Post by Father on May 15, 2017 15:32:29 GMT 1
Design Notes: In essence, there are four "challenges" with the intrigue system that we have here sought to address: 1. the combination of high persuasion and the charm technique is very strong, to the point where it often trumps any other choice. 2. the system does encourage the use of a "strong" technique to soften up the opponent before switching to the technique yielding the desired result. 3. Frustration tends to turn intrigues between characters of high persuasion rank into ending in the span of two rounds, typically decided by whoever gets their second influence action in first. 4. Deceitful characters must often invest in both persuasion and deception in order to be effective at what they do, as they work interchangeably in influence tests.
Initiating and quitting intrigue
You may at any time suggest that you wish to influence another character in a way that requires the adjudication of the dice gods, you must state your objective to the narrator, and the player of the character you wish to influence, if applicable (the narrator encourages objectives to be made known to all players, but may decide to use secrecy for story purposes). Primarily because sometimes, what you want is simply not possible, in which case, it is highly suggested that the intrigue still is played out, just because you can't quite get what you want usually do not mean that you cannot get a little bit of it, one might amend one's objective to something that both parties finds acceptable, or apply modifiers from the scene. Your objective need not be public, but it is encouraged to make it known to all regardless. Any character may choose to quit an intrigue, witnesses may think lesser of such a character if he only did it to escape defeat, think of accepting defeat as saving face. Although it all depends upon the circumstances, sometimes someone just asks for too much. It should be noted that intrigue is not mind control, a defeat in an intrigue should only influence a character to the extent which is reasonable given the nature of the scene. Sometimes, multiple intrigues over several scenes might be required to get what you want.
Modifiers to intrigue defense:
As in the book, situational modifiers may apply due to location, these may also apply based on the how "demanding" the objective sought by the opposing party is. In general, a +12 should be reserved as an alternative for declaring that the intrigue objective would fail, +3 would be in the realm of "demanding" and +6 "very demanding" Trying to convince Bittersteel that Daeron is the true king would very much qualify for a +12 modifier to his intrigue defense (more likely the intrigue will outright fail to be initiated). It is also possible for players to agree to such modifiers to be applied to make things more things more interesting from a story perspective, "leveling the playing field", so to speak, although narrator recommendation in the case of one PC being much more able at intrigue would be to run a simple intrigue with an added modifier to make it sufficiently challenging. If only PC's are involved in an intrigue, then they may chose to add whatever modifiers they wish if all involved players are in agreement concerning all applied modifiers, otherwise the narrator must make a ruling.
Clarification on simple intrigue:
A simple intrigue consists of a single influence test against the opponent's intrigue defense, only the character initiating simple intrigue makes a test, it typically applies only in the case of what you are asking for happens to be something the target ordinarily would be inclined to grant or comply with. An intimidate to make someone jump out of the way or back down momentarily is different from using coercion to get something more complex (that also lowers disposition, which a simple intrigue does not (automatically) do), a charm might manage to get a small favor or heads-up because you asked nice, but a more lasting bond cannot be forged with just one test. Bluffing your way past a guard would also be an appropriate use. It is up to the narrator (or fellow players, regarding their characters) if a simple intrigue (if any intrigue is required at all) is sufficient. A character of sufficiently higher status may always initiate a simple intrigue in place of a standard one and, depending on the objective sought, could potentially yield the same results, this is often the case with Intimidate and Bargain as the power and influence such characters wields can be used to get their way, while the other techniques often requires a more personal touch to get far-reaching results. Though more than one lord thought everyone agreed with him because he succeeded on a simple convince and nobody spoke out against him because of his high station.
Techniques.
The techniques are largely as in the book, however a few changes are implemented:
Charm and Seduction now deal influence based on Awareness.
You must choose technique at the start of your first turn.
Further, whenever you change technique, your opponent regains composure equal to his will rank and you take -1D on the first influence test with the new technique.
The role of Deception.
Influence actions now always use persuasion, however, bluff or act (depending on technique) should be used instead of the usual specialty whenever you are actively lying or deceiving. Also see the section on actions for new uses of deception.
Frustration.
-You can take as much frustration during a standard intrigue as you have will ranks.
-For each point of frustration taken, your intrigue defense is lowered by 2 (to minimum 0), you do not suffer any penalties to tests.
-You may take a point of frustration to regain a number of points of composure equal to your will rank.
-You may take a point of frustration to take any non-influence action in addition to your regular action on your turn.
-You may take a point of frustration to gain +1D and +1 influence per DoS if applicable to any test before making it.
Actions:
At the start of the intrigue you may choose to attempt one of the following free actions, it's effects apply once initiatives and opponent's free action has been resolved:
1. Deception (act) against opponent's passive Awareness(empathy), gain +1 per DoS to all passive results, you may trade +2 worth of bonus into +1 to all passive results, composure and intrigue defense.
2. Status (Breeding) against opponent's passive Will(Dedication), your opponent's DR is treated as if their disposition towards you is improved by 2 steps per DoS for the duration of the intrigue.
3. Awareness (Empathy) against opponent's passive Deception(act), gain +1 per DoS to any non-influence actions taken during the intrigue, you may trade +2 of these into +1 to all tests.
4. Language (Breeding) against opponent's passive Will(Dedication), gain a pool of 1b per DoS that may be added to persuasion tests during the intrigue, you may give up two of these to gain +1 to all persuasion tests or +1D to a single persuasion test.
The Status(Breeding) test you can make at the start of intrigue is replaced by the above options.
Other actions (only altered ones are listed):
Assist: Test Awareness (Empathy) TN 9, on a success you grant an assist bonus (derived from same ability as the one tested, as normal) to the next test of another character this intrigue, you may act before the one assisted regardless of initiative.
Consider: This action works as taking extra time, adding +1D to the next test you make (may be taken multiple times, the bonus is subject to the standard limitations of taking extra time).
Fast Talk: Test Deception(Act) against opponent's passive will(dedication), on a success, your opponent does not add his cunning to his intrigue defense against your next influence action this intrigue. You also regain composure equal to your DoS.
Manipulate: Test Deception(Bluff) against opponent's passive will(dedication), on a success, you throw him off balance and regain composure equal to your DoS. In addition, you force your opponent to switch to the technique that most likely will result in the most beneficial outcome from your point of view, in light of your present objective, in the event that your opponent should defeat you. You do not regain composure for this switch, nor does your opponent suffer a penalty for it(both those things will hit if he were to switch back). After a number of actions equal to the DoS scored, your opponent may switch back without consequence.
Mollify: This action has been removed.
Shield of Reputation: Make an Audience test vs your opponent's passive Status(Reputation)+Chivalry/Virtue, upon a success, your opponent's disposition towards you is treated as if it was one rank higher until the end of the intrigue. In addition, if the result of the intrigue does not alter the opponent's disposition in any other way and you have succeeded on a Shield of Reputation action, your opponent's disposition increases by one step.
Yield: It is not technically an action. You may at any time suggest to end the intrigue with a compromise proposal.
Specialties used for otherwise unaltered actions:
Read Target: Awareness(empathy) vs Passive Deception(act)
Special rule: Other than assist, read target and influence, you may not use the same action two turns in a row.
Disposition
-A "disposition step" now refers to a position above or below zero, while disposition rank refers to indifferent, amiable and so on, as noted below.
- The phrasing +# disposition or disposition +# always refers to disposition steps.
-Disposition rank may sometimes be noted as disposition rating.
-Using the Intimidate/Taunt technique or Act/bluff specialties (act/bluff takes precedence) have separate modifiers from disposition as noted below.
Given this change, certain intrigue results are altered (any consequences not affecting disposition are left unaltered):
Charm: Improve disposition by one step for each rank in charm (minimum one).
Intimidate: If target cannot escape, he acts as if amiable, or one rank better than current, whatever is better until the end of the scene or the task is completed. Afterwards disposition decreases by two steps if escaped and otherwise four.
Incite: You may choose between reducing disposition by one step per rank in incite (minimum one), or temporarily by three times your ranks in incite (minimum three), fading by two steps per day.
Seduce: Improve disposition by one step, then temporarily by two steps for each rank in seduce (minimum two), these temporary steps fade by one per day.
Taunt: The disposition decreases by two steps.
More than one participant in intrigue
Each intrigue can only have two primary participants, these are the only who may be defeated, have an objective, take frustration and perform the influence and shield of reputation actions, though some other actions (manipulate in particular) holds little meaning for one not a primary participant. Other participants may however be targeted by influence actions (and non-primary participants may do this against each other), a defeat here carries no particular consequences, but effectively removes this character from taking further part in the intrigue. Secondary participants does not gain a free action at the start of the intrigue, though they may take one of them as their first action in the intrigue.
Intrigue against a crowd
This works like a simple intrigue, only that instead of a specific opponent, you address a group of people. Given the nature of the scene, not all techniques are likely to be appropriate and subtle effects are not likely attainable. By default, the TN is the highest intrigue defense in the group, but with additional modifiers:
Size of group:
3-20: +3
21-100: +6
More than 100: +9
Optional Rule: Partial Victory
An issue with the intrigue system is that it tends to be a winner-takes-all approach. While yield can be used to work around this, another option is to agree at the start of the intrigue to make it different. One simple way to do this is to count the amount of influence dealt over the course of the intrigue, possibly adjusting for one party having higher composure (otherwise "attack power" would be favored more), if the winner dealt 20 influence and the loser 15, other factors being the same, then one could say that the victor gained 100% and the other 75%, meaning it might be reasonable that the loser gains something worth 75% of what the victor gains, or that the victor only gains 25% of what he wanted. Obviously, this is not something that one easily can make hard rules for and must be judged on a case by case basis. The narrator's favored version is to compare frustration taken in similar fashion.
Expanded Techniques
Most of what follows is an interpretation and clarification of what the book describes as outcomes from the techniques, with additional expansions of their uses, and sometimes discussed is alternative simple intrigue outcomes (as those tends to have smaller consequences).
Bargain can actually be more powerful than several players I know often have thought. Bargain is about getting goods or services in exchange for something, the book includes alliances as an example. It is a strictly transnactional approach to getting what you want, as long as you have something to give away that the other party could be willing to take in exchange for it, bargain works. Partial Victory mechanics may be suitable to determine the particulars of a deal. Though discounts of some sorts could certainly be provided in exchange for whatever the other is seeking if only one party uses bargain.
Charm is for cultivating friendship and leaving good impressions, thus the +1D to next intrigue and disposition increases. For simple intrigues, a single step improvement and no bonus to next intrigue would be appropriate. Under partial victory conditions, the +1D might be considered a potential forfeit or a losing party using charm might achieve some of the disposition gain he would with a clean win. An alternative use of charm may be to solicit favors, by it's direct application, only things which the new and improved disposition would make the other party grant freely should be considered, larger favors may be obtainable instead of the regular consequences, by cashing in on the created goodwill, but the costs to whomever grants them should not be so great that he would demand other things in return. Charm would be an excellent choice to attempt to defuse a situation if the angry party holds you in high regard.
Convince is about bringing others around to see the point of view that you present, at some extent this is tricky to judge, as your argument has to be believable to the person in the first place. If you want them to act in a certain way, you must be able to convince them that this is to their benefit, which either means that this is so, or otherwise you must be deceiving. If you try to sweeten the deal, back it up with threats or some other things, then it swiftly becomes something like bargain or intimidate instead. The power of convince is that you do not have to be their friend, do not have to offer anything in return or resort to less friendly methods. Convince also serves as a backup option for things which does not readily fall into the domain of other techniques.
Incite is all about making someone hate someone else, about as straightforward as that, with a simple intrigue, spurring some small specific action might be appropriate, or simply have disposition drop by a single step. With a standard intrigue it should be reasonable to be able to suggest how this hate will play out, though this is easily a case where complex intrigue might be required if you want to stir up a serious feud.
Intimidate is also straightforward, you use threats to make the target cooperate, obviously, the threat must be credible, so you could force information out of someone at swordpoint, or you may threaten with using your power to crush him, or blackmail or any number of things. Disposition will suffer, but you get what you want in the short term, though with a risk of revenge or attempts at turning the table down the line. For simple intrigue, it is primarily appropriate for use when the target is threatened into doing something in the present scene. Although the king can easily use a simple intrigue to threaten a lord into doing whatever the king pleases, unless said lord thinks he can counter with a revolt that may prove to be successful, there isn't much stopping the king from stripping him of lands and title if he so fancies. So a high status being used to force simple intrigue can be appropriate to get the standard results.
Seduce is another mostly cut and dry case, you make the target feel very strong passion for you, but it'll fade. If you get them to friendly disposition and they are attracted to your gender, they'll want to sleep with you. Simple? Maybe. A perfectly acceptable use of seduction is to make someone want to sleep with you so badly that they'll do just about anything in the hope that you'll consent, up to and including murder. If they are not attracted to you in that way, it is still possible to exploit the idolization, but perhaps not quite so powerful as the femme fatale can work her charms. Simple intrigue seduction isn't that well suited to other things than getting that fair maid to lay down in the grass, however, though a certain king took advantage of his high status to do it 900 times (by his own account).
Taunt is about using barbs and insults to make someone rush into action. If done publicly, you might shame him into having no choice or be seen a coward or something, but that usually will make others think less of you (at least if they notice what you're doing). The most straightforward use of taunt is to trigger a challenge to duel. But any number of outcomes is possible. Sometimes the target might straight up attack you, or possibly flee the embarrassment of the situation. It is also possible to use taunt with the objective to generally shame the target in the eyes of others and not so much induce any particular action. The disposition hit reflects that if the target doesn't catch on to your insults at once, he later realizes that it were your words that brought him into the misery. Appropriate uses for single intrigue is to taunt the target into acting here and now (and disposition changes may thus sill be warranted), but also a more friendly taunt or challenge.
Resist is a special technique that can be used if a character have no objective they intend to pursue but are not so opposed to the objective of the other party that they would quit outright. One may of course use Charm or another technique seeking to fast-talk your way out of the situation. If using the resist technique you gain +1 ID and +1 DR because you are focused solely on defense.
Resist does not use persuasion for the influence action as normal. The ability used instead depends on the opponent's technique:
Bargain: Will (Dedication)
Charm: Awareness (Empathy)
Convince: Cunning (Logic)
Incite: Will (Dedication)
Intimidate: Will (Bravery)
Seduce: Will (Dedication)
Taunt: Will (Dedication)
Favors
Favors can be considered "currency" in the game of thrones, typically gained through events, intrigue using the bargain technique or to the losing party in an intrigue yield. Technically, one might dispense with an intrigue entirely and grant the objective of one party in exchange for a favor owed. Favors can be considered minor or major, with a major favor typically being worth 3 minor ones. A minor favor generally only involves a claim on a character's time or some small amount of resources, while a major favor tends to involve a claim on a considerable amount of time or resources. If it involves taking on significant risk, it is always a major favor. Generally, if you initiate an intrigue, you would not put being owed a favor as your objective, but you could ask for something specific which usually would be worth a favor. Though clever schemes have been known to seek to be owed a favor for doing something they intended to do anyway.
Examples of minor favors:
-Engaging a third party in an intrigue with low stakes.
-Granting/receiving a favor to wear in a joust.
-Stand for another in a duel of honor.
-Join a melee team.
-Lend superior equipment.
-Gifts worth up to 5GD*Status rank of recipient.
-Gain +1 Disposition (by cancelling the "debt").
Examples of major favors:
-Spend influence, glory, coffers or faction points.
-Engaging a third party in an intrigue with high stakes.
-Stand for another in trial for combat.
-Throw a jousting match.
-Gain +2 Disposition (by cancelling the "debt").
-Generally, if you give a favor to another, you can expect to be given a favor of same value in return. If the difference in power is considerable, the stronger party may expect to be owed two or more favors for each one they grant.
Initiating and quitting intrigue
You may at any time suggest that you wish to influence another character in a way that requires the adjudication of the dice gods, you must state your objective to the narrator, and the player of the character you wish to influence, if applicable (the narrator encourages objectives to be made known to all players, but may decide to use secrecy for story purposes). Primarily because sometimes, what you want is simply not possible, in which case, it is highly suggested that the intrigue still is played out, just because you can't quite get what you want usually do not mean that you cannot get a little bit of it, one might amend one's objective to something that both parties finds acceptable, or apply modifiers from the scene. Your objective need not be public, but it is encouraged to make it known to all regardless. Any character may choose to quit an intrigue, witnesses may think lesser of such a character if he only did it to escape defeat, think of accepting defeat as saving face. Although it all depends upon the circumstances, sometimes someone just asks for too much. It should be noted that intrigue is not mind control, a defeat in an intrigue should only influence a character to the extent which is reasonable given the nature of the scene. Sometimes, multiple intrigues over several scenes might be required to get what you want.
Modifiers to intrigue defense:
As in the book, situational modifiers may apply due to location, these may also apply based on the how "demanding" the objective sought by the opposing party is. In general, a +12 should be reserved as an alternative for declaring that the intrigue objective would fail, +3 would be in the realm of "demanding" and +6 "very demanding" Trying to convince Bittersteel that Daeron is the true king would very much qualify for a +12 modifier to his intrigue defense (more likely the intrigue will outright fail to be initiated). It is also possible for players to agree to such modifiers to be applied to make things more things more interesting from a story perspective, "leveling the playing field", so to speak, although narrator recommendation in the case of one PC being much more able at intrigue would be to run a simple intrigue with an added modifier to make it sufficiently challenging. If only PC's are involved in an intrigue, then they may chose to add whatever modifiers they wish if all involved players are in agreement concerning all applied modifiers, otherwise the narrator must make a ruling.
Clarification on simple intrigue:
A simple intrigue consists of a single influence test against the opponent's intrigue defense, only the character initiating simple intrigue makes a test, it typically applies only in the case of what you are asking for happens to be something the target ordinarily would be inclined to grant or comply with. An intimidate to make someone jump out of the way or back down momentarily is different from using coercion to get something more complex (that also lowers disposition, which a simple intrigue does not (automatically) do), a charm might manage to get a small favor or heads-up because you asked nice, but a more lasting bond cannot be forged with just one test. Bluffing your way past a guard would also be an appropriate use. It is up to the narrator (or fellow players, regarding their characters) if a simple intrigue (if any intrigue is required at all) is sufficient. A character of sufficiently higher status may always initiate a simple intrigue in place of a standard one and, depending on the objective sought, could potentially yield the same results, this is often the case with Intimidate and Bargain as the power and influence such characters wields can be used to get their way, while the other techniques often requires a more personal touch to get far-reaching results. Though more than one lord thought everyone agreed with him because he succeeded on a simple convince and nobody spoke out against him because of his high station.
Techniques.
The techniques are largely as in the book, however a few changes are implemented:
Charm and Seduction now deal influence based on Awareness.
You must choose technique at the start of your first turn.
Further, whenever you change technique, your opponent regains composure equal to his will rank and you take -1D on the first influence test with the new technique.
The role of Deception.
Influence actions now always use persuasion, however, bluff or act (depending on technique) should be used instead of the usual specialty whenever you are actively lying or deceiving. Also see the section on actions for new uses of deception.
Frustration.
-You can take as much frustration during a standard intrigue as you have will ranks.
-For each point of frustration taken, your intrigue defense is lowered by 2 (to minimum 0), you do not suffer any penalties to tests.
-You may take a point of frustration to regain a number of points of composure equal to your will rank.
-You may take a point of frustration to take any non-influence action in addition to your regular action on your turn.
-You may take a point of frustration to gain +1D and +1 influence per DoS if applicable to any test before making it.
Actions:
At the start of the intrigue you may choose to attempt one of the following free actions, it's effects apply once initiatives and opponent's free action has been resolved:
1. Deception (act) against opponent's passive Awareness(empathy), gain +1 per DoS to all passive results, you may trade +2 worth of bonus into +1 to all passive results, composure and intrigue defense.
2. Status (Breeding) against opponent's passive Will(Dedication), your opponent's DR is treated as if their disposition towards you is improved by 2 steps per DoS for the duration of the intrigue.
3. Awareness (Empathy) against opponent's passive Deception(act), gain +1 per DoS to any non-influence actions taken during the intrigue, you may trade +2 of these into +1 to all tests.
4. Language (Breeding) against opponent's passive Will(Dedication), gain a pool of 1b per DoS that may be added to persuasion tests during the intrigue, you may give up two of these to gain +1 to all persuasion tests or +1D to a single persuasion test.
The Status(Breeding) test you can make at the start of intrigue is replaced by the above options.
Other actions (only altered ones are listed):
Assist: Test Awareness (Empathy) TN 9, on a success you grant an assist bonus (derived from same ability as the one tested, as normal) to the next test of another character this intrigue, you may act before the one assisted regardless of initiative.
Consider: This action works as taking extra time, adding +1D to the next test you make (may be taken multiple times, the bonus is subject to the standard limitations of taking extra time).
Fast Talk: Test Deception(Act) against opponent's passive will(dedication), on a success, your opponent does not add his cunning to his intrigue defense against your next influence action this intrigue. You also regain composure equal to your DoS.
Manipulate: Test Deception(Bluff) against opponent's passive will(dedication), on a success, you throw him off balance and regain composure equal to your DoS. In addition, you force your opponent to switch to the technique that most likely will result in the most beneficial outcome from your point of view, in light of your present objective, in the event that your opponent should defeat you. You do not regain composure for this switch, nor does your opponent suffer a penalty for it(both those things will hit if he were to switch back). After a number of actions equal to the DoS scored, your opponent may switch back without consequence.
Mollify: This action has been removed.
Shield of Reputation: Make an Audience test vs your opponent's passive Status(Reputation)+Chivalry/Virtue, upon a success, your opponent's disposition towards you is treated as if it was one rank higher until the end of the intrigue. In addition, if the result of the intrigue does not alter the opponent's disposition in any other way and you have succeeded on a Shield of Reputation action, your opponent's disposition increases by one step.
Yield: It is not technically an action. You may at any time suggest to end the intrigue with a compromise proposal.
Specialties used for otherwise unaltered actions:
Read Target: Awareness(empathy) vs Passive Deception(act)
Special rule: Other than assist, read target and influence, you may not use the same action two turns in a row.
Disposition
-A "disposition step" now refers to a position above or below zero, while disposition rank refers to indifferent, amiable and so on, as noted below.
- The phrasing +# disposition or disposition +# always refers to disposition steps.
-Disposition rank may sometimes be noted as disposition rating.
-Using the Intimidate/Taunt technique or Act/bluff specialties (act/bluff takes precedence) have separate modifiers from disposition as noted below.
Disposition Steps | Disposition Rating | DR | Persuasion Modifier | Intimidate/Taunt modifier | Act/Bluff modifier |
9 and above | Affectionate | 1 | +3 | -6 | -3 |
5 to 8 | Friendly | 2 | +2 | -4 | -2 |
2 to 4 | Amiable | 3 | +1 | -2 | -1 |
-1 to 1 | Indifferent | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-2 to -4 | Dislike | 5 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
-5 to -8 | Unfriendly | 6 | -4 | 0 | 0 |
-9 or below | Hostile | 7 | -6 | 0 | 0 |
Given this change, certain intrigue results are altered (any consequences not affecting disposition are left unaltered):
Charm: Improve disposition by one step for each rank in charm (minimum one).
Intimidate: If target cannot escape, he acts as if amiable, or one rank better than current, whatever is better until the end of the scene or the task is completed. Afterwards disposition decreases by two steps if escaped and otherwise four.
Incite: You may choose between reducing disposition by one step per rank in incite (minimum one), or temporarily by three times your ranks in incite (minimum three), fading by two steps per day.
Seduce: Improve disposition by one step, then temporarily by two steps for each rank in seduce (minimum two), these temporary steps fade by one per day.
Taunt: The disposition decreases by two steps.
More than one participant in intrigue
Each intrigue can only have two primary participants, these are the only who may be defeated, have an objective, take frustration and perform the influence and shield of reputation actions, though some other actions (manipulate in particular) holds little meaning for one not a primary participant. Other participants may however be targeted by influence actions (and non-primary participants may do this against each other), a defeat here carries no particular consequences, but effectively removes this character from taking further part in the intrigue. Secondary participants does not gain a free action at the start of the intrigue, though they may take one of them as their first action in the intrigue.
Intrigue against a crowd
This works like a simple intrigue, only that instead of a specific opponent, you address a group of people. Given the nature of the scene, not all techniques are likely to be appropriate and subtle effects are not likely attainable. By default, the TN is the highest intrigue defense in the group, but with additional modifiers:
Size of group:
3-20: +3
21-100: +6
More than 100: +9
Optional Rule: Partial Victory
An issue with the intrigue system is that it tends to be a winner-takes-all approach. While yield can be used to work around this, another option is to agree at the start of the intrigue to make it different. One simple way to do this is to count the amount of influence dealt over the course of the intrigue, possibly adjusting for one party having higher composure (otherwise "attack power" would be favored more), if the winner dealt 20 influence and the loser 15, other factors being the same, then one could say that the victor gained 100% and the other 75%, meaning it might be reasonable that the loser gains something worth 75% of what the victor gains, or that the victor only gains 25% of what he wanted. Obviously, this is not something that one easily can make hard rules for and must be judged on a case by case basis. The narrator's favored version is to compare frustration taken in similar fashion.
Expanded Techniques
Most of what follows is an interpretation and clarification of what the book describes as outcomes from the techniques, with additional expansions of their uses, and sometimes discussed is alternative simple intrigue outcomes (as those tends to have smaller consequences).
Bargain can actually be more powerful than several players I know often have thought. Bargain is about getting goods or services in exchange for something, the book includes alliances as an example. It is a strictly transnactional approach to getting what you want, as long as you have something to give away that the other party could be willing to take in exchange for it, bargain works. Partial Victory mechanics may be suitable to determine the particulars of a deal. Though discounts of some sorts could certainly be provided in exchange for whatever the other is seeking if only one party uses bargain.
Charm is for cultivating friendship and leaving good impressions, thus the +1D to next intrigue and disposition increases. For simple intrigues, a single step improvement and no bonus to next intrigue would be appropriate. Under partial victory conditions, the +1D might be considered a potential forfeit or a losing party using charm might achieve some of the disposition gain he would with a clean win. An alternative use of charm may be to solicit favors, by it's direct application, only things which the new and improved disposition would make the other party grant freely should be considered, larger favors may be obtainable instead of the regular consequences, by cashing in on the created goodwill, but the costs to whomever grants them should not be so great that he would demand other things in return. Charm would be an excellent choice to attempt to defuse a situation if the angry party holds you in high regard.
Convince is about bringing others around to see the point of view that you present, at some extent this is tricky to judge, as your argument has to be believable to the person in the first place. If you want them to act in a certain way, you must be able to convince them that this is to their benefit, which either means that this is so, or otherwise you must be deceiving. If you try to sweeten the deal, back it up with threats or some other things, then it swiftly becomes something like bargain or intimidate instead. The power of convince is that you do not have to be their friend, do not have to offer anything in return or resort to less friendly methods. Convince also serves as a backup option for things which does not readily fall into the domain of other techniques.
Incite is all about making someone hate someone else, about as straightforward as that, with a simple intrigue, spurring some small specific action might be appropriate, or simply have disposition drop by a single step. With a standard intrigue it should be reasonable to be able to suggest how this hate will play out, though this is easily a case where complex intrigue might be required if you want to stir up a serious feud.
Intimidate is also straightforward, you use threats to make the target cooperate, obviously, the threat must be credible, so you could force information out of someone at swordpoint, or you may threaten with using your power to crush him, or blackmail or any number of things. Disposition will suffer, but you get what you want in the short term, though with a risk of revenge or attempts at turning the table down the line. For simple intrigue, it is primarily appropriate for use when the target is threatened into doing something in the present scene. Although the king can easily use a simple intrigue to threaten a lord into doing whatever the king pleases, unless said lord thinks he can counter with a revolt that may prove to be successful, there isn't much stopping the king from stripping him of lands and title if he so fancies. So a high status being used to force simple intrigue can be appropriate to get the standard results.
Seduce is another mostly cut and dry case, you make the target feel very strong passion for you, but it'll fade. If you get them to friendly disposition and they are attracted to your gender, they'll want to sleep with you. Simple? Maybe. A perfectly acceptable use of seduction is to make someone want to sleep with you so badly that they'll do just about anything in the hope that you'll consent, up to and including murder. If they are not attracted to you in that way, it is still possible to exploit the idolization, but perhaps not quite so powerful as the femme fatale can work her charms. Simple intrigue seduction isn't that well suited to other things than getting that fair maid to lay down in the grass, however, though a certain king took advantage of his high status to do it 900 times (by his own account).
Taunt is about using barbs and insults to make someone rush into action. If done publicly, you might shame him into having no choice or be seen a coward or something, but that usually will make others think less of you (at least if they notice what you're doing). The most straightforward use of taunt is to trigger a challenge to duel. But any number of outcomes is possible. Sometimes the target might straight up attack you, or possibly flee the embarrassment of the situation. It is also possible to use taunt with the objective to generally shame the target in the eyes of others and not so much induce any particular action. The disposition hit reflects that if the target doesn't catch on to your insults at once, he later realizes that it were your words that brought him into the misery. Appropriate uses for single intrigue is to taunt the target into acting here and now (and disposition changes may thus sill be warranted), but also a more friendly taunt or challenge.
Resist is a special technique that can be used if a character have no objective they intend to pursue but are not so opposed to the objective of the other party that they would quit outright. One may of course use Charm or another technique seeking to fast-talk your way out of the situation. If using the resist technique you gain +1 ID and +1 DR because you are focused solely on defense.
Resist does not use persuasion for the influence action as normal. The ability used instead depends on the opponent's technique:
Bargain: Will (Dedication)
Charm: Awareness (Empathy)
Convince: Cunning (Logic)
Incite: Will (Dedication)
Intimidate: Will (Bravery)
Seduce: Will (Dedication)
Taunt: Will (Dedication)
Favors
Favors can be considered "currency" in the game of thrones, typically gained through events, intrigue using the bargain technique or to the losing party in an intrigue yield. Technically, one might dispense with an intrigue entirely and grant the objective of one party in exchange for a favor owed. Favors can be considered minor or major, with a major favor typically being worth 3 minor ones. A minor favor generally only involves a claim on a character's time or some small amount of resources, while a major favor tends to involve a claim on a considerable amount of time or resources. If it involves taking on significant risk, it is always a major favor. Generally, if you initiate an intrigue, you would not put being owed a favor as your objective, but you could ask for something specific which usually would be worth a favor. Though clever schemes have been known to seek to be owed a favor for doing something they intended to do anyway.
Examples of minor favors:
-Engaging a third party in an intrigue with low stakes.
-Granting/receiving a favor to wear in a joust.
-Stand for another in a duel of honor.
-Join a melee team.
-Lend superior equipment.
-Gifts worth up to 5GD*Status rank of recipient.
-Gain +1 Disposition (by cancelling the "debt").
Examples of major favors:
-Spend influence, glory, coffers or faction points.
-Engaging a third party in an intrigue with high stakes.
-Stand for another in trial for combat.
-Throw a jousting match.
-Gain +2 Disposition (by cancelling the "debt").
-Generally, if you give a favor to another, you can expect to be given a favor of same value in return. If the difference in power is considerable, the stronger party may expect to be owed two or more favors for each one they grant.