Social Encounters Guide | Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Today I'm talking about one of the most widely applicable and helpful systems in the game- despite the ease with which most groups can bypass these rules, I think they can be important to know and use in the right situations, and they can even act as accessibility tools for those getting into roleplay for the first time or those uncomfortable with acting a part.

I don't necessarily recommend utilizing every part of this in every encounter- and I tried to display that in my demonstrations. It can be as simple as taking into account the Attitude of various NPCs and calling for Make an Impression checks, or as in-depth as complex, interwoven systems- a veritable campaign in and of itself. When combined with the right systems, you can have boss fights in words and deeds, rather than swords and shields.

I wish I'd spent more time demonstrating alternative skill uses to Diplomacy-such as Performance to show off that Tiny knows what he's talking about in the "Proving Yourself" encounter, or Intimidation in the "Defending Yourself" encounter- It's important to let your players experiment and utilize whatever makes sense in a free-form system like this, so please keep that in mind. Appropriate to watch, listen, and sleep to.

Battlemap by Cropox Battlemaps:   / cropoxbattlemaps  
I unfortunately could not find the artist who made Tiny's picture, it's a very old and modified file on my PC. If anyone can please let me know and I'll add them here.

0:00 Introduction
0:10 Why Would You Use These Rules?
1:58 Determining Levels/XP
5:04 Pacing, Actions, Initiative
10:03 Opposition, Progress, and Success
12:30 Concluding and Keeping it Clear
12:48 Demo: Introduction
14:13 Demo: Attitudes and Making an Impression
18:32 Demo: "Proving Yourself"
20:04 Demo: "Provind Yourself" Variants
22:06 Demo: "Talking Through It"
27:58 Demo: "Talking Them Down: Victory Point Count"
31:17 Demo: "Talking Them Down: Victory Point Accumulation"
35:08 Demo: "Defending Yourself: Victory Point Retention"
39:20 Demo: Alternative Engagement
41:39 Concluding Thoughts
42:37 Outro