I was re-reading Duel of Wits in BE to get the system firmly in mind and noticed that the Compromise section appears to be a direct copy of the Compromise section in the Infection Mechanics chapter - it even mentions rolling for Maneuvers in a couple places. No real problem there except that the ranges for Compromise are based off of Phase Disposition totals which tend to be much higher than Body of Argument totals. The two middle compromise options still work okay - 1/3 and 1/2 of Body of Argument - but No Compromise suggests 10% or less damage to BoA and Major Compromise suggests only 10% of BoA left. Since BoA seems like it would most commonly be less than 10, should No Compromise be a flat “No damage to BoA” and Major Compromise be “Exactly 1 point left in BoA”? I couldn’t find a prior thread or errata on the subject, so hopefully I’m not retreading old ground.
With helping dice, your body of argument could total over 10. However, the compromise rules for both sections aren’t based on needing a high starting BoA (or disposition in the case of Infection mechanics).
Ignore the part of “about a tenth of their starting total” in the Major Compromise section, and focus on the “reduced to one, two, or three successes.”
If I started with a BoA of 6, and you started with a BoA of 10, and I won the Duel of Wits with 3 remaining, then it’s just a compromise. If it’s two dice, I owe you a major compromise.
In the opposite case, if I am defeated but you’re reduced to 3, I get a major compromise out of you.
Compromises are great, they add a lot to the conflicts, and in many cases players will get into Duel of Wits that they know they will lose just to get a compromise out of their opponent. At HQ we call it “playing for the compromise” - it generates a lot of great storytelling.
Oh, I love the compromise mechanic, it’s adds a lot of depth to the conflict systems. I just wasn’t sure where to draw the “lines” between different levels of compromise in Duels of Wits. It looks like your example says that Major Compromises happen if you get your opponent to 1, 2, or 3 points of their BoA left and they’re at less than 50% their original starting total, which I can dig. Still not sure if you should just say that you get no compromise only if you do no damage to the BoA at all. It seems logical and assures that almost every Duel of Wits will force at least a minor compromise.