Campaign guide plight of the tuatha (1) 59

Campaign Guide Tir Ydrail/Ostmen Islands Renown is gained in the lands of TirYdrail and the Ostmen Islands by the recognition of three different political powers: the leaders of the clans who must be paid tribute in order to assure them that the petitioner does not wish to overthrow their claims to rulership, the druids or priests who must determine if a petitioner is spiritually worthy, and the bards and skalds who must be convinced the petitioners deeds are worthy of their songs and tales Only by the acceptance of all three will Renown be gained Ranks 1-5 feasts are fairly small affairs often held in villages or larger moderate sized buildings with in a city A feast is held with fair quality food and drink available to all Valuable weapons and armor are given to the one or two clan leaders in attendance Druids or priests will sacrifice a few animals to the gods and a bard is convinced to attend Such events usually only last a single-night and the attendance is less than 100 Ranks 6-9 feasts are held in the feast hall or long house of a powerful clan leader Dozens of other clan leaders are generally in attendance along with the more well known of their retinue During the day, contests of skill and strength are held while at night large amounts of food and drink are consumed Bards of skill attend to compete with each other to show their skills and win prizes At the end of the celebration, druids or priests will sacrifice tens of livestock to the gods in order to sanctify the feast The petitioner is expected to give gifts of great value, gold plated armor, jewel encrusted weapons, fine horses and chariots, to all the clan leaders who attend A rank 10 feast is an affair that only happens once every few years Those of Tir Ydrail travel to Loch Lia Fail while the Ostmen gather at Hevejor, both the holiest of sites, for a week long feast and celebration in the petitioners honor Most every clan leader and their retinues will attend to meet the petitioner as well as receive valuable gifts of gold, jewels, weapons, and even ships Dozens of bards and skalds arrive to compete in contests that last for days, while warriors compete in wrestling matches, feats of strength, and test of bravery which border on foolishness The celebration is a glorification of life and virility as the number of children born three seasons hence will attest Druids and priests read omens and make predictions of events that will occur in the years to come, sometimes sacrificing over a hundred livestock in the process Tens of thousands attend such a celebration 58 War of Words Many times during play situations will arise when players encounter an NPC who needs to be convinced of important information Often the situation is resolved by a single social skill roll At times this can feel anticlimactic as one botched die roll can ruin the encounter Additionally it limits players around the table from working together and using more than just the roll of the character with the highest Diplomacy score Likewise, it is not uncommon for players around the table to be discussing their beliefs about what should be their next course of action and the game stalls because the players cannot be convinced that their chosen course of action is not “the best.” Not only does this take time away from playing, but all too often the case is won by the player with the best skill of persuasion winning even though the character’s skill might line up differently Sometimes people get frustrated and it is hard to get back into the excitement of the story at hand Sometimes a resolution is handled by a “who rolls highest” way of deciding the issue, but this is also anticlimactic It is for just these cases that players and the GM may wish instead to engage in War of Words encounter The War of Words mechanics aims at adding a degree of excitement as well as roleplaying opportunities to important social interactions They also lessen the effect of one bad roll of the dice has upon the result of intense or complex negations and discussions Players are also able to call for a War of Words in order to resolve issues at the table in and exciting and entertaining way A War of Words is not meant to be used for everyday simple social interactions For instance, negotiating the price of a sword with a merchant or bluffing your way past a guard should still use the standard Diplomacy and Bluff checks A War of Words is only called for when the stakes are high A convincing a lord that they should accept the Emperor’s peace terms, proving to the captain of the guards that your group was not responsible for the theft of a merchants jewels, or negotiating with the general of a legion to spare your village from attack A War of Words is divided into four separate phases: Declaration of Intent, Determination of Resolve, The Debate, and Resolution By the end of the fourth phase, the debaters will arrive at a resolution to their conflict Phase One: Declaration of Intent In this phase of a War of Words, both sides first will declare what it is they want to win in the debate Their Intent must