Using "Social Manuevering"

[Guest]

No. Not that part. Reducing social interaction to a series of die rolls. Roleplaying it all out is more fun. Plus I personally hate memorizing a bunch of rules and numbers.

Maybe I overreacted a little. If you want to use a bunch of rules for social maneuvering at your table, that’s cool. But there’s no way I would allow another character (an NPC or especially another PC) to convince my character to do something they really didn’t want to do, barring supernatural abilities of course. I mean, I guess it’s okay if you want to use it to simulate PCs trying to convince NPCs, but even then I think roleplaying is a better alternative.

[The MG]

Ah. I misunderstood you, then.

Maybe I overreacted a little. If you want to use a bunch of rules for social maneuvering at your table, that’s cool. But there’s no way I would allow another character (an NPC or especially another PC) to convince my character to do something they really didn’t want to do, barring supernatural abilities of course. I mean, I guess it’s okay if you want to use it to simulate PCs trying to convince NPCs, but even then I think roleplaying is a better alternative.

There are a few things to note here, I think.

The first is that the Maneuvering system is primarily for convincing NPCs, with convincing PCs being an explicitly optional part of the system. Even if it applies, a PC can always get out of being convinced by offering something else instead, an option that's simply not there for NPCs.

The second is that Social Maneuvering isn't supposed to substitute for roleplaying, but to ground it in the mechanics and present a greater spectrum of progress than the simple pass/fail of a single Social roll.

The third thing... Well, "just roleplay it" isn't really bad, but it can have the unintended side effect of rendering Social Attributes and Skills less important than they should be. It's one of the classic pitfalls of RPGs, actually, where it becomes about player skill rather than what the character is supposed to be good at. You can play a total physical badass without having any combat training, but with an all-roleplaying approach, you can't really play a slick negotiator without the actual ability to change your ST's mind.

You are of course entitled to your preferences, and I do get not wanting to memorize all of these subsystems – I, for one, am quite unfond of the ephemeral entity manifestation rules and their attendant flowchart.

[Guest]

The MG fair enough. You raise some good points.

[Prince of the Night]

Thoughts on Soft leverage?

is going on a quest for someone valid

or in princess giving them a collection of seeds.

Not sure what other options their are.

Or other things not involving a merit.