Ambush & Betrayal: Sources of Secret Conflict
Haly reimagines conflict with insights on crafting secret betrayals and surprise ambushes in worldbuilding, adding depth and intrigue to your storytelling.
Twisted Tuesday: Adding Secret Conflict to Your World
It’s the middle of your story and things seem to be going great. Your heroes are kicking ass and taking names, challenged by the opposing forces but making progress toward their ultimate goal.
All of a sudden…one of the group turns on the others, and the entire situation turns to shit. The heroes reach depths they never imagined, and have to claw their way back for a truly satisfying victory in the end.
That is the power of a well-placed betrayal.
Et tu, Brute?
Betrayal is the unexpected turn of an ally. It is the knife in the back from a trusted friend, or the benefactor setting a hero up to fail. It is usually the midpoint of a plot where the ‘fun and games’ have been going well and smoothly for the hero.
It was smooth sailing for Dr. Jones, until…his Austrian assistant sold him out to the Nazis. Both Doctors Jones, as a matter of fact. Ships passing in the night.
Using betrayal effectively requires there be trust established between the characters. After all, the unexpectedness is what makes the whole thing so dramatic, you cannot ‘betray’ someone who doesn’t allow themselves to be vulnerable.
This trust has to be balanced with a glimpse of foreshadowing for the audience. In the case of Elsa and Indiana Jones, the foreshadowing was the Austrian-German accent. And Donovan told Indy flat out “Don’t…trust…anybody!” He even gets to rub it in later when he quips, “Because he didn’t take my advice!”
That last bit — “Don’t trust anybody!” — is especially useful if you’re a game designer or dungeon master. It’s just enough of a warning to be fair, but something that can be included in such an offhand manner, it’s easily ignored by all but the most savvy players and perceptive characters.
While a betrayal can certainly be physically violent (Julius Caesar), it is more often emotional or psychological in nature. It is the fiancee abandoned minutes before the wedding. It’s the parent who denies their child’s true nature. It can even be the co-worker or peer who set the hero up to fail.
It’s an Ambush!
Because surprise is a critical part of betrayal, it can be argued that all betrayals are a type of ambush. But, not all ambushes are betrayals.
How so?
As I mentioned above, a betrayal requires the sort of trust that leaves one party vulnerable to the betrayal. That trust is the key marker of what betrayal is. “You have betrayed my trust.”
An ambush does not require trust, only surprise. If your hero comes home from work, enters their apartment, starts taking off their clothes only to have their parents come jump out of the kitchen and yell, “Surprise!” Taa-da! Your hero has just been ambushed. The same thing if it was a burglar instead of the parents. Still, an ambush.
In addition to surprise, a properly executed ambush almost always relies on hiding, whether physical or metaphorical. Your heroes can be ambushed by a surprise party, or the sudden realization of their own emotions on a topic. Cats of all sizes ambush their prey, and every jump-scare you’ve ever seen has been some sort of physical or emotional ambush.
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
Building opportunities for surprise conflict into your world will give you a broader palette of choices when you need to up the stakes for your characters. They provide opportunities to knock the wind out of heroes who’ve been having it too easy, and points of tension and drama that can feel personal and intimate. They can be a perfect choice for stories that need a solid punch in the plot.
How have you incorporated surprise conflict into your world and stories? What are your favorite examples of ambush and betrayal in other stories?? Let me know in the comments!!
Coming This Week:
#WorldbuildingWednesday: Send me your questions for this week’s edition of Ask the Bard… DM me, tag me in a note, leave a comment, reply to an email, hit me up on Bluesky!
Throwback Thursday: To be determined….
