Cugel-flavoured deception mechanics
PCs act like Cugel, in word and deed
I finally read Jack Vance’s Dying Earth this year, and realised D&D has been Dying Earth all along. Any OSR-head could have told me that long ago, but it’s really something you have to see for yourself. Knightly fantasy has sort of accreted on to D&D as the default aesthetic, but beneath the surface most adventurers are more Cugel than Gawain.
Strange, then, to realise that Dying Earth has very little fighting (though it does have a bit of murder). What it has in spades is lying. Cugel in particular is a master of expediency, and always makes his way forward with his wits. Yet there’s peril here, at least as much as in a mortal contest with a blade, and Cugel rarely leaves town with much more than the skin on his back.
So I’ve been thinking how to emulate Cugel-style deception mechanics.
The social contract
Most of us don’t expect our fellows to lie, and unless we’re entering into formal negotiations, typically don’t diligently fact check one another. Instead, we rely on a number of social indicators to build a trust profile of others.
This can be abstracted to a Reputation score (REP). For this system, each PC’s REP must be tracked for each location or community. Unless PCs are (in)famous, they will be judged as strangers in each new location.
The goal is to allow a certain amount of lying, before a cascade of lies catch up to you. Smart PCs will leave town or set things to rights before this ever happens. These mechanics are Ashcan, but give the bones of a structure that could maybe support flesh one day.
Lies as a resource
REP acts as another HP track, and is always reset to 6 in a new community/location. This result may be modified positively by fame, wealth, correct dress or conduct, or other virtues evidently aligned with the community’s. Or it may be modified negatively by infamy, indigence or vice.
As long as your REP is >0, you are under virtually no suspicion. Lying reduces your REP by the following amount:
• White lie - 1 point (1 day)
• Fib - 2 points (1 week)
• Tall tale - 3 points (1 month)
• Whopper - 4 points (1 season)
• Black lie - 5 points (1 year)
Plausible lies are always believed by NPCs and acted upon as if truthful while REP>0.
If an NPC has a chance to verify the truth (ie. by conversing with another NPC who has a different version of the truth, or by witnessing contradictory information), roll a d6.
1 - the jig is up. You permanently lose the value of the lie in question from your max REP. They may be hostile
2-5 - they seek clarification, with varying levels of scepticism
6 - they haven’t pieced the lie together
On a 2-5, you may be required to tell a new lie to keep your story alive.
If your REP is reduced to 0, it is clear that something doesn’t add up. The next encounter you have with an NPC will be a hostile (though potentially civil) demand to account for your statements.
This can be accounted for with a lie, but it will be immediately scrutinised, and you will likely be forbidden to leave until your word is proven.
If this cannot be accounted for satisfactorily, the best case scenario is that your name and word are now worthless in this community. The worst case… well, good thing we’re not getting rid of the combat system entirely.
Lies only count against your REP while they are active. They expire in the time listed, or when it makes narrative sense (I don’t like this bookkeeping but it’s late so it’s staying for now).
A black lie, if exposed, will grant 1 point of infamy in all communities.