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Intrigue Conflicts

Intrigue conflicts govern situations where words, reputation, leverage, and social position matter more than blades.
They cover negotiations, interrogations, political maneuvering, scandals, courtroom drama, factional disputes, and social warfare.

Intrigue uses the same core resolution principles as Combat, but its outcomes are commitments and consequences, not wounds.

Design Intent

  • Intrigue is not "social combat."
  • Intrigue changes positions, loyalties, and futures, not hit points.
  • A single roll rarely resolves an intrigue unless the fiction is already primed.
  • Impact determines how permanent or binding the outcome is.

This system favors preparation, leverage, and narrative positioning over raw Presence.

When to Use an Intrigue Conflict

Use an Intrigue Conflict when: - Stakes extend beyond a single exchange.
- Multiple parties have competing goals.
- Outcomes may have lasting political, reputational, or social consequences.

Do not use this system for: - Casual conversation
- Simple persuasion with no real risk
- Flavor dialogue

If nothing meaningful can change, no roll is needed.

Structure of an Intrigue Conflict

Intrigue conflicts follow the same core structure as combat:

  1. Establish stakes and leverage
  2. Resolve an opposed roll
  3. Determine Margin of Success (MoS)
  4. Apply Social Force
  5. Determine Impact
  6. Apply lasting consequences

Step 1: Establish Stakes

Before rolling, the GM should clearly establish: - What each side wants
- What could be lost
- What kind of change is possible

Examples: - Shifting a faction's stance
- Gaining or losing reputation
- Forcing a commitment
- Exposing a secret
- Creating an obligation

If the stakes are unclear, stop and clarify.

Step 2: Resolve the Roll

The acting character rolls:

  • 2d12 + relevant Skill + Attribute

Common skills include: - Negotiation
- Influence
- Intimidation
- Performance
- Society

The opposing party either: - Rolls a relevant opposing skill, or
- Uses a static difficulty if resistance is passive or institutional

Ties go to the defender or status quo.

Step 3: Margin of Success (MoS)

If the acting character succeeds:

Margin of Success (MoS) = Acting Total − Opposing Total

MoS measures how decisively the character's argument, pressure, or maneuver landed.

Step 4: Social Force

Social Force represents how much weight the character can bring to bear beyond words.

Unlike combat, Social Force does not come from Attributes alone.

Sources of Social Force include: - Station or rank
- Reputation
- Community Gifts
- Faction backing
- Evidence or proof
- Blackmail or secrets
- Prior obligations
- Being on home ground

Social Force should be agreed upon before the roll when possible.
It may change over the course of a conflict.

Step 5: Determine Impact

Impact measures how binding, visible, or irreversible the outcome is.

Impact is calculated as:

Impact = floor((MoS + Social Force) / 6)

For ease of play, use 6-point bands:

Result Impact
0–5 0
6–11 1
12–17 2
18–23 3
24–29 4

Step 6: Apply Consequences

Impact determines the scale of the consequence, not its exact form.

Impact 0 – No Lasting Change

  • Conversation advances
  • Information exchanged
  • No commitments made

Impact 1 – Minor Leverage

  • Soft obligation
  • Rumor or implication
  • Slight reputational shift
  • Door opened or closed

Impact 2 – Meaningful Commitment

  • Explicit promise
  • Public alignment
  • Noticeable reputational change
  • Faction interest engaged

Impact 3 – Major Consequence

  • Binding agreement
  • Loss of face
  • Public scandal
  • Forced action or concession

Impact 4 – Defining Outcome

  • Political ruin or elevation
  • Exile, arrest, or disgrace
  • Factional collapse or consolidation
  • Permanent shift in the campaign landscape

The GM and players should work together to narrate the result.

Tracks and Escalation

Intrigue conflicts often play out over multiple scenes.

Instead of wounds, intrigue uses Tracks, such as: - Reputation
- Trust
- Influence
- Exposure
- Resolve

Impact may: - Advance a track
- Lock a position
- Trigger a new conflict
- Force a change in approach

Tracks are situational and should be chosen based on the fiction.

Reversibility

Unlike wounds, intrigue consequences are often reversible, but not easily.

  • Impact 1–2 outcomes may fade with time or effort.
  • Impact 3 outcomes require significant action to undo.
  • Impact 4 outcomes reshape the world permanently.

Intrigue rewards foresight.
Mistakes linger.

Using Gifts in Intrigue

Community Gifts and Station Gifts are especially powerful in intrigue.

They may: - Provide automatic Social Force
- Change what outcomes are possible
- Protect against certain consequences
- Convert failures into complications

Intrigue is where these Gifts shine.

Design Notes

  • Intrigue uses the same math language as combat for consistency.
  • Consequences are narrative-first, not mechanical attrition.
  • Force comes from leverage, not raw statistics.
  • Impact measures permanence, not success.

Intrigue conflicts are how Kaernest's politics, societies, and power structures move.