Negotiation & Persuasion
Mood
In strictly mechanical terms, NPCs can only be Friendly, Neutral, or Hostile towards any given actor, including Factions such as the Party, or individual PCs. You don’t have to write down every NPC’s mood towards a given character if it’s obvious enough to remember.
Shifting Moods
When a character is Angered or Pleased, they move 1 step up or down on the scale if it’s appropriate in response to the trigger. In addition, if they’re managing a Move at the time, they may also fail that Move.
Characters who are already Friendly or Hostile when they become Pleased or Angered (respectively) will instead take action according to their nature: a Friendly character becoming Pleased will do something to aid you; a Hostile character becoming Angered will attack you.
Move: Persuasion
Persuasion is the act of convincing someone that something is true (regardless of whether it is or isn’t). When you try to persuade someone, the GM considers the following factors to determine the Save Mod:
- Consistency: Does the information jarringly contradict anything the target already believes?
- Is it immediately & obviously false based on currently observable data?
- Does it upset/disrupt their existing worldview, life context, history, or biases?
- Do they believe you would be likely to lie about this?
- Incentive: Does the target have an incentive proportionate to the scale of the claim to believe you?
- Is the target’s life made easier (or prevented from getting worse) by believing you?
- Does the target like you?
- Do they believe you to be an authority on the topic?
Evidence is not an incentive to believe you unless you have constructed it in such a way as to confirm the target’s belief. Generally speaking, you need a Fact about your relationship with the target to get a bonus.
Each of the most relevant factors adds a +1 or -1 penalty to the Persuasion Save:
- Consistency has a maximum effect range from +1 to -3.
- +1 for each factor that makes the claim easier to believe.
- -1 for each factor that makes the claim harder to believe.
- Incentive has a maximum effect range of -4 to +1.
- +1 for Incentive factors that predispose them to believe you.
- -1 for each factor that makes them less disposed to believe you.
If you deliver your claim with clear, direct, intimidating, or browbeating language, substitute Intimidation for Persuasion.
| Result | Persuasion Effects |
|---|---|
| Crit ≥12 | The target actively believes you (or is in a Friendly mood). If the claim is false, they will defend it to others with their own Persuasion. |
| Pass 8–11 | The target believes you or is otherwise convinced enough to act on your claim (or enters a Neutral-to-Friendly mood). |
| Seven 7 | The target acts on your claim but digs for extra information afterwards. |
| Failure 3–6 | The target does not believe you/your standing is not improved. |
| Fumble ≤2 | The target actively disbelieves you (or shifts to Hostile). |
Fair Deals & Negotiations
Negotiation uses the same Persuasion rules, but Fair Deals require no roll. If you are offering the target something they actually want in exchange for something you want, and neither party is being exploited, the deal goes through.
Negotiation as a Move Negotiation is the mechanical structure for resolving negotiations that involve the Faction-level economy.
The Party
The Party is a special Faction composed of a group of PCs who trust each other & work together toward common goals. By its nature, the Party’s default Mood towards its own members is Friendly.
If a PC ever attacks or harms another, the Party’s Mood towards them shifts and, depending on the severity, the Party Faction may dissolve or the PC may be cast out.