A Song of Fading Suns

With only very minimal changes to the setting assumptions of Fading Suns, one could run a game of it using the A Song of Ice and Fire RPG. While such a campaign might not have quite the same breadth of available adventures as the more toolkit-style Victory Points system, it would gain the genre emulation tools inherent in the ASoIaF RPG engine: specifically, the intrigue and mass combat systems. Since one could set A Game of Thrones in the Fading Suns setting without changing much beyond a few house names and adding in a few sci-fi features, it seems like a very good match.

Setting Changes

• Rather than being monolithic families, the five great houses of the Known Worlds merely serve as the figureheads for a collection of banner houses closely tied to them by oaths and blood. A “Hawkwood Knight” may actually be from a smaller house that rules a large section of one of the Hawkwood worlds in the name of his lords.
• Energy shields work more like the ones in Dune: they dampen inertia and energy, and work much better against bullets and other attacks that deal damage by being very energetic. They are also one of the Second Republic technologies that are readily replicable in the new dark ages. Consequently, melee weapons are used far more heavily that seems logical in a setting with high tech firearms: a couple pounds of steel swung as fast as a human can swing it will rarely trigger a shield, while a gun will almost always set it off.
• Spaceships are rare and hard to replace, fortresses are often dug deep and protected by massive energy shields, and the Church has declared orbital bombardment a sin (as it tends to wipe out the countryside and risk upsetting terraforming while leaving the actual fortresses intact). Wars are, thus, often fought by infantry and ground vehicles.

Rules Changes to ASoIaF RPG

Skills

The Animal Handling skill is changed to the Driving skill. It is used for most of the same kind of thing (particularly for “cavalry” actions), but is focused more on how to operate vehicles than on befriending horses. Players need a special Quality to operate spacecraft.

Knowledge is used for understanding technology, but players need a special Quality to operate Think Machines or work with really high tech items (virtually anything more complex than 1950s tech).

Status means different things for nobles, churchmen, and guilders:

Status	Nobility	Church	Guild
1	Servant	Petitioner	Freeman
2	Retainer	Novitiate	Apprentice
3	Squire	Canon	Associate
4	Knight	Deacon	Chief
5	Baron	Priest	Fellow
6	Earl/Marquis	Bishop	Captain
7	Count	Archbishop	Consul
8	Duke	Metropolitan	Dean
9	Prince	Patriarch
10	Emperor

Noble Skills: Agility, Deception, Fighting, Persuasion, Status, Warfare

Church Skills: Awareness, Healing, Language, Knowledge, Persuasion, Will

Guild Skills: Cunning, Driving, Endurance, Knowledge, Marksmanship, Thievery

Non-Entered Skills: Agility, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, Survival, Thievery

(PCs start with their group’s skills at 3 and all other skills at 2. Raising skills from 2 to 3 costs 30 points, instead of 10, and all other costs are increased appropriately.)

Qualities

No Fate Qualities from the standard list are allowed except: Cadre, Cohort, Famous, Head of House, Heir, Landed, Sponsor, Ward, and Wealthy.

No Heritage Qualities from the standard list are allowed (though a GM might want to invent some for different planets).

The Braavosi Fighter and Water Dancer Martial Qualities are renamed Duelist and Fencer, but their effects are the same.

The following new Fate Qualities are available to Guild members:

• Spacer: You can pilot a spaceship (use Driving).
• Technologist: You can understand how to assemble and repair high tech devices (use Knowledge).
• Hacker: You can operate a Think Machine (use Knowledge). Requires Technologist.
• Banker: You can manage money without being bred to it (use Cunning instead of Status for Stewardship checks).

Theurgy, Psi, Changed, and Cybernetics are purchased as new Fate qualities. Use the Pious and Third Eye Qualities as a basis.

House Creation

Create stats for different planets to replace the Westeros regional statistics. Land 100 is roughly the size of a planet, so most PC houses will control somewhere between a country and a continent in space.

The rough area controlled is found by squaring the Lands number and multiplying by 5000 square miles (Lands^2 x 5000 sq miles).

The rough population of these lands is found by cubing the Population number and multiplying by 1000 citizens (Population^3 x 1000 citizens). At population 100, the PCs are responsible for a billion souls.

The house’s first founding is rolled normally and provides the same number of historical events, but is compared to the following list:

1. Ancient (The Diaspora, c. 2500)
2. Very Old (The Ukar War, c. 2855)
3. Old (The end of the Second Republic, c. 4000)
4. Established (The death of Emperor Vladimir, c. 4550)
5. Recent (The beginning of the Emperor War, c. 4956)
6. New (The ascension of Emperor Alexius, c. 4993)

Equipment

When awarded in character creation or as treasure, 1 Gold Dragon in ASoIaF is worth roughly 100 Firebirds in Fading Suns.

Weapons

Use the ASoIaF stats for melee weapons and bows.

Slug Guns use the following table. All Revolvers and Shotguns have the Reload (Greater) quality. All other slug guns have the Reload (Lesser) quality. Each gun has a number of shots (obviously) before a reload is required. Improved ammo can be purchased for most slug guns to gain the Piercing quality.

Gun	Specialty	Training	Damage	Qualities
Light Pistol	Pistol		Agi + 1	Close, Fast
Medium Pistol	Pistol		Agi + 2	Close
Heavy Pistol	Pistol		Agi + 3	Close, Slow
Imperial Rifle	Rifle		Agi + 3	Long, Two-Handed
Assault Rifle	Rifle		Agi + 4	Long, Fast, Two-Handed
Sniper Rifle	Rifle	1B	Agi + 5	Long, Slow, Two-Handed
SMG	Medium Slug		Agi + 2	Close, Fast
Shotgun	Medium Slug		Agi + 5	Close, Two-Handed

Energy Guns use the following table. Laser guns and Flameguns do not trigger energy shields. Blasters bleed through energy shields (see the Energy Shield description.) Flamers continue burning on a successful hit for 2 damage per round for 1d6 rounds (or until smothered).

Gun	Specialty	Training	Damage	Qualities
Laser Pistol	Laser		Agi + 0	Close, Fast
Laser Rifle	Laser		Agi + 1	Long, Two-Handed
Assault Laser	Laser	1B	Agi + 2	Long, Fast, Two-Handed
Blaster Pistol	Blaster		Agi + 4	Close, Fast, Piercing 2
Blaster Rifle	Blaster	1B	Agi + 6	Long, Two-Handed, Piercing 3
Blaster Shotgun	Blaster		Agi + 6	Close, Two-Handed, Piercing 3
Flamegun	Flamer		Agi + 2	Close, Slow

Shields and Armor

An energy shield triggers automatically against all slug guns and blasters (and anything similarly energetic), but does not trigger against melee attacks and anything else going much slower than the speed of sound. When hit by a gun when wearing a shield:

• Reduce the shield’s charge by the base damage of the weapon + the armor worn’s bulk rating (e.g., a character in half plate (bulk 3) hit by a Sniper Rifle would reduce the shield’s charge by the attacker’s Agi + 5 + 3).
• For slug guns, deal 1 damage per Degree of Success (mitigated by any armor worn under the shield). At some areas of the body the shield is thin enough that some force from the slug will make it through.
• For blasters, deal 2 damage per Degree of Success (also mitigated by armor). This represents the energy and heat bleeding through the shield even if the plasma was dissipated away from the body.

Energy shields can also soak up falling damage if the character falls far enough to generate enough speed to trigger the shield (greater than 20 yards or so). Doing this reduces the damage to 0 but has a 50% chance of shorting out the shield (and reduces 30 points of charge even if it doesn’t short it out).

Different shields have different battery sizes:

• Standard Shield: 50 charge
• Dueling Shield: 100 charge
• Assault Shield: 200 charge
• Battle Shield: 300 charge

Armor in the Known Worlds is generally better than in Westeros. Use the following chart for armor:

Armor	Rating	Penalty	Bulk
Jerkin	2	0	0
Studded	3	-1	0
Mail	5	-2	-2*
Half Plate	5	-1	-3*
Scale	6	-2	-3*
Plate	9	-4	-3*
Ceramsteel	14	-7	4
Synthsilk	3	0	0
Stiffsynth	6	-1	-1
Adept Robe (Powered)	14	0	0**

* Plastic has -1 Bulk
** Adept Robes also add +2B to Athletics

ASIFRP Intrigue System for D&D

(Originally posted April 2009)

The intrigue (social combat) system in the A Song of Ice and Fire RPG seems pretty good… good enough to simplify and repurpose for D&D. I included the options that made the most sense for D&D (and were simplest to convert when I was staying up late trying to do it).

D&D Intrigue System

Traits and Defenses

Intrigue Defense

3e: Total of mental modifiers (Int, Wis, and Cha) + Level + 10

4e: Will Defense

Composure

3e/4e: Highest mental trait

Influence

3e/4e: 1d6 (+1d6 for every 5 margin of success over Intrigue Defense)

Basics

An intrigue is a social exchange between two or more characters attempting to gain advantage. Typically, an intrigue only occurs if all characters in the intrigue want something that they believe can only be provided by social interaction with the opposing side (characters that know they only stand to lose from an intrigue will typically fight or flee instead of negotiating). There are three levels of intrigue:

• Simple: A single exchange of tests is made, with the winner achieving his or her objective. A simple intrigue typically only happens when one party is easily cowed.
• Standard: Several exchanges are made, until one side loses or exits the intrigue. Standard intrigues cover most intrigues.
• Complex: Several standard intrigues are played over an extended period, with victory going to the side with the highest net successes. Complex intrigues cover long-term plots and machinations, often between whole factions.

When beginning an intrigue, both sides should determine objectives, scene, leaders, and disposition.

Objectives

All intrigues require both sides to have a general objective (such as making friends, gaining information, exacting a service, or sowing lies). A side’s objectives determines what tactics make sense for the exchanges and, more importantly, which skill is used in the exchange:

• Diplomacy: If your side genuinely expects the results of an intrigue to be mutually beneficial (or at least not seriously detrimental to the opponent) and plans to deal fairly, then use Diplomacy.
• Bluff: If your side expects to lie and cheat when dealing with the opponent, likely resulting in far more benefit to yourself than the opponent would expect, then use Bluff.
• Intimidate: If your side expects to use fear and threats (of direct harm from you or from some other impending doom), but otherwise deal honestly with the opponent, then use Intimidate.

If objectives shift midway through an intrigue, a different skill might be used for the remainder.

Scene

The setting of an intrigue can impose a circumstance bonus or penalty to rolls for tactics that are very appropriate or inappropriate. This bonus should normally be the standard plus or minus two, but might go as high as 10. For example, a seduction is much easier in a tavern than in a church. In addition, offering something the opponent wants might grant a circumstance bonus, while offering a very poor deal could apply a penalty.

Leaders

Each side of an intrigue must designate a leader that will be the primary speaker. In two-person intrigues, these leaders are easily chosen. When more than one individual represents a side, whoever will be doing the talking and making the decisions will serve as leader, and allies can use actions that assist (but cannot directly affect the opponent’s Composure).

In some circumstances, leadership may be split between a speaker and a decision maker (such as a major domo speaking for a lord). In this case, the speaker rolls against the opponents, but the opponents roll against the decision maker.

Sometimes, multiple intrigues will occur simultaneously that involve a group of allies. In this case, a different leader should be selected for each intrigue, with non-leaders able to float between intrigues and assist different leaders from exchange to exchange.

Disposition

Both leaders in an intrigue should determine their dispositions to one another. A disposition is a summary of how the character feels about his or her opponent. Disposition generally persists between meetings, but can be modified by the results of the intrigue. A character that likes an opponent is easier to influence, but finds it easier to deal diplomatically with that opponent. A character that dislikes an opponent is harder to influence and finds it easier to intimidate or lie to that opponent, but finds diplomacy much harder.

Find your character’s disposition on the chart below. Subtract the DR entry each time Influence is applied to your Composure. Add the listed modifiers to skill rolls you make.

Disposition	DR	Bluff or Intimidate	Diplomacy
Affectionate	1	–2	+5
Friendly	2	–1	+3
Amiable	3	0	+1
Indifferent	4	0	0
Dislike	5	+1	–2
Unfriendly	6	+2	–4
Malicious	7	+3	–6

If you have just met a character, you begin as indifferent to one another. If the character makes his or her status and deeds known to you before the intrigue, roll an appropriate knowledge skill to see if you know whether these facts are true (DC is equal to the target’s level + 10). If you fail, raise your disposition by one level friendlier.

Your opinion may also be adjusted by obvious features of your opponent. If applicable, adjust your disposition by the levels indicated in the chart below:

Factor	Modifier
Opponent is attractive	+1 step
Opponent is known for honor	+1 step
Opponent is known to be just	+1 step
Opponent is from allied group	+2 steps
Opponent is ugly	–1 step
Opponent is known for decadence	–1 step
Opponent is known for cruelty	–1 step
Opponent is hideous	–2 steps
Opponent is known for treacherousness	–2 steps
Opponent is from enemy group	–2 steps
Opponent is from a distant land	–1 step

Exchanges

Each exchange represents several minutes (possibly up to an hour or more) of conversation, or whatever length of discussion seems appropriate from a roleplaying standpoint. Leaders and allies should roleplay what their characters are doing in the conversation, or simply give a general idea of their conversational techniques to the GM. This roleplaying will help determine the choice of tactic, and can give a circumstance bonus or penalty to the roll (up to plus or minus six).

Initiative is not tracked; Composure losses are not tallied until the end of the exchange. If both sides are defeated in the same exchange, both sides achieve their goals if not mutually exclusive. If only one can win, a tie goes to the side with higher social status (represented by actual status, level, or pure Charisma).

In each exchange, the leader will likely engage in a tactic (but may choose a support action) while allies engage in support actions. Tactics are the only way to reduce the Composure of the opponent, but support actions assist in this goal.

Tactics

There are seven main tactics in an exchange. Characters will generally use the same tactic for the duration of the intrigue, but might switch based on circumstances within the conflict. After attempting a tactic, roll the appropriate social skill against the target’s Intrigue Defense. If successful, roll the Influence dice, subtract the opponent’s DR (from disposition), and apply the remainder as damage to the target’s Composure. If the target is reduced to 0 Composure or below, the effect of the tactic occurs in addition to any other roleplaying gains from the intrigue.

Tactic	Effect
Bargain	Target gives discount or exchange based on disposition (see chart below)
Charm	Improve target’s disposition by one step and +2 on tests against target in next exchange
Convince	Target assists in a particular task or trial, but (with low disposition) may be looking to betray you
Incite	Target’s disposition to another target drops by your Charisma modifier
Intimidate	Target flees if possible (becomes Amiable if not) for the scene, then drops to Unfriendly or worse
Seduce	Improve target’s disposition by Charisma modifier and engage in carnal acts if friendly and compatible; target’s disposition drops by one rank per day until one less than original unless maintained
Taunt	Target performs taunted action (if reasonable for disposition) then disposition drops by one step
Disposition	Bargain Effect
Affectionate	Target gives you the goods or service for nothing in exchange.
Friendly	Target gives you the goods at discount (Cha mod × –10%) or for some minor service in exchange.
Amiable	Target gives you the goods at discount (Cha mod × –5%) or for a very easy service in exchange.
Indifferent	Target gives you the goods at discount (Cha mod × –2%) or for a service in exchange.
Dislike	Target gives you the goods at discount (Cha mod × –1%) or for a service in exchange. The target may renege on the bargain if the demanded service is dangerous.
Unfriendly	Target gives you the goods at normal price or for an equal service in exchange.
Malicious	Target sells you the item at normal price but foists off a shoddy or damaged good. Target may perform the service but renege if he or she can get away with it.

Secondary Actions

Allies (or leaders seeking an advantage not available through tactics) may use their actions in an exchange to try secondary actions. These actions modify the tactics of the leaders.

Action	Effect
Assist	Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate (same as leader’s skill) vs. target’s Intrigue Defense; if successful, apply a +2 to leader’s next roll (cumulative from multiple allies)
Fast Talk	Bluff vs. target’s Intrigue Defense; if successful, apply a -2 to target’s Intrigue Defense until the end of the next exchange (not cumulative from multiple allies)
Fight	Intrigue ends and combat begins
Mollify	Diplomacy vs. target’s Intrigue Defense; if successful, target’s opponent regains Composure equal to your Charisma modifier
Quit	Leave intrigue (with possible social ramifications)
Read Target	Sense Motive/Empathy vs. target’s Bluff +10/passive Bluff; if successful, learn target’s current disposition and planned tactic for the next exchange

Resolution

Once one leader is reduced to 0 or less Composure during an exchange, the intrigue is over. The winner achieves his or her goal, at least for now.