You can download a copy of the system on itch.io for free
Rule
Tweaks for Dialogue Focused TTRPG System
The fate of the world so often henges on conversations.
Whispers in the courts of kings, rebellions fostered in taverns, intrigue in fog filled streets, glittering dances where you attempt to find love, or peaceful villages where you seek to form friendships with fairies and people. Conversations are often about far more than attempts to persuade, lie, or intimidate. They can be about forging long term bonds. This is why many quests written in the past ten years try to get around the inherent weakness of most TTRPGs in using dialogue by having characters utilize other skills based on the interests of the one they are talking to, and use a system with a series of successes, in which the players must roll 5 successful skill checks before they roll 4 failures, for example.
Other TTRPGs provide you with bonuses for thinking of creative things to say, but you aren’t your character, and just like you probably couldn’t wield a sword effectively against a giant or shoot lighting from your fingertips, you may sometimes struggle at coming up with something clever to say when your character could do so easily.
My hope is to provide you with some possible tools and information that will help you expand upon conversations and interactions with characters in TTRPGs. The ideas and information in this zine are meant to help with most types of TTRPGs, either providing you inspiration for what to say or a way to alter and tweak the TTRPG you are playing to help expand your dialogue options.
I developed this system of dialogue for TTRPGs and Journaling RPGs by studying the psychology of charisma and the archetypes from slice of life, romance, and cozy mysteries.
My goal with this book is to help you to think of new ways to play through dialogue in your campaigns. In many cases this can be used as a system neutral method, while in others it is designed to help you alter and adjust existing systems such as 5e, Pathfinder, etc. to better fit with the complexity of social situations that might arise or even be the center of the game.
As
already stated, there isn’t a single absolute system offered up in this book,
rather, there is information and ideas to inspire and aid you. That said, there
is of course a system with rules, or rather a few systems with rules, which are
meant to act as prompts and guides to the development of your own game.
Adding
new social abilities and skills
Using
psychology and novel character archetypes I have broken charisma down into
three different types, each of which has multiple associated social skills. Charisma
is a complex set of psychological abilities which comes in many different
forms, and of which no one person is necessarily good at all of them. That
said, there can be an overlap between different types of charismatic abilities
and skills because there are many things that can be done with each of them.
There are numerous ways to use these social skills and different types of charisma in roleplaying. You can, for example, simply choose to use them as inspiration for storytelling and improv. That is, these social skills can help you figure out what your character or an NPC might say in a situation, depending on which ones you’ve decided you want your character to be good at. In this case this information doesn’t have to change the mechanics of your game, rather it simply acts as a way for you to build richer dialogue, and break writers/improv block when you feel stuck.
Alternatively,
the social skills can allow you to adjust your game.
Within
a 5e, Pathfinder, or similar system this means that Charisma can be replaced by
3 different abilities and the skills Diplomacy and Deception can be replaced by
multiple different skills which help people in different situations and ways.
Each
character will get as many social skills as they would regular skills. So,
Wizards would get 2 social skills and bards would get 3. In this way, each
character will be able to contribute to at least some social situations in
different ways, even if bards and rogues remain more talented in this area than
fighters and wizards.
Social
Abilities and Skills
Keep
in mind that I say ‘seem’ for each skill and ability because these aren’t a
reflection of a character’s personality, but rather their ability to act a
certain way.
1:
Expressiveness (Ability)
This
is the ability to skillfully express your emotions, sometimes known as
‘emotional intelligence’. It is also the ability to be vibrant, to ‘light up
room’ and help people feel passionate and engaged in a conversation. You can
also use this ability to match the necessary emotions of the moment.
-Allure:
(skill) The
ability to use facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, dialogue,
skills and more to appear approachable, attractive, friendly, etc. You can also
use allure to help people let down their guard, to relax, and otherwise feel
safe.
-Wit:
(skill) Your
skill at captivating your audience through storytelling, the use of narrative,
to say something others perceive as amusing, beautiful, profound, intelligent
or interesting.
2-Empathetic
Concern (Ability)
The
ability to seem to connect with others and help them feel they are connecting
with you. This includes the ability to read other’s emotions and attitudes, and
to demonstrate that you are sympathetic with them and share their interest.
-Gentleness: (skill) You
are able to do gentle things well, act self-deprecating in an endearing way,
and to seek forgiveness, and get those who enjoy helping or showing off to aid
you with a task.
-Connection:
(skill) You
are skilled at appearing to adapt another’s point of view and appearing
empathetic so that other’s feelings and are interested in them.
3:
Savoir-Faire (Ability)
The
ability to seem cool, to morph and fit into many social situations. Those with
this ability are skilled at ‘working a room’ through verbal skill, to hold
attention on themselves, seeming important, and are skilled at generally
fitting in with others.
-Charm:
(skill) You
are skilled at choosing your words to charm and influence others. As part of
this you are skilled at inspiring others to want to do something or to believe
in something.
-Courteous:
(skill) The
ability to appear upstanding, be polite, blend into many different social
contexts and appear ‘cool’ even in unfamiliar situations, while building a
rapport with others. As part of this you can appear forthright and trustworthy
to those you are speaking with.
Charisma
as a Class Ability
The
challenge with splitting Charisma into three different abilities is that in
some games certain classes, such as bard and sorcerer (5e), rely on Charisma
for their spell casting. To resolve this, each character can choose any one
social ability to utilize for this purpose instead. This in turn could help to
refine their personality in relation to their power. Are they filled with
Savoir-Faire, Expressive and able to make others feel alive and vibrant, or
perhaps they are more gentle in their charisma.
You can download a copy of the system on itch.io for free
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