Social Combat

[Terath Ninir]

So three rolls, or three series of rolls. With different difficulty classes and different skills checked (bluff, diplomacy, maybe intimidate or bribe with streetwise he guards).

Three social combats. Forget the 3e skills -- I don't think they'd even be a good place to start for a social combat system for a new edition. But if that's more comfortable, say bluff past the guards. You can brute force it just with your stats, or make it easier with roleplaying. Since they're the least important group, roleplaying would be optional. Then you have to sweet talk your way past the ladies in waiting -- definitely not just one roll, unless you come up with some really good roleplaying to back it up. Then you get to the queen and you will fail unless you roleplay it out. She's presumably an important NPC and you don't push them around any more than you push PCs around. Even if your sneaky bard gets her to agree, she might well make him go on a quest before she'll agree to his wishes.

I'm talking about rules to replace the minor social interactions (buying supplies, but not buying a magic sword) and assisting the important ones. If I wanted vague or nonexistant rules, I'd play something like Amber diceless roleplaying. I like rules, I like dice, I like random outcomes. Even the best roleplaying shouldn't work all the time.