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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 5070434" data-attributes="member: 23240">I very rarely plan social interaction in terms of scenes and encounters. I just prepare short descriptions of my NPCs: a few lines for each one, specifying his or her goals, motivations, values and major personality traits (and social stats, if given system uses them). With these, I know what NPCs want from PCs and how they are going to get it and I can improvise how they react to PC actions.I also always assume that my players may initiate social contact, even in a combat situation. If an opponent isn't mindless, it is possible to negotiate with him (although in many cases there won't be any resolution fully acceptable for both sides - while you may negotiate, it's not always a solution).In general, my GMing style is quite reactive. I set up a world, with places, people and their actions, and let my players interact with it as they like. I create plot hooks, of course, but it is up to players if and how they are going to act on them.For this reason, most interactions are either initiated by the PCs or are NPC reactions to danger or opportunity the heroes create. I don't try to fully predict how the plot will develop, I just prepare to handle the situations that may emerge.</blockquote>