Social Systems

Beliefs
In any roleplaying system, one of the most important aspects of player characters' interactions with the world is their interaction with the people that inhabit that world. These people, Non-Player Characters (NPCs), have their own lives, motivations, prejudices, and predilections that will challenge players to find compromise, resolve conflicts, or even begin new ones. These networks of NPC motivations are tied together by beliefs.

Beliefs range from simple statements of perceived fact, such as

George killed my dog.

to much broader worldviews like

Lord George is necessary for the survival of the peasants.

These beliefs may be changed be experiences or the words of a skilled rhetorician, and, in the case of the latter, this is represented mechanically by Manipulation, which we will get to soon.

Strength of Beliefs
Now in these two previous examples, it should be obvious that one of these beliefs will be a lot stronger than the other inherently, and this doesn't even take into account the emotional baggage clinging to either one. In the first case, belief in a fact, in all but the most extreme cases, is fairly tame. If one can be shown simply that George was out of the country when his dog was killed, this belief is likely to be dispelled. Of course, that may not alter his behavior, since his belief that George killed his dog might have been bolstered by a much stronger belief that

George is a horrible person.

Likewise, the belief that Lord George is necessary for the survival of the peasants might stem from respect for Lord George, disdain for the peasants, or a simple survey of the economic situation. In each of these cases, the strength of the belief will be different. For this example,

Lord George is necessary because the peasants are animals and cannot take care of themselves.

is weighted with emotional baggage and is stronger than

Lord George is necessary because the political situation in the area is unstable, and the peasants would certainly be overrun by surrounding armies.

which is an observation of strategic fact, which is in turn stronger than

Lord George is necessary because he is a good man and he seems to treat the peasants well.

an observation that reflects a lack of firsthand knowledge on the matter and only respect for Lord George. However, even in this case, persuading this person that Lord George is unnecessary is unlikely to persuade them that he is not a good man. In the game environment, the strength of these beliefs will be tremendously relevant to a player attempting to change them.

Manipulation
In War Torn's world of social interaction, a player's defining characteristic will be his Charisma, and his weapon of choice will be the Manipulation roll. Manipulations come in six flavors, which can each be modified by other abilities:

Convince: Essentially the most basic Manipulation. You are attempting either to shift an NPC's existing belief, or create a new one. For example, you want to convince the NPC referenced above that George did not, in fact, kill his dog, or perhaps you want to convince him that he will need to bury the dog by nightfall to prevent werewolves from feasting on its corpse.

Bond: This Manipulation is used to create relationships with NPCs or utilize existing ones to overcome beliefs that the NPC might have that interfere with a task. For example, you might be trying to endear yourself to a shopkeeper, or perhaps you want to use your friendship with George to persuade him to stop killing dogs.

Blab: This Manipulation is simple. You use it to get an NPC to say something that they know they probably shouldn't say to you. For example, you might be trying to get George's underling to tell you where he stashed the dog.

Intimidate: When you want someone to do something out of fear for you, this is the Manipulation you are looking for. Incidentally, whenever you succeed with this Manipulation, you put the targeted NPC into a state of fear. This will destroy any positive relationship you have with them, or, if you have no such relationship, it will create a negative one. On the upside, all further Intimidate or Coerce Manipulations against a target in a state of fear will receive a +2 modifier.

Coerce: Very similar to Intimidate, this Manipulation motivates an NPC to do something out of fear for the consequences. Likewise, it will put the NPC into a state of fear and alter relationships in the same way as Intimidate.

Lie: Use this manipulation when you want someone to believe something that you know is not true. In the case that they already know it is not true, this will not shift their belief, but it will make them believe that you believe it to be true.

Mechanics
When you attempt a Manipulation, a significant part of the action is a verbal component. You are essentially having an argument with the NPC, and the quality of your argument will have an impact, just like your modifiers. When you make the argument, the GM will evaluate it and invisibly adjust the threshold for your roll accordingly. You then roll Charisma and add any applicable modifiers for the Manipulation you used.

Here is a table of some basic ranges of thresholds based on the scope of your Manipulation attempt: