GAMEMASTER CHARACTERS

The good-natured sheriff from your character’s home town, the greedy dwarf merchant who regularly outfits your group, the t’skrang tavern owner who keeps your character’s favorite ale in stock, and the insane Elementalist who considers your character her nemesis—these are all examples of gamemaster characters. They flesh out the game world, adding variety to your adventures and setting evil villains against the player characters.

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

Attitudes

A gamemaster may assign one of seven basic attitudes to his characters: Awestruck, Loyal, Friendly, Neutral, Unfriendly, Hostile, and Enemy. Gamemaster characters, like most people, hold different attitudes toward different people. Your character need only be concerned with a gamemaster character’s attitude toward him. A servant who is Loyal to the king, for example, might be Hostile to you. Player characters should not judge gamemaster characters’ attitudes toward themselves by their attitudes toward other player or gamemaster characters.

When a gamemaster character is Awestruck by your character, he thinks your character is the most wonderful person in the world. He may worship your character as a hero or fall head over heels in love with your character. An Awestruck character willingly makes great sacrifices to please the object of his worship, and will take great risks, giving little or no thought to the consequences of his actions. He will even sacrifice his own life to save the life of your character.

A gamemaster character who is Loyal to your character firmly believes in your character’s worth. A Loyal character might look up to you or devote himself to a cause you serve; harbor a strong, quiet love for your character; be a close friend or serve faithfully as a long-time employee. A Loyal character looks out for your character’s best interests and expects to have his loyalty returned, but waits patiently even if this doesn’t happen immediately. A Loyal gamemaster character will take great risks for your character as long as he considers your character’s actions and behavior worthy of his loyalty, and he will betray your character only under extreme duress.

A Friendly gamemaster character enjoys your character’s companionship and values your character as a person. The Friendly attitude encompasses friendships formed through time, the relationships of employers and respected employees, and the solidarity of characters who share a common bond, such as a group of t’skrang meeting in an all-dwarf area of Throal. Friendly characters expect a mutually beneficial relationship over the short term as well as the long term. A Friendly gamemaster character readily does small favors as long as those favors are returned. Your character may convince a Friendly character to take considerable risks for him, but only rarely and with much difficulty.

A Neutral gamemaster character takes a “live-and-let-live” attitude toward your character. He will not go out of his way to accommodate your character, but usually takes action if he sees someone violate another’s right to live and let live. Neutral characters include neighbors, merchants—people who know your character but consider him no more than an acquaintance. A Neutral character might help a player character to fight an immediate, obvious injustice such as a mugging from a gang of thugs. He might not intervene, however, if he thinks your character started the fight. A Neutral character is more dispassionate than indifferent. If he sees values that he holds dear being trampled, he will involve himself in other people’s affairs, but he will not go out of his way to make life better for others. Neutral characters can be convinced to do small favors for your character, but they will not take significant risks without the promise of equally significant rewards.

An Unfriendly character, on the other hand, is out for himself. He holds a “live-and-let-die” attitude toward your character. A greedy merchant, suspicious authorities, or a gamemaster character who supports a cause your character opposes would all be Unfriendly. An Unfriendly character will take advantage of your character but without openly harming him, and will gladly deceive him. He may often act politely and feign friendliness to gain your character’s trust. An Unfriendly character cannot be persuaded to do even a small favor for your character, unless he clearly gains from doing so. Convincing an Unfriendly character to take risks for your character will prove extremely difficult, and he will weasel out of any commitment at the first opportunity.

A Hostile character also is out for himself, and will not hesitate to harm your character if doing so will better his station in life. Hostile characters include thieves and other criminals and most creatures. As with Unfriendly characters, Hostile characters may pretend friendliness to gain your character’s trust in order to take advantage of him or her. However, most won’t even bother with that pretense, openly and immediately attacking any character they judge incapable of defending himself. Your character will find it almost impossible to convince a Hostile character to take any positive action on his behalf, and convincing one to take significant risks is out of the question.

An Enemy character harbors a personal vendetta against your character. The enemy may try to fake friendliness, but usually the best he can manage is a chilly politeness. An Enemy character takes great delight in contemplating and planning ways of harming your character and cannot be convinced to do your character any favors. An Enemy will mock any attempts at persuading him to take risks for your character.

“Better” and “Worse” Attitudes

ROLEPLAYING

When roleplaying an interaction, imagine yourself in the scene. What are your surroundings? Who are the gamemaster characters you are dealing with? What do they want, and can you give it to them and still get what you want? Draw on books and movies for inspiration—clever lines have saved the hides of many fictional heroes. And be daring—even the failure of a bold plan is more fun than a successful, but timid ploy.

Charlie is playing an elven Archer named Delthrien, and Sam is playing a dwarf Sky Raider named Grolk. The two characters wish to speak to a legendary thief, Garlthik One-Eye, and have approached the entrance to Garlthik’s stronghold in Kratas. Garlthik is not expecting them, and so the ten ork guards stationed at the gate have no instructions to allow them to pass. The two characters have a pendant that once belonged to Garlthik, however, and hope it will help them persuade the guards to let them pass.

In the exchange below, the players are speaking as their characters when noted.

Gamemaster: You round the corner, leaving the well-lit boulevard for Carrion Row. Three light crystals struggle to illuminate the street, the old enchantments flickering near the end of their usefulness. You see a group of orks stationed in front of a bronze-bound double door, and you know you’ve arrived at Garlthik’s home.
Sam: How many orks?
Gamemaster: Nine or ten.
Sam: Not a problem, we can take them.
Charlie: And then what, chew on the door?
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Evening to you, orks. We need to talk to Garlthik.
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: Well, fancy that—an elf who can tell the time of day!
Sam: Grolk is fingering the haft of his axe.
Gamemaster [as second ork]: Yeah, and a dwarf with more beard than brains.
Sam: That’s it! Grolk is drawing his weapon.
Gamemaster: The orks draw their weapons.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Hold, my friend. Don’t give into the enchantment so easily.
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: Huh?
Charlie: I am taking out the pendant.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: You see, Grolk here was put under an enchantment to return this pendant to Garlthik. The spell was none too subtle, and simply specified that he should let nothing stand in his way.
Sam: Grolk gets a crazy gleam in his eye.
Sam [as Grolk]: It sure looks like you men are in my way.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Please Grolk, not again. I just had this cloak cleaned. Now then, you look like resourceful orks, surely there is some way we can see Garlthik.
Gamemaster: The orks cautiously start to surround the two of you. They are currently in a crescent formation with you at the center.
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: Face it dwarf, we’ll get you before you get all of us.
Charlie: Delthrien carefully examines the fingernails of his right hand, as if he had nothing more important to do right then.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: That you died holding such a belief will be little comfort to your family and heirs, ork.
Sam [as Grolk]: I dunno, Delthrien, I say we find out.
Sam: Grolk raises the axe to its full height.
Sam [as Grolk]: Blood soon! Blood soon!
Charlie: Delthrien rolls his eyes, then sighs.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Not again. Look ork, even if you live, you will spend the rest of the night hauling bodies and body parts to wherever it is you dispose of such things. What an unpleasant way to spend an evening! Not to mention Garlthik’s wrath when he discovers that you turned away the pendant when it had arrived at his very gate.
Sam [as Grolk]: Bashings and smashings! Cuttings and severings!
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: All right, all right. Can you control him?
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Yes. For a time, anyway.
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: I will be right back. I need to check this with the head of the night watch.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Be quick about it, then.
Sam [as Grolk]: Crushing, snapping, pulpings!
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Grolk, stop that!
Sam [as Grolk]: Rippings and stompings!
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Down Grolk!
Sam [as Grolk]: Grrrrrrr—
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Good Grolk.
Gamemaster: A few minutes pass. The remaining orks shift nervously from foot to foot, watching Grolk closely. The ork guard reappears.
Gamemaster [as Ork Guard]: The head watch says you can go in. Follow the green carpet to the staircase. Go up. Someone will meet you. Don’t dawdle. You will be watched.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: Thank you. Most kind of you. Come along, Grolk.
Sam: Grolk is foaming slightly around the edges of his mouth. He keeps growling.
Charlie [as Delthrien]: And leave the orks with their parts intact.
Sam [as Grolk]: Whimper.

The players gained entry into Garlthik’s Hold strictly by roleplaying. The players and the gamemaster created the scene by imagining the encounter from the viewpoints of their characters.

Charlie’s and Sam’s characters wanted to see Garlthik. They might have been powerful enough to simply barge in, but killing the ork guards would almost certainly have angered Garlthik, making him very dangerous and difficult to deal with.

The gamemaster characters were concerned about angering their employer. By presenting the pendant, Delthrien demonstrated that Garlthik might have a reason to see them. The enchantment story was plausible, and the dwarf was acting more than a little strange. Though the orks would not simply allow the player characters to enter the hold, they were willing to check with a higher authority, rather than risk dying in a battle that Garlthik may not have wanted them to fight in the first place.

In the end, both groups got what they wanted, at least in the short run. This is the key to most roleplaying solutions: both sides have to gain something from an exchange. A player should try to figure out what a gamemaster character wants out of a situation, and manipulate the circumstances so that he can provide that and achieve his own goal at the same time.

Roleplay interactions between player and gamemaster characters whenever possible, because this frees characters from the random roll of the dice and involves the players in the game at the same time.

INTERACTION TESTS

The outcome of an Interaction Test is most often expressed as the success level of a character’s Interaction Test, or how well your character succeeded at an action. The five success levels are Poor, Average, Good, Excellent and Extraordinary. For example, an Interaction Test result equal to or greater than the target’s Social Defense yields an Average success level or better. To achieve an Excellent success level, the result must equal roughly twice the target’s Social Defense Rating. See Using Success Levels in this section. To find the minimum required success levels for each of the five types of Interaction Tests, see the Interaction Success Table.

Deceit

An Exaggeration is a stretching of the truth, perhaps changing details of a story to make it more impressive in some way. Telling your superior that you were ambushed by a dozen orks rather than by the five who actually jumped you would be an Exaggeration. Claiming that the orks were armed with fire swords, or misstating the size of a creature that got away—whether claiming it was larger or smaller than its actual size—would also be Exaggerations. To make an Exaggeration, a character makes a Charisma Test against the target character’s Social Defense. An Average success level or better means the target believed the Exaggeration.

A Half-Truth reveals a sizable portion of the truth while withholding at least one vital piece of information. A character telling a Half-Truth speaks the truth, but in such as way as to mislead the listener. Telling someone you found more than 800 pieces of gold when you actually found closer to 3,000 pieces would be a Half-Truth. Or telling authorities you saw nothing at the scene of a crime, when you heard the cries of the victim, would also be a Half-Truth. To tell a Half-Truth, a character makes a Charisma Test against the target character’s Social Defense. An Average success level or better means the target believed the Half-Truth.

A Fabrication is a lie cut from whole cloth. The story, or important parts of the story, have no basis in truth. Lies that contradict actual events are Fabrications. Reporting to your superior that no ambush attempt took place, even after dispatching the five orks who jumped you, would be a Fabrication. Saying you have no treasure map when you actually do, or making up stories about a lost city would also count as Fabrications. To tell a Fabrication, a character makes a Charisma Test against the target character’s Social Defense. An Average success level causes the target to suspect the truth of the character’s Fabrication. A Good success level or better means the target believes the Fabrication to be true.

A Deceived character remains so until presented with facts or evidence that contradict the deception, which immediately ends the deception.

Insight

Insight also allows your character to determine whether or not an opponent is trying to Deceive your character. To use Insight in this way, your character must observe the opposing character as he speaks. If your character cannot see the speaking character, he cannot use Insight to detect deception. To detect a deception, make a Charisma Test against the speaking character’s Social Defense. A Good success level means your character detected the deception. If the opposing character’s features are obscured by a mask or helmet, an Excellent success level is needed to use Insight to detect a deception.

Intimidation

Intimidation often creates resentment in the target character. A successful use of Intimidation against a target character makes all subsequent Favor attempts aimed at that same character more difficult (see the Favors section below).

Intimidation works best against characters who have a reason to fear your character and who hold Unfriendly or worse attitudes toward your character. To use Intimidation, make an Interaction Test against the target character’s Social Defense. The success level determines the result of using Intimidation.

Your character can use intimidation to order a character to refrain from performing an action, or do nothing, or to perform an action. Examples of the first include orders such as “don’t touch that,” “stop dead in your tracks,” or “leave her alone.” An Average success level or better on the Interaction Test is needed to make a target character stop an action. The effect of such Intimidation lasts for only one round. An Extraordinary success on the Interaction Test convinces the target character to refrain from a forbidden action as long as the intimidator is within sight. Your character CANNOT use Intimidation to make a target character stop an action he performs simply by existing. You cannot, for example, order a character to stop breathing.

Intimidation can also be used to force a character into taking an action, but the target character will not take an action he or she believes is more dangerous than resisting the Intimidation. A Good success level or better on the Interaction Test will convince the target character to spill secrets, walk ahead in a corridor, or cast a spell. An intimidated character stops performing the requested action as soon as he is out of the intimidator’s sight.

Making An Impression

When your character first meets another character, you must declare your intention to Make An Impression on the target character. To make an impression, make an Interaction Test against the target character’s Social Defense. A Poor success worsens the character’s attitude by 1 degree—for example, an Unfriendly character becomes Hostile. An Average success or better improves the character’s attitude by 1 degree; an Unfriendly character becomes Neutral, or a Neutral character becomes Friendly. The effects of making an impression last for 1 day.

Each time your character interacts with the impressed character in a Neutral, Unfriendly, or Hostile manner (determined by the gamemaster), the favorable impression may wear off. In this case, the impressed character makes a Willpower Test against your character’s Social Defense. If the success level of the Willpower Test is equal to or greater than the success level of your Interaction Test, the impression fades. Any openly hostile act your character commits against the impressed character immediately erases the impression.

Delthrien Makes An Impression on an Unfriendly troll bruiser in a tavern. He gets a Good success on his Interaction Test, and the troll takes a Neutral attitude toward him. In an effort to trick the troll into an ambush, the elven Archer tries to talk him into going to another tavern. The troll makes a Willpower Test against Delthrien’s Social Defense and gets a Good success. Because his success level matched Delthrien’s, the troll’s attitude reverts to Unfriendly.

Favors

The target character’s attitude can alter the success level required to persuade him to do a favor. This type of persuasion works best on characters who harbor a Neutral attitude or better toward your character. A character whose attitude is Unfriendly or worse can be persuaded to perform a favor only if he believes that doing so will benefit him. See Making Favor Tests for details.

Favors are grants of time, money, or resources that benefit your character, or actions performed on behalf of your character. The success level needed to gain favors depends on the attitude of the gamemaster character from whom you request the favor. Consult the Favor Success Table, below, for the success levels required.

Your character can request small favors and large favors from other characters. Small favors include such things as holding a character’s place in line, buying a round of drinks, or bringing water to a character’s cell. As a rule of thumb, small favors cannot endanger a character or require more than 15 minutes of extra effort from him (as determined by the gamemaster). Small favors cannot cost a character more than 5 silver pieces, a few hours’ earnings, or 1 percent of his cash on hand, whichever amount is largest. Characters holding Neutral or better attitudes toward your character can be persuaded to do small favors.

Large favors include giving loans (which your character must repay within three days), delivering a package across town into a questionable neighborhood, giving your character a place to stay for a few days, untying your character, and so on. As a rule of thumb, large favors cannot cost a character more than a day’s earnings or 3 percent of his total cash savings. Loans provided as large favors cannot exceed a character’s weekly earnings or 15 percent of his total savings. A large favor cannot require more than 8 hours of extra effort from a character, though it can pose physical, mental, or emotional risks. Keep in mind that only characters Loyal or Awestruck toward your character will agree to obviously dangerous favors.

Your character can persuade characters with attitudes toward him of Friendly or better to do large or small favors over an extended period. For example, the tavern owner who always has your favorite ale on tap is doing you a small favor over time. Friendly characters may let small favors go unreturned, but expect large favors to be repaid in kind. They expect your character to repay borrowed funds and items promptly, and will not extend more than one large favor until your character has done them a large favor in return. Characters holding Loyal and Awestruck attitudes toward your character are more lenient in their accounting and will extend your character credit for two or even three large favors. They still expect favors in return, but will wait several months for repayment. Hostile or Enemy characters will do your character no favors unless prompted by their own ulterior motives.

Making Favor Tests

Increasing the Likelihood of Favors

Alternatively, you may propose the same “favor for favor” exchange, but have your character offer to perform a favor first. For the purposes of the Interaction Test in this instance, the gamemaster character’s attitude toward your character improves 1 degree. For example, an Unfriendly guard becomes Neutral when you try to persuade her to do you a small favor, if you do her a small favor first. As indicated above, in this case your character can make 2 consecutive Interaction Tests to try to persuade the gamemaster character.

Your character may also offer to perform a large favor in return for a small favor, with the gamemaster character performing his favor first. For purposes of the Interaction Test in this case, the gamemaster character’s attitude improves 2 degrees. Finally, your character may offer to perform a large favor in return for a small favor at a later date. Your character may make 2 consecutive Interaction Tests to persuade the gamemaster character, whose attitude improves 2 degrees for the purposes of the test.

USING TALENTS

EARNING LEGEND POINTS

Interaction can also help you complete your adventure goal, earning you more Legend Points. Along the way, you may talk your way into treasure, another source of Legend Points. Interactions with gamemaster characters also give you a chance to turn your ideas and words into heroic deeds. By giving your character more alternatives than simply swinging a sword, interaction with gamemaster characters may benefit your character in many ways.

You can also defeat opponents through interaction. To gain Legend Points for defeating an opponent, your group must remove the opponent as an obstacle to the adventure. You can remove him by any method you choose; you need not whack an opponent over the head or slit his throat when persuading him to let you pass unmolested will serve just as well. For example, Delthrien and Grolk talked their way past ten ork guards in the example given earlier. The guards certainly counted as an obstacle to the adventure, which Sam and Charlie overcame by roleplaying their characters and interacting with the guards. For doing that, they got the same number of Legend Points they would have gotten for killing the ten orks. In fact, the gamemaster might give them additional Legend Points for creative roleplaying as well as for defeating opponents. See Awarding Legend Points for more information on earning Legend Points.

Keep in mind, however, the gamemaster only awards Legend Points once for any opponent. If Delthrien and Grolk had to fight those same guards later in their adventure, the fight would not earn them any Legend Points because they already earned the Legend Points available for defeating the ten orks.