You have some (not full, but certainly some) inclinations toward simulation of process/internal causality within ruleset.
@Lanefan , you do as well (until you don't!...the boundaries for both of you appear to be somewhere around the intersection of laborious prep and table handling time...its not clear to me exactly where that is on any given rules component).
What do you guys think about the social statistic of Precedence in Torchbearer? It is a rating that serves two purposes:
1) By comparing your relative ratings (Adventurers start at 0, High Clergy at 6, Sovereigns at 7), Precedence gates those who can outright Convince, Haggle, Convince Crowds, and Trick.
2) If your Precedence is greater than your opponent’s, you gain +1s per point greater in Negotiate, Convince and Convince Crowd conflicts.
+1 Successes are added to passed or tied rolls. So its a huge deal, especially when Margin of Success is important (like in Conflicts).
What do you think about Precedence? As a piece of game tech, it (along with its cousin Might; for physical conflicts) mightily serves challenge-based play priorities. But I would think it would do work for you guys with some of your Sim priorities.