SOCIAL POWER
When creating an NPC for a “social combat” scene, I start by assigning a Social Power (or SP) score to them, depending on how they fit in the following table:
SP 1: TN 10 - Peasants, bandits, and other enemies with little to no social skills.
SP 2: TN 15 - Ji-samurai, the lowest-ranking samurai who have no greater social expectations on their shoulders.
SP 3: TN 20 - Merchants, traders, and samurai who have social training as a secondary aspect of their training.
SP 4: TN 25 - Courtier samurai of minor importance, whose training is focused on battling in courts to pursue the goals of their clan.
SP 5: TN 30 - Clan heirs, administrators, and other samurai with important social responsibilities.
SP 6: TN 35 - Daimyos, lords of powerful clans and agents of the Imperial Families.
SP 7: TN 40 - Champions of entire nations, the most powerful courtiers of the Empire.
The TN in question is the baseline difficulty to affect them with social actions. As can be observed, the math is basically 5+(5*SP). But again, this is just the baseline. Above and beyond this, I ask myself a few questions: is this character particularly good or bad at social situations beyond what their station says? If yes, I up- or downgrade them one level of SP. The same can be said about personal interest, specialization in particular focuses of social interactions, etc.
For example: For my current campaign, I have an NPC called Matsudaira Harukata. He is the oldest male son of the daimyo of a Matsu vassal, trained to be a Bushi in support of the true heir of the clan, his older sister. He normally would be assigned SP 3, but given his importance, I bumped him one level. So that gives him SP 4, or TN 25 to affect him socially.
I also use the Social Power of a character as the amount of “successes” needed to make the NPC do what you want. A “success” is given when you hit the TN to affect the character, plus 1 success per Raise. So a character with SP 4 needs to be hit with 4 successes in one “social combat” to be convinced of something. Successes don’t carry over from one court session to the next.
But that's not all.
TRAITS
Not all samurai are created equal. I use this list of traits, pairs of Virtues and Vices (based on Pendragon, but different lists can be used), based on the Honor score of the samurai, to provide a bit more “texture” to the character in question. This is used so that I don’t need to actually look at actual Advantages and Disadvantages or specific skills the character might have. You can roll 1d100 to randomly determine the Honor Score of a character if you want, and then roll in the Trait table.
HONOR SCORE / NUMBER OF VIRTUES AND VICES
0,0 to 1,9 / +2 Vices or +1 Vice and -1 Virtue
2,0 to 3,9 / +1 Vices or -1 Virtue
4,0 to 5,9 / Base (1 Virtue and 1 Vice)
6,0 to 7,9 / +1 Virtue or -1 Vice
8,0 to 9,9 / +2 Virtues or +1 Virtue and -1 Vice
10 / +3 Virtues or +2 Virtues and -1 Vice
TRAITS: VIRTUES AND VICES
1. Valorous / Cowardly .2
3. Chaste / Lustful .4
5. Energetic / Lazy .6
7. Forgiving / Vengeful .8
9. Generous / Selfish .10
11. Honest / Deceitful .12
13. Just / Arbitrary .14
15. Merciful / Cruel .16
17. Modest / Proud .18
19. Prudent / Reckless .20
21. Spiritual / Worldly .22
23. Temperate / Indulgent .24
25. Trusting / Suspicious .26
Every social action that “targets” a Trait of a NPC modifies the TN to affect them by +5 or -5, depending on how it is affected. For example, trying to intimidate a Valorous character will obviously be harder, but trying to seduce a Lustful one will be easier. You can randomly determine a character’s Virtues and Vices or select them arbitrarily based on their story, style or even by judging the image used to represent them.
Initially, the Traits and current Honor score of a NPC are hidden from the PCs. They can discover one of these pieces of information by spending one success on a social combat scene. If for some reason any of these change after the PCs have discovered them, I make the new score or trait hidden again, so the PCs can see that something is different, but not exactly how different it is.
If the players know a NPC’s Traits, they can directly call on them to help their roll, but only once per Trait per court session. Otherwise, they frame their request and the GM judges if that is enough to affect the NPC in a way that triggers one of their traits.
For example: Matsudaira Harukata has Honor 6,5, so +1 Virtue. I decided to give him the base 1 Virtue and 1 Vice just by looking at his face:
Look at this motherfucker. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he isn’t Proud. On the other hand, Valorous is an easy Virtue to give a Matsu Berserker. His extra Virtue I randomly found to be Generous. He is a great warrior, a good friend to those at his side, but a bit of a prick.
DISPOSITION
The NPCs' disposition towards the PCs can also affect the TN to affect them socially. A trusted ally will be easier to convince (or stab in the back) than a bitter enemy. It also dictates the “Patience” score of the NPC: this is how many “rounds of court” the characters have to affect the NPC socially. A round of court is just like a round of combat, each character can make one action in a round, the round ends when all characters have acted. There is no initiative in a court, the PCs are free to act in whatever order they like, as long as each character makes a single action per round.
When the Patience of character runs out, the court ends and the PCs can only try again after some serious change in situation. Either a significant event or sufficient time passes (either a whole season or the next year, for example). Not achieving all the successes they need gives them nothing in most cases, but you could give them a partial result if they get close, depending on the situation or favor they’re asking. Achieving more successes than needed can give them more benefits as well, if you believe that’s relevant for the situation.
Trusted: -15 TN / Patience 3
Friendly: -10 TN / Patience 3
Sympathetic: -5 TN / Patience 2
Neutral: No change to the TN / Patience 2
Disagreeable: +5 TN / Patience 2
Unfriendly: +10 TN / Patience 1
Hostile: +15 TN / Patience 1
Of course, this is contextual. Trying to goad a Hostile character into attacking you might cause the Disposition penalty of +15 TN to apply as a bonus instead, for example. I always suggest to weight the Disposition of NPCs more toward the middle. Let Trusted and Hostile be levels achieved only in-game, after actual effort put in by the players.
The characters can change the disposition of a NPC temporarily by making actions against them, achieving one level of change for 2 successes, plus 2 successes per current level away from Neutral. So changing a NPC from Neutral to Sympathetic costs 2 successes, changing a character from Sympathetic or Disagreeable to one level above costs 4 successes, etc. This is all cumulative, so changing a character from Disagreeable all the way to Sympathetic with a single roll would cost 6 successes. Changing the Disposition of a character negatively uses the same rules, for simplicity’s sake.
These temporary changes revert after the end of the current season or after the NPC does one favor for the PCs. To permanently affect the Disposition of a NPC, the PCs should either maintain a higher level of Disposition for several seasons (as many as the NPC’s Social Power, maybe), or a VERY important service done to incur favor.
Example: Matsudaira Harukata has a bit of a history with the PCs. When a group of bandits killed his older sister, he created a task force to hunt them down and asked all samurai clans in the province to send warriors to contribute. The PCs didn’t send anyone, so Harukata’s disposition towards them is one below Neutral. Every social test against him is +5 points harder.
SOCIAL CHALLENGE EXAMPLE
The PCs want to convince Matsudaira Harukata to send reinforcements to fight a yokai that is harassing their village to the north of the province. They send a delegation composed of two PCs to try and convince him: Hirata Satsu, the duelist who recently joined the clan after a civil war in her lands, and Osumi Yurine, the talented courtier of a family trained in medicine.
MATSUDAIRA HARUKATA
Social Power: 4 (TN 25)
Disposition: Disagreeable (+5 TN, Patience 2)
Honor: 6,5
Virtues: Valorous, Generous
Vice: Proud
The PCs need 4 total successes within 2 rounds. Each successful roll that meets TN 30 grants 1 success, +1 per Raise.
ROUND ONE
Harukata receives them in a training courtyard, in armor, rather than in his chamber. A message. He wastes no time with formalities:
“You did not stand with me when I wanted to avenge my sister. Now you ask for my soldiers?”
The tone is cutting.
Yurine understands immediately: directly pleading will only harden him. Instead, she appeals to his Valorous Virtue. The PCs, having history with him, already know his Honor Score and Traits.
“My lord, we failed you before precisely because our lands were being harassed by this creature. We humbly request your might to deal with this situation now, because only such a capable general could help us.”
This is a clear appeal to his Pride. Because she is appealing positively to a Vice, the TN is reduced by –5. Yurine rolls Sincerity (Honesty) / Awareness to make her plea sound convincing and calls 1 Raise, trying to secure not just agreement, but enthusiasm. She hits 32. 2 Successes total.
Harukata flashes a small smile, his ego satisfied by the courtier’s words. He is listening.
Satsu is not a courtier, she’s a duelist. She chooses to appeal to his martial Valor. “This is a mighty beast, think of the glory having its head mounted in your hall would bring, my lord!”
Again, the TN of affecting him would be 25, for appealing to one of his Traits. Satsu rolls Courtier (Manipulation) / Awareness, but calls no Raises. Rolling 27 gives the PCs another success, bringing them to 3 out of the necessary 4.
End of Round One
Total successes: 3 / 4
Patience remaining: 1 round
ROUND TWO
Harukata crosses his arms. “Even if I agree… my men are not idle decorations. Convince me this is worth weakening my borders.”
Now he is testing strategy, not emotion. This time, Satsu starts: “The northern villages supply your rice. Protecting them strengthens your position in the south.”
This time, she rolls Battle / Intelligence, to try and justify the necessity of this military expedition. Satsu’s player feels bold, she risks 2 Raises, aiming to secure not just troops but a competent captain if they manage to get more successes than they need. The TN becomes 40 (25 base, +5 for Disagreeable, +10 for two Raises). Satsu rolls 38, close but not enough…
Missing only one success to achieve their objective, Yurine calls for his Generosity and makes no Raises. “My lord, we understand your position. But despite our recent failure to answer your call, our clan has been loyal for generations to your House.”
Needing to hit TN 25 (25 base, +5 for Disagreeable, nullified by the -5 for appealing to Generous), Yurine rolls Courtier (Manipulation) / Awareness and gets 47! She regrets not calling for Raises, but their objective is achieved. They leave the provincial capital with an additional squadron of soldiers to fight the yokai on their lands.
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