games, asking PCs to indulge the paper-pushing NPCs for a moment before acquiring access to that particular spaceport. GMs employed by the DMV or City Hall are doubly blessed.

Harn, Legend of the Five Rings, and Greyhawk are excellent examples of fantasy worlds layered with courts, magistrates, guilds, seneschals, councils, and bureaucrats at every corner.