Distinct Game Modes: Combat vs Social vs Exploration etc...

[Nytmare]

And if your goal is actually producing the words of that "gripping, and exciting dialogue scene" very heavy rules arbitration doesn't help you do that, and in fact hinders it in every single instance I've encountered from Blue Rose to FATE to whatever. Maybe the closest I have to a system that does do a decent job at this is DitV, but notably is pretty light about how the rules engage and it has a hierarchy where fisticuffs trump argument, and gunfights trump fisticuffs, as well as a lot of GM leeway for interpretation. It's not like the Aces and Eights of social combat, nor does it try to treat each pillar as identical.

In a traditional system, you can replicate gripping and exciting dialogue by mistake.

In a system built with the mechanics and structure that writers of gripping and exciting dialogue scenes use, you are more likely to produce (in structure if not quality) the same kinds of gripping and exciting scenes.

Now I grant you, that I don't often achieve that, but over the years I absolutely have achieved some scenes with gripping and exciting and dramatic dialogue from time to time and it's certainly not the lack of a social combat system that hinders me from doing it more often.

Again, and as an actor, who plays FREQUENTLY with scores of thespians and voice actors with deep commitments to emotionally rich characterization, if you play a game where the "social pillar" is gamefied, the machine more reliably outputs the thing it was built to create.

 

[Reynard]

In a system built with the mechanics and structure that writers of gripping and exciting dialogue scenes use, you are more likely to produce (in structure if not quality) the same kinds of gripping and exciting scenes.

I would be curious to know what systems do this and how they manage it.

 

[zakael19]

Again, and as an actor, who plays FREQUENTLY with scores of thespians and voice actors with deep commitments to emotionally rich characterization, if you play a game where the "social pillar" is gamefied, the machine more reliably outputs the thing it was built to create.

Yeah, I agree. The games I've played over the last year-ish that have very explicit social mechanics either via a multi-stage resolution process or "hit the docket and try something" have created the space for more dramatic building to a climax and resolution then I previously experienced via games that are more on a "vibe it out and then at some point roll" thing.

Running a negotiation in Draw Steel! felt like an actual negotiation: a back and forth, offering and rejection and redirecting, with the mechanics and dice helping that ebb and flow. Having to think about why a character would resist & what you can offer for Stonetop has more consistently led to real ugly bargains and big dramatic bangs.

Edit: also I've got a number of players in the game we were doing Draw Steel! in who noted that the transparent mechanics of the Negotiation System allowed them to focus on making an interesting scene without having to worry about like "am I saying the right thing to get what we want."