Member-only story
Social Manoeuvring in D&D: a new system
Dungeons & Dragons is not, by and large, a game frought with complex diplomacy and tense manipulations of hearts and minds. Starting with its 3rd edition, it has tended to possess multiple blunt social skills more or less along the lines of a reasoning option, a bullying option, and a lying option.
One can omit social finesse entirely and simply cast a spell…
As with almost everything else in D&D, particularly in the more homogenised and elegant 5th edition, the player attempting a social manoeuvre will roll against a set difficulty (DC), and if they achieve this DC then the DM will decide what the most reasonable outcome is.
It’s a crude system, but it’s meant to be; D&D is not a game about social manipulation, but a game about exploration and combat in a Western fantasy setting (some will disagree about that, but I think there are better systems for non-Western non-fantasy games). One can omit social finesse entirely and simply cast a spell upon one’s diplomatic target, whether to befriend them or remove their free will entirely.
Why is a new system needed?
It isn’t! This system is entirely unnecessary for most D&D campaigns and, having just made it up for this piece, I have yet to implement it in any of my games.
