Intrigue System

Clandestine meetings in shady locations. High stakes diplomatic missions. Pressured bargaining in a crowded marketplace. All these things fall under the Intrigue System. At its simplest you're trying to convince someone into doing something for you. You must overcome their Will Trait. Like a lot of simple things this quickly turns into a whole world of strategies and counter strategies. It can certainly be complex but on the other hand you really don't need expend too much effort on talking your way past one inept guard.

Flow of Play
Just a quick overview, this is how Intrigue Contests more complicated than talking around one inept guard should flow. Read on for more details about each step.
 * 1) Decide Participants, Objectives, & Location
 * 2) Roll for Initiative with correct Dice Pool combinations
 * 3) Choose your Disposition for the round
 * 4) On your turn, Choose your Intrigue Technique
 * 5) Roleplay your Technique
 * 6) Roll your Skill vs. their Resolve
 * 7) Lost Resolve Rolls lower Will by one level
 * 8) Repeat from step 3 until someone surrenders or their Will breaks
 * 9) Winner Claims their Objective as a prize

Set the Stage
Before any discussion starts a few details need to be worked out. It's important to know who's involved, where the talks are taking place, and just what your Objective is. This tends to go very quickly with Simple Intrigues. If you're trying to sweet talk your way past a guard then you already know where you are and who's involved. It's very rare a nameless guard is taken away from his post to be wined and dined at a fancy venue just so he'll open a door. On the other hand it's worth putting some thought into these things for higher stake Intrigues. Trying to talk a lord into supporting your military action might be easier after a few drinks at a high class function. Choosing your place will grant you a Bonus, or Penalty, depending on the appropriateness of your selection.

Objective
Every Intrigue needs a clear Objective besides just winning the Contest, a thing you're trying to do. Depending on the Objective it may take more than one Intrigue Contest to reach the final goal. For each Intrigue Contest the participants attempt to overwhelm their opponent's Will Trait. While the universe is full of an infinite number of things to negotiate over, they usually can be broken down into about four Objectives

Bargain
An agreement to trade something for something. With money this usually results in a store discount but it could just as easily be bartering goods or agreeing to trade favors. The results of a successful Bargain depend on your Target's disposition. Of course if you lose the Intrigue Contest you may find that your Bargain is struck, with a worse Disposition and less favorable deal.

Affectionate: No cost for goods or services. A real rarity in a business relationship.

Friendly: You agree to a Discount (roll Mind x-10% up to -60%) or a favor for a minor service

Amiable: You agree to a Discount (roll Mind x-5%) or a favor for an easy service

Indifferent: You agree to a Discount (roll Mind x-3%) or a favor for a service

Dislike: You agree to a Discount (roll Mind x-2%) or a favor for a service. Of course your Target might break the deal if asked to risk too much.

Unfriendly: The Target agrees to do business at Normal prices or an equal exchange of services. Just don't expect too much.

Malicious: The Target agrees to do business at Normal prices but you'll probably get shoddy goods. First chance that comes up, expect betrayal.

Convince
Targets you Convince will help you with one task. Of course if they don't like you there's a chance of betrayal. The odds of that only go up the more dangerous the task is. Letting you into a facility he's supposed to be guarding is likely to get a guard in trouble. Why should he stick his neck out for someone he doesn't even know?

Incite
Most Objectives focus on getting someone to agree to give you something. Incite instead worries about changing the Target's opinion of someone or something else. Success here allows you to shift the Target's Disposition one level towards Friendly or Unfriendly. Of course a failure is likely to backfire and if word gets out of what you're trying to do well, no one likes people talking about them behind their back.

Seduce
Yep, this is an objective. It's older than civilization and, provided your Target's Disposition is Friendly, results in the obvious. Of course it can also be a way to get something from someone, just watch Game of Thrones for tips.

Status & Initiative
Your public Status can hold sway in an Intrigue Contest. Those from well known factions or with a certain amount of personal fame have the advantage in controlling such negotiations. Likewise it's very hard for the little guy to tell one of the big dogs just how things are going to be. The mechanic for this awards the option of first move to the participant with the highest Status. Or maybe just the luckiest.

Status is a Faction Trait. As the Faction completes adventures this Dice Pool increases just like building a skill with XP. to decide who has Initiative in an Intrigue Contest the participants roll their Faction's Status dice with their own Mind Trait dice as a single Dice Pool. Highest number rolled has won the Initiative and may opt to go in whatever order they like.

Etiquette & Carousing
It's not just who you are but how you carry yourself that can make a difference. When first impressions carry high stakes then it may be worth it to mind your manners. Whether those manners require Etiquette or Carousing Skills depends on the crowd. A group of nasty pirates probably don't care if you use a fork but they love a bawdy tale. Likewise the Orlesian Court probably isn't the place to belch a national anthem when they expect you to follow a specific protocol. Instead of rolling Status + Mind for your Initiative you may roll Etiquette or Carousing instead with your Faction's Status added to the Dice Pool

Background & Career
Not every Intrigue has to be a formal meeting of factions. Sometimes it's worth it to just be another drifter passing through or someone from the old country being friendly. For more casual Intrigue Contests the Faction's Status can be substituted with the Background or Career Trait. Yes, you can end up rolling two Traits, say Background and Mind, for your Initiative. While this allows for a less formal discussion it also means leaving your Faction out of the results, officially anyway. All the consequences fall squarely on you.

The Language Barrier
Whatever your approach to Intrigue, Language is a barrier that must be overcome. Most places in the multiverse have a common language used for trade at the least. Some places not so much. If the language being used is something you are both fluent in speaking then there's no problem. If the discussions are in a learned language then your Skills are capped at your level of the relevant Language Skill. A dwarf trying to conduct negotiations in Elven might have a Persuasion of 5d12 but if his Language: Elven is only 2d4 then that's all he can use. On the other hand someone with 2d4 in Persuasion and 5d12 in Language: Elven probably shouldn't be negotiating so much as translating. While the Language barrier will cap the Talents of a Skill your Bonus Dice and Traits are still freely available. That Dwarf with only 2d4 Language: Elven will have to put his Mind Trait to good use and scrape for every Bonus he can get to make up his poor linguistics.

Disposition, Deceptions, & Sincerity
Every character has a certain Disposition towards the person they're dealing with, even if that Disposition is a bland Indifferent. Just what Disposition you choose in your dealings will determine just what sorts of strategies are easier than others. The more Unfriendly you are the easier it is to resist your opponent and lie, but then the more difficult it is to have an honest dialogue. Listed below are the Dispositions from friendly to unfriendly with the bonuses they grant to your Dice Pools.

Intrigue Skills
Certain Skills are used differently for Intrigue Contests. While there's nothing wrong with just rolling your Persuasion Dice Pool to convince a bored guard you're not worth the trouble, trying to build an Alliance will require more than a single dice roll. When you vie for the more difficult Intrigue Contests you will need to decide if you are being Deceitful or Sincere as well as what skill will express that. Deceitful negotiators will promise whatever is needed to secure a deal. Sincere negotiators truly believe what they promise will be followed through in the end. So when you make your Intrigue Roll you'll need to add either the Deception or Sincere bonus matching your Disposition to your chosen Skill's Dice Pool. Here's a quick overview of the Skills & Traits involved.

To Influence someone...
The Persuasion Skill is all about talking someone around to your way of thinking, and leaving them thinking it was their own idea. If you should win an Intrigue Contest with Persuasion then on your next encounter with that person their disposition will be one step more favorable for you. On the other hand if you should do something that works against this person they'll remember it and change their disposition accordingly.

The Intimidation Skill is about making threats, implied or otherwise. This is a tactic of brute force that can yield short term results in exchange for long term problems. If you should win an Intrigue Contest with Intimidation then your Target's Disposition immediately moves to Amiable or one step friendlier, whichever is lowest. Of course the next time you encounter the same person they'll automatically be Unfriendly towards you. Furthermore, if at any point the option to simply flee presents itself during the Intrigue they will run to save themselves, or just lie to get out of this jam.

The Taunt Skill is somewhere in between the extremes. If your Target is Amiable or friendlier towards you then a little teasing might bring them around to your side. On the other hand someone who isn't your friend, or even Dislikes you, won't risk their own skin to help. In fact if they Dislike you there's a fair chance of your Taunt ending in violence. Either way if they weren't your friend before, they're less so after their Disposition drops a level.

The Resolve Skill is used to defend against these three Skills. Whatever words they use to try and bring you around to their side it's your Resolve that keeps you true to your own intentions. Likewise they'll be resisting your attempts with their own resolve. If you don't have any skill at all in Resolve then you'll have to use just your Will trait. Each time they surpass your Resolve Roll that reduces your Will dice by one step. The reduction is temporary however the effects are immediate. As the Intrigue Contest continues this new Will will be factored into your Resolve Rolls and any other Skills dependent upon Will.

To get an edge...
Knowledge is power and there are many ways to get it. The three most common are Streetwise, Knowledge, and Investigation skills. It's also possible to find a contact with relations or knowledge of your Intrigue Target and exchange with them some favor. This can lead to Player Generated side quests to gather intel before an important meeting. Just what kind of information you find depends mostly on if the information exists to begin with as well as what method you use to recover that information.

Investigation is the Private Investigator's approach. Beating the street to look for contacts, conducting dozens of interviews, possibly some surveillance work, or when all else fails running down the street scream "Will pay for tips!" fall into this category. It's time consuming, sometimes expensive, but it can produce results on your Intrigue Target's legitimate activities and interests. It may even hint at the possibility of something sketchy, which may be worth another investigation. Since most detective stories boil this kinda thing down to a few paragraphs with an eureka moment we'll just use the Investigation Skill and mark off the hours & resources burned.

Knowledge requires a relevant category of Knowledge. Knowledge: Astrophysics is probably not useful for an Intrigue Contest. On the other hand Knowledge: Heraldry could tell you a brief history of your aristocratic contact as well as who's likely to support, or oppose, your Target's interests. Just what kind of information this returns depends on the Knowledge Skill involved but it usually tends to be general things you can lookup in any Twerp's Peerage.

Streetwise is the option for those with underworld or less than official contacts. Streetwise is the other side of Investigation focusing on the underworld as your source of information. While they might know general things about your Intrigue Target's legitimate business practices they're much more likely to know who's been moving what under the radar. This kind of information can be publicly embarrassing or even threatening depending on what's found out, and chances are whatever your Target did do, someone else would like the Target to not be found out.

The Revelation Roll
Once you have your information you have to decide how to use it. On your turn when you are about to make your Influence Roll you may opt to Reveal something you uncovered. This immediately changes the stakes of the Intrigue depending on the Technique you selected.

Persuasion rolls attempt to flatter your Target by Revealing your information in the best possible light. This flattery is calculated though to force your Target to reevaluate your Status. If you succeed the Intrigue Roll then both you and the Target reroll your Initiatives, this time with a bonus added to your Dice Pool. If you should fail the Intrigue Roll then your Target is unimpressed with your words and immediately gains the Initiative, not to mention their Disposition worsens by a level.

Intimidation rolls are all about the blackmail. You've found their dirty laundry and now you're ready to use it unless they comply. Several things happen just by attempting this. First your Target's Disposition drops to Unfriendly or one level down, whichever is worse. You can expect them to betray or even try to hurt you at the very first opening. If you should happen to win your Influence Roll then their Will is immediately broken, you have won the Intrigue Contest. While your Target will comply with your Objective they will not risk anything more dangerous than your Blackmail threat. And of course they're unlikely to ever do business with you fairly.

Taunt is the sudden revelation. You spring out your little tidbit of information to put your Target off his game, make him nervous. While this does nothing to change your Target's Disposition or Status, if you happen to win the Intrigue Roll then your Target's Will is reduced twice as many levels as normal. On the other hand if you should fumble the roll then your Target would regain a level of Will from newfound confidence in your ineptitude. __NONEWSECTIONLINK__