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 conventional 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 conventional 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. The only real distinction between the two intents is what outside force is more likely to help sway people.

• Conventional: The conventional choice should be safer, more supported by procedure and common sense, and more logical. Assisted by stature.
• Radical: The radical choice should be more uncertain, more unprecedented, and more passionate. Assisted by intoxicant.

Join

You can use a convince action (a negotiate check) to either join an intent yourself, or to persuade others 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 grit. If two individuals have the same grit then the first one to join becomes the speaker. If the current speaker's grit drops below another's then the speaker role is immediately reassigned. The speaker defines the course of action for those that join the intent, and essentially everyone in the intent after a successful dispute counts as a follower for the rest of a crisis. When a member of the intent suffers doubt the speaker may decide whether to allow the member to stay (losing an appropriate number of audience) or to eject the member from the intent and all doubt clings only to the target.

New Intents

Before a dispute starts the intents and speakers 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. A weak intent may also be assigned a penalty (-2) for all checks. During a dispute a new option may arise. To suggest a new intent you must become the speaker for one of the existing intents, and then immediately declare the change. Once the change is declared everyone but you is removed from the intent. This may also switch which intent is radical or conventional, 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. At the end of each exchange 1 tension is automatically added. Tension may also be added by the referee for outside conditions such as imminent danger or particularly inflammatory remarks. If you add tension, your intent loses one auxiliary character back into the undecided group. If the current tension count exceeds both speaker's lore then the dispute immediately ends without a reckoning. Each side may pursue its proposed course, and any undecided individuals simply disperse.

Assistance

There are certain factors which, if present, dramatically boost intents. This is called an assistance. If an assistance is present then any defense from within the intent gains a bonus (+2).

• Stature. 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. Stature always assists the conventional intent. Stature is lost if the highest ranking leader is not part of the conventional 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 followers 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. You can attack individuals with a taunt even if you aren't part of an intent, forcing speakers to either discard valuable allies or lose audience. 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 grit, and then you can convince them like an auxiliary. Note that this works on you too, so defend yourself or you could 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 conventional, and stature 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. If the dispute would end from tension it is instead delayed for another day.
• Spectacle. You are competing with other performers, trying to gain the most attention. The intent for either side is to be the most appreciated, and only vary in exactly how they are attempting to win people over. 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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