Overview¶

In this chapter we will deal with how social interactions between the player characters and non-player characters (NPCs) should be handled by the game master.

Interactions with NPCs¶

Social interactions range from bartering to convince a trader to pay more money for a piece of junk than he normally would, from grand galas with many single interactions between various important figures from business and politics.

The rule of thumb is that if the conversation is something that influences the over all story arc, or if the players wish to achieve something particular with it, a roll should me made for each separate instance. A short speech might just be a single check, whereas long and important speeches could be split into multiple checks.

A guide on how to set the DC can be found further down.

Player vs. Character¶

Players might be great at social interactions whereas the character might not be and vice versa. If the player delivers a good motivational speech but his character has low charisma rank and no skills in any speech related skill, it is advisable to roll anyhow. The same is true the other way around, for the character’s ability are not the same as the player’s abilities.

If the player puts extra effort into his speech consider adding a bonus to the DC, or (in case of positive effects on a roll of ten) add something special or out of the norm.

Interacting¶

Social interactions come in many forms, shapes and sizes. Trying to convince someone else that your own viewpoint is right, is one example. A player can achieve this in many different ways: He can use deceit, intimidation or by simply trying to talk and arguing the point.

The player decides what he wishes to do and the game master decides the DC. For each instance of interaction a separate roll is needed. If more than one roll is involved it is common that a few among them might fail. Partial successes are plausible, for example you might intimidate an engineer into disabling the security system and lie to him about the reason. Although you might succeed and he disables the system, he might not believe the reason and will still report this to his superiors.

To lie and intimidate to an NPC pitch the NPC’s Questioning skill against the player’s Oratory skill roll. Add morale bonus or penalties (see below) and add any circumstance bonuses depending on the situation. For example an outrageous lie without a context might incur a higher penalty than a more believable lie. Or an already scared and tortured captive might be more susceptible to further intimidation attempts and thus receives a penalty on his check. The game master should define this bonus or penalty depending on the situation. These penalties or bonuses should range between minus five (-5) and plus five(+5) depending on how believable the lie or intimidation is.

Morale¶

The main drive of every person is motivation and morale. People who are motivated might go the extra mile to achieve something, or if morale is low might even abandon their current task or goal. Likewise a threat of impending danger or even death can cause men to achieve the seemingly impossible.

The game represents morale and motivation as a single game statistic for each character that is added to all roles the players make. It can be negative (representing loss of morale or motivation), zero (no strong feelings one way or the other) or positive (motivation to succeed). The morale bonus is controlled by the game master and can be determined from many different sources.

Values range between minus three (-3) and plus three (+3), with minus three being despair to the point of abandoning one’s own believes or principles, and plus three being an almost religious frenzy to achieve the goal, even if it can result in personal harm. The morale bonus has nothing to do with personal feelings (like fear or anger) although they might stem from them.

A soldier who has abandoned all hope of returning alive (say a -1 morale bonus) from this deployment might still charge headlong into battle. Another example is a crew that has just realised they are stranded in deep space with no hope for rescue and resources left for just a few hours. The game master decrees that a -3 penalty is appropriate for the situation. After repairing the emergency distress signal they are contacted by a rescue party and the game master decides that the morale has been restored and is now at +1.

Affecting Morale¶

Tragic events, such as the death or serious injury of a friend or comrade can leave morale permanently reduced or lowered. So can prolonged exposure to life threatening situations, such as combat or living in hostile environment. Being on the losing side in a battle or siege against insurmountable odds, can also be devastating for the morale.

On the other hand, time off from the frontier, a visit back home or a good night out with friends can increase morale. A battle where the other side is already retreating and very few casualties have been sustained, can also be a great boost for morale.

It is always up to the game master to determine the morale of the group or enemies. A game master may also forgo to use the morale system at all in his campaign.

Influencing Morale¶

Morale can be influenced by successful or failed social checks. For example a successful Oratory check can increase or restore morale. The skill check for Oratory is made against five plus the morale bonus or the positive penalty, adding any circumstance penalties as the game master sees fit. Such a speech can made in front of a group of people or towards an individual in particular. Circumstance penalties or bonuses might stem from the relationship between the two people, for example a good friend can be more easily convinced and motivated, than a total stranger.

For example, the crew mentioned above, is marooned in deep space with no help of rescue. The game master the DM sets the morale for everyone to -3, except for the captain who he set to -1 since this has already happened to him before. The captain has already formulated a plan. She addresses a speech at his crew detailing the plan and trying to boost morale. The DC is as followed:

The captain has Oratory at rank 5, and 6 charisma, with an intelligence rank of 5:

She succeeds and the game master degrees that the morale is lessened to -1 for the entire crew.