I was doing my morning blog reading, while eating my artery clogging breakfast wrap (I went to the gym to torture myself this morning, so I fucking deserve it), and I was reading Zak S post about some awesome rules-lite dueling rules.
It occurred to me that the same principles could be used as a rules-lite duel of wits kinda thing.
Aside: I know some people complain that Charismatic debates boil down to two opposed Charisma/Intelligence/Wisdom rolls and then moving on… I know that Burning Wheel has a Duel of Wits rules and many people enjoy them. However I want rules-lite and do not want to read 8 pages of shit that I’ll have to attempt to explain to my players later.
So here we go:
Duel of Wits
- Each side rolls initiative as normal, but uses Charisma Modifier instead of Dexterity.
- Each character has Charisma + level in “Hit Points.”
- Players ACTUALLY ROLE-PLAY their arguments, etc. Roll attack (again Charisma is the bonus modifier here).
- On a hit each does d6 + Charisma modifier in damage. Natural 2o, damage is doubled.
- At zero “HP” the character can still engage in a duel of wits, but is now flustered, blubbering, and becoming harassed. Each successful hit after that results in an Ego Injury. Roll on the table below.
- If they take the same Ego Injury twice they bow out of the fight, defeated, and have lost face with this particular group of people, suffering a -2 to Charisma rolls (this could be permanent). It is possible to recover from this embarrassing defeat, but needs to be something amazing. Discuss with your GM.
- If the situation is right a player may be able to subsitute the Charisma modifier/roll with an Intelligence or Wisdom roll.
Ego Injury
1) Bruised Ego- -1 to all further rolls.
2) Stumble Over Words- -2 to all further rolls.
3) Verbal Bitch Slap- Lose next turn to recover.
4) Rebuffed- -2 to all further rolls, always lose initiative.
5) Lost Temper- -2 to Charisma rolls for 24 hours. However your insult hurts your attacker for 1/2 damage (or an Ego Injury Roll)
6) Loss of Face- -4 to Charisma rolls for 24 hours.
Honestly I haven’t tried this out, and I don’t know how well this’ll work. It’s just something that popped into my head, and I felt like jotting it down.
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January 6th, 2013 at 3:44 am
I would definitely use INT for Initiative and WIS for EgoHP. That is to say, a smart person will think of something good to say sooner, a wise person will take less offense and maintain a more secure demeanor, and a charismatic person is able to cause the most emotional harm and impress onlookers more effectively.
This also allows an argument between a stupid, ignorant showoff and a smart-aleck with average charisma to work out how it should: intelligence and wisdom would matter instead of just Charisma – in the same way a fight between two men should take into account more than just Strength.