Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 16

Thread: First Contact and treaties

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Germantown, Maryland
    Posts
    1,241

    First Contact and treaties

    How do you negotiate with other people.... I cannot find this in either books. My players will be making first contact right now and I am hoping they will make a treaty... but how can you negotiate the treaty. Please help me because I am lost!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    4,394
    I would submit the use of the Negotiate, Persuade or intimadate skills. Of course you could also use the Systems Operations (weapons) school of Negotiation.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Location
    Albuquerque, NM, USA
    Posts
    2,990
    A blank treaty, a little fast talk, some baubles, and a gunboat.

    Instant relations!
    "War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

    John Stuart Mill

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 1999
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT, USA
    Posts
    2,090
    Phantom was pretty close. Depending on the method used, you would have Negotiate, Persuade, Infulence, and Inquire that could be used in negoatiates. System Operation (Weapons) is only used after Negotiations have broken down.
    Former Decipher RPG Net Rep

    "Doug, at the keyboard, his fingers bleeding" (with thanks to Moriarti)

    In D&D3E, Abyssal is not the language of evil vacuum cleaners.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Paris, France, Earth
    Posts
    2,588
    Originally posted by Doug Burke
    System Operation (Weapons) is only used after Negotiations have broken down.
    Unless your players are officers of the Klingon Empire...
    "The main difference between Trekkies and Manchester United fans is that Trekkies never trashed a train carriage. So why are the Trekkies the social outcasts?"
    Terry Pratchett

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Soviet Canuckistan
    Posts
    3,804
    Originally posted by C5
    Unless your players are officers of the Klingon Empire...
    And then you only use Negotiate, Persuade, Infulence, and Inquire when System Operation (Weapons) have broken down.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Hainburg, Germany
    Posts
    1,389
    Originally posted by AslanC
    And then you only use Negotiate, Persuade, Infulence, and Inquire when System Operation (Weapons) have broken down.
    LOL

    One skill that might be usefull, as this is a first contact situation would be Social Sciences.
    Even if there is no full 'cultural survey' before the negotiations, an affinity bonus from the social science skill should probably apply to the other skills.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Germantown, Maryland
    Posts
    1,241

    Good ideas

    I like the comments but what I meant was when apllying the skill test(s) what should the TN be? Any suggestions.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    East Sussex, UK
    Posts
    871
    Use the roleplaying social tests suggestions from the NG, and use the social modifiers. The actual TN should be whatever seems most appropriate - use the descriptions in table 6.6 (universal target numbers).

    I'd suggest at least Challenging for a treaty negotiation, with the higher ranks being used if the aliens are particularly hostile.

    You might also want to look at using a series of rolls, with each being for a particular stage of the negotiation. The players then roleplay through the entire thing, with the each stage affecting the next.
    Jon

    "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song.
    Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."
    THE DOCTOR, "Survival" (Doctor Who)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Germantown, Maryland
    Posts
    1,241

    Thanks

    I completely forgot all about the social test. Wow my brain is escaping me....ahhh Anyway thanks... If they are very friendly I am thinking a tn of 10 going upwards on how hostile they are.... ANyway thanks.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Hainburg, Germany
    Posts
    1,389
    Instead of setting a TN you could turn the negotiations into opposed tests with the social skills rolled vs. the savy or willpower reactions of the other side's negotiator.

    AFAIR the PG mentions the opposed test thing with some of the social skill descriptions, but I could be mistaken on that.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2000
    Location
    Albertson, NY, USA
    Posts
    1,467
    Originally posted by AslanC


    And then you only use Negotiate, Persuade, Infulence, and Inquire when System Operation (Weapons) have broken down.
    And of course this is refered to as "Negotiating with extreme prejudice"

    Karg

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Canyon, TX, USA, Sol III
    Posts
    1,783
    I kind of like "aggressive negotiations," myself.
    Patrick Goodman -- Tilting at Windmills

    "I dare you to do better." -- Captain Christopher Pike

    Beyond the Final Frontier: CODA Star Trek RPG Support

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 1999
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT, USA
    Posts
    2,090
    Lancer wins the cookie! Negotiate, Persuade and Influence are all opposed tests, pitting the skill test total against the target's (victim's?) Savvy Reaction test. Of course any social test modifiers also apply.
    Former Decipher RPG Net Rep

    "Doug, at the keyboard, his fingers bleeding" (with thanks to Moriarti)

    In D&D3E, Abyssal is not the language of evil vacuum cleaners.

  15. #15
    I would personally run a treaty negotiation as an extended contest with an overall target number of 60. Social test modifiers apply, especially those for interaction stance (makes those with Cultural Flexibility, Friendly and/or Likeable very useful in such circumstances) and characters can combine their efforts in order to conclude negotiations a trifle sooner. Each die roll can represent a week of diplomacy, clarification, bargaining, etc.



    Michael
    “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”

    -- Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •