Example of an Influence Contest

## Pelimo “Pel” Menset

Pel never fit into the small towns and villages of the Gatakenak Hills. As a small child he longed to stay forever in the great city of Karm Lema with his mother, who was a high-ranking priest of Ama-ra. As he grew older and his magic came to him, he began travelling to other cities to meet others who had experience with magic. He discovered that other cities had people of many genders and races all mixed together, and he found it fascinating and stimulating. He looked back on Karm Lema differently as an adult, resenting the restrictions on who could live where and do what jobs. He wants to use his magic to great things and to show his mother and the other leaders of the dwarves that men are not corruptible and weak but can also be trusted to defend their people.

### 2nd Level Dwarf Sorcerer (Wild Mage)

#### Statistics

**Strength:** 12 (+1)

**Dexterity:** 10 (+0)

**Constitution:** 15 (+2)

**Intelligence:** 14 (+2)

**Wisdom:** 8 (-1)

**Charisma:** 15 (+2)

**Hit Points:** 16 (max 16)

**Will Points:** 10 (max 10)

#### Moral Code

**Alignment:** Chaotic Evil Heroic

**Prescription:** I must use magic to defend the innocent from harm.

**Proscription:** I mustn’t tell someone they can’t do something.

**Crisis of Faith:** I experience great doubt when males show they are less civilized than females.

**Source of Inspiration:** I am inspired when I show someone how fascinating a diverse, crowded area can be to watch, like a tavern or a market.

#### Relevant Abilities

Magical Mind: Your mind is highly attuned to magic. Magical influence attacks performed by you add an additional 1d6 to the Influence Pool. Magical influence attacks targeted at you also inflict an additional 1d6 to your Influence Pools.

#### Relevant Skills

Wisdom (Animal Handling): -1

Charisma (Persuasion): +4

Charisma (Intimidation): +2

## Napela

She grew up in the Iopenau Tribe in the Rock Sea, but when the gnomes came with their steam-powered weapons her mother ran with her. Her tribe was enslaved to work in a mining outpost. She and her mother joined a loose band of others who had fled the gnomes--not a tribe really, but just a group who joined together for survival. They honored the traditions and ways of the tribes they had once been part of. The group’s numbers often changed as new escapees joined or when someone was caught while hunting. They couldn’t move into another tribe’s territory, so they had to stay closer to the outposts than was safe. Looking back, Napela wonders if her mother and the others couldn’t bear to run so far from their homeland. She learned the ways of many tribes and became a skilled hunter, but by the time she could contribute she felt their group lived a kind of shadow-life, remembering the old ways but constantly living in fear of capture. She was determined to go north with her horse Dancer and find help for her people to liberate them from the gnomes. She isn’t sure precisely what she’s looking for. A great weapon? A political alliance? A powerful warrior or mage who will come to their aid? She is sure that if she looks long enough the opportunity will become obvious to her.

### 2nd Level Human Ranger (Monai-nan)

#### Statistics

Strength: 11 (+0)

Dexterity: 16 (+3)

Constitution: 14 (+2)

Intelligence: 13 (+1)

Wisdom: 15 (+2)

Charisma: 9 (-1)

Hit Points: 20 (max 24)

Will Points: 24 (max 24)

#### Moral Code

Alignment: Lawful Neutral Heroic

Prescription: I must offer assistance to humans who are trapped.

Proscription: I mustn’t mistreat an animal companion.

Crisis of Faith: I experience great doubt when I see that gnomes are more powerful than humans.

Source of Inspiration: I am inspired when I learn about someone’s traditions or culture.

#### Relevant Abilities

These are just the abilities relevant for this example.

Favored Enemy: Gnomes and humans

Know Your Enemy: You have advantage on influence attacks against your favored enemy. Note that not all favored enemy types have Will Points (such as oozes).

#### Relevant Skills

Wisdom (Animal Handling): +4

Charisma (Persuasion): -1

Charisma (Intimidation): +1

## Margaret “Maggie” Shadowtrace

The prosperity of the Verdun Republic did not extend its benefits to urchins living on the streets of Jabri. Maggie’s parents died when a boiler exploded in their workroom. Their goods were auctioned off and the proceeds disappeared. Maggie was sent to an orphanage, but the rules were very strict and Maggie ran away. Begging was hard, so she turned to stealing. She noticed that the steamships left full of iron and came back full of food. She couldn’t eat iron, so why not go where the food was? She stowed away and found herself in a strange northern city. She met Pel and Nepala and they stuck together to make their way in the strange lands that had once been the heart of the Sylvan Empire.

### 2nd Level Gnome Rogue

#### Statistics

Strength: 8 (-1)

Dexterity: 15 (+2)

Constitution: 13 (+1)

Intelligence: 13 (+1)

Wisdom: 10 (+0)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Hit Points: 18 (max 18)

Will Points: 16 (max 16)

#### Moral Code

Alignment: Chaotic Evil Heroic

Prescription: I must cheat or steal from authority figures.

Proscription: I mustn’t get caught doing something illegal.

Crisis of Faith: I experience great doubt when others face the consequences for my wrongdoing.

Source of Inspiration: I am inspired when I make a difference in the life of someone who is desperate or hopeless.

#### Relevant Abilities

Sharp Tongue: On a successful influence attack, you may choose to do 1d4 damage to the target’s Will Points instead of contributing to an Influence Pool.

Expertise: Thieves tools and Charisma (Persuasion).

#### Relevant Skills

Wisdom (Animal Handling): +0

Charisma (Persuasion): +6

Charisma (Intimidation): +2

Charisma (Deception): +4

## Henry and Bartholomew

These two are trusted warriors for King Sylvester. Normally guard duty on the town gate would be beneath knights of their clout, but they are free to collect tariffs as they see fit so it is actually a very lucrative position and one many compete to fill. As followers of the King they share his moral code.

### 2nd Level Human Fighters

#### Statistics

Strength: 14 (+2)

Dexterity: 13 (+1)

Constitution: 12 (+1)

Intelligence: 7 (-2)

Wisdom: 9 (-1)

Charisma: 11 (+0)

Hit Points: 22 (max 22)

Will Points: 18 (max 18)

#### Moral Code

Alignment: Neutral Evil Neutral

Prescription: I must gather tariffs from merchants and traders.

Proscription: I mustn’t allow fighting in the city.

Crisis of Faith: I experience great doubt when someone demonstrates that another port is better than Ixthos.

Source of Inspiration: I am inspired when I impress others with my riches.

#### Relevant Abilities

Fair Fight: If you kill someone who was armed and able to fight back when you struck the lethal blow, take no Will Point damage.

Action Surge: On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long or short rest before you can use it again.

#### Relevant Skills

Wisdom (Animal Handling): -1

Charisma (Persuasion): +0

Charisma (Intimidation): +2

Wisdom (Insight): -1

## Situation

In our example, Pel, Maggie, and Napela have discovered a plot by the gnomes to trade slaves with one of the city-states, though they don’t know which one. They all agree they must stop this, so they traced the plan to an agent of the Verdun Republic. They caught up to her near Ixthos. The agent refused to talk to them and asked her bodyguards to kill them, so there was a fight. The bodyguards were defeated but one of them died from wounds inflicted by Napela. The player rolled 1d6 and determined the ranger suffered 4 Will Points of damage from the responsibility of killing someone.

The agent escaped during the fight. Napela said she would ride Dancer to see if she could find any trace of her in the countryside while Pel and Meggie went to Ixthos to see if she was making for one of the steam-powered ships that was docked there to escape back to Verdun. They would meet at the city gates after learning what they could to decide their next move.

Pel succeeds on an Intelligence (History) check and remembers that Ixthos has harsh penalties for fighting inside the city, so he and Maggie hide their weapons. They decide to ask the town guards if they have seen someone matching the description of the agent. How many gnomes women with pink hair and purple robes could be going into Ixthos today?

## Encounter

Pel and Maggie approach the town gate. The gate has a long line of carts and pack animals leading away from it. There are two people at the gate making sure everyone pays the fee to enter the city with trade goods.They are arguing with a merchant when Pel and Maggie arrive. “The fees have changed,” Bartholomew is saying, “and now you either pay us three gold or you go find another place to sell your…” He looks down at the cart.

“Pears,” says Henry, helpfully.

“Yes, pears,” snaps Bartholomew. “Which will it be? You’re blocking the gate.”

The merchants pays. Maggie succeeds at a Wisdom (Insight) check and notices them grinning at each other. Another merchant fleeced at the gates of Ixthos.

“Hey, have you two seen a gnome with pink hair pass this way?” asks Maggie. “She had purple robes, full of herself… you wouldn’t miss her.”

The GM must now decide how Henry and Bartholomew take her request. Talking to these kids is getting between them and stealing money from the merchants. There’s nothing in their job that makes sharing who has come into town forbidden, but if it leads to a fight the King will be angry. These kids don’t seem like much of a threat, but there’s no reward, either. The GM decides they would do this only for a close friend or superior, so the DC of any influence attack will be 14. Since the guards have a Wisdom modifier of -1, that becomes 13.

“Get lost, kids,” says Bartholomew.

Now everyone rolls initiative, including Napela since is riding toward the gate and will be here in 2 turns. The results lead to this turn order:

* Maggie 21
* Napela 15
* Bartholomew 13
* Pel 12
* Henry 5

Maggie starts. “If you just tell us if you saw her, we’ll get out of your hair right away.”

She rolls Charisma (Persuasion) at +6. She rolls an 11, so the total is 17. The GM tells her the check is successful. She tells the GM that her Influence Pool is for the guards to tell her whether the gnome she described passed through the gate. She rolls 1d6 and gets a 1. She has to split the influence between the two, so she decides to target Henry. Henry now has 1 point in an Influence Pool to tell them whether the gnome has passed.The next is Napela, who didn’t see any sign of the agent and is returning to the meeting point. She can see the gate and even make out her friends talking to guards but is too far away to talk to them. She gallops closer for her turn.

Bartholomew goes next. He brandishes his mace and growls, “And if you get moving, you won’t get a thunk to the head.”

The guard is performing an influence attack using Charisma (Intimidate) at +2. The GM decides that the characters know there are other ways to find the gnome so the DC is only 12. Maggie has a Wisdom modifier of +0 and Pel of -1, so the DC for Maggie is 12 and Pel is 11. The die result is 13, so the attack is 15 which is successful for both.

Since the guard has a weapon the characters both find threatening he rolls 2d6. He rolls 4, and divides that equally between Pel and Maggie. The Influence Pool behavior is to leave the gate area, and both characters have 2 points in their pools. That isn’t close to their current Will Points, so they are unaffected.

Pel is next. He casts Charm Person on Henry. He smiles. “Henry, come on, you can tell an old pal like me.”

Henry blinks. “Yeah, you’re a good guy… um… sorry, I forgot your name.”

“It’s Pel! I’m Pel, of course. Just tell us if she passed.”

Bartholomew grunts at Henry, “Shut up Henry. I don’t care if you know him, we need to get back to our work.” He juts his chin out at the line of merchants who are now getting frustrated and muttering to themselves.

Charm Person makes the target believe the caster is a friendly acquaintance. The GM decided earlier that the behavior would only be freely given to a close friend or superior, so it still takes a DC 12 check (11 with the -1 Wisdom) to influence Henry. Bartholomew remains at DC 13 as before.

Henry has his turn, and since he hasn’t been convinced he helps Bartholomew. “Pel, you should move along. We’ve got a lot of work to do here, but after my shift is over we can get a drink and catch up on old times.”

He’s no longer inclined to intimidate, but he knows his partner is angry, so he uses Wisdom (Persuasion). He rolls a 9, which is too low to influence either Maggie or Pel.

Now it’s Maggie’s turn, and she realizes she needs to focus her effort on Henry. “Come on, Henry, we really need to know. She owes Pel some money.”

First she rolls Charisma (Deception) to see if they believe Pel is looking to get his money back. She rolls a 16, which makes the result a 20 since she has a +4. The two fighters have -1 on Wisdom (Insight). Henry rolls a 5 and Bartholomew a 17, but neither 4 nor 16 are enough to see through Maggie’s lie.

Now the influence attack, which is targeted only to Henry. Maggie uses Charisma (Persuasion) which is at +6. The lie doesn’t change the DC since they still aren’t close friends or superiors. She rolls a 9, so the total is 15. That is over Henry’s DC of 11. She rolls 1d6 and gets 3. Henry now has 5 points in an Influence Pool to tell them whether the gnome has passed through the gate.

Napela is close now, but must spend her turn to arrive. She pulls up on her horse Dancer.

Bartholomew threatens them again. “That’s not our problem. Get moving!” He rolls a 3 on Charisma (Intimidate) making a total of 5. His threats aren’t affecting anyone.

Pel tries again on Henry. “I don’t know why you can’t help me out. It’s a lot of money! Please? It’s worth a gold coin to me.” He tosses the gold to Henry.

He rolls a 7, but because of his +4 that gets to 11. Now he’s given Henry something he values, so Pel gets to roll 2d6. He rolls 8, so now Henry has an Influence Pool of 13. But that’s still not enough to be higher than his current Will Points of 18.

Henry catches the coin and quickly drops it in his pocket, looking guiltily at Bartholomew who is glaring at him now. “I dunno Pel… just catch up with me this evening, and let me work right now.

He rolls a 17 on his Charisma (Persuasion), which is enough to influence everyone. He gets a 6 on his 1d6, and decides to give 3 to Pel, 3 to Maggie, and none to the newcomer Napela.

Now Pel and Maggie both have an Influence Pool of 5. This is lower than their current Will Points so they continue. Napela has no Influence Pools.

Now it’s Maggie again. “Why are you being so cold, Henry? You’ve helped out Pel plenty of times.”

She rolls a 4, and even with her +6 that’s only a 10. Henry blinks. “I have? I can’t remember…”

Napela is now able to make influence attacks. She pulls out her scimitar and glares at them from horseback. “We could make a lot of trouble here if you don’t tell us what we want to know.”

Humans are one of her favored enemies, so she has advantage on her Charisma (Intimidate) check. She rolls a 15 and a 6, so she gets to use 15. She has +1 for a total of 16, and she also chooses to focus on Henry. She has a weapon they find threatening, so she rolls 2d6. She gets a 6, which pushes the Influence Pool to 19. This is higher than Henry’s current Will Points, but it is also higher than Henry’s maximum hit points. He is now fully influenced and will remain influenced after Pel, Maggie, and Napela leave.

“She passed this way an hour ago, ok?” blurts out Henry.

“You’ve got what you wanted,” says Bartholomew. “Now leave before anyone has to do anything they regret.”

His Charisma (Intimidation) check is 16, for a total of 18. He rolls 2d6 and gets 12. He splits that between the Pel and Maggie, so now they both have Influence Pools at 11. Maggie has 16 Will Points, but Pel only has 10.

Although Maggie and Napela have more questions--was the gnome alone? Did she seem in a hurry?--Pel starts hurrying away into the city. Maggie and Napela decide to follow him into Ixthos to find the agent.

## In Conclusion

Note that this was an especially tough situation. If the guards had been less greedy they might have given the information right away when asked. If they had been less experienced (a basic guard, for example) it would have been over more quickly.

Situations like this are as complex as combat encounters and should be considered the same in terms of experience earned and time it takes to play them out.