Interaction Types
From D20advanced
What follows are examples of how to use the Dramatic Interaction rules for various different types of interactions, ranging from physical challenges like chases to emotional ones like interrogation to long-running interactions like weeks-long heist capers. These are intended to be suggestions and inspirations, and should not limit you from applying the Dramatic Interaction rules to other potential uses.
Each entry includes suggestions for what sorts of outside factors might come into play, which skills might be most helpful in such an interaction, and how the GM can make the most of the interaction.
Most interactions use the regular Dramatic Interaction rules, and are limited to the scope of a single encounter. These three sample Dramatic Interactions are intended to resolve a single challenge.
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Chases
A source of great excitement in an adventure, chases are a relatively simple Dramatic Interaction. One party is pursued, and the others are pursuing him or her. The interaction ends when the pursued character is either caught or cornered (provoking a combat encounter) or the pursued character escapes and gets away.
Faster parties tend to have major advantages in chases. The more ranks of Speed a character has, the greater the edge he or she has. If one party has more ranks in the Speed FX than the other party, then the faster party gains a bonus Edge die. If the faster party has more than two extra ranks in speed (or their vehicle does, especially if the pursued character is faster), playing out a chase Dramatic Interaction usually isn't necessary.
Outside Factors
After ten rounds of a foot chase (about 1 minute of game-time), fatigue can start to affect the characters involved in the chase. The GM can call for an Endurance check (DC 10, +2 for each additional check beyond the first) or risk suffering fatigue for all parties involved.
Skill Use
- Athletics: Being able to climb over a wall or swim across a narrow river in a hurry could mean the difference between the pursued getting away and getting caught.
- Might: It's common for characters in chases to knock heavy objects in the way of their opponents to slow them down or block off paths.
- Acrobatics: Running across uneven or perilous surfaces can allow you to gain ground.
- Infiltration: Sometimes the best way to escape a chase is just to hide from your pursuers.
- Vehicles: Absolutely critical in mounted and car chases that involve a lot of maneuvering in obstacle-laden paths.
- Perception: If you can spot trouble down the road (like a snarl of slow-moving traffic or something else blocking the road) and prepare accordingly, you can be ready and react more quickly than your opponent.
- Survival (Local): Avoiding dangerous pitfalls or knowing where the shortcuts are in the area can help you to navigate and make better route choices than your foe.
- Persuasion: While actually negotiating on the run is likely difficult, you might be able to use it to feint your opponent and make him zig when he should have zagged.
- Weapon Group (Firearms): A common trope in car chases is to try to "shoot his tires out", and even if you only cause your enemy to swerve, you might be able to gain the edge from that.
Suggestions for the GM
When the time comes to start running a chase, you need to work with the players to make the environment exciting and dynamic. Working with your players here means encouraging them to ask questions like, "Do I know any short-cuts around here I could use to head him off?" or "Is there any traffic up ahead that could slow someone down if they weren't ready for it?" You should also try to provide opportunities for them to try daring stunts to end the encounter in one fell swoop (such as hitting a ramp to jump their car from the surface streets up to the freeway, or leaping down onto a moving train before the bad guys can grab them). Encourage players to be creative, and be sure to give them lots of flavor and details about their surroundings so that they have a lot to work with.
Interrogations/Torture
One of the more emotionally brutal Dramatic Interactions, interrogation or torture is an attempt to get a victim to reveal information. While some interrogations might be relatively calm and humane questionings, others might devolve into truly brutal, medieval torture sessions. If the victim wins, he holds out under pressure and refuses to divulge information. If the interrogator wins, the victim reveals the information that he desired.
Outside Factors
Most of the time, interrogation takes place under controlled conditions, and most outside factors (like a commanding officer or lawyer calling in to interfere with the interrogation) will occur as the end of the encounter, not as something which will just disrupt it.
Skill Use
- Might: For the interrogator, knowing how to literally twist someone's arm can be useful.
- Endurance: Interrogation is both physically and emotionally draining for both the interrogator and the victim.
- Fortitude: Being able to resist drugs and poisons can be critical to surviving an interrogation session.
- Science: Some interrogators like to be able to make their own drugs to loosen their victims' lips.
- Expertise (Torture): A good torturer knows how to cause pain and apply pressure (physical and emotional) to a victim to get what he wants.
- Perception: When both interrogator and victim are bluffing and trying to deceive one another, being able to see through the deception becomes important.
- Persuasion: As noted above, knowing how to deceive the other party, and prevent them from calling your bluff, is critical to both parties.
- Will: Resisting the affects of mind-altering drugs or even supernatural abilities could mean the difference between spilling the information and staying tight-lipped for a character being questioned.
- Toughness: When interrogation becomes brutal torture, being able to stand up to damage and injury for the victim is important.
Suggestions for the GM
You need to tread carefully with interrogations. These are brutal interactions which are meant to pummel characters emotionally, but while you need to make this clear to the players, you don't want to torture them! Help your players understand what their characters are going through (whether they're doing the interrogation or they're on the receiving end), and make it descriptive, but not so much that your players aren't still engaged in the game.
Social Combat
Humans are social animals, and social fights hold great sway in our lives. Social combat could involve jokes, bluster, displays of smarts and know-how, and just about anything else which could impress the crowd. Unlike other Dramatic Interactions, Social Combat almost invariably involves an audience which you are attempting to win over. You might just be trying to trash-talk a rival, or you might be trying to be the one to win the audience's favor for your own gain (such as seducing some companionship for the night before your rival does).
Engaging in social combat with a "friendly audience" (such as a politician debating her rival in her campaign headquarters) gives the character an edge, warranting a bonus edge die.
Outside Factors
Hecklers are often problematic in social situations, throwing out comments or questions which could disrupt the flow of the interaction. The heckler might direct his or her comments to one or both parties, and that party needs to react well or risk losing edge dice.
Skill Use
- Knowledge: Being able to show off your smarts and knowledge could help you bolster your position in an argument.
- Perception: Being able to see through someone's rhetoric to their true motives can be important in winning in the social arena.
- Art (Perform): A skilled performer might be able to wow an audience with a stunning orration or just earn applause with a song.
- Persuasion: The heart of any social combat is persuasion, whether you're trying to convince your audience or your rival.
- Will: Being able to resist baiting or keep your cool is important to maintaining control in social situations.
Suggestions for the GM
As discussed with Interaction Skills, you need to decide how roleplaying and the results of die rolls will come together in an encounter. Your players' words and roleplaying should matter, but so too should their characters' capabilities. Find a balance that works for your game.
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| Chapter VII: Combat | Combat Sequence | Combat Statistics | Actions | Action Descriptions | Damage | Tactical Movement and Options | Maneuvers | |
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| Chapter VIII: Environments | Zones | Terrain Effects | Climate Effects | Conditions | |
| Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions | Dramatic Interaction | Interaction Types | Reputation | Mental Strain | Taint | Examples of Taint | |
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