Grod_The_Giant
2018-03-14, 11:51 AM
I like 5e a lot, but while the rules for combat are pretty sleek and solid, the other parts of the game are... well... left up to the DM's judgement if we're being kind, and completely lacking if we're not. Which I think is bogus! We can do better. This (revamped) set of mechanics for playing out interesting social scenes is what I hope to be the first in a series of exercises in fleshing out some of the undeveloped bits of the edition, hopefully resulting in a much more robust game without adding in too much extra complexity.
Introduction
The most important thing to remember about these rules is that they're optional. Not every conversation has to be a full-fledged social conflict encounter, just as not every arm wrestling contest needs the full combat rules. Extended rules like these exist to make things more dramatic. A single ability check only takes a few seconds of real-life time to resolve a situation, but making an argument into a full-blown conflict draws it out, adding in a back-and-forth, giving the players much more influence over how it plays out, and reducing the impact of a single lucky roll. It also helps de-couple the players' social skills from their characters'. Without such rules, if a particular player is good with words, they can portray a suave, persuasive character even if their Presence is low— and the shy player will have trouble trying to be a fast-talking diplomat no matter what's written on their sheet.
Characteristics
Characteristics, as described in the PHB (your Traits, Bond, Flaw, and Ideal), become the core of the system. In addition to generating the five listed, designate each one as Minor, Major, or Defining. A character must have at least one of each strength.
A Minor Characteristic is a significant aspect of your personality, but not a major part of who you are-- they could be lost or changed without being too noticeable.
A Major Characteristic is a broadly applicable belief, one of the core tenants of your personal philosophy. They influence your behavior even in situations where they only tangentially apply, and can lead you to act against your own self-interest or even safety.
A Defining Characteristic is one of the more important parts of your life, beliefs that you absolutely will not change or compromise, and without which you wouldn't be recognizably yourself. They are the things you would lay down your life for, if necessary, and the inform almost every aspect of your behavior, one way or another. You may only have one Defining Characteristic at a time-- if a Major Characteristic is strengthened to Defining, either through natural character growth or social influence, your previous Defining Characteristic is reduced to Major for the duration of the change.
Characteristics are not immutable. Once per session, when not engaged in a social conflict, you may alter your Characteristics, provided the changes are related to the events that occured. A Minor Characteristic may be replaced with a new Minor Characteristic or increased in strength to Major, and a Major Characteristic may be decreased to a Minor one. You may also exchange the importance of an existing Minor and Major Characteristic.
Crisis Point: There are moments that force you to reevaluate everything you knew. Perhaps a trusted mentor is revealed to be a traitor, or a member of a group you hate risks their life for you, or a truth you once clung to is revealed to be false. When such a major event happens, it's known as a Crisis Point, and you may rewrite any number of Characteristics, up to and including your Defining Characteristic.
Self Reflection: People don't always change in dramatic ways. Sometimes, small experiences over the days and months add up, slowly chipping away at your worldview. You may change your Characteristics, provided enough time passes. You may "work" on multiple Characteristics at once, and you may engage in other activities (even adventuring!) at the same time.
Minor Characteristic: One week
Major Characteristic: One month
Defining Characteristic: One year
Social Stats
Integrity: Your Integrity is basically your stubbornness-- how long you can keep arguing, even when things aren't going your way-- think of it as your social HP. You have base Integrity equal to 10+Proficiency, which is restored during a Short or Long Rest. In addition, at the start of any social conflict, you gain temporary Integrity equal to your Wisdom or Charisma Modifier.
Resolve: Your Resolve is your ability to keep your own head and resist outside influence-- think of it as your social AC. It is equal to either 8+Proficiency or your current Integrity, whichever is higher.
Characteristics: Your Characteristics can also be used as a source of strength during an argument. When they would apply, you may draw upon a Characteristic to gain a bonus to your Resolve, after seeing the die roll but before the results are announced. Conversely, if you know one of your opponent's relevant Characteristics, you can draw upon that to gain a bonus to attack and damage when making an Influence check. Characteristics may only be drawn upon once per conflic, regardless of who uses them. A Minor Characteristic gives a bonus of +2, a Major Characteristic +3, and a Defining Characteristic +5.
Charisma Checks: Many Social Conflict actions require you to make Charisma Checks. When doing so, you may apply relevant skill or tool Proficiency-- for example, if trying to scare a guard into cooperating, you might make a Charisma (Intimidate) check.
Social Conflict
Roleplaying becomes clunky if restricted by the initiative system, so social conflicts don't operate in turn order. Anyone can speak at any time. The only restriction is that a character cannot take two social actions in a row-- there must be at least some back and forth. If multiple characters attempt to speak at once, make an opposed Charisma check; the winner successfully gets their words out first or speaks over the loser. There are six social Actions.
Convince
You can attempt to directly convince another character to do what you want them to do. Make a Charisma check, opposed by your opponent's Resolve. To take a Convince action, you must be able to cite an appropriate Characteristic (though this does not count as its once/conflict use),and the target must not be able to point to a opposing Characteristic of greater strength. The greater the request, the stronger the Characteristic must be. A Minor Characteristic will suffice for simple tasks that will not seriously disrupt their lives, such as delivering a package for you, or letting you into a nightclub. Drawing on a Major or Defining Characteristic will let you persuade people to make major changes to their lives-- they might join your army or break the law on your behalf, as long as death or ruin isn't certain.
However, if you fail your Charisma check, the target will not be pleased. If you made a Minor request, they can immediately Disengage as a reaction. If you made a Major request, they can attempt a Disengage as a reaction and can begin using Disengage to end the conversation, as though they'd taken the action three times this conflict. If you made a Defining Request, they may instantly end the conversation as though they'd successfully Disengaged, with no check required.
Disengage
You can attempt to simply end a conversation without making an active effort to persuade anyone. All Influence actions against you are made at Disadvantage until the start of your next turn. If you have taken at least three Disengage actions in this conflict, you may make a Charisma check, opposed by the highest Resolve of the character(s) you are arguing with. On a success, you end the conversation with whatever amount of grace you wish, and are immune to subsequent social conflicts with the same characters until you take a Long Rest. (You may also physically flee, of course, though doing so confers no immunity-- if they catch you, they can keep arguing). (Characters who are not willing to talk typically use the Disengage action every turn.)
Engage
Also known as the "tell me more" action, Engaging is simply following the line of conversation without really trying to influence it. When you take the Engage action, pick one opponent. You gain Advantage on your next social action taken against them, and they gain Advantage on their next social action taken against you. (Characters who are happy to talk typically use the Engage action every turn.)
Influence
You attempt to bring another character around to your way of thinking-- the rough equivalent of a "social attack," if you will. Make a Charisma check, opposed by their Resolve. If you succeed, you inflict 1d4 points of Integrity damage.
If your Integrity reaches zero, you are considered Swayed, and all Charisma checks made against you have Advantage. In addition, the Convince and Instill actions have enhanced capabilities against Swayed foes:
Convince: Citing a Defining Characteristic can persuade them to to take life-altering or near-suicidal actions, like donating a vast amount of money to your cause or volunteering to fight a hopeless rearguard action.
Instill: You may also strengthen an existing Minor Characteristic to Major, or weaken a Major Characteristic to Minor.
Instill
You attempt to alter another character's viewpoint, at least temporarily. Make a Charisma check, opposed by their Resolve. On a success, you may give the target a new Minor Characteristic, or remove an existing one. Characters may revert changes at the rate of one per hour, although even afterwards thoughts or actions from that time still seem perfectly normal. Instill actions can be used both offensively, to bring an opponent around to your way of thinking, or defensively, to reinforce an ally's beliefs.
Read
You attempt to draw out another character and get a sense of what makes them tick. When making a Read attempt, you must first ask a question. Not necessarily a literal in-character question, but you need to know what you're looking for-- "what's his opinion on the king?" "Who's most important in her life?" Once you're specified a question, make an Insight check against another character, opposed by their Resolve. On a success, you learn the Characteristic most related to your question, and its strength-- or, if they have no such Characteristic, you learn that as well.
Variant Rules
Group Conflicts
For conversations with two or more distinct factions working in tandem-- for example, if the entire party is attempting to persuade a pair of guards to let them inside the castle-- the easiest thing to do is to use a single Integrity and Resolve score for each side. If you do, take each party's average Integrity and Resolve, then add the number of people in the group. For example, if one side consists of three guards, with Integrity of 10, 12, and 8, their group Integrity would be 13. If this variant is in play, players are advised to record their typical group defenses.
In addition, the rule about turn order is strengthened: rather than no character being allowed to attempt two actions in a row, no side may attempt two actions in a row-- further speakers are merely backing up the first, in which case the resulting Charisma check may be made as a group check.
Social Attacks
As written, the rules grant a substantial advantage to characters with skill-enhancing features like Expertise or Reliable Talent. If you want to keep things on a more even keel, you may replace Charisma Checks with Social Attacks-- an attack roll, rather than an ability check, using your Charisma modifier instead or Strength or Dexterity. Charisma-based skills are treated as if they were weapons-- if you're Proficient in Intimidation, and are tying to intimidate an orc, you would add your Proficiency Bonus to your Social Attack. Expertise and the like would apply only in non-Conflict situations, where a simple check is deemed sufficient.
Introduction
The most important thing to remember about these rules is that they're optional. Not every conversation has to be a full-fledged social conflict encounter, just as not every arm wrestling contest needs the full combat rules. Extended rules like these exist to make things more dramatic. A single ability check only takes a few seconds of real-life time to resolve a situation, but making an argument into a full-blown conflict draws it out, adding in a back-and-forth, giving the players much more influence over how it plays out, and reducing the impact of a single lucky roll. It also helps de-couple the players' social skills from their characters'. Without such rules, if a particular player is good with words, they can portray a suave, persuasive character even if their Presence is low— and the shy player will have trouble trying to be a fast-talking diplomat no matter what's written on their sheet.
Characteristics
Characteristics, as described in the PHB (your Traits, Bond, Flaw, and Ideal), become the core of the system. In addition to generating the five listed, designate each one as Minor, Major, or Defining. A character must have at least one of each strength.
A Minor Characteristic is a significant aspect of your personality, but not a major part of who you are-- they could be lost or changed without being too noticeable.
A Major Characteristic is a broadly applicable belief, one of the core tenants of your personal philosophy. They influence your behavior even in situations where they only tangentially apply, and can lead you to act against your own self-interest or even safety.
A Defining Characteristic is one of the more important parts of your life, beliefs that you absolutely will not change or compromise, and without which you wouldn't be recognizably yourself. They are the things you would lay down your life for, if necessary, and the inform almost every aspect of your behavior, one way or another. You may only have one Defining Characteristic at a time-- if a Major Characteristic is strengthened to Defining, either through natural character growth or social influence, your previous Defining Characteristic is reduced to Major for the duration of the change.
Characteristics are not immutable. Once per session, when not engaged in a social conflict, you may alter your Characteristics, provided the changes are related to the events that occured. A Minor Characteristic may be replaced with a new Minor Characteristic or increased in strength to Major, and a Major Characteristic may be decreased to a Minor one. You may also exchange the importance of an existing Minor and Major Characteristic.
Crisis Point: There are moments that force you to reevaluate everything you knew. Perhaps a trusted mentor is revealed to be a traitor, or a member of a group you hate risks their life for you, or a truth you once clung to is revealed to be false. When such a major event happens, it's known as a Crisis Point, and you may rewrite any number of Characteristics, up to and including your Defining Characteristic.
Self Reflection: People don't always change in dramatic ways. Sometimes, small experiences over the days and months add up, slowly chipping away at your worldview. You may change your Characteristics, provided enough time passes. You may "work" on multiple Characteristics at once, and you may engage in other activities (even adventuring!) at the same time.
Minor Characteristic: One week
Major Characteristic: One month
Defining Characteristic: One year
Social Stats
Integrity: Your Integrity is basically your stubbornness-- how long you can keep arguing, even when things aren't going your way-- think of it as your social HP. You have base Integrity equal to 10+Proficiency, which is restored during a Short or Long Rest. In addition, at the start of any social conflict, you gain temporary Integrity equal to your Wisdom or Charisma Modifier.
Resolve: Your Resolve is your ability to keep your own head and resist outside influence-- think of it as your social AC. It is equal to either 8+Proficiency or your current Integrity, whichever is higher.
Characteristics: Your Characteristics can also be used as a source of strength during an argument. When they would apply, you may draw upon a Characteristic to gain a bonus to your Resolve, after seeing the die roll but before the results are announced. Conversely, if you know one of your opponent's relevant Characteristics, you can draw upon that to gain a bonus to attack and damage when making an Influence check. Characteristics may only be drawn upon once per conflic, regardless of who uses them. A Minor Characteristic gives a bonus of +2, a Major Characteristic +3, and a Defining Characteristic +5.
Charisma Checks: Many Social Conflict actions require you to make Charisma Checks. When doing so, you may apply relevant skill or tool Proficiency-- for example, if trying to scare a guard into cooperating, you might make a Charisma (Intimidate) check.
Social Conflict
Roleplaying becomes clunky if restricted by the initiative system, so social conflicts don't operate in turn order. Anyone can speak at any time. The only restriction is that a character cannot take two social actions in a row-- there must be at least some back and forth. If multiple characters attempt to speak at once, make an opposed Charisma check; the winner successfully gets their words out first or speaks over the loser. There are six social Actions.
Convince
You can attempt to directly convince another character to do what you want them to do. Make a Charisma check, opposed by your opponent's Resolve. To take a Convince action, you must be able to cite an appropriate Characteristic (though this does not count as its once/conflict use),and the target must not be able to point to a opposing Characteristic of greater strength. The greater the request, the stronger the Characteristic must be. A Minor Characteristic will suffice for simple tasks that will not seriously disrupt their lives, such as delivering a package for you, or letting you into a nightclub. Drawing on a Major or Defining Characteristic will let you persuade people to make major changes to their lives-- they might join your army or break the law on your behalf, as long as death or ruin isn't certain.
However, if you fail your Charisma check, the target will not be pleased. If you made a Minor request, they can immediately Disengage as a reaction. If you made a Major request, they can attempt a Disengage as a reaction and can begin using Disengage to end the conversation, as though they'd taken the action three times this conflict. If you made a Defining Request, they may instantly end the conversation as though they'd successfully Disengaged, with no check required.
Disengage
You can attempt to simply end a conversation without making an active effort to persuade anyone. All Influence actions against you are made at Disadvantage until the start of your next turn. If you have taken at least three Disengage actions in this conflict, you may make a Charisma check, opposed by the highest Resolve of the character(s) you are arguing with. On a success, you end the conversation with whatever amount of grace you wish, and are immune to subsequent social conflicts with the same characters until you take a Long Rest. (You may also physically flee, of course, though doing so confers no immunity-- if they catch you, they can keep arguing). (Characters who are not willing to talk typically use the Disengage action every turn.)
Engage
Also known as the "tell me more" action, Engaging is simply following the line of conversation without really trying to influence it. When you take the Engage action, pick one opponent. You gain Advantage on your next social action taken against them, and they gain Advantage on their next social action taken against you. (Characters who are happy to talk typically use the Engage action every turn.)
Influence
You attempt to bring another character around to your way of thinking-- the rough equivalent of a "social attack," if you will. Make a Charisma check, opposed by their Resolve. If you succeed, you inflict 1d4 points of Integrity damage.
If your Integrity reaches zero, you are considered Swayed, and all Charisma checks made against you have Advantage. In addition, the Convince and Instill actions have enhanced capabilities against Swayed foes:
Convince: Citing a Defining Characteristic can persuade them to to take life-altering or near-suicidal actions, like donating a vast amount of money to your cause or volunteering to fight a hopeless rearguard action.
Instill: You may also strengthen an existing Minor Characteristic to Major, or weaken a Major Characteristic to Minor.
Instill
You attempt to alter another character's viewpoint, at least temporarily. Make a Charisma check, opposed by their Resolve. On a success, you may give the target a new Minor Characteristic, or remove an existing one. Characters may revert changes at the rate of one per hour, although even afterwards thoughts or actions from that time still seem perfectly normal. Instill actions can be used both offensively, to bring an opponent around to your way of thinking, or defensively, to reinforce an ally's beliefs.
Read
You attempt to draw out another character and get a sense of what makes them tick. When making a Read attempt, you must first ask a question. Not necessarily a literal in-character question, but you need to know what you're looking for-- "what's his opinion on the king?" "Who's most important in her life?" Once you're specified a question, make an Insight check against another character, opposed by their Resolve. On a success, you learn the Characteristic most related to your question, and its strength-- or, if they have no such Characteristic, you learn that as well.
Variant Rules
Group Conflicts
For conversations with two or more distinct factions working in tandem-- for example, if the entire party is attempting to persuade a pair of guards to let them inside the castle-- the easiest thing to do is to use a single Integrity and Resolve score for each side. If you do, take each party's average Integrity and Resolve, then add the number of people in the group. For example, if one side consists of three guards, with Integrity of 10, 12, and 8, their group Integrity would be 13. If this variant is in play, players are advised to record their typical group defenses.
In addition, the rule about turn order is strengthened: rather than no character being allowed to attempt two actions in a row, no side may attempt two actions in a row-- further speakers are merely backing up the first, in which case the resulting Charisma check may be made as a group check.
Social Attacks
As written, the rules grant a substantial advantage to characters with skill-enhancing features like Expertise or Reliable Talent. If you want to keep things on a more even keel, you may replace Charisma Checks with Social Attacks-- an attack roll, rather than an ability check, using your Charisma modifier instead or Strength or Dexterity. Charisma-based skills are treated as if they were weapons-- if you're Proficient in Intimidation, and are tying to intimidate an orc, you would add your Proficiency Bonus to your Social Attack. Expertise and the like would apply only in non-Conflict situations, where a simple check is deemed sufficient.