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Parley

Parley is when two opposing parties (whether a group or an individual) formally discuss their differing goals. The party requesting the Parley is considered the Initiator. The party agreeing to the Initiator’s request to Parley is considered the Grantor. Elohim may request to Parley with opposing elohim, this convention is respected by elohim of either allegiance when not actively involved in War. Requesting a Parley during War requires persuading the highest Rank/Power elohim or the highest Power Archon. This character must be persuaded with a Superb Success of an Aim Interaction. To initiate a Parley outside of War, no Strike may have been attempted by any characters.

Once the Parley has been requested and the request granted, the two parties will select up to 3 Delegates to represent them in the Parley. After Delegates have been selected, they approach and the Parley begins, consisting of 3 Stages: Introduction, Response, and Conclusion.

Parley Stages: Introduction, Response, Conclusion

Stage Flow: Perceiving, Interacting

First, the Delegates of each party will take up positions 7” away from the other party. Non-Delegates will remain at least 7” behind where the Delegates stand after the approach. This distance can be closer when the situation and setting dictate. As the parties are taking up their positions, they can make up to 3 attempts (total attempts, not individually) to Perceive the other party.

Once the Delegates are in place, the Parley will begin. At the beginning of each Stage the party will be able to make 1 more attempt to Perceive. Next, one Delegate from the Initiator’s party will attempt a Social Interaction followed by a Delegate from the Grantor’s party.

The Delegate should act out or describe how they intend for their attempt to unfold. While words are the most common element focused on, nonverbal behaviors such as tone, stance, and facial expressions can also play a strong role in determining how a sentiment is received. The Host may determine that Boon or Bane is warranted depending on how reasonable, relevant, plausible, and persuasive the Delegate is.

To determine the Adjustments for the Interaction, compare the attempting Delegate’s Skill in the Attribute used to the matching Composure of the other party. To determine the party’s Composure, total all Delegate’s Composures in that Social Attribute and divide by 3, rounding down. Rather than the relative Tiers, Area Influence considering all elohim from both sides will affect the Adjustments for each attempt to persuade. Each level of Area Influence adds 1 Adjustment in favor of the party commanding the Influence.

A Delegate assuming or remaining in Defensive Stance during a Stage does gives them the +3 bonus to Perceive and will give them +2 to their Social Composures. However, also results in a 2 Adjustment penalty to that character's Social Skills and even cause a 1 Adjustment penalty to Persuasion attempts made by other allied Delegates during that Stage. It is hard to be Persuasive while cautious and guarded.

Using Haven/Asylum will remove the Ministering Spirit from being a Delegate if none of the opposing Delegates are of sufficient Tier to be unaffected. If only some of the Delegates would be affected, the Host will determine an appropriate result.

Winning Terms 

  • If a Delegate's Interaction is a Success, then the other party will gain 1 Acquiescence and the Delegate's party will have be able to choose a Minor Term of War if the Parley results in War.
  • If a Delegate's Interaction is a Superb Success, then the other party will gain 3 Acquiescence and the Delegate's party will have be able to choose a Major Term of War if the Parley results in War.
  • If a Delegate's Interaction is an Epic Success, the Delegate's Party wins the Parley immediately.

Winning the Parley 

If after at any point during the Parley a Delegate's Interaction is an Epic Success or one party has accumulated at least 7 more Acquiescence than the other party, the Parley concludes. The losing party will not pursue War with the victorious party.

The Initiator makes their Social Interaction first which means they can cause the opponent to be Swayed in the middle of a Stage. If this happens, the Grantor’s Social Interaction for that Stage will be affected by Swayed penalties. If 7 Acquiescence is accumulated, the Grantor loses the Parley immediately without getting to respond.

Mutually Concluding the Parley 

Sometimes both sides can readily agree and no persuading is necessary. If both parties can agree, the Parley can be concluded at any point. Likewise, the Parley can be concluded by mutual agreement to proceed to War. If this happens, War will ensue and it will be as if the Parley had been completed and the current state were the final results. Terms of War can be declared and War can begin.

Breaking Parley

Any party can choose to break the Parley at any point. This is generally a sign of either fear, weakness, or disregard of the other party. The party breaking the Parley has lost their composure in some way, be it anger, fear, frustration, impatience, or even attempted subterfuge. As a result, any Social Interactions targeting the Delegates and their associated forces with have Boon equal to the number of Stages that were not completed during the first Cycle of the resulting War.

Non-Delegates seen or Detected past a line perpendicular to their Delegates or within 7” of their Delegates will break a Parley. Equipping or manifesting a Weapon, or attempting to Strike an opponent will immediately break a Parley. Using or maintaining any Spiritual Effects in the Instrument/Article or Presence Families, newly targeting an opponent with Purge/Undoing, Bind/Bondage, or initiating Barrier will also break a Parley. Maintaining a pre-existing Bind/Bondage or Barrier will not break a Parley. Singing any Songs will break a Parley. Also, an elohim Expressing their Glory will break a Parley.

Terms of War

If no side has won the Parley by its end, there will often be a War afterward. Both sides will form battle lines 7" from the center line of the Parley. As with the Parley, if this distance is not practical due to location, the Host will adjust as needed. Characters choose their starting positions from the Parley line, going from highest to lowest Rank/Power using Honor/Prestige as a tie breaker.

While the Parley may not have totally avoided War, it may result in the War coming to a quicker resolution. All Acquiescence accumulated during each Stage can be used for declaring Terms of War. The party with the least Acquiescence will declare one Term of War first and the parties will alternate declaring a Term of War until both parties have declared all the Terms they earned during the Parley. All Major Terms are declared first and then both parties can begin declaring their Minor Terms.

The following list are some examples of Terms of War. However, feel free to be creative and cooperate with the Host to make other Terms of War that are fitting in the situation.

Major Terms

  • Melee Start (0-1" from Parley line)
  • Mid-Range Start (2-4” from Parley line)
  • Long Range Start (5-6” from Parley line)
  • No Strikes during first Segment
  • No Spiritual Effects during first Segment
  • No Songs during first Segment (Minstrels can choose Songs during their second Segment as if it were their first)
  • Offset an opposing Major Term

Minor Terms

  • Start with 1 Strike/Maneuver Readied (1 character)

  • Start with 1 Spiritual Effect active (1 character)

  • Start with 1 Song active (1 character)

  • Adjust Starting Range by 3”  (1 character)

  • No Social Interactions targeting a specified human during the War

  • Offset an opposing Minor Term

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