Parley & Negotiation

Parley & negotiation offers a means of resolving encounters through discourse rather than force, enabling players to influence, manipulate, or persuade others to achieve their goals. This strategy applies when dealing with hostile creatures, rival factions, or neutral parties, providing an alternative to direct combat.

For parley to function effectively within the game, the dungeon master must grasp the motives and intentions of non-player characters and intelligent monsters, recognising that these entities have desires, fears and goals that can be addressed through dialogue, bargaining or the exchange of information and goods. A well-handled negotiation adds depth to the game world, ensuring that encounters do not rely solely on violence but on the reasoned interactions between characters and the world they inhabit.

Example of Play

As an example, suppose that a group of players have delved into an unknown dungeon, to determine what creatures might be present. After discovering a set of stairs and descending it, the players find themselves confronted by a group of orc humanoids. At this point, typically, the players and orcs would roll initiative and an battle would ensue.

Yet suppose that one player were to shout out "Wait!" just as weapons are drawn and that player has won initiative. At this point, the DM should either make a judgment call — perhaps these orcs aren't ready for an all-out fight (or they're itching for one) — or a simple roll is made, 50/50, to determine if the orcs will listen or fight. It's important that the DM not feel constrained by the need to make this check, if it doesn't feel right in this situation.

If it's determined that both sides do agree to pause (and a player party member could wreck this by unleashing a single arrow), then it falls to the speaking member of the party to "make a request." This would almost certainly express, first, the desire to put down weapons and parley. Further requests could then follow if this succeeded.

Likewise, the DM might choose to have the orcs shout "Wait!", to see if the party will listen. Obviously, the party would not roll to determine their reaction, but the principle of negotiation remains the same.

Resolving Requests

No metric attempting to provide resolutions to the complexity represented by parley and negotiation can possibly account for the fluidity and reactive nature of intelligent discourse, It is strongly recommended, therefore, that the table shown be used as a guideline and not a deterministic frame for encounters. A DM should look over the modifiers given, judge whether or not they apply, and pre-empt the die roll if it feels that in this instance an answer to the request made should fall one way or the other.

On the other hand, if the DM has no specific agenda in play — and often, it's best to just see where the dice might take us, gamewise — then one or two rolls can be made within those believable boundaries of our campaign. If the players are making sense, if acceding to the quest seems appropriate, we can abandon the die roll at some point when the logical progression of things seems clear. Before that, we can apply the die roll in an effort to be "fair" within our interpretation of that word.

To put this another away, if the players make a strong case, or if accepting the request aligns with the circumstances, then the DM should drop the roll entirely and let the scene play out naturally. Meanwhile, when there’s uncertainty, the die serves as a neutral arbiter, preventing bias and maintaining fairness.

Requests

A "parley" between strangers is often a simple request between parties to let the other pass unmolested, called "free passage." Similarly, combatants meeting upon a field of battle may request a truce or a temporary cessation of hostilities. In some cases, a random roll may be in order; however, in most cases, enemies with an intelligence of 11 will nearly always accept an offer like this, so long as neither side surrenders anything of value. An agreement to fight over the same ground a day later, or to agree that neither party holds that ground, the gain or loss is viewed as equivalent and therefore, reasonable.

However, if a request is made where the players gain while the NPCs concede material value, status, honour or time spent, then a roll must be made to determine if the players' request is fulfilled. In such a case, the player or players clearly state what's wanted, whereupon the players choose which of them will roll 3d6. The number needed to succeed, and the consequence of failure, depends upon the request being made. Note that some requests are so excessive that they can never be granted, and that even asking for them is tantamount to a declaration of hostilities.

Charisma Check

Request Modifiers

Consideration	Specifics	Charisma adjustment
Listener characteristics	per age difference	-1
	character class differs	-2
	character race differs	-1
	character gender differs	-1
	non-human/demi-human	-3
	social class differs	-3
	religion differs	-4
Location of parley	open road	-2
	wilderness	-3
	listener's workplace	-1
	speaker's workplace	+1
Unusual form of communication	hurried, time- sensitive speech	-5
	scrawled note	-1
	eloquent letter	+2
Relationship with speaker	acquaintance	none
	associate	+1
	follower	+4
	paid hireling	+2
	official with authority over speaker	-4
	complete stranger	-3
	speaker is foreign to region	-1

Much of the difficulty in making requests involves differences between the speaker and the listener's characteristics. The table of modifiers adjusts the 3d6 roll up or down (though mostly down) where the speaker is of a different character class (fighter vs. cleric), race, gender, social class (peasant vs. gentry vs. noble) or religion. Humanoids other than humans or demi-humans, such as goblins, orcs, kobalds and the like, are particularly resistant to fulfilling requests.

The best locations for parley are none of the above, being public spaces such as taverns, streets and lanes ("open roads" are outside villages, towns or cities), market places, fairs and so on. The speaker's workplace is best, but the speaker must have a workplace. If both the listener and speaker have the same workplace, then the modifiers cancel each other.

Direct communication has no modifiers. Unusual communication, such as trying to convey a request while running and shouting at the listener, or whispering desperately, suffers the -5 penalty given. A scrawled note requires the ability to read & write. An eloquent letter can only be written by clerics, mages, illusionists or monks, or persons whose progenitor's legacy includes training in a lettered profession, such as scribe, lawyer, political advisor, professor, tutor, sinecure, banker, guildmaster and the like.

Regarding the relationship with the speaker, an acquaintance is someone whom the speaker has been introduced to by a third party. An associate is someone with whom the speaker regularly does business, in which an exchange is made; this would include a landlord. An official with authority is any person whose position gives them the power to tax, legislate, judge or enforce regulations, including magistrates, city officials and overseers, judicial persons, guards or town watch members.

The various adjustments are cumulative. The listener will have many characteristics that apply, such as a female elven cleric of gentry social rank (5th level or better, plus owned land and employees), while also being an official with authority and a complete stranger. If all these differ from the speaker, then the accumulated modifier is -14. This is intentional; players must adapt themselves to making requests of people with whom they share many common goals, and not expect that simply because they happen to want something, the nearest NPC has any probability of giving it to them.

Request Ranks

Assigning a "rank" to requests is a daunting prospect, but an attempt has been made. Examples not included, that might occur in game play, can be judged as needed; the DM can expand the table afterwards, ever improving the list. When making or asking for a bribe, the player is asked to roll the die to determine an amount their character "feels" is appropriate in the situation.

D-class Requests

• Beg 1-4 c.p. from a steadily employed person.
• Ask for directions, simple instructions or mild physical help for a few minutes.
• Access to an unguarded area without access to materials, important persons or wealth, that may nevertheless be denied to the public, in exchange for a 2-5 g.p. bribe.

C-class Requests

• Ask for employment as an unskilled labourer.
• Offer pertinent information to a person in exchange for a 2-5 s.p. bribe.
• Request permission from a city or other official to build or receive a non-guild license to practice one's profession, including being recognized as a mercenary, guide, scout or to collect alms as a proselyte.
• Become an apprentice or a supplier for a guild in exchange for a 7-10 g.p. bribe.

B-class Requests

• Ask for employment as a skilled or professional labourer, with access to a secure site.
• Obtain passage through a closed outer gate for a 7-10 g.p. bribe; such gates include those to a closed town or city, or that give access to the outside yard of a fortification or other secure military.

A-class Requests

• Obtain passage through a closed inner portal for a 90-120 g.p. bribe; such portals allow access to armouries, cloisters, guild counting houses, libraries and laboratories.