Designing a Social Challenge

While a Social Encounter represents any interaction between the PCs and one or more NPCs, in a Social Challenge the PCs are challenged by Convince the NPC in order to further the story. Sometimes this is as simple as getting the NPC to divulge certain information, something that they wouldn't readily disclose. Other times, this involves convincing the NPC to act in a certain way: give the PCs a valuable item, send soldiers to a threatened village, release a hostage, allow the PCs to enter a restricted area, or convincing the dragon not to eat you. Alternatively, the PCs could be attempting to convince the NPC of some truth: proving the prisoner's innocence or convincing the captain of the impending Orc threat.

Ultimately, the purpose of a Social Challenge is for PCs to get something they need or want from an NPC, something that the NPC will not give up without at little convincing.

Components of a Social Challenge

Each Social Challenge should have a goal. This is the thing that the PCs are attempting to get from the NPC, whether it be information, an object, or an action. That action could be as simple as believing what the PCs say and acting accordingly. Or it can be as complex as leading the PCs to the exit of the massive labyrinth.

You should plan your Social Challenge to be readily achievable by the party, especially if it is central to the story plot. Ideally, succeeding a Social Challenge should not be absolutely necessary to the progression of the story, but there could be serious consequences for failure. For example, if the PCs wish to get an ally released from prison, they may have to break the ally out if they can't convince the constable of his innocence. Breaking out the ally will probably put the PCs on the wrong side of the law and make it harder for them in the future.

When preparing a social challenge, you will need to Create an NPC for the PCs to interact with. This involves determining their Social Statistics, Prejudices, and/or previously established Dispositions towards the party. You should have an idea of the Importance Level of the conflict to the NPC and how it will affect the interaction. This signifies how important it is to the PCs not to comply (i.e. how much resistance they have against it). The higher the Importance Level, the harder it will be for the PCs to succeed. Generally speaking, if the PCs are expected to succeed, the importance level probably shouldn't be too high. Alternatively, for successes that would just grant the party a boon (and aren't necessary for plot progression), the importance level can be as high as appropriate.

Rewards

If the Social Challenge is important to the plot of the story, it should grant Experience. If it's not central to the plot, the benefit gained from a success may be sufficient reward. Since Social Challenges typically require an extensive amount of roleplay, this is also a good opportunity to give out Karma for exemplary roleplay.

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