Dispute

Character Types A character can be controlled by a player or the referee. A unique character has an individual personality, identity, and goals regardless of whether the players know that character's name or can even perceive that the character is unique. Sometimes groups are defined by a single similar impression. A character within a group might have a name, history, and even a personality but still essentially be identical to the rest of the group at first glance. The more you interact with an individual character the greater the chance they will become distinct enough to be upgraded to a unique personality. You: The unique character a player controls. In the interest of streamlining text this may refer to the player or the player's character. Follower: Additional characters that a player controls. Personality: A unique character controlled by the referee. Denizen: Any character controlled by the referee. Individual: Any character, regardless whether they are controlled by a player or the referee. Example: You encounter a fishing boat and its crew. The captain is likely to be unique (and do most of the talking). He might have an impression such as "a long grey beard" and a reminder like the stereotypical "gruff and gravelly, desperate for a big haul". The rest of the crew? Depending on how important they are they will probably be lumped into a single group with an impression like "strong sinewy backs" and a reminder like "shy and stammering, desperate for a big haul". If you start interacting with the crew personalities might start to emerge, and now you have a mutinous mate, a weary cook, and fresh new kid each with their own impression and reminders.

A dispute is a passionate or reasoned argument of words rather than action. Disputes are usually encounters, and may even be mixed with an infiltration or a battle. A dispute may result from a dilemma, or lead to a chase if it goes poorly enough. A dispute will focus around two possible courses of action to be taken after the dispute, called intents. The safer, easier, or more established intent is always labeled the orthodox intent, and the other then becomes the radical intent. A dispute requires that you convince an audience to join one intent or the other, and the intent with the highest prestige will be the course of action followed.

Intent

During a dispute you argue for either the orthodox intent or the radical intent. Just exactly what the intents represent is negotiated before the dispute starts, and each should convey a clear path of action (or inaction) for those who choose it. Joining an intent means the individual really believes that course is correct. When a dispute is resolved the intent with the most prestige will follow that path of action. Believers in the other intent may either participate in the action, refuse to act, or escalate the dispute into a battle. Sometimes the two choices will have characteristics of both intents, in which case the referee makes the call as to which will be which.

• Orthodox: The orthodox choice should be safer, more condoned by authority, and more logical. Assisted by authority.
• Radical: The radical choice should be more uncertain, more unprecedented, and more passionate. Assisted by intoxicant.

Joining

You can use a convince action (rolled as a negotiate check) to either join an intent yourself, or to persuade an auxiliary to join your current intent. You can't make someone join an intent that you aren't in. Each intent has a leader, called the speaker. The speaker is the individual within the intent with the highest sway. If two individuals have the same sway then the first one to join becomes the speaker. If the current speaker's sway drops below another's then the speaker role is reassigned. In addition to counting sway for the dispute's reckoning, the speaker also has the option of retorting for the entire intent, including attempts to join the intent or add a perjury.

New Intents

Before a dispute starts the intents should be set. If there were more than two possible choices only the strongest two get associated with intents. When in doubt, one is chosen by the referee and the other by the band's leader. An intent has to have some merit to even be considered, so for example you couldn't start a dispute with a guard to let you out of prison without some compelling reason. During a dispute a new option may arise. To suggest a new intent you must be the speaker for an intent. You declare the new new intent, and it takes the place of your old intent. You remain the speaker, but lose every individual from the intent (though you may convince them to return). This may also switch the other intent between radical or orthodox, but either way the opposing intent keeps all its members.

Reckoning

A dispute ends when every individual in the zone has joined an intent or when tension exceeds the sway of the speakers. If everyone joins an intent you calculate the persuasive power of each side, called prestige, and compare them to determine the winner of the dispute. Start with the sway of your intent's speaker, then add one for each additional individual in your intent. The intent with the larger number wins. The speaker of the losing intent loses all sway. All auxiliary within the losing intent must make check resolve or join the winning intent. Assistance applies to this check if present, and personalities may choose to switch sides without a check. Individuals in the winning intent will fully contribute to its proposed actions. Individuals in the losing intent may contribute or not, but will not work against the proposed actions for the duration. The intent's duration lasts for a crisis (if one is already in progress), until a new crisis begins, or until a competing dispute starts. If a competing dispute starts the original intent keeps all individuals from the previous dispute, including a perjury if any.

Tension

Tension is a representation for how heated the dispute has become. Gaining interference during a dispute adds one tension in place of the normal effects. Any attack automatically adds 1 tension. After the first exchange, 1 tension is added at the end of each round. Tension may also be added by the referee for outside conditions such as imminent danger or particularly inflammatory remarks. Each time tension is added, your intent loses one auxiliary character back into the undecided group. If the current tension count exceeds both speaker's sway then the dispute immediately ends without a reckoning. Each side pursues its intent and actions, and any undecided individuals make must check resolve or join the intent with the higher prestige.

Perjury

A perjury is a special type of lie used during a dispute. You use an action to deceive (rolled as a perform check), and you may target either intent. This may be retorted by the speaker like any other social attack. If you succeed you add a perjury to the intent. Any success margin is added to the perjury, which counts as members of the intent equal to its size. An intent can not have more than one perjury, it just uses the biggest margin if more than one is added. You may also use an action to expose (rolled as a study check) a targeted perjury. This isn't really a social attack and so may not be retorted, but your margin must equal or exceed the perjury's size to succeed. If you succeed the perjury is eliminated, the speaker loses one sway, and the intent loses individual members equal to the exposed perjury's size. If a reckoning is won due to a perjury, it will be automatically exposed once the intent eventually ends, and causes 1 infamy to the speaker and its creator. The referee may allow a complication or an infiltration to expose a perjury, which has the same effect and also ends an intent's duration.

Assistance

There are certain strong factors which, if present, dramatically boost specific intents. This is called an assistance. If an assistance is present then checks against the assisted intent suffer a penalty (-2). A particularly extreme circumstance might provide a unique assistance for a specific intent.

• Authority. One or more legitimate leaders who have rank over the majority of the individuals present. Usually police and government officials qualify, and other leaders might depending on the intents and the individuals present. Authority always assists the orthodox intent. Authority is lost of the ranking leader joins the radical intent.
• Intoxicant. Alcohol or other mood enhancers are available for the majority of the individuals present. It costs Cash to provide intoxicants for 5 or fewer, Riches to provide intoxicants for up to 50 individuals, and a Treasure to provide for an audience larger than that. Intoxicants assist the radical intent.

Dispute Tactics

Once the sides of a dispute are formed, you have several different ways to argue it. Your company automatically follows you to an intent, so a recruit action (checking against Command) allows you to build a personal entourage before or after you join an intent yourself. You will want a member of the band to be speaker, so join your favored intent early to take control, and or use a taunt to keep rivals on the same side from becoming speaker. Adding a perjury as a deceive action is high risk, but can also be done to the opposing intent. If you can eliminate the perjury you created you harm the speaker and cause the intent to hemorrhage membership. If you fear the dispute going on too long you can ramp up the tension with a distract action, a perform check which adds interference to an opponent which instead converts to tension and costs the intent a member. To win over a personality you'll have to taunt them until they are out of sway, and then you can convince them like an auxiliary. Note that this works on you too, so defend yourself or you will be persuaded to another point of view!

Special Disputes

• Argument. A dispute between a small number of people is best resolved as a complication where the consequence for failure margin is losing sway (or hits in a particularly volatile situation). The target for the complication could be arbitrary or based on the sway of the parties arguing.
• Debate. A formal debate is a special dispute between designated teams. Each round only the speaker may act or retort, but anyone on the team may be designated the speaker for the round. The speaker's sway doesn't add to the intent's prestige, and instead of the usual effects tension simply adds a prestige to your opponents. Likewise convince adds prestige directly instead of auxiliary members. Anything that would force members to leave the intent subtracts from prestige instead. Once one team builds prestige equal to or greater than the sway of the opposing team the debate is won.
• Trial. A trial may either have a jury pool (formed of some number of auxiliaries) or judges (one or more personalities). The only intents are to find a prosecuted defendant guilt or innocent of a charge. The side with the most supporting clues counts as orthodox, and authority is always present. A clue that is actually a fraud is treated like a perjury if exposed. Anyone may join an intent, but only judges and jury count towards prestige for the reckoning. In most cases a trial is treated like a crisis, and each action is an hour of legal arguing.
• Spectacle. You are competing with other performers, trying to gain the most attention. The only intent for either side is to be the most appreciated. Authority and intoxication do not assist in this form of dispute, so the distinction between orthodox and radical is irrelevant. There may be as many intents as there are groups of performers vying for attention. It may be possible to introduce an assistance from some impressive new flourish or by sabotaging the opponent's presentations. Note that a spectacle could be as formal as a battle of the bands, or as informal as being noticed by important people at a party. The rewards for a victory are based on the circumstance of the spectacle, but can include access to important personalities, currency, or even fame!

Version 2.5.0
©2014 Frameworks Games

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