One of the areas I would really like to improve in my solo games is PC social interaction (yes, I do recognize the latent irony in that!). I feel like that pillar is the most meta in my gameplay and can really disrupt immersion.
What techniques do you folks use to keep you in the PCs' heads while still interacting with the system yet seems to retain that sense of surprise?
I seem to either bog down into a series of mechanical skill rolls or end up simply hand-waving interactions (which I don't particularly like). Clearly, there are circumstances where the mechanics can help you out (e.g. opposed rolls, social combat, etc.) but, how can you keep the PC - NPC interaction dynamic and meaningful without raising the stakes?
Found this thread from the main RPGSite forum interesting - http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=33113
ReplyDeleteIt speaks pretty directly to the point I am struggling with (and perhaps couldn't put my finger on), namely that social interactions tend toward the binary pass-fail, whereas (principally) combat and (sometimes) exploration tend to have some level of subsystem (or, mini-game) attached to them or, at the very least, different levers to pull (skills, attributes, class distinctions, etc.) that come into play.
The One Ring has a pretty well developed three pillar system but I've often found Encounters (the social interaction subsystem) to be somewhat clunky in play (maybe "meta" is the correct word). D&D 4e also had skill challenges but, again, I felt like these also had the tendency to become a series of mechanical rolls.
Which brings up the contrast with combat - combat can be a series of mechanical rolls as well, however, having death be a possible outcome also tends to focus your attention on the action versus trying to charm the local merchant into giving the PCs a discount on gear. Hence my point about "dynamic and meaningful without raising the stakes."
So, if I understand correctly, you're looking to add more nuance, color, or flavor to social interaction. To make them more involved, or INTERACTIVE, like combat, or exploration, without adding complexity?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can be of much further help then. I'm a pretty happily mechanical guy when it comes to this sort of thing.
I like a simple series of extended skill checks, trying to attain a certain level of success.
Referring back to my earlier recommendation of the D&D reaction chart, I'm usually looking to work an NPC up to a 9+, or often a 12, depending on the level of co-operation or aid I'm looking for. That would be my version of the "mini-game".
What will follow is a few reaction rolls, with mods for charisma, initial roll, subsequent rolls, situation, and so on. The score will fluctuate up or down, until either success or failure ensues. Along the way, I'll roll on UNE for NPC Binary Response & Bearing + Focus, which I use to "color" the reaction roll. add or subtract modifiers.
As with Mythic, or all other oracular systems, I might throw in a Rory's Story Cube to add "flavor" or "color" when stumped, for providing some kind of sense of mood or drama just based on what image I roll and what kind of imagery or mood it evokes if nothing else.
In the end though, I find my social interaction not unlike combat, or trying to pick a difficult lock, or the like. A set of rolls, trying to achieve a certain level of success, with the deeper meaning, color, flavor, and nuance provided by my imagination, inspired by the quality of my roll(s), what they represent, previous and further rolls, and so on.
Might sound pretty complicated or involved in description, but usually just boils down to a few rolls, with my imagination adding the mean onto the bones of my dry result rolls.
That's part of the fun for me, as with all other things rolled in solo, is taking those rolls, interpreting them, fleshing them out, trying to make them fit, or divine the meaning of them.
I don't know if that is what you're looking for, or if I've wandered off on a tangent, but hopefully that helps.
John Fiore Regarding raising the stakes - no, actually the opposite, that is to say I would like to have a subsystem that is generally as flavorful (or, cinematic, perhaps) as combat that I could use for social interactions WITHOUT raising the stakes as high.
ReplyDeleteWhat I feel like is, when I come to a social interaction, I feel like the gameplay comes down to purely mechanical rolls of the dice - my NPC says this, roll Insight (PC: is the NPC lying? *rolls dice* fail), PC: tries to Bluff, (rolls dice success), etc. Whereas in combat, I can visualize the action so much better, the "swing, rolls dice, narrate result" is much easier to "see" than the back-and-forth exchange between a PC and NPC. Maybe I just like combat and exploration better than social encounters but, I'd like to get better at it.
MoonSylver That's it exactly - I'd like to be able to better visualize, immerse in the scene, like I can when it comes to a combat scenario. For example, same game where this came up, I opened with an ambush and the action was dynamic, with the PCs opening up with muskets before closing to hand-to-hand. That was easy to see.
Flash forward - the PCs carry in a couple of wounded bandits from the ambush into the nearest village. Then comes interaction with the Lord Mayor, who along with being grateful to the PCs, has a further ask and some information to give. Then gameplay devolves into - roll Insight, roll Persuasion, etc. and I just lose the excitement. Does that make any sense?
Clearly, combat and social interaction are not the same - combat can have serious downside consequences and a social interaction rarely carries that kind of threat, which is what I meant earlier about making interaction "interesting" without raising the stakes.
I appreciate the feedback and that's exactly what I was looking for, i.e. validation that others are using a fairly mechanical process for playing that portion out and/or if there were any sub-systems or aids folks were using to make things a bit more dynamic.