Stable Social Solutions

I've always appreciated the classic "Three Pillars" of gameplay that D&D claims as a focus. Combat, Exploration, and Social Interaction, the three legs that prop up tabletop, well, tables. Adjust the lengths of those legs and you can lean your game in the direction you prefer, but cut one too short and the whole thing falls over. 

For a while now I've been mulling over the Social Interaction side of Concord. Always glossing over the townsfolk found in the titular Township, putting NPC design on the backburner because I'd not found a quick, at the table, solution for creating and using them.
But today I came across a sweet little bit of brainstorming from @Joshy McCroo that might just do the trick, or at least get me thinking on the right track.

Sources

His blog post proposes a clever social system based on the lockpicking minigame from Errant, NPC concepts from On the Non-Player Character by Courtney Campbell, and the oft forgotten Persuasion Wheel from Oblivion. I like all three of these things, so of course it got me itching to see if a similar system could fit neatly into Concord. Here's my first crack at such a system.

Making Friends & Foes - A social puzzle

Upon meeting an NPC (preferably one the characters' share a language with) the Storyteller can pick or roll a 1d10 for that NPC's starting Attitude.

1 - Attack or Flee: If they think they can win, they attack. Otherwise they flee.
2-3 -  Wary
4-7 - Neutral
8-9 - Friendly
10 - Allied: They will help the PCs however they can, but dangerous or costly tasks may require further convincing.

The starting Attitude number also determines how many turns players can talk before the  NPC ends the conversation. Each turn the PC's may use one Social Action.

Social Actions

These are 10  types of interactions you can use on an NPC in attempts to influence them. Each one uses up a turn in the conversation and employ your character's stats to raise the NPC's Attitude or to make them acquiesce to your demands. The first 5 actions are considered positive and rely on the conversing character's Soul stat. These peacefully gain information and friendship from NPCs. 4 are negative and use Body or Mind. These are all-in gambles which can have immediate pay-offs if successful, or result in a complete breakdown in negotiations. Lastly there is the neutral option to simply bribe the NPC.

1. Admire - Soul: Complement, honor, or otherwise attempt to flatter the NPC.
2. Entertain/Joke - Soul: Quick wits to bring laughter to the NPC. +1 if you get the Storyteller to actually laugh.
3. Question - Soul: Gather information. Helpfulness of the answer based on NPC Attitude.
4. Empathize - Soul: Put yourself in the NPC's shoes. Tell a sad story.
5. Negotiate - Soul: Offer something in trade. Info or favors.
6. Bribe - No Check: Based on social standing either 10 silver per attitude or 10 gold per increase in attitude. Also buys extra turns.
7. Deceive - Mind: Lie out your teeth. If you pass, they believe your clever words and do as you ask. On failure, or if they ever find out the truth, they will hold a grudge.
8. Gamble - Mind: On a success, the NPC agrees to a bet. Games of chance or whims of fate with lives on the line. A failed check and they will simply ignore the offer.
9. Threaten - Body: Coercion through threat of violence can be effective, but the NPC will turn on you at the soonest opportunity. 
10.  Attack - Body: A sucker-punch, or sudden strike. Conversation is over, but you gain initiative in this combat.

Likes & Dislikes

Here's where some strategy comes in. Every NPC will have 2  Social Actions they like and 2 that they dislike. These can be picked or rolled by the storyteller. They should be clearly telegraphed by the Storyteller's description or the NPC's appearance and behavior. Give the Players some strong queue's to work with.

• Liked Actions give x2 attitude when used successfully and +1 attitude even on a failure. 
• Disliked Actions offend the NPC, and they will let you know. If you happen to rudely use their second Disliked Action the encounter ends, and the NPC Attitude instantly goes down a step. (Wary to Attacking, Neutral to Wary, ect.)

Using Social Actions and Making Checks

When a character uses a Social Action they can choose to roleplay their character's voice/dialogue or simply describe the topic of conversation. They then make an appropriate Ability check. Soul actions gain attitude on success and don't take time off the conversation. On failure time is simply lost from the conversation and the NPC provides nothing helpful that turn. Mind and Body actions are a single check to force a desired behavior from the NPC rather than trying to convince them through conversation, and succeed or fail, they end the conversation.

What's Next?

I'm excited to try this system out in the next round of playtests. My hope is that it will allow Storytellers to utilize NPC's effectively with low effort, and  allow less thespian players to engage in the social pillar of play more comfortably. With this system in place I'll next be creating a quick guide on how to generate NPCs and perhaps a spread worth of samples. I'm still considering what other tools might be needed (appearance, peculiarities, secrets?) to easily create fun and engaging NPC's right at the table.