If a hero wishes to figure out an NPC’s motivations, they can begin by simply asking, “What do you want out of this deal?” In response, the
Negotiation Starting Attitudes Table
| Attitude | Description | Interest | Patience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile | Openly opposed to the heroes. Barely willing to listen. | 1 | 2 |
| Suspicious | Doubts the heroes’ motives but is willing to listen. | 2 | 2 |
| Neutral | Doesn’t feel one way or the other. Would probably rather be somewhere else, but doesn’t want to be rude. | 2 | 3 |
| Open | Willing to listen, willing to help, as long as the heroes aren’t asking too much. | 3 | 3 |
| Friendly | The heroes seem like the NPC’s people. The NPC is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. | 3 | 4 |
| Trusting | The NPC has reason to take the heroes at their word and will help if the characters don’t screw this up. | 3 | 5 |
NPC can willingly hint at or reveal one of their motivations, usually by asking for something. For instance, a monarch NPC with the greed motivation and a penchant for collecting rare animals might suggest that the heroes retrieving a griffon egg would earn the monarch’s gratitude. The Director can also decide that during the natural course of the negotiation, the NPC might offer up similar suggestions without the heroes asking, provided the NPC already has an interest of 3 or higher.
If an NPC isn’t as forthcoming, or if the heroes want to learn one of the NPC’s pitfalls, a hero can make a Reason, Intuition, or Presence test while interacting with the NPC during the negotiation, based on the tactics used to draw out the NPC. The test has the following outcomes:
Power Roll + Reason, Intuition, or Presence:
- ≤11: The hero learns no information regarding the NPC’s motivations or pitfalls, and the NPC realizes the hero is trying to read them and becomes annoyed. As a consequence, the NPC’s patience is reduced by 1.
- 12-16: The hero learns no information regarding the NPC’s motivations or pitfalls.
- 17+: The hero learns one of the NPC’s motivations or pitfalls (their choice).
After this test is made, the heroes can’t make another test to determine the same NPC’s motivations or pitfalls until they make an argument to the NPC or the negotiation ends.
Outside of Negotiation
While the heroes can discover an NPC’s motivations or pitfalls through tests made during negotiation, they can employ other methods of investigating motivations or pitfalls before negotiation. Research or a little reconnaissance (for instance, reading the NPC’s diary or talking to their closest friends) can reveal quite a bit about a person!