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Chapter 3: Subsystems

Influence

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 151
When the PCs need to gain favor with or sway over an NPC to achieve their goals, sometimes a Deception, Diplomacy, or Intimidation check isn’t enough to get the job done. In these cases, you can implement the influence subsystem in a social encounter.

Influence is a short-term subsystem wherein the PCs accumulate Influence Points during a social encounter with an NPC to represent their increasing influence. These encounters are a race against the clock to reach Influence Point thresholds in order to sway the NPC. It’s perfect for a single social gathering—whether it’s a party, a treaty negotiation, or even an attempt to persuade various members of a panel of judges. Because of the variety of Influence skill options and the ability to use Perception to uncover more information, every character has something important to contribute in the influence subsystem, as opposed to situations where only one character has Diplomacy.

The influence subsystem divides a social encounter into rounds, with the number of rounds representing the length of the social event. Rounds last any amount of time that you determine, depending on the needs of the narrative, though somewhere between 15 minutes and an hour is typical. During each round, each PC can act once to either Influence or Discover.

Influence

ConcentrateLinguistic
Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 151
You attempt to make a favorable impression on an NPC to convince the NPC to support your cause. Choose an NPC, and attempt a skill check to impress that NPC. The DC, and whether success is possible, depend on the NPC’s preferences (typically found in the NPC’s influence stat block).
Critical Success You gain 2 Influence Points with the chosen NPC.
Success You gain 1 Influence Point with the chosen NPC.
Failure You gain no Influence Points with the chosen NPC.
Critical Failure You lose 1 Influence Point with the chosen NPC.

Discover

ConcentrateSecret
Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 151
You watch or study an NPC to learn more about that NPC’s preferences. Choose an NPC and attempt a Perception check or an appropriate skill check determined by the GM. The DC is typically found in the NPC’s influence stat block.
Critical Success Choose two of the options detailed in Success below; you can choose the same option twice to learn two pieces of information from the same category.
Success Choose one of the following: You learn which skill that can Influence the NPC has the lowest DC (skipping any skills that you already know), one of the NPC’s personal biases, one of the NPC’s resistances, or one of the NPC’s weaknesses.
Failure You learn no information.
Critical Failure Choose a piece of information to learn about, as success, but the information is incorrect. For instance, you might think the NPC is susceptible to flattery when actually the NPC is resistant to flattery.

Influence Stat Blocks

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 152
NPCs in the influence subsystem have little need for many of the statistics you’ll find in an ordinary creature stat block. However, it might help you to prepare for the social encounter by creating an influence stat block for each prominent NPC. These are optional; if you can keep most information straight in your head, you might skip this step or just write down the first three categories to keep the numbers straight.

Influence stat blocks are flexible and contain only the stats that you are essential to running the NPC during a social encounter, leaving the rest out. The main stats that matter are the NPC’s Perception and Will modifiers.

NPC Name

Traits A succinct description of the NPC, such as “Famous musician” or “Popular baron.”

Perception The NPC’s Perception modifier, plus potentially relevant spells such as true sight.

Will The NPC’s Will modifier, plus any special adjustments.

Discovery The Perception DC to Discover information about the NPC, as well as any skill checks to Discover their DCs.

Influence Skills The skills the PCs can use to Influence the NPC are listed here with their DCs, in order from the lowest DC (the skill that works best) to the highest DC. If a skill isn’t listed but a player gives a strong narrative explanation for using it, you can add it as an appropriate DC (usually the highest listed DC). Diplomacy should usually be on this list, but should rarely be the best skill to Influence an NPC, in order to encourage and reward using Discover to learn and cater to an NPC’s interests.

Influence Thresholds The number of Influence Points required to Influence the PC, and the benefits for meeting them. Some NPCs might have multiple influence thresholds, granting the PCs additional benefits or favors as they cross more thresholds.
Resistances Some NPCs are resistant to certain tactics, biased against certain types of people, or may get defensive when a certain topic comes up. Any of these makes it harder for a PC to convince them. For instance, an NPC might find flattery inane, dislike wizards, or bristle at any mention of their ex-spouse. Typically, an NPC’s resistance increases the DC of the associated check to Influence by 2 (or 5 for stronger resistances), but it could have farther-ranging consequences, such as losing Influence Points or angering the NPC enough that attempting to Influence them again is impossible.

Weaknesses Most NPCs have at least one weakness that clever and observant PCs can use to their advantage, whether it’s a deep-seated insecurity, a desire for power, a favorite hobby, a bias toward a certain group, or a hidden secret the PCs could threaten to expose. When a PC incorporates an NPC’s weakness, it typically decreases the associated Influence check’s DC by 2 (or 5 for stronger weaknesses), but it could have farther‑ranging effects, such as gaining automatic Influence Points or even automatically influencing the NPC regardless of how many Influence Points the PCs have achieved so far.

After the influence stat block, you might want to list important information to help you roleplay the NPC and incorporate the NPC into your influence encounter. You can list any of the following details that are relevant to your NPC: their background (a brief bio focusing on information relevant to the encounter), appearance, personality (this can just be a list of adjectives), affiliations, public goals, hidden agendas, or the penalty for antagonizing the NPC (or possibly for failing to Influence the NPC, depending on the way you structure the encounter).

Sample Stat Block

In this example, the PCs try to convince a grizzled landlord to not evict a theatrical troupe from a dilapidated building he owns. It’s a 3rd-level challenge. He is a busy, practical man and gives the PCs only 45 minutes (3 rounds) to make their case.

Danphy Mollwether

LE Medium Human Humanoid Penny-pinching landlord
Perception +9
Will +12
Discovery DC 13 Mercantile Lore, DC 18 Perception, DC 16 Society
Influence Skills DC 16 Accounting Lore (noting how the theater could be made profitable), DC 16 Crafting (volunteering to repair the building), DC 20 Intimidation, DC 20 Performance, DC 22 Diplomacy, DC 24 Deception
Influence 4: Mr. Mollwether gives the troupe 1 week to get him his back rent, with interest, before evicting them.
Influence 6: Mr. Mollwether gives the troupe 1 month to get him his back rent before evicting them.
Influence 8: Mr. Mollwether allows the troupe to stay, reduces their rent, and forgives half their debt.
Resistances The landlord thinks in practical terms, with little patience for the “good-for-nothings” of the troupe. Appeals directed at sympathy alone increase the check’s DC by 2.
Weaknesses Mr. Mollwether used to visit the theater often as a small child, and performing one of his favorite old songs or plays brings tears to his eyes and reduces the Performance DC by 2.
Background Mollwether was raised by wealthy parents who loved the arts and took him to the theater often. A scandal left the family broke, and Danphy clawed his way back up to a decent living. Becoming something of a slumlord, he owns several properties now and still feels he must exploit others to survive.
Appearance An elderly man in cheap dress clothes, Mr. Mollwether looks like he’s never felt a moment of love for anyone in his whole life.
Personality Impatient, crotchety, skeptical
Penalty Antagonizing Mr. Mollwether by “sermonizing” or “wasting his time” causes him to cut the meeting short, reducing it to 2 rounds instead of 3.

Setting DCs

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 153
When setting DCs, it’s often good to start with a “social level” for the NPC and set their DCs accordingly. Use the DC adjustments from page 504 of the Core Rulebook just like you normally would. A good starting place is setting the NPC’s Will modifier, then taking that DC and adjusting it for skills that are more or less likely to work.

For instance, for a 3rd-level challenge, you might give an NPC a +12 Will modifier and use 22 as the base DC. You might say that’s the DC for Diplomacy but then determine that the NPC is difficult to intimidate, and so you apply the hard DC adjustment to make the Intimidation DC 24. Maybe you also determine that she loves different varieties of wine, resulting in an incredibly easy DC adjustment to get DC 12 for Alcohol Lore.

Running an Influence Encounter

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 153
When running an influence encounter, let the PCs be creative and use a diverse set of skills whenever possible. Be open to improvisation, and change the structure of the encounter if something interesting presents itself. The PCs set the pace and choose with whom they interact. It’s up to you to make sure every NPC is distinct, react to the PCs’ interactions with the NPCs, and lend overall structure to the encounter by making sure it feels like a living, breathing event rather than just a series of skill checks.

Think about how the number of rounds of a social encounter relate to the overall event. For instance, if you have a four-course banquet and 6 rounds, you could have 1 round for introductions before the food arrives, 1 round for each of the courses, and 1 last round of conversations after the final course. NPCs might filter in and out or become unavailable for conversations as they are occupied by various tasks, or become particularly eager to engage a PC. That sort of change help makes the NPC feel a bit more real and helps break up any repetition in your encounter.