In a Model UN crisis committee, crisis subterfuge refers to the covert maneuvers a delegate undertakes through private crisis notes (sometimes called directives or "notes to the backroom") to advance personal or factional objectives without alerting the rest of the committee. Because crisis committees run on a dual track — public debate in the room and private action through the crisis staff — delegates can quietly move troops, launder funds, assassinate rivals, build secret alliances, or stockpile resources while appearing cooperative in formal debate.
Effective subterfuge typically involves several layers:
- Operational secrecy: routing actions through cut-outs, shell companies, loyal subordinates, or deniable proxies so that a crisis update cannot easily trace the action back to the delegate.
- Plausible cover: maintaining a public posture (speeches, draft directives, voting record) that is inconsistent with the covert plan, so other delegates discount suspicion.
- Information control: using personal portfolio powers — intelligence services, media outlets, religious networks — to feed selective or false information to rivals and to the chair via crisis arcs.
- Tempo: sequencing notes so that irreversible facts on the ground (a coup, a defection, a seized armory) are established before the room can react with a public directive.
Subterfuge is distinct from simple backroom play: all crisis delegates send private notes, but subterfuge specifically implies deception of other delegates, not merely of in-world adversaries. It is also distinct from collusion, which involves coordinated secret cooperation between two or more delegates.
Most conference rulebooks (including those of WorldMUN, NMUN, HNMUN, and HMUN) permit subterfuge as a legitimate part of crisis play, but penalize meta-gaming — using out-of-character information, lying to the dais, or forging staff signatures. Skilled chairs reward subterfuge that is in-character, proportionate to portfolio power, and creatively written, and tend to punish notes that simply demand unrealistic outcomes ("I have a nuke") without buildup or justification.
Example
At HNMUN 2019, a delegate on a Roman Senate committee publicly backed a peace directive while privately notes-ordering loyal legions to march on rivals, seizing the capital before the room could respond.