That sounds interesting. Mind giving some detail on how that works?
ahem... I will refrain from prosthelytizing too much
[sblock=To avoid appearance of hijack]In short, combat and intrigue work in a very similar way - you have both a Health and a Composure total. Lose all your Health, you are defeated in combat (not necessarily death). Lose all your Composure, you are defeated in intrigue (outcome depending on foe's objective).
Combat has two main types of attacks - Fighting (anything melee) and Marksmanship (anything ranged). Intrigue also has two main types of "attacks" - Persuasion (offering truthful and compelling statements) and Deception (offering lies or misleading statements).
Both combat and intrigue are divided into rounds (although Intrigues call them exchanges, and they may take place over days rather than the 6 seconds or so of combat), and initiative is rolled to determine action order (based on Agility for combat and social Status for intrigue).
Combat has weapons (for attacking) and armor (reduces damage to health). Intrigue has techniques (for attacking) and dispositions (reducing "damage" to composure).
Techniques include bargain (ie, offer to trade services and/or money), convince (use logical arguments), charm (smiling sweetly), intimidate (nuff said), taunt (get someone angry enough at you to act rashly), incite (get someone angry enough at someone else to act rashly against them), and seduce (get some... or make someone think they'll get some). Just as someone can be better or worse with some weapons, they can be better or worse at some techniques. You can change your technique each "round" of an intrigue.
Dispositions rate how friendly you are - going from affectionate to malicious. "Nicer" dispositions give you bonuses to use Persuasion, but penalties to use Deception, and reduce "damage" to Composure very little. "Meaner" dispositions give penalties to Persuasion, bonuses to Deception, and reduce "damage" to Composure by a fair amount. Unlike armor though, you can have different dispositions towards different folks at the same time (so you can be affectionate with your child without your nemesis taking advantage of your "niceness"), and you can gradually change it during an intrigue.
Actions in combat include attacking, moving, distracting, aiming, etc... In each round of combat, you get 2 lesser actions or 1 greater action. Actions in an intrigue include influencing (the "attack"), reading the target (gauging their disposition and technique), withdrawing (ie, staying aloof to raise your defense, rather than the combatesque "retreat" style withdraw), fast talking (reducing your opponent's defense), or using Shield of Reputation to improve your opponent's disposition (essentially, you may not like me, but I am the Lord of this keep, so treat me with respect). During each exchange of an intrigue, you get 1 action.
Players get a bit of narrative control on how their characters are harmed in both. Whenever a character takes damage that reduces their Health, they may take injuries or wounds to reduce the damage either a little bit or completely at the cost of a -1 penalty or a penalty dice respectively to all checks. Whenever a character takes influence that reduces their Composure, they may take frustration to reduce the effect at the cost of a penalty dice on further checks. In short - you keep your Health and/or Composure from reaching 0 (which is when you get defeated), but it gets harder and harder for you to succeed at your own checks.
If you are defeated in combat, the victor chooses your fate in most cases - it could be death, but other possibilities are unconsciousness, ransom, and maiming. Some weapons are so vicious that death is the only option. That said, there is a rather significant mechanic/resource call Destiny that characters have, and a defeated character can burn one of his Destiny to choose his own fate after being defeated, rather than leaving it to his opponent.
The big thing an intrigue has that a combat doesn't is an explicitly stated objective for each participant. These can still be vague, but still frame the character's goal. Examples include: I want to know what he knows about subject X, I want to get a good deal on this used suit of armor, I want him to attack me because he'll get arrested.
If you defeat a foe in an intrigue, your objective comes to pass (within the bounds of possibility). It's not mind-control, mind you, and the person may try to recant later, or sabotage your actions, etc... Depending on the technique you used, longer-lasting effects may occur (using taunt makes their disposition towards you worse and if it hits "malicious" then they attack you, using seduce makes their disposition towards you better and if it hits "affectionate" they are willing to give it up to you... but every day after that it worsens by one as they feel shame for giving in so easily).[/sblock]
And, because it never really hurts to prosthelytize
Here's the link to the free, fast-play version of the rules:
http://grfiles.game-host.org/gr_files/SiF_Fastplay.pdf
