I’m not sure if this is a question or just something I’d like to noodle over with other BE devotees. Maybe it’s a question I think I already have an answer to, but I want to check my work.
Some uncertainties have come up in the BE game I’m playing in and in the BE game I’m running about whether winning a Duel of Wits can “force” an opponent to spend scenes - a builder, a conflict, or whatever. To use an example from the game, if I win a compromise in a Duel of Wits and require my opponent to make peace with an enemy of his, is he required to use a builder (or even a conflict) to do that, or should the group just assume an interstitial will do?
My answer (and the one I’m sticking to in the game I am running) is “maybe.” What’s the fiction require? If he’s an enemy, it probably doesn’t follow for an interstitial alone to convince him to make peace - but it just might! Let’s get to the scene, roleplay it out, and if it’s necessary to fire up a builder or conflict (which’ll depend a lot on the enemy’s BITs, I should think), we’ll do so. Some players think that’s…I don’t know if “unfair” is precisely how they put it, but they think it sounds off, but as part of the resolution of the Duel of Wits we should assume these events happen, since they were agreed to when we set Bodies of Argument. I countered that a Duel of Wits compels an action, and it follows that if you agree to do something you may be expected to put scenes down to back it up. Then there was some discussion about optimal Duel of Wits strategy, aiming for stuff that’s likely to force your opponent to burn scenes to accomplish if you win your Duel of Wits intent, but I wasn’t really interested in taking it to that level.
What’s the general consensus on this?
-B