Intrigue in Combat

[BrianD]

So one of my players is playing a full on Charm technique master - Persuasion 5 (Charm 3B) with the Adept Negotiator, Charismatic, Compelling, and Magnetic qualities. That breaks down to a 5D+3B+2 check (with no penalty from Disposition) dealing 6 influence damage per degree that improves the target's disposition by 3 steps once they're defeated. That's potentially good enough to bump a relatively average opponent from Malicious to Indifferent in one exchange. Pretty nuts. That said, his Intrigue Defense and Composure aren't anything above just "pretty good", so he's not a total Intrigue monster - he's just damn good at making friends wherever he goes.

Now this character's also completely and utterly useless in combat. Like Fighting 1, Marksmanship 1, Endurance 2 useless. That said, if he were to be able to get a word in, I'm sure the people trying to kill him would see that it's all just a misunderstanding and that maybe they can work this out! I'd like to give him the chance to pull that off now and then.

Is it possible to play out an intrigue mid-combat? What's the best way to do so? On the flipside, how can I prevent him from turning every single fight into a negotiation and robbing the more combat-capable characters of their moments in the spotlight?

[Mat]

Well, I think that everything depends on the motivation that push NPC against your Charming PC.
If they are sellswords or other little reliable PNC he should be able to charme them...of course most depend not only if they like him, but also what he promises in exchange and he also must give later what he promised unless he want bad future reactions.

Instead if he faces mentally strong PNC or very loyal it is hard the get them friends...and I think there are situation in which people do not really care of what you say.

Another thing you can do is increase the Intrigue Defense of those character that are ready to attack the PC...if they have their steel in hand the situation is not so in favour of the PC so the PNC can have a higher defense (= less damages).
Moreover let him roleplay the situation and when he made the roll add/remove bonus dice according to its performance!

I hope this could help you!

[aprewett]

I think a Fighting One character would be a wet the pants sort of coward. And run screaming the other way.

Allan

[LordValorna]

So he can die (or be captive) or he must negociate his life... at the end of the test to bargain, the disposition of the enemy will say what they will do with him. Maybe they will manipulate him, or push him to treason his family.

[DaimosofRedstone]

I think a Fighting One character would be a wet the pants sort of coward. And run screaming the other way.

Allan

No, a fighting one character is just inept. Craven is simulated differently.

But there are simply situations where people will not listen, combat being one of them so i would only allow it with DRASTIC modifiers to show what a heroic task it is to get people to even listen to you who have come to put your lights out.

[Zorbeltuss]

That's not something I would make rules for.

[BrianD]

Even beyond just the context of this particular character, things like using Intimidate to scare an attacker off or Bargain to convince a sellsword you'll pay him more than your enemies are other pretty reasonable uses of social skills in combat.

I'd say using an intrigue Technique in combat is a Greater Action, and any tests are made at a -1D penalty to represent the rushed nature of the attempt.

Additionally, the situational modifier for the location (as in intrigue Step Two: Scene) is almost always considered an inappropriate setting, granting them a +6 bonus to their Intrigue Defense. Depending on the circumstances (if they have you outnumbered, if you've wounded them earlier in the combat, etc.), the setting could be wildly inappropriate, bringing the bonus up to +12.

The opponent's Disposition is pretty much always gonna be Malicious, so their DR will be 7.

Between the die penalty, the opponent's Intrigue Defense bonus, and the high DR from the Malicious dispostion, ifluencing an opponent in such a way is a tall order - and until you drop their Composure to 0, they're happy to keep hacking away at you with their sword while you run your mouth. But it's an option, and I'd always rather say "Roll the dice and see" than "No" at the table.

[aprewett]

No, a fighting one character is just inept. Craven is simulated differently

But for me a Fighting 2 is inept, they can point the pointy end at the enemy but thats about it.
My point was the Fighting 1 would be less than inept.

Allan

[coldwind]

No, a fighting one character is just inept. Craven is simulated differently

But for me a Fighting 2 is inept, they can point the pointy end at the enemy but thats about it.
My point was the Fighting 1 would be less than inept.

Allan

That's a rather cynical view of combat. Fighting 2 is able to hit all but the most defensibly-designed characters (combat defense 13+); perhaps not regularly, but possible. That's hardly inept. Just untrained.

Fighting 1 is inept - the player/character actively took steps to say 'this guy is bad at combat'.

Besides, in a game with this scale of abilities, do you really need three levels of ineptitude (0, 1, and 2)?

[Carriker]

But for me a Fighting 2 is inept, they can point the pointy end at the enemy but thats about it.
My point was the Fighting 1 would be less than inept.

A rating of 2 in something isn't inept - it's average: he can probably hold onto his weapon, swing and hit something that isn't particularly good at getting out of the way and the like.

[Zeroed]

What we do to start an intrigue against an opponent during a combat is to spend a Destiny Point. Of course, the opponent always has the option to Quit or Switch To Combat again if the intrigue is not going well for him. If you want to compel that opponent into an intrigue and prevent him from quitting, then you have to burn a Destiny Point. This way, the players do not overuse it, but they are able to use this option when necessary.

Of course, in both cases, the opponent's Disposition is probably Malicious, so its DR will be quite high and he will be difficult to defeat that way, and its Objective will usually be something like Service (Surrender) or something along that line.

[Ser Richard]

If you really want to get technical then as a Narrator you set the scene, is the scene you set up an intrigue or a combat or not defined and you let the players do what they will, because by the rules if a character drops in the combat intrigue ends it only ends in one side being defeted or you run.