21. Influence, Intrigue and Bribes

Influence

1. Influence, in the form of favours of a particular level, can be acquired from a character's own SL, his Court Companion, an Appointment or NPC's in certain situations. Such influence can be used to modify certain decisions made be NPCs, but not PCs.

2. Influence from a character's SL is gained at the start of each season. The Influence given by Court Companion to a character who has successfully sought that Court Companion out renews each January. Influential Court Companions have additional influence which is also annual. Influence derived from Appointments is seasonal and is first gained when the Appointment is made.

3. All periodic Influences are available for use in the first month of the new period.

4. All periodic Influences lapse prior to the start of the next period. Influence received in special circumstances may be kept until used.

5. The Influencing NPCs Table shows the minimum level of Influence needed to modify the die roll on a decision made by an NPC depending on the NPC's rank and/or position. Most decisions made by an NPC can be influenced in either direction with the appropriate Influence. If the Influence is of a higher level than that required, the character gets an additional +1/-1 modifier for every level his Influence is above that required. Moreover, 2 Influences may be combined to produce an Influence one level higher, e.g. Marco uses 2 I4s, yielding a result as if he had used 1 I5.

6. Unless stated otherwise, an NPC will make the decision the character requires on a 7+ rolled on 1d6. A roll of 1 always fails, regardless of the Influence used.

7. Unless a character is using Intrigue, any application that he is making that can be Influenced must be Announced in the Announcements Database for the relevant month by the Announcements Deadline. This gives other characters the opportunity to use their Influence for or against the application. The character making the application should also send an in-character post to the VaticanEnGarde mailing list which contains an OOC (out-of-character) note at the bottom of the post with details of the application being made, e.g. OOC: Giacomo applies to join the Barberini as a Seminarian.

8. A character wishing to use Influence for or against an application listed in the Announcements Database need not make an Announcement to that effect. However, once the result of the other character's application is known, it is likely that the details of those who supported and opposed the application will also be common knowledge.

9. Requesting to be excused from Faction or Swiss Guards duties must be Announced.

10. Influence may not be sold or transferred between characters. It may, however, be used to benefit another character for whatever compensation that those characters agree between them.

11. Use of Influence, including the level used, who is being influenced and the intended aim must be specifically stated in a character's orders.

12. If Influence is to be used by one PC to benefit another PC, it is the former who must order what the Influence is to be used to achieve.

Intrigue

13. A character may decide to use Intrigue if he wishes to avoid Announcing that he will be seeking to Influence a decision in circumstances in which he would otherwise be required to make such an Announcement. Alternatively, Intrigue may be used if a character who is opposing the effects of an Announcement does not wish his opposition to be generally known. However, there is always a small risk that the Intrigue will be exposed. In each case, the possible results of the Intrigue are set out in the Intrigue Use Table.

14. If the Intrigue is effective, the Influence which the character uses is applied as if it were 1 level lower than its actual level.

15. An example of the use of Influence and Intrigue follows:

Alessandro has Announced that he will apply for the post of Secretary to the Archbishop. After his personal modifiers are applied, he needs 4+ on 1d6 to get the Appointment. To assist his Application, he uses an I4, which is the minimum needed to Influence the Archbishop who makes the Appointment. He thus gains a +1 modifier to his roll, meaning he will now get the Appointment on a 3+. Francesco, one of Alessandro's rivals, uses an I6 against him by way of Intrigue. The Intrigue roll is successful. Thus the modification is -2 (-1 for the Influence and an additional -1 since the Influence is 2 levels higher than the minimum required but only counts as 1 higher as Intrigue was used). The die roll required by Alessandro is now 5+.

16. A character's orders must specifically state if an Influence is being used with Intrigue. If this is not done, Intrigue will not apply.

17. If a character orders that an Influence is to be used with Intrigue, but the level of Influence specified when applied with Intrigue is insufficient to Influence the intended target, no action is taken.

Bribes

18. Influence can also be acquired in the form of bribes.

19. The cost for each level of Influence is shown in the Bribe Cost Table.

20. The effect of each bribe is determined from the Bribe Use Table. That roll cannot be influenced. A roll of 4+ indicates that the bribe has been accepted and the Influence acts as normal. A roll of 2-3 indicates that the bribe was pocketed but no Influence was gained. A roll of 1 indicates that the money was turned over and the bribe reported to the Inquisitor.

21. If a bribe is reported, the Inquisitor may bring charges. An NPC Inquisitor will bring bribery charges on 4+ on 1d6 and may be influenced. A PC Inquisitor must decide whether or not to bring bribery charges. The consequences of a trial for Bribery are set out in the Crime and Punishment Table.

22. The use of a bribe need not be Announced, although it must be specified in a character's orders.

23. If a bribe is being used to influence the outcome of a trial at which the person making the bribe is the accused, the following results occur:

If the trial is for a Minor Crime the character is automatically found guilty.

If the character was acquitted of a Capital Crime he is instead found guilty of a Minor Crime.

Influencing NPCs Table

Personal Influence Table

Court Companion Influence Table

Intrigue Use Table

Bribe Cost Table

Bribe Use Table