Social Maneuvering in The Chronicles of Darkness (A Simple, Elegant System)

There are almost as many social skill systems as there are RPGs out there. Some games make these skills nearly vestigial, with a simple pass/fail that has a particular difficulty associated with the roll. Other games have intricate flowcharts that are almost as difficult to follow as a high-speed tennis match, making fellow players really feel like they're watching social combat in real-time.

For a solid, middle-of-the-road example, I wanted to touch on the Social Maneuvering rules found in the Chronicles of Darkness. Because this system is simple enough to be easily implemented, but there is enough nuance to make it feel robust!

And for folks who have enjoyed my recent delves into this particular game, check out my previous Crunch topics:

- Vehicular Combat is Always An Option (A Chronicles of Darkness Strategy)

- "Down and Dirty" Combat in The Chronicles of Darkness Doesn't Get Enough Love

So, how do you approach her?

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These Things Take Time

In an RPG there are often social situations that are meant to happen rapidly. You need to persuade the bouncer at the club to let you in, even though you aren't on the guest list, or maybe you are trying to intimidate someone who looks like they're going to start a fight so they decide not to try you and your companions. In these situations a single roll is usually enough to settle things one way or the other.

However, sometimes you have a social situation that's longer-term. Maybe you're trying to persuade an academic to loan you a historical text that you need access to. Perhaps you're trying to persuade the mayor the accept a bid from a particular company, or you're trying to get this season's monarch to agree to a plan your changeling motley wants to enact this season. For those longer-term strategies that you really need more than a single pass/fail check for, we turn to the Social Maneuvering System detailed on page 81.

Trust me, this is going to come up. Potentially a lot.

First things first, the player announces what they're trying to get this person to do. Maybe they want to get an invitation to this person's special hunting club, or they want to get them to dedicate start-up capital to the player's business idea (that may or may not be a cover for a hunter cell). Whatever it is, the goal is the X on the map they're trying to reach. If the Storyteller determines this is a feasible goal (to paraphrase the old fantasy RPG argument, no matter how good your Persuasion roll is, you can't convince the king to randomly vacate the throne and hand you the crown), then you can move on to the next stage.

Once the goal is agreed on, the Storyteller sets a number of Doors that must be crossed in order for the social maneuver to reach its goal. The base number of Doors is equal to the lower of the target's Resolve or Composure, and then more Doors are added dependent on different factors. If it runs counter to the target's goals and aspirations that can add a Door. If it would be a breaking point for that person, it adds two doors. And as the Social Maneuvering goes on, if the nature of the situation changes (such as if this maneuver started off just trying to get money for a business, but it's revealed the business is actually murder-for-hire) that might add more Doors.

Once all the Doors are established, that's how many successful rolls need to be made to reach the goal. Note, this is not how many successes need to be rolled. A regular success opens 1 door, and an exceptional success opens 2 doors.

At this point, the Storyteller determines the First Impression between the character, and the target of their maneuver. If they have no history, then the player can attempt to set up a positive interaction that appeals to the target (with things such as an activity that appeals to their Vice, offering them a bribe or some sort of gift, etc.). An Average First Impression (the baseline) allows one attempt to influence the maneuver per week. Upgrading that to a Good impression (such as through a bribe) allows one roll to be made per day. An Excellent impression gives you one roll per hour, while a Perfect impression allows one roll per turn.

The last step of things is to determine the rolls made to open the Doors, which should be determined by the circumstances of the interaction.

So, what does that all look like when you put it together?

An Example

A hunter cell really needs to get access to a book in a restricted section of a university library. This place requires someone to have a special writ of permission from the curator in order to examine the piece, and that's not something you can just walk in and demand. So a member of the cell decides to target the curator in order to influence him.

The curator is a strong-willed man, so his initial Doors are set at 4. He's also career-minded, and asking for a favor of this level is a risk to him, adding a 5th Door. However, the hunters are determined to make this work, so one of their number gets dolled-up, and meets with the curator at an art gallery showing; events he is notorious for attending, and enjoying, making it a good place to meet him. No gifts are presented, and the hunters don't know the curator's Vice, so the Storyteller decides this is an Average impression to start with.

The first influence attempt goes well. Erica is knowledgeable about the local art scene (Intelligence + Academics with a specialty in Gallery Art), and manages to impress the curator with her culture and understanding as a critic, and though they verbally spar, he's invigorated by the evening. This opens the first door, allowing Erica to proceed to the next attempt.

They research the curator, and find out his favorite restaurant, as well as his favorite dish. So when Erica asks him to meet for dinner, he's quite pleased to do so. As the setting has changed, though, she has to pivot to a different skill set. To impress him with her manners and understanding of etiquette, Erica makes a Presence + Socialize roll. She gets an exceptional success, opening 2 Doors, as the curator is utterly blown away by her poise and social aura.

In the third week, Erica decides it's time to stop beating around the bush. She's established her credentials as a woman of the arts, and of culture, so she decides to try to persuade the curator to agree to let her see this particular tome. She spins a story about how she's working on an academic paper regarding Mesopotamian mythologies, and this particular book would really allow her to have first-hand knowledge of a relic that would add a lot to her research. A Manipulation + Subterfuge roll is made, and she gets bonus dice for the lie being particularly appealing to his vanity and career aspirations, as having an ally with a publishing history is always good. Erica crushes the roll, and with another exceptional success, the curator agrees to get the necessary permissions, and to arrange for her to examine the book... with him and another historian present, of course!

Some doors are scarier than others...

These long-term social maneuvers add a basic skeleton to this part of the game, while at the same time providing you with a flexible way of trying to get characters to do what you want them to. It takes a little practice, and it should always feel varied and unique no matter how often you've put this particular system into play.

And while there IS another side to social maneuvering (we'll call it dark maneuvering for the moment), I'll likely talk about that in my next Crunch update... so stay tuned!

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