Social Interaction

Much of the social interaction performed while playing Swords of Infinity can be resolved narratively, but the following rules are available for determining the outcomes of social interaction where the participants have competing interests.

Resolving Social Interaction

To resolve the outcome of a social interaction players should role-play the interaction as usual, but when it comes time to determine whether a participant is affected they will make a Power roll using the skill that is most relevant to the situation as the target number.

Situational Modifiers

Certain conditions, to include the player's choice of words, during a social interaction will affect the power of a combatant's words. These situational modifiers can be found in the table below and are applied with stacking results for each relevant modifier. These modifiers affect the target number rather than the roll itself.

Situation	Bonus
Target is not a native speaker of the language	-20 Power
Target has previously resisted a social skill used by the character	-10 Power (Stacks Multiple Times)
Target is with one or more allies	-10 Power (Stacks Multiple Times)
Target was previously Intimidated into an action by the character	-10 Power (Stacks Multiple Times)
Character has succeeded on a relevant Intelligence skill check	+10 Power
Target trusts the attacker	+10 Power
Target is inebriated	+10 Power
Character has secret information about the target	+20 Power
Target is in love with the attacker	+30 Power
Player role-played very well	* Bonus warded at Storyteller discretion

Skills

The following are the affects that all of the individual social skills can have during an interaction. Any character can attempt to use these skills even if they are untrained.

Insult

The Insult skill allows a character to deal damage to a target's Stress. To use this skill the character must make a Power roll opposed by his opponent's Mental Resistance check. If his Power is greater than his opponent's Mental Resistance then they take Stress damage equal to the 10s place of the Power roll.

Inspire

The Inspire skill allows a character to heal damage to a target's Stress. To use this skill the character must make a Power roll opposed by her target's Mental Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her target's Mental Resistance then they heal Stress damage equal to the 10s place of the Power roll.

Barter

The Barter skill allows a character to either increase or decrease the agreed upon Value Level of an item that is being purchased or sold. Should the character succeed she must then make a Power roll opposed by her opponent's Mental Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her opponent's Mental Resistance, then the agreed Value Level is successfully reduced or increased by one at the discretion of the initiating character.

Storyteller's Note: Most merchants are attempting to make a profit and will not be willing to purchase an item for more than half of its actual Value Level and, likewise, will not sell an item for less than half its true Value Level. In situations where players successfully Barter the Value Level beyond these thresholds you may simply have merchants declare that they have reached the best price they can give and will not go any lower or higher.

Provoke

The Provoke skill allows a character to draw the aggression of an adversary to herself. This skill is useful in situations where a more vulnerable ally is being accosted and the character wishes to draw their attacker away. To use this skill the character must make a Power roll opposed by her opponent's Mental Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her opponent's Mental Resistance, then they are successfully provoked and will direct their attacks in the direction of the provoking character for at least one round.

Intimidate

The Intimidate skill allows a character to force a target into taking a single action against their will through the use of fear. This skill is particularly useful in situations where the character wishes to chase an adversary away rather than physically fight them. To use this skill the character must make a Power roll opposed by his opponent's Mental Resistance check. If his Power is greater than his opponent's Mental Resistance, then they are successfully intimidated and will take a single action at the command of the intimidating character. Intimidated characters may also opt to flee instead of taking the action if that is a viable option in the situation. Characters that have the Intimidate skill used on them are less likely to be swayed in the future.

Storyteller's Note: Targets of intimidation are unlikely to perform certain actions regardless of any intimidation, such as physically harming themselves or an ally, and in those situations it is recommended that you apply an appropriately high penalty to the player's target number (e.g. a -40 or -50 if the target is instructed to physically harm himself).

Persuade

The Persuade skill allows a character to encourage a target to take an action that they might be disinclined toward; to include convincing them to believe a piece of information that is true but inconvenient for them. To use this skill the player must make a Power roll opposed by her opponent's Mental Resistance check. If her power is greater than her opponent's Mental Resistance, then they have been successfully persuaded and will perform the requested action to its completed. The Persuade skill cannot be used against hostile targets during combat.

Storyteller's Note: Unlike with the Intimidate skill, successful use of the Persuade skill does not worsen a character's disposition toward another. By contrast however, it is harder to get someone to take an action contrary to their interests using persuasion than with intimidation and in those situations it is recommended that you apply an appropriately high penalty to the player's target number (e.g. a -40 or -50 if the target is being persuaded to hand over their life savings to "invest" in the party's adventuring escapades.

Deceive

The Deceive skill allows a character to trick a target into believing something that is untrue. It can also be used to distract an enemy in battle and thus open an opportunity for an ally to use the Sneak technique. To use this technique must make a Power Check opposed by his opponent's Mental Resistance check. If his Power is greater than his opponent's Mental Resistance, then they are successfully Deceived and will believe a single piece of false information related by the deceiver.

Storyteller's Note: Some deception is just too outlandish to believe and, in situations like these, it is recommended that an penalty be applied to the player's target number (e.g. a -50 bonus for a piece of information that the target knows empirically to be false).

Calm

The Calm skill allows a character to remove the hostile intentions of a target. This technique is particularly useful in situations where the character wishes to avoid a physical confrontation. To use this technique the character must make a Power Check opposed by her opponent's Mental Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her opponent's Mental Resistance, then they are successfully Calmed and will refrain from physically attacking the character until given a new justification to do so. The Calm skill cannot be used against hostile targets during combat.

Storyteller's Note: Some offenses are so egregious that a target is unlikely to be calmed and in situations like these it is recommended that an appropriate penalty be applied to the player's target number (e.g. a -50 bonus if the target's ally was killed by the party).