Post by Ymbert Montgomery on Jul 26, 2019 18:29:47 GMT
Parisian society runs smoothly on favours and mutual backscratching. These favours are used to influence the decisions of powerful NPCs, hence they're known as "Influence". Many decisions can be influenced, from regimental applications to criminal trials.
You can't use Influence against other PCs. You'll have to rely on your natural charm!
Gaining Influence
There are four ways to gain Influence. Favours from one's own Social Level are gained every season and are wasted if not used. Mistresses give one favour a year (two if Influential) and those favours renew every January. A mistress's favours become available as soon as she is succesfully courted, unless a previous lover has already used them that year. Favours gained from appointments are gained seasonly and wasted if not used. Favors received by
special circumstances do not expire and may be kept until used.
For each level a favour is above the necessary needed the roll is adjusted by an extra +/- 1.
Two favours of the same level can be turned into a favour of the next highest level. (So if you have 2 level 2 favours you can use them as a Level 3 favour and influence a Colonel.
Almost all decisions by NPCs can be influenced. Unless stated otherwise, to get them to do what you ask requires a roll of 7+ on 1 die. (So influence will be necessary). A roll of 1 is always an automatic failure; nothing is ever certain!
Any use of Influence must be put in your player orders. You need to state who you are influencing, what decision is being influenced and whether you are for or against it. Any influence used that is too low to influence the NPC you're attempting to sway is wasted so be sure to check carefully!
You can't use Influence against other PCs. You'll have to rely on your natural charm!
Gaining Influence
There are four ways to gain Influence. Favours from one's own Social Level are gained every season and are wasted if not used. Mistresses give one favour a year (two if Influential) and those favours renew every January. A mistress's favours become available as soon as she is succesfully courted, unless a previous lover has already used them that year. Favours gained from appointments are gained seasonly and wasted if not used. Favors received by
special circumstances do not expire and may be kept until used.
| Personal | Influence |
| Social Level | Influence |
| 24+ | 9 |
| 22, 23 | 8 |
| 20, 21 | 7 |
| 18,19 | 6 |
| 16,17 | 5 |
| 14,15 | 4 |
| 12,13 | 3 |
| 10,11 | 2 |
| 8,9 | 1 |
| Influence | From | Mistresses |
| Social Level | Influence | Additional if Influential |
| 18+ | 9 | 9 |
| 17 | 8 | 9 |
| 16 | 7 | 8 |
| 15 | 6 | 7 |
| 14 | 6 | 6 |
| 13 | 5 | 5 |
| 12 | 4 | 5 |
| 11 | 4 | 4 |
| 10 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | _ | 2 |
| 6- | _ | 1 |
Using Influence
The Influence Table below shows the minimum level of favour needed to influence an NPC, depending on their rank or position. Note that you can influence decisions involving other characters, not just ones involving your PC! (So you can make it harder for your enemies to gain an appointment).
For each level a favour is above the necessary needed the roll is adjusted by an extra +/- 1.
Two favours of the same level can be turned into a favour of the next highest level. (So if you have 2 level 2 favours you can use them as a Level 3 favour and influence a Colonel.
Almost all decisions by NPCs can be influenced. Unless stated otherwise, to get them to do what you ask requires a roll of 7+ on 1 die. (So influence will be necessary). A roll of 1 is always an automatic failure; nothing is ever certain!
Any use of Influence must be put in your player orders. You need to state who you are influencing, what decision is being influenced and whether you are for or against it. Any influence used that is too low to influence the NPC you're attempting to sway is wasted so be sure to check carefully!
| Rank/Position | Level of Favour Needed |
| King/Pope | 9 |
| Crown Prince/Cardinal/Inquisitor | 8 |
| Minister/Chancellor/Field Marshal/Duc | 7 |
| General/Archbishop/Comissioner for Public Safety/Directors/Marquis | 6 |
| Lieutenant General/Curia/Bishop/Provinical and City Governers/Comte | 5 |
| Brigadier General/Canon/Viscomte | 4 |
| Colonel/Abbe/Fencing Instructor/Baron | 3 |
| Lieutenant Colonel/Curate/Chevalier | 2 |
| Major/Captain/Priest | 1 |
| Noble Ranks are for the influencing of Patronage Only |
Annoucing Influence Use
Any application or action a character is attempting must be announced in advance, if it is a decision that can be influenced. (This includes regimental applications and requests to be excused from regimental or priestly duties). This gives other characters the opportunity to spend favours of their own to influence the decision.
Aside from the initial annoucement Influence spending does not need to be announced publically, although you may choose to do so for RP reasons.
Exceptions to announcements are regular decisions that are going to be made by a NPC anyway. (These include a judge making a trial verdict, force deployment being chosen, Chancellor sending expeditions.)
Resignations
Aside from the initial annoucement Influence spending does not need to be announced publically, although you may choose to do so for RP reasons.
Exceptions to announcements are regular decisions that are going to be made by a NPC anyway. (These include a judge making a trial verdict, force deployment being chosen, Chancellor sending expeditions.)
Resignations
This is worth highlighting as it's something many characters will want to consider. Is there a position that you're after but there's an NPC occupying it and getting in the way? You could always ask them to resign. You may only ask one NPC to resign per game turn and it requires a roll of 7+.
An NPC which holds both an appointment and a rank must be convinced to give up the appointment first and then the rank. So a Brigade Major must resign the appointment and then in a subsequent month resign his Majority in the regiment. This applies to clergy as well.
An NPC which holds both an appointment and a rank must be convinced to give up the appointment first and then the rank. So a Brigade Major must resign the appointment and then in a subsequent month resign his Majority in the regiment. This applies to clergy as well.
Bribery
If you don't have the favours required there is always the option of offering cold hard cash instead. These work in much the same way as a standard favour, with each level of cash converting to a specific rank of favour.
However, bribing is more risky than influencing people 'fairly'. A die is rolled. On 3-6 the bribe is accepted and the action proceeds accordingly. On a roll of a 2 the NPC pockets the bribe, but no favour is given. On a roll of a 1 your character is reported to the Commissioner for Public Safety who may or may not charge you with bribery.
Naturally, when making announcements you never have to differntiate between standard influence and bribery.
However, bribing is more risky than influencing people 'fairly'. A die is rolled. On 3-6 the bribe is accepted and the action proceeds accordingly. On a roll of a 2 the NPC pockets the bribe, but no favour is given. On a roll of a 1 your character is reported to the Commissioner for Public Safety who may or may not charge you with bribery.
Naturally, when making announcements you never have to differntiate between standard influence and bribery.
| Bribes | Table |
| Bribe (in Livres) | Level of Influence |
| 50L | 1 |
| 100L | 2 |
| 200L | 3 |
| 400L | 4 |
| 650L | 5 |
| 1000L | 6 |
| 1500L | 7 |
| 2500L | 8 |
| 5000L | 9 |
Putting it all Together
This is actually a lot simpler than it may appear at first glance, so here's an example of Influence in play.
Henri has announced that he will apply for the post of Brigade Major. After modifiers he would need a 4+ on one die to get the position. He uses a level 4 favor (The minimum needed to affect the Brigadier General who is appointing the post) to gain a +1 modifier to the die roll. He now needs a 3+ to get the position. Athos, an enemy of Henri's uses a level 6 favor against him. The modification is -3 (-1 for the favor and an additional -2 since the favor is 2 levels higher than the minimum needed.). Leaving Henri needing a roll of 6 to get the position.