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Geminaea
Placeholder rules: a provisional framework awaiting Geminaea-specific design.

Social

Social encounters are one of the three kinds of encounter a session is built around, alongside exploration and combat. A social encounter is a challenge the party meets by talking rather than fighting: winning over a guild council, questioning a witness, talking a mob down or bargaining with something that would rather not eat them. Like any encounter, one the party completes earns Aethyr Points.

Most social scenes need nothing more than roleplaying and the occasional ability check, as described in From the SRD 5.2.1 below. This page adds a way to use Geminaea’s Persona system in them.

Persona as Leverage

Section titled “Persona as Leverage”

A Persona describes what a character believes and wants: their Values, Axioms, Traits, Relationships and Challenges. The GM can give important nonplayer characters a Persona too, a Value or two, an Axiom and a Challenge, and let the players discover and use it.

  • Learning a Persona. Watching and listening can reveal one part of a creature’s Persona: a Wisdom (Insight) check, or a Charisma check made while talking, against the creature’s Influence DC (15 or its Intelligence score, whichever is higher). On a success, the GM shares one Value, Axiom, Trait, Relationship or Challenge. Research, rumor and the creature’s own words can reveal the same things without a roll.
  • Appealing to a Value. An Influence check that appeals sincerely to one of the creature’s Values has advantage.
  • Crossing an Axiom. A request that contradicts one of the creature’s Axioms makes it unwilling, as described under Influence, whatever its attitude.
  • Pressing on a Challenge. Offering help with a creature’s Challenge can make a hesitant creature willing. Exploiting it through threats, blackmail or shame can work, but if the creature realizes it is being used, its attitude worsens by one step.

The characters’ own Personas matter too: playing true to a Value or Axiom in a tense scene is a good reason for the GM to award inspiration.

Shifting Attitudes

Section titled “Shifting Attitudes”

A creature’s attitude can change over the course of an encounter. When an Influence check succeeds by 5 or more, the GM can improve the creature’s attitude by one step (Hostile to Indifferent, or Indifferent to Friendly) as well as granting the request. When one fails by 5 or more, its attitude can worsen by one step. Gifts, favors, insults and broken promises can shift attitudes without a roll.

Running a Social Encounter

Section titled “Running a Social Encounter”
  1. Set the goal and the stakes. Decide what the party wants, what the other side wants, and what happens if talks fail.
  2. Set attitudes. Note each important creature’s starting attitude and, if you’re using them, the parts of its Persona that matter here.
  3. Play it out. Let the players roleplay. Call for an Influence check only when a creature is hesitant.
  4. End it. The encounter ends when the party gets what it came for, when talks break down, or when the scene turns into a chase or a fight.

From the SRD 5.2.1: social interaction

Section titled “From the SRD 5.2.1: social interaction”

During their adventures, player characters meet many different people and face some monsters that would rather talk than fight. In those situations, it’s time for social interaction, which takes many forms. For example, you might try to convince a burglar to confess to wrongdoing or try to flatter a guard. The Game Master assumes the roles of any nonplayer characters who are participating.

An NPC’s attitude toward your character is Friendly, Indifferent, or Hostile, as defined below. Friendly NPCs are predisposed to help, and Hostile ones are inclined to hinder.

Social interactions progress in two ways: through roleplaying and ability checks.

Roleplaying

Section titled “Roleplaying”

Roleplaying is, literally, the act of playing out a role. In this case, it’s you as a player determining how your character thinks, acts, and talks. Roleplaying is part of every aspect of the game, and it comes to the fore during social interactions.

As you roleplay, consider whether you prefer an active approach or a descriptive approach.

The GM uses an NPC’s personality and your character’s actions and attitudes to determine how an NPC reacts. A cowardly bandit might buckle under threats of imprisonment. A stubborn merchant refuses to help if the characters badger her. A vain dragon laps up flattery.

When interacting with an NPC, pay attention to the GM’s portrayal of the NPC’s personality. You might be able to learn an NPC’s goals and then use that information to influence the NPC.

If you offer NPCs something they want or play on their sympathies, fears, or goals, you can form friendships, ward off violence, or learn a key piece of information. On the other hand, if you insult a proud warrior or speak ill of a noble’s allies, your efforts to convince or deceive will likely fail.

Ability Checks

Section titled “Ability Checks”

Ability checks can be key in determining the outcome of a social interaction. Your roleplaying efforts can alter an NPC’s attitude, but there might still be an element of chance if the GM wants dice to play a role in determining an NPC’s response to you. In such situations, the GM will typically ask you to take the Influence action.

Pay attention to your skill proficiencies when thinking of how you will interact with an NPC; use an approach that relies on your group’s skill proficiencies. For example, if the group needs to trick a guard into letting them into a castle, the character who is proficient in Deception should lead the discussion.

Attitudes

Section titled “Attitudes”
  • Friendly. A Friendly creature views you favorably. You have Advantage on an ability check to influence a Friendly creature.
  • Indifferent. An Indifferent creature has no desire to help or hinder you. Indifferent is the default attitude of a monster.
  • Hostile. A Hostile creature views you unfavorably. You have Disadvantage on an ability check to influence a Hostile creature.

Influence

Section titled “Influence”

With the Influence action, you urge a monster to do something. Describe or roleplay how you’re communicating with the monster. Are you trying to deceive, intimidate, amuse, or gently persuade? The GM then determines whether the monster feels willing, unwilling, or hesitant due to your interaction; this determination establishes whether an ability check is necessary, as explained below.

  • Willing. If your urging aligns with the monster’s desires, no ability check is necessary; the monster fulfills your request in a way it prefers.
  • Unwilling. If your urging is repugnant to the monster or counter to its alignment, no ability check is necessary; it doesn’t comply.
  • Hesitant. If you urge the monster to do something that it is hesitant to do, you must make an ability check, which is affected by the monster’s attitude: Indifferent, Friendly, or Hostile. The Influence Checks table suggests which ability check to make based on how you’re interacting with the monster. The GM chooses the check, which has a default DC equal to 15 or the monster’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher. On a successful check, the monster does as urged. On a failed check, you must wait 24 hours (or a duration set by the GM) before urging it in the same way again.
Ability Check Interaction
Charisma (Deception) Deceiving a monster that understands you
Charisma (Intimidation) Intimidating a monster
Charisma (Performance) Amusing a monster
Charisma (Persuasion) Persuading a monster that understands you
Wisdom (Animal Handling) Gently coaxing a Beast or Monstrosity

In Geminaea, Influence is an ability check rather than one of the actions in combat; attempting it during a fight takes your action.