Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 8589898" data-attributes="member: 6704184">I realized today that I never really dug into my ideas for this for DND. I think I mentioned some stuff I use in my other game, but not so much what I'm working on for dnd. So, social encounters as "downtime" activities. Not really, but the mechanics are basically the same. ON NPCs - NPCs in 5e are largely terrible. If you want satisfying mechanical resolution at a higher level of complexity, you'll want to do an editorial pass over any NPCs you plan to use, and add at least 2 proficiencies to each one, give each 2 save proficiencies, and increase their stats by at least 6 point buy build points. If they're important, consider giving them feats related to their place in the world and the story, like Linguist and Keen Mind for scholars, Actor for politicians and entertainers and spies, etc.Ask the players what their goal is. If possible, figure out how much they want from the situation, how much their willing to shoot for, knowing that bigger rewards come with bigger risks. Behind the screen, make some quick notes for each NPC involved:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> What are their goals?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What they're willing to compromise on and any "hard lines" they won't cross or let the PCs cross.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Can they be made into an Ally or a Rival (or both), depending on how well the PCs do?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What, if any, specific points must be made to achieve either result</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What do they know about the PCs?</li> </ul>Each bullet point in that list is something the PCs can potentially figure out in preparation, or as part of the encounter, and then leverage to their advantage.Give them three categories of results they can aim for. Lets just call it Easy, Moderate, and Hard, for now. Each category has the same ladder of success, but the difficulty and consequences change. IMPORTANT - Players know what category they have chosen, and roughly what the consequences are, and at least know generally the level of DC, if not the exact number. This doesn't mean they know what the personal consequences to a relationship with a given NPC will be on a failure or success, just what the general overarching stakes are, that they could gain a rival or an ally, etc. DCs: Either use the DMG suggested DCs, or use them as a base to set a number of dice (I'd advise d4s) to use that hit close to the suggested DC on an average result. ie DC 15 would be met by 6d4. The set DCs are simpler, while the variable DCs add some extra randomization and variety, and allow you to use the dice pool as a thing that changes when the PCs have more or less leverage, or shift the attitude of the NPCs toward or away from their favor. Like, set the DC dice out in front of you, and add or subtract as appropriate. Tension!In general, the Xanathar's Downtime Activities that have multiple checks use 3 checks with specific skills, and count successes. I'd do the same here, with the additional ability to make checks other than the primary skills to gain information as above, or help the team by moving the NPCs attitude into more favorable territory. These checks don't count as successes or failures for the encounter. Each success, place a die in a specific place on the table, so everyone can see how the encounter is going. Bonus, you can use these success dice to roll for any monetary rewards, or things like, "how many soldiers does the king send to help us", using multipliers as appropriate. The encounter either ends or moves to the next stage when 3 primary checks have been made, and you count the number of successes. Generally, no successes means you totally beef it, fail to get what you want, and face consequences. 1 success means you get away without any negative consequences, but don't get what you want, or get part of what you want with a consequence. 2 successes means you get most or all of what you want. usually, this should allow for pushing for a little more in exchange for something valuable. 3 successes means you get what you want and can get a bit more from the situation without paying any extra price. Additional consequences and rewards. Using the bullet points above, and the stakes of the situation in general, as a guide, determine if the group or an individual PC have gained any Rivals, or Allies, or even a Favor they can call in later, or a debt that can be called in against them later. As implied above, this should be fairly transparent, once such a consequence comes into play. Ie, if you piss off the duke and he is going to try to mess with you going forward, you should find that out when that becomes the ongoing circumstance, such as when you fail a check to leverage something against the duke, or embarrass yourself in a way that offends him while trying to impress someone, or whatever. This allows the players to choose to use valuable actions and resources to mitigate or reverse this consequence, at the risk of further complicating the primary goal of the scene. Connecting social encounters. In some cases, this may not be quite enough to reasonably resolve a situation, in which case you would narratively split the scenario into 2 or more "scenes", each acting as an individual evolving encounter in a string of encounters. This means that anything spent stays spent, anything gained is usable, etc, from one encounter to the next. So, there ya go. I think it's a solid framework for times where greater structure is desired in a given situation. I wouldn't try to force every social encounter to use this or any other framework, saving it only for conflicts with multiple sides where an ongoing "back and forth" is reasonably expected. Thoughts?</blockquote>

Verification