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This is supposed to be a social system that doesn't suck. It is still in the clouds and would need mechanics to back it up, but I believe the framework is good. It tries to represent the way social interactions usually work, while keeping an eye to compatibility with social skills and abilities. Of course, I envision this as a module.

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SOCIAL RULES SYNOPSIS
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A quick rundown on social rules.

NON-PLAYING CHARACTERS
The participants of a social encounter are players and non-playing characters. Each non-playing character has a motivation and some objectives. Non-playing characters are handled by the Master, and can be influenced in various ways.

MOTIVATIONS
Each non-playing character has a list of motivations. These are the things that are particularly important for the character, the basic reasons he has to do whatever he does. Players can learn these motivations in various ways, or guess them from the actions of that character. High level characters may be able to change the motivations of a non-playing character with powerful enough means.

>>> Appealing to a Motivation
A player may appeal to one of the motivations of a character in order to obtain an objective. Appealing to a motivation requires making an argument or other form of social interaction and a skill check to influence the behavior of that character. Appealing correctly to a motivation grants a +5 bonus to the skill check. You can appeal to a guessed motivation, but if you guess wrongly the appeal has no effect. If your argument is in conflict with the character's motivations, you cannot influence his behavior this way and you also are at a disadvantage in future interactions.

OBJECTIVES
Each non-playing character has a list of objectives. These are things that character wants, based on his motivations. They might include any number of things. Players can learn these objectives in various ways, or guess them from the motivations of that character. Each objective has a Bargain Value, which represents how much that objective is worth for that character. Some abilities can influence objectives.
A social situation also has a list of objectives the players want to obtain. These objectives have a Bargain Value too, which represents how difficult it is to obtain such objectives.

>>> Starting Behavior and Influence
Each character has a starting behavior that represents the initial attitude towards the players. This behavior is, in game terms, a rank (either positive or negative). If the rank is negative, it is effectively another objective in the social challenge with a Bargain Value equal to the rank's value: in order to influence that character's behavior for other objectives or trade other objectives with him you need to overcome the initial negative attitude. If the rank is positive, it acts as an objective with a Bargain Value equal to the rank's value that you can trade with the character: you can use the positive attitude this character has as leverage to obtain other objectives.
Influencing the behavior of a character is possible by appealing to his motivations. The behavior of a character is not reset after the situation ends (you are not allowed to ask infinite favors from a friend). External events can influence the behavior of a character.

>>> Trading Objectives
A player (or a non-playing character) may offer a trade of favors to a non-playing character, accomplishing one of their objectives in exchange for having them accomplish one of their own objectives. Non-playing characters accept only equal or favorable bargains (they will accept if the Bargain Value of their objective is equal or greater than the Bargain Value of the objective they grant). You can pay part of an objective with the behavior rank of a character: this means that you can trade an objective with a Bargain Value 3 for an objective with a Bargain Value 5 if the character making the trade has a behavior rank of 2 or more. This would reduce that character's behavior rank by 2.

Apr 3, 2012 -- 10:22AM, halvgrim wrote:

I personally prefer social dynamics to work without dice. (Actually I would like the charisma ability to be discarded). 

But your list could serve as useful advice for DMs that want to NPC's to an adventure. NPCs with motivations, objectives and moral values is much more fun to deal with.

The DMG should provide a list of nonstandard motivations that they could add to to standard NPC's to make them more memorable. Everybody has a dream. This is also true for shopkeepers and gate keepers.  

The system can work fine without rolls. The only part that "requires" rolls is the Appeal to Motivation, which can be adjudicated by the DM based on the interaction instead (easy fix, just don't make the skill check).

The system was born for two (three) reasons. First, having a framework of rules helps a lot to gravitate part of the gameplay and content towards it (less combat options, more social options). Second, having a framework of reference with (in my opinion good) guidelines is tremendous help to some DMs (inexperienced, people who can't improvisate too much... stuff like that). (Third, I loathe, nay, HATE to hell and back the ugly socialization rules D&D normally has. Stuff like 3.5 Diplomacy, or 4E Intimidate, should die in a fire. By having a focus on trading objectives and a balanced way to handle influencing the behavior of people, you can have a decent system IMO.)

Of course, the system would be followed by a good deal of examples of all levels of play, and random tables for lazy / unprepared DMs. I feel the system is very consistent in that almost every type of social interaction can be ruled within the system with little adjustment, and it definitely feels a lot more realistic than "I roll Diplomacy! I crit! Duke is now my bestest buddy forever!".