I'm designing a tabletop game (shout out to /r/tabletopgamedesign) where players are trying to gain social influence and work their way up to King Louis XVI himself. I'd like the game to be populated by a cast of historically accurate characters and I'd like the game to represent something about their personalities and roles in the Paris social scene.
Who were the people I'd be trying to gain influence with and how would I be going about it?
Unfortunately I can't specifically answer your question, but I have one suggestion that could help. Have you read Balzac's novel Le Père Goriot ? This is set slightly after your time period, but the premise of the book is exactly the same: characters trying to work up the social ladder. It is an excellent novel, and it might give you all sorts of ideas on different characters, their social standings, and their relationships with each other, as well as the various actions they took to increase their positions.