Alright, time to throw some dice. Your discussion about whether Sundrop is locally born is gently rebuffed. But you recover by pivoting into discussing favorite literature, which Sundrop immediately engages with, earning you one Victory point. Sundrop follows up by asking about your parents. You control the narrative on the discussion about your parents. How do you phrase this?
[ ] Gentle Rebuff: You gently decline discussing your parents at this time. No mechanical benefit.
[ ] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
[ ] Segue: You give a few offhand comments about your parents before returning to a different topic in the previous conversation. (Add three dice to one of your previous attacks and reroll it. Sundrop's defense remains the same. Unlocked by rolling double (or more) Sundrop's attack value)
(Successful social defense rolled, general Social defense information will be added to next Event turn post)
(no moratorium on voting, vote will close at 1am central standard time. Update will be posted by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.)
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
Don't think we're beating that roll of hers even with a reroll.
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
Don't think we're beating that roll of hers even with a reroll.
I think we get three bonus dice though on the reroll? I don't think the topic is really worth pursuing at the moment. I can't remember if the dice in this quest get summed together or if it is success based. Anyway even if we did have good odds I don't think prying for more info is that useful.
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
For me, it's less that we're not beating her roll and more that if she doesn't want to talk about it we shouldn't push. This is a first date, not an interrogation. Sure, we'd love to know more about where she comes from, but if she's reluctant to talk about it, that can easily be put off for a bit.
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
For me, it's less that we're not beating her roll and more that if she doesn't want to talk about it we shouldn't push. This is a first date, not an interrogation. Sure, we'd love to know more about where she comes from, but if she's reluctant to talk about it, that can easily be put off for a bit.
I mean, she clearly has some secrets, sure, but that's hardly uncommon even outside the magic community and this is only a first date...expecting her to trust us with even fairly casual secrets is a bit fast, I think. If she's still dodging questions on her past and job after we've been dating a while we should maybe be concerned, but it's way too early to be worried about that kind of reluctance as of yet.
I mean, she clearly has some secrets, sure, but that's hardly uncommon even outside the magic community and this is only a first date...expecting her to trust us with even fairly casual secrets is a bit fast, I think. If she's still dodging questions on her past and job after we've been dating a while we should maybe be concerned, but it's way too early to be worried about that kind of reluctance as of yet.
Scheduled vote count started by Useless Writer on May 13, 2024 at 9:58 PM, finished with 9 posts and 6 votes.
[X] Evoke sympathy: You improve Sundrop's opinion of you by discussing the woes of your childhood. (Add one Blood die to your event dice going forward. Unlocked by rolling six or more then Sundrop's attack value.)
(This one fought me. Had to poll my girlfriend on how to phrase some things before we came up with what we felt was a suitable gentle rebuke.)
Social combat, much like physical combat, Utilizes all four of your stats. How they are utilized will be discussed by stat below
Blood: Your primary social stat. Representing your general loquaciousness. Regardless of whether you are socially attacking or defending, you'll always be rolling Blood dice at a bare minimum.
Yellow Bile: Your passion dice. These dice represent the number of topics you can take the initiative to discuss during a turn. In addition, when either attacking or defending a topic you are passionate about, you add your Yellow Bile dice to the dice pool. Topics of discussion you are passionate about will be listed as such.
Black Bile: Your social defense stat. These dice are added to any defensive roll.
Phlegm: Your social awareness stat. These dice are used at the start of combat to identify Sensitive Topics and are rolled against a Target's Blood dice, furthermore you can chose to forgo attacking with one of your bile dice and instead roll these dice to determine your opponent's Interests, Desires, and Sensitive Topics.
Topics: General topics of discussion. Succeeding upon attacking a topic grants you some information about the Target. This may reveal new topics of discussion or provide some degree of benefit depending on the Topic's descriptors. Failing an attack upon a Topic exhausts that Topic for one turn.
Sensitive Topics: Some topics of discussion are more painful then pleasant to talk about. Failing a sensitive topic roll will subtract one Victory point from your overall total. Succeeding a roll on a Sensitive Topic will grant you a free reroll that can be applied to any failed roll in a different topic. Any remaining rerolls not used by the end of the date will be converted into Victory points.
Interests: Your target's general interests, successfully discussing a target's interests will increase their interest in you during dates, thereby granting you one Victory Point, which can be spent at the end of the date to achieve specific goals. Additionally, succeeding at discussing an interest by a particularly wide margin (10 or more) will grant a bonus Victory point.
Desires: While often linked to a target's Interests, desires are more specific and harder to successfully discuss, as the target's own insecurities may lead them to think talking about what they trully want to be embarrassing or dangerous to discuss, even if it's a completely normal thing to want. A topic linked to the target's desire receives double the target's Black Bile dice when it comes to defending that topic. Successfully discussing a Target's Desire grants four victory points.
Successful Defenses: While any number rolled above the attack number is considered a successful defense. There are special conditions that occur should you roll considerably well.
Should you roll a number that is a number of points equal to twice the opposing target's blood stat above the target's attack roll while defending (In sundrop's case, six or more), you can choose to gain an additional blood dice for the duration of the event. For Sundrop to gain an additional Blood dice, she would need to roll ten or more above your attack roll.
Should you roll a number that is double the target's attacking roll. You can choose to gain one free reroll to one of the attacks you made that turn and add your Opponents blood dice to that roll. With the present dice disparity, it is unlikely for Sundrop to gain one of these rerolls.
In this Date, you've interacted with Sundrop well enough previously to have a good idea of what she would consider to be directly offensive and thusly don't have the opportunity to screw up badly enough to make her dislike you on this first date. That may not be the case in future dates.
As this is a lunch date, you have three turns to achieve a minimum of one victory point. If three turns pass and you have a victory point total of Zero, the date ends neutrally and you can attempt the date again on a later turn. If the three turns pass and you have a victory point total of negative one or lower. The date ends poorly and your relationship with the target is harmed. If the three turns pass and you have a victory point total of one or higher, you may choose to either spend a victory point to keep the date going at a rate of one victory point per additional turn or choose to end the date and spend your earned victory points.
The two of you sat in a back corner booth, munching through an order of Jade Garden's Crab Rangoon, Sundrop soaking her portions in copious amounts of the Sweet and Sour Sauce while you made use of the soy sauce bottle and a little Styrofoam bowl. It'd be maybe ten minutes before your main orders come out, plenty of time for conversation. It started off slow, little questions about your respective weeks and comments about the weather, but eventually moved onto more serious questions.
"So, have you lived in Smallville long? I moved here like two years ago and I haven't really gotten to know the town very well." You ask before popping a sauce-soaked Crab Rangoon into your mouth.
"Already trying to find out where I live are you? I'll have you know that that level of stalking is only permissible after the third date." Sundrop snarked, evading the question.
"Darn, you found me out." You say with a cluck of your tongue. Mildly disappointed, but then this was a first date. "I suppose I'll have to wait a while before I can stand outside your bedroom window, gazing longingly."
"At least you think I'm pretty enough to stalk. Does wonders for a girl's confidence." Sundrop joked darkly before transitioning to a question of her own. "What made you move out here to Smallville? It's not exactly the most interesting place."
"Well, I'd like to say that it was because of a Job opportunity out here, but really it was more of an excuse to get out from under my parents. They wanted me to marry one of the boys from church and well..." You answer before gesturing at yourself. "Not exactly an attractive prospect on either end of things. I'm just lucky I had some money saved up from college. Disappeared in the middle of the night before they caught on that I wasn't okay with being married off."
"Oh shit." Sundrop said, wincing slightly. "I'm sorry that I brought it up."
"It's not like you could have known." You say. " Frankly I made my peace with it a while ago. When Mom... responded poorly to me bringing home a Gary Trotter book. I figured that staying in contact with them probably wouldn't be that viable long term. My Dad responded to me leaving better, he couldn't say no to Mom, but that didn't mean he agreed with everything she says or thinks. We're actually still in contact, he sends me a care package and letters every now and then through the PO box I have at the post office."
"Speaking of books that might have gotten us in trouble with our parents." You say, pivoting away from the unpleasant topic. " I know you've at least read some superbly awful Gary Trotter fanfiction, but are there any recent books that have captured your attention?"
Sundrop's eyes light up at that question, and you both start sharing examples of some of the best and worst books and fanfics you've read as of late. Minutes fly by and the food is delivered before you notice the time passing.
As you dig into your Chicken and Broccoli, what questions do you want to ask Sundrop next?
Blood: 5
Yellow Bile: 2
Black Bile: 1
Phlegm: 4
Blood: 3
Yellow Bile: 1
Black Bile: 1
Phlegm: ?
Topics of discussion (pick 2)
[ ] Are you a local? (Locked for one turn)
[ ] What do you do for work? (Sensitive)
[ ] What's your favorite food?
[ ] What do you like to do in your spare time?
[ ] Where did you go to school? (Passionate)
[ ] How did you get into magic? (Interest) (Passionate)
[ ] General discussion (Attempt to probe available topics to discover Sundrop's Sensitive topics, Interests, and Desires) All topics presently identified, unlock this option by discovering new topics
(No moratorium this turn. Voting is open till 1pm central standard time)
Hmmm. I wonder what Sundrop's listed stats mean. They aren't necessarily her actual stats, ours sure aren't, but I'm interested what the likely differences between them and her real stats mean. Does the low Yellow Bile mean she has low Yellow Bile to start with or that she's not very emotionally invested? I'm guessing the low Black Bile is her defenses being down, as her having that at 1 seems unlikely. The Blood is probably her actual stat, since she seems socially adept?
Okay, yeah, that's my guess, she has Blood 3-ish, Yellow Bile 1, and her Black Bile is 2+ but her defenses are down.
Evoke Sympathy doesn't drop her Black Bile, it ups our Blood. Which is similar, but not quite the same thing. Her defenses would need to be down for other reasons to explain that stat (which is very plausible).
Evoke Sympathy doesn't drop her Black Bile, it ups our Blood. Which is similar, but not quite the same thing. Her defenses would need to be down for other reasons to explain that stat (which is very plausible).
Ignore the deleted post, I'm very tired.
If you'll look at the defense roll for discussing her origins you'll see she's only rolling four dice. this is because she's only applying her Blood and black bile. The reason she rolled five dice for the favorite book defense is that, much like you, she's passionate about reading nerdy shit, and thusly is applying Blood, Yellow Bile, and Black bile.
