Traitors Gate - New Mechanics

As I mentioned in the previous blog I'm introducing new mechanics: the Social Grapple, Information Exchange, Blackmailing and Guilds, so I thought I would give you a little bit on how it all works. Some of these work on expanding the current system of XP to use as a more varied currency in hopes to encourage PCs to create player intrusions as a risk and reward strategy.

The Social Grapple

Used for:  To force NPCs or PCs to carry out certain actions or provide truthful information.

How is it carried out: 

1. Each player & NPC assigns a Social Disposition rating to each player, the party or NPC every session. This is a value to represent the level of the relationship and trust. The value is eqivilant to the Cypher System Task Difficulty and is used as the base for the creation of the resulting Task Difficulty. This is only known between the GM and the player.
   
• Social Disposition Key

  Social Disposition/ Task Difficulty	Context
  1	Best Friends Forever
  2
  3
  4
  5	Strangers/Neutral
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10	Mortal Enemies

2. When a Social Grapple is initiated, the attacker designates which of the two methods of manipulation they wish to use in this attack. These are skills that can be taken akin to any other skill used within the Cypher System but are mandatory on a character sheet. [It is optional whether one of these skills or Resolve can be trained during character creation.]
   
• Awareness - Using physical means to manipulate such as seduction, ritual and manners. It is the art of knowing how to convey the body in a manner that is reflected of a purpose. Can be used to identify behaviours,motions (body language) and etiquette that would otherwise go unnoticed. As a skill the GM can add an additional asset depending on the societal stature of the user.
  
• Cunning - Using knowledge as a means to manipulate such as exploiting weakness, secrets and trust. It is the art of knowing the pressure points of a person's personality that can be manipulated with words or machinations. Can be used to formulate plans, deceive or deflect inquiry and acumen.
  
3. Each player now rolls against each-other on this particular skill. For every level of training they have in the skill , add 3 to the dice roll. Conversely an inability would  minus 3 from the roll.
   
4. The winner of this roll modifies the Social Disposition to their favour by the number of times the skill has been trained. Attackers have the SD reduced while defenders have it increased. If the winner has no training then the SD remains the same and if they have an inability, the task is modified to their detriment.
   
5. The attacker and defender then repeat steps 3 & 4 for the skill of Resolve. This like Awareness and Cunning is defined as a skill, it is mandatory on character creation and is included in the optional training.
   
• Resolve: Using the constitution and willpower of an individual to enforce or detect an act of influence. It is a mental faculty that allows a person to overcome their weaknesses, to bolster their opinions and moral compass or to endure stress and harm that would otherwise render the individual unable to continue.
  
• Quick Reference Guide: 

  				Difficulty
  Tactic Winner	Resolve Winner		Mod	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  Attacker Skilled (-2)	Attacker	Skilled (-2)	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
  		Trained (-1)	-3	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  		None (-0)	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
  	Defender	Skilled (+2)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  		Trained (+1)	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
  		None (+0)	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
  Attacker Trained (-1)	Attacker	Skilled (-2)	-3	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  		Trained (-1)	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
  		None (-0)	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
  	Defender	Skilled (+2)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
  		Trained (+1)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  		None (+0)	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
  Attacker Not Trained/Draw (0)	Attacker	Skilled (-2)	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
  		Trained (-1)	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
  		None (-0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  	Defender	Skilled (+2)	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
  		Trained (+1)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
  		None (+0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  Defender Trained (+1)	Attacker	Skilled (-2)	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
  		Trained (-1)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  		None (-0)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
  	Defender	Skilled (+2)	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
  		Trained (+1)	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
  		None (+0)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
  Defender Skilled (+2)	Attacker	Skilled (-2)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  		Trained (-1)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
  		None (-0)	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
  	Defender	Skilled (+2)	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
  		Trained (+1)	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
  		None (+0)	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12

  
  
6.  After the two rolls, the attacker is now left with a resulting modified Social Disposition. This should now be treated as a Task Difficulty. The attacker and defender then state either to the group or individually if they have a piece of information on the other. If this is so and used, it will augment the TD by 1.
   
7. The attacker can now use Persuasion or Deception to help them beat the target number. The attacker cannot use effort to help further augment the difficulty to their favour as this has been replaced with the Social Grapple but the attacker may use other assets.
   
• Colour Key

  Colour	Definition	Persuasion/Deception
  	Automatic Success	No
  	Natural Roll	Conditional
  	Needs Training or Skilled	Yes
  	Needs Skilled + Assets	Yes
  	Impossible	-

  
  
8. If successful the defender must carry out the desired action or answer truthfully to the questioning by the attacker. If unsuccessful, the defender has an opportunity to change their Social Disposition.

That in a nutshell is how I'm running that addition. It has been play tested but it is still a work in progress so if things go a little awry on the show, this is probably the reason why.

Information Exchange

The information exchange is the second mechanic brought in. It allows the use of information and XP to influence the game.

Information is used as a currency. Each player has 12 pieces of secret information:

• Real Name
• Home town/abode
• Parents
• Parents profession/s
• Sibling/s
• Influential associate
• Current occupation
• Current place of work
• Fear
• Goal
• Phobia
• Blackmailed event

This information is revealed in a number of ways.

• A PC failing to complete a blackmail task 
• A PC spending XP
• Information revealed by audience vote.

XP & Information Exchange table

Info Rq	XP RQ	Name Rq	Reward
0	2	No	Unnamed Information
0	4	No	Named Information
0	4	Yes	Known Name Information
0	6	Yes	Requested Information
1	2	No	Blackmail PC
1	0	No	SG Difficulty Reduction
7	4	Yes	Kill PC

Blackmail

Blackmail is a task set for each player at the start of the session. If that player completes the task, they are rewarded but there are consequences if they fail. Players can be blackmailed by the GM, other PCs and the audience. These tasks must push a character out of their comfort zone in ways which may throw them into chaos, danger, misfortune or into a social faux-pas . Players are rewarded with the ability to blackmail when they have gained information that they know is relevant to a specific PC.  

Instigator	Subject	Task State	Result
GM/ Audience	PC	Success	PC gains +2 XP
GM/ Audience	PC	Fail	Unnamed Information about PC revealed next session
Blackmailing PC	PC	Success	PC gains +2 XP Blackmailing PC gains nothing
Blackmailing PC	Blackmailing PC	Fail	+4 XP OR Non Specific Information about PC

Guilds

Guilds are the second way to use XP. These are currently a work in progress and will develop over time as my players become more interested in this avenue. I will be turning to the audience for relevant rewards.

Each rank will give the players certain static bonuses. These are either automatically applied or can can be activated multiple times by visiting the guild with a specific cool-down on reactivation.

For each rank the players must complete tasks equal to the rank they next wish to attain. To attain Rank 1 they must complete one quest, Rank 2, they must complete two quests ect. When a rank is attained it is also the amount of tasks needed for a player to move down a rank. Each guild is mutually exclusive and if a player completes a task for a different guild, they will loose 1 level of that rank. When that reaches the threshold of the rank they will go move down. 

If a player wishes to stop this from happening, they may spend XP. 4XP will permanently place that player in the rank they are in. A further 4XP can then be expended to gain ranks if they do not wish to complete quests. This process is separate to levelling and to reach rank 10 will require either 40 XP or completing 55 quests. 

Reminder: All of these are currently in testing and are being used live within the actual-play. If things go wrong (which they will undoubtedly will) please remember nothing is finalised and will be subject to retconning.