The Social Dance Jam

Social mechanics in TTRPGs are hard and there aren't many options. Most mechanics I've seen include a raw score per NPC that goes up and down according to if a PC passes or fails a check. Get it high enough and you've got yourself a friend or lover.

What if instead of seeing social interactions as a game to be won or lost, we try making mechanics where it's seen as a dance between PC and NPC to be engaged in. When the PC makes a step forward, heightening intimacy (whether romantic or platonic), what kind of tool can we make to determine how the NPC responds? What kinds of guard rails can we put on the interaction to give the NPC a measure of autonomy so they don't naively go along with what the PC wants? Find some surprise or joy in the process of interacting with NPCs.

This is a jam to try to explore that design space. Your goal is to make, and describe, a mechanic that focuses on the patterns of interaction between PC and NPC (or NPC and NPC). Ideally it won't just be a raw number that goes up as PCs pass more checks.

• You are welcome to make your mechanic into as much of a game or system as you want, but all you need to submit are the base mechanics for social interactions.
• This jam is for tabletop RPGs only. I am also requesting analog only. That means that someone can play it without a computer if they so choose (assuming they print out your text), no programs or spreadsheets necessary. Absolutely no video game entries.
• You are welcome to make a mechanic that works with any specific game system or that is system agnostic. This jam may be a good fit for Mosaic STRICT tools.
• If you have a social mechanic that you've been working on that you'd like to share through this, you are welcome to, but I will remove submissions that don't feature a novel social mechanic. You are also allowed to repost games or mechanics you've already made that fit this criteria for additional visibility.
• NSFW or otherwise sexually focused submissions are allowed, but must be clearly marked and tagged in Itch's system.
• I reserve the right to remove any submissions, for example trolls or ones that are hateful and I don't want my name to be affiliated with. I don't anticipate that this rule will be used.

I'm giving this a month to help visibility because I don't plan on advertising much.