In the latest session of our Bloodstone campaign (yes I know I need to post session reports). We had a session ending Duel of Wits. The stakes were as follows: Lady Gilliam demanded that the heroes remain in the village of Fendowns for 1 month and provide defenses. The heroes were asking for 2 weeks provisions, 6 draft horses, and a wagon.
The powerful persuader Remy Leduc, and the other heroes, started with a body of argument of 21, whereas Lady Gilliam, with a little help, had 11. The duel was quickly over, as Remy with a G7 persuasion, and enough FoRKs for a small dinner party, trounced Lady Gilliam. The heroes were required to offer a minor concession. After a bit of back and forth, we settled on the heroes staying in the village of Fendowns for 3 extra days.
Given that Remy has already seduced a “paranoid” woman, with “daddy issues”, after some thinking and discussion with Jaron, what I should have done is have Lady Gilliam insist that any negotiations be done in private. This would’ve had a two-fold effect: First, it would’ve created a binding contract between one of the characters. Second, it would’ve created some tension between Remy’s woman and Lady Gilliam.
Imagine Remy agreeing to the whole party staying for 3 days and then having to convince the party that they’d need to stay for 3 days. That is some excellent tension. Now imagine negotiations behind closed doors when there is a paranoid lover kept out. Again, excellent tension.
Alas, those ideas were after the gaming session. None the less, the characters are now going to be stuck in the Fendowns for 3 days, while the village of Bloodstone draws closer to the day in which it must pay tribute. I’m really looking forward to the next session.