Hi, I know this is an old thread but...
Hi,
I know that this thread is a few weeks old but, recently while looking through some stuff on the internet I came across some info on an old RPG called "Freedom Fighters", by J. Andrew Keith that had some rules for dealing with "verbal interactions" that might be relavant. In those rules it suggests;
"Verbal Interaction rules allow the act of 'convincing' to be treated as a competitive skill use and allow room for the player-character's Attributes, Talents, and skills to play a part.
These rules should not be employed to needlessly slow down routine discussions or conversations where the Gamemaster has predetermined a likely reponse for plot purposes. They are designed to be used in critical or important situations where the players have determined upon a plan of action not anticipated by the Gamemaster as a means of assisting the Gamemaster to accurately and fairly handle Verbal Interaction with NPCs."
It also states that
"The Gamemaster should take care to keep the players from falling into the habit of paying more attention to numbers than to roleplaying. While it would be possible for a player whose character faces an uncooperative NPC to tell the Gamemaster 'I'm going to Reason with him" and then start resolving the purely mechanical aspects of Verbal Interaction, this approach takes much of the creativity out of the game. The Gamemaster should demand more involvement from the players, using the mechanics of the game to translate their intentions into game results in the same way that the rules on combat regulate a character's combat actions, but still leave room for creativity and planning.
The proper approach to Verbal Interaction-is to make the player tell the Gamemaster exactly what his character is going to do or say. Some talented role-players will do this brilliantly, with accents, gestures, and a fine demonstration of acting ability. Others will be less expressive, but can still convey details of their character's approach that are more precise than merely invoking one of the attack types. What arguments are to be used? What is the general tenor of the character's words and demeanor? The Gamemaster must encourage
the players to consider these, rather than fall back on pure game mechanics.
To urge players towards creativity in Verbal Interaction, the Gamemaster should be prepared to modify Attack or Defense Values in accordance with the amount of details the players provide. Thus, good role-playing can be rewarded with an increased chance of success, while those players who rely too much on picking attacks by the numbers without giving any thought to how those attacks can actually be applied should suffer large penalties. This need only be done when it is necessary to remind the players that they should be role-playing,
not simply roling dice.
Based on the approach adopted by the players, the Gamemaster is responsible for deciding what sort of 'Attack' is at hand."
In these rules there are 21 different types of verbal "attacks' that can be tried and the rules indicate which ones can be tried repeatedly regardless of whether each attempt is a success or failure, which can be made only once, and which can be made repeatedly only up until failure, etc.
The rules also give some examples of how you could try and role play out these "attacks".
For instance, a "Dominate" attack is described as an attempt to win cooperation through non-physical threats, or through the projection of moral superiority.
And the example given is:
Lt. Welles, USAF, is confronting a handful of deserters running from a Russian breakthrough. "You men are still working for Uncle Sam," he tells them. "I need a detail to load some weapons on that truck, and you've just volunteered - unless you want to spend the rest of the war in Leavenworth."
For a "dominate' type attack it suggests that in this game a character's Will, Social Standing, Sophistication and Rank could be used as positive modifiers for such an "attack", while the NPC's Will, Social Standing, Independance and Rank would be used as a defensive modifier.
Anyway, as such, these rules kind of seem like a potentially useful supplement to normal role playing helping to quantify, and regulate interacting with NPCs (though the rules look like they are mostly based on a percentile system).
Anyway, I thought that this stuff might be of interest to some as an example of how some of this stuff might be incorporated into a game, and I notice that a PDF of these rules are currently on sale at DrivethruRPG if anyone is interested in them.
Regards
PF
Not sure I can offer any real playtesting but I'll share what I think of it.
