2.4. Social Box

Whenever a social situation arises, you should turn first to the Social Box on your Character Sheet. This box will list your Social Stats, Social Skills, and Social Abilities.

During social situations, the GM may have you roll one of the three Social Stats to determine how well your character performed certain social maneuvers.

The Social Stats are:

Deception

Lie, mislead, trick, or manipulate someone.
Intimidate someone through secretly empty threats.
Charm someone while pretending to be someone you're not.
Perform faked stage magic, deceptive arts, or pretend to be someone or something you're not.

Insight

Read a person or creature for a peek at their inner thoughts and feelings.
Gain a peek into someone's true respectability or trustworthiness.
Resist the Deception Stat or Sincerity Stat of someone else in a Persuasion Contest.
Gain special insights into the social vulnerabilities of someone and use those vulnerabilities to poignantly apply pressure.
Perform a mentalist act on stage.
Communicate basic ideas to animals and other nature.
Determine if the person you are talking to has more information or topics of interest. On a High Score, gain clues of what information you can learn from them or what tactics you can use to broach that topic well.

Sincerity

Connect with someone using honesty and forthrightness.
Intimidate someone through authentic posturing and honest threats.
Through authenticity and truth, charm someone into viewing you (or someone else) as a friend or foe.
Perform heartfelt music, poetry, etc.

At times, you may need to discuss your character's true intentions with the GM to decide what Social Stat to use. These discussions help to get a deeper picture of your character's motivations. Did your character mean those threats during that intimidation? If so, the GM may expect you to follow through when you fail to intimidate them. Was your character flirting sincerely? If so, your character should feel hurt when they fail to charm their target.

Sometimes the GM may ask for a Persuasion roll. In these instances, you will roll with your Sincerity Stat if you are telling the truth and your Deception Stat if you are lying without announcing which of the two you are rolling. You will only share the result of your Test with the GM. The targeted character will then roll Insight as a Contest. If the target character meets or beats your Score, they will know which Social Stat you used and possibly find you unconvincing. If the target character fails to beat your Score, they will find you convincing. If the target is another Player, the GM may offer that Player an Experience Point for playing along, especially if it would not be in their best interest to do so.

Note: Magical Manipulations

Some magic will attempt to instill fear or other emotions through magical means. These spells work through unnatural means and will not use your Social Stats.

GM Tip: Passive Insight

It can be helpful to have a Passive Insight that allows you to check a character's insight into the situation for them.

The preferred method below helps to distribute information to the players randomly, giving each a chance to change the course of a conversation throughout the game. When used well, Passive Insight indicates pivotal moments and give players opportunities to change course.

Before playing, prepare an Insight Bag by placing different colored tokens in a bag for each player. Each player should get 6 tokens plus tokens equal to their Insight score. During play, you can draw tokens from the bag to determine which player gets to act first on new information. After drawing a token, keep it out of the bag. Doing so will ensure that all players get to interact with the story. A player does not have to act on the information given. If they choose not to act, that information becomes available to everyone else to act on. The Insight Bag is about priority, not exclusivity.

Examples

The following is an example of the Passive Insight Bag and how it can help distribute roleplay screen time. (This is a more concentrated example. In reality, you should separate each draw from the bag with more time):

The campaign notes Passive Insight Tests suggested as a part of a conversation:
- Passive Insights:
  - The Baron hears the name 'Carmilla': The player notices the Baron has a twinge of anger (indicating bad blood between them.)
  - The Players ask for more money: The player notices that the Baron looks saddened and worried, as though he may not have much more to offer. (Proceeding may remove any friendly affiliation with the Baron.)
  - The Baron sees a player in a dress: The player notices that he looks fondly at the dress, lost in thought for a moment. (See 'Thoughts of Daughter' below.)
#Alice approaches the Baron. She speaks to the Baron about the recent quest and how they completed all requirements. The Baron thanks the players and gives them some money.
#Bob chimes in to request more money, saying the fight was hard.
The GM draws from the Passive Insight bag, getting one of #Alice's tokens. The GM notes to #Alice that the Baron looks saddened and worried, as though he may not have much more to offer.
#Alice chooses to do nothing with the information. The other players also choose to do nothing.
The Baron relents a bit more money. He looks disheartened and seems to think less of the adventuring team now.
#Carol interjects, noting to the party that they still need to see Carmilla about the crate they found.
The GM draws from the Passive Insight bag, getting one of #Bob's tokens. The GM notes to #Bob that the Baron looks angry at the name 'Carmilla,' as if there may be some bad blood there.

Don't draw for Passive Insight too frequently. Save it for important moments when the conversation could take a turn for better or worse. Consider drawing or asking for rolls:

When each outcome could lead to interesting results.
When you want to signal weight and give players a moment to think and consider their options.
When the outcome will distribute roleplaying opportunities to other players. If a player speaks too long and has lost some direction, drawing from the bag could help inject a new player into the conversation.

Ask your GM how they want to generate stats. There are two primary methods:

Stat Gen Method: Point-Roll

Start with each stat equal to -1. Perform a Test with a +0 Modifier five times. Your Score determines which Social Stat you gain:

Score:

[0!] Critical Failure. No Stat increase.
[1..3] Deception Stat +1.
[4..6] Insight Stat +1.
[7..9] Sincerity Stat +1.
[10!] Critical Success. Assign +1 to any Social Stat. Gain an additional die to roll.

Repeat this process a second time, then choose which of the two sets of Social Stats you want.

Example:

#Carol rolls 5d10 and gets 0, 3, 7, 9, 8. These Scores respectively correlate with the stats -None-, Deception, Sincerity, Sincerity, and Sincerity.

#Carol determines her first option for stats is Deception 0, Insight -1, and Sincerity 2.

#Carol rolls 5d10 again and this time gets 1, 1, 3, 5, 10. Because she got a Critical Success, #Carol is able to roll again and gets an 8. #Carol's Scores respectively correlate with the stats Deception, Deception, Deception, Insight, any Social Stat, and Sincerity.

#Carol assigns her Critical Success to her Deception Stat, meaning her second option for stats is Deception 4, Insight 1, and Sincerity 0.

#Carol chooses the second set of stats to be her starting stats.

Stat Gen Method: Point-Buy

Start with each Social Stat equal to -1. Assign 5 points to any stats you choose.

Example:

#Alice assigns 2 points to Sincerity and 3 to Insight.

#Alice's stats are Deception -1, Insight of 2, and Sincerity 1.

Your Social Skills represent difficult social maneuvers to sway a target in a more drastic manner. The Social Skills are:

Acting, Charm, Diplomacy, Intimidation, Performance, and Language.

When a situation arises where your character attempts to use one of the above Social Skills, the GM will ask you to perform a Social Stat Test affected by a Social Skill. If you lack the Social Skill involved, you will need to make the Test with a Disadvantage.

Example: Carol Intimidates a Guard.

#Carol lies to a guard, saying the prince invited her to the castle. The GM asks #Carol to perform a Deception Test. The GM does not involve a Social Skill in the test, as the lie did not stress common conversational boundaries.
#Carol rolls her Deception Test and gets a Low Score.
The guard knows #Carol was lying and tells #Carol to leave.
#Carol decides to threaten the guard, drawing her knife and saying she will cut out his heart and eat it. #Carol is acting and does not intend to actually cut out the guard's heart and eat it.
The GM asks #Carol to perform a Deception Test with Intimidation.
#Carol notes that she does indeed have the Intimidation Skill, so #Carol does not have to make the Deception Test with a Disadvantage. #Carol rolls Deception and gets a Mixed Score.
The GM explains that the guard is clearly scared and tells #Carol that they are free to pass. With the Mixed Score the guard seems to shut down, and the players are unable to glean more information about the castle corridors ahead and what they will find there.

Veteran Note: Social Skills are not tied a Social Stat.

When needed, the GM will mix and match Social Skills with each of the three Social Stat. The Social Skill of Acting could pair with Deception, Insight, or Sincerity, depending on the situation.

Below is the list of each Social Skill and an example of its uses:

Acting

Embody someone or something you are not.
Mimic the voice, mannerisms, etc. of a specific person.
Perform a dramatic reenactment or scene.
Fit in with local customs and etiquette.
Express basic ideas to a creature with whom you do not share a language.

Charm

Attempt to impress with flattery, flirting, a show of toughness.
Convince someone to look favorably upon someone or something other than yourself.

Diplomacy

Temporarily stop a fight to negotiate something.
Barter when trading goods.
Get a better reward when accepting a quest.
Calm or soothe a creature or animal (often with Insight.)

Intimidation

Make a show of presence and posturing to illicit a response.
Threaten someone in some way.
Get someone to fear someone or something other than you.
Attempt to force a flight, fight, or freeze response.

Performance

Your ability to perform. Useful for drawing attention, getting a message across, impressing a crowd, annoying a mob, etc.
The blank line after the Performance Skill allows you to specify which performance skill you have. See the section on Performance Types below.

Language

Your ability to communicate with a native speaker of a language.
Your ability to speak to communicate basic ideas to someone that speaks a language related to one you know.
Your ability to pick up on speech in languages you are less familiar with.
The blank line after the Language Skill is for recording which languages you know and are fluent in. See the section on Known Languages below for more.

Be aware that most Social Skill rolls will have higher stakes. You may face more dire circumstances if you fail, but a success may lead to greater rewards or lasting social changes.

GM Note: Use Social Skills sparingly.

For most circumstances, you can use a Social Stat Test. Try to reserve the use of Social Skills for situations that require greater skill and consequence.

As an example, if someone has murdered all but one target, any intimidation attempt on that target would not require much skill in Intimidation. In fact, you may not need a Test at all.

Performance Types

The blank space following the Performance Skill is for noting which specific performance skills you are best at. You may note which instruments you can play or the fact that you are good at sermons or giving psychic readings. There's no provided list of performances. Rather, you should try to pick one that would be interesting, fun, and niche. Consider what your character might choose at a talent show or if they had to create an attention-grabbing distraction. Discuss your performance ideas with your GM to ensure that it will work well in the world and story you are playing in.

Performances are not directly based on a Social Stats, and can sometimes use one of the Exploration Skills when performing Tests. For example, an 'acrobatics' or 'dance' performance may use your Athletics Skill as its Modifier if your character relies more on physical prowess than one of the Social Stats.

Known Languages

The blank line after the Language Skill on your Character Sheet is for recording which languages you are fluent in. Unless your GM states otherwise, all Player Characters are fluent in the Common Tongue and one other language of their choice.

All languages (apart from the Common Tongue) descend from one of three Language Families. When adding a language to your Character Sheet, you should also write its Language Family, as found in the Language List in the Appendix. For example, if you knew the Elvish language, you'd write 'Organic/Elvish' next to your Language Skill.

When you know a Language, you can speak with anyone else that also knows that Language.

When you don't know a language, you can still attempt to communicate basic messages, relying on body language and expressions. Each idea you express will require a Test to determine how well you communicated the idea. If your language skills don't include at least one language with the same Language Family, you must make the Test with a Disadvantage. Fail the Test and they may misunderstand your intended message.

Below is each of the core Language Families and some of the languages found in each:

Primordial Languages

Rare languages that pre-date (or descend from languages that pre-date) the material realms. Attempting to communicate in one of these languages without knowing that exact language may put you at risk of incurring a Status Condition, like becoming Charmed or Frightened. Prolonged exposure could even lead to insanity.

Angel Tongue
Daemon Tongue
Deep Tongue
Dragon Tongue
Void Tongue

Organic Languages

Organic Languages are languages that are often inherent to the song of creation and often flow and drift, much like nature itself. This makes them difficult to keep up with for non-native speakers.

Animal Tongue
Elf Tongue
Fairy Tongue
Gnome Tongue
Goblin Tongue
Plant Tongue (Most plants can only communicate in 1 or 2-word thoughts using simpler words.)

Mechanical Languages

Mechanical Languages are languages that came to be out of order and logic or were placed or programmed in by a creator. These languages lead to more strict and linear thinking toward a given life goal, (though for some that causality may be flipped. It's hard to say.)

Construct Tongue
Dwarf Tongue
Giant Tongue
Orc Tongue
Gem Tongue (Gemstones can communicate and do so in 1 or 2-word thoughts using larger, more complex words.)

At Level 1 you get:

2 starting Social Skills
1 Performance Skill
1 Language Skill (from the Language List)

Your Social Abilities are tracked at the bottom of the Social box.

Each Social Ability provides provides you with unique ways of expanding your character and connecting with the world around you. When choosing your Social Abilities, try to choose Abilities that represent your character's concept and what goals you have for them.

You will start with 1 Social Ability and will gain a second at Level 7 and a third at Level 14. Social Abilities can be Upgraded through Level Perks.

Social Abilities are found in the Appendix - Social Features.

Next Up: 2.5. Status Boxes and Defenses Box