Socialization | Crytures

The Mechanics of Socialization

Role-to-Roll Play

When players make a Social action, the things they say or do may affect the roll by appealing to an Interest or Aversion. In light of this, they should roleplay the action before making any rolls. The World Builder must exercise their own judgement on what Interests or Aversions they appeal to, what seems reasonable, and what is dismissed out of hand.

Turns and Time

In a social encounter, players are usually not all talking at the same time to the same NPC. As such, time advances with every Focused Action that players take on the same subject, rather than after every round. If multiple NPCs are available to speak with, then using a Focused Action on different subjects in the same round does not advance time.

Topics, Interest and Aversion

All NPCs have Topics they react to differently. They may be any number of things, such as fears, professions, activities, knowledge, or values. These are recorded as Interests and Aversions. Appealing to an Interest confers a +2 Roll Modifier to the roll, while appealing to an Aversion confers a -2 Roll Modifier.

Note that an Interest is not necessarily something positive, nor is an Aversion necessarily something negative. They merely describe the level of motivation an NPC feels in regard to the Topic.

Generally, Topics come in 4 broad categories, and an NPC usually has 1 Interest and 1 Aversion from each category. Examples are as follows.

Values

Reason
Honesty
Wealth
Knowledge

Hobbies

Music
Archery
Art
Games

Professions

Farming
Fishing
Woodworking
Baking

Obligations

Family
Job
Guild
Friends

Affinity and Enmity

Much like crytures, NPCs track Affinity and Enmity in the same way, although the ways they gain them may differ.

Increasing Affinity

Completing a quest
Succeeding at an Influence Encounter

Increasing Enmity

Assault
Breaking a deal
Hurting a friend
Stealing
Trespassing
Threats

Hostility and Disposition

Hostility is also a factor in social encounters, which tracks the immediate disposition of the NPC. Hostility ranges from 1-10, with 1 being friendly, and 10 being overtly hostile and combative. Disposition is the overall perception of you that an NPC has, and is equal to Hostility + Enmity. It is used to determine the Difficulty of social Talent checks.

Increasing Hostility

Insulting the NPC
Being caught in a lie
Wasting time
Rude behavior

Patience

Patience determines how much time the other party is willing to give you in a social encounter. Typically, Patience begins at 3 + Affinity - Enmity. Failing at certain actions will make the other party feel like their time is being wasted, resulting in a loss of Patience. When Patience reaches 0, the encounter ends in failure.