> GM: "You've made your arguments, and I'm not sure they're compelling. Let's roll to see
> if you convince him."
This does occur in my games, actually, but pretty much just with NPC's -- that is, players roll to influence NPCs.
Sometimes, but not often, players initiate a conflict using almost exactly those words, though. If they feel unsure whether or not their character is convinced, and want the dice to make the decision, sure.
> If you have two players who cannot even agree to disagree on something, neither is
> willing to lose, then how are you going to resolve that chat, and move on?
I either let the scene peter out naturally, cut early, or create pressure in-fiction.
If it's not moving on, and there are no pressing reasons for the characters to end up with a resolution of some kind, I just end the scene. (I'm assuming it is two player characters.) An unresolved issue like this can be great fodder for character frustration -- they keep building steam, until something blows. Most commonly someone chooses to escalate.
Example from actual play: one of the characters ("Sol") was keeping stuff that would have mattered plenty to others to himself, and another ("Raj") was picking up that something was going on. First Raj confronted Sol privately, and they had a friendly chat that ended up with Sol stonewalling Raj. Raj gets some more hints that stuff is going on. Next day at teatime, with everybody present at the table, Raj brings out the matter with exquisite politeness -- but in a manner that pretty much forces Sol to either respond, or set himself apart from everybody else. Finally, Sol gives, but not all, ending up stonewalling just a bit at the end. Raj is satisfied, and changes the subject. "Cucumber sandwiches, anyone?"
I assume the first scene in the above example is the sort of thing you are referring to? In this case the conversation ended naturally, but if Raj had kept pressing and Sol stonewalling, I would have cut the scene about the same time it ended by itself.
If I do want a resolution to occur, I add pressure. It might be a perk to whoever gives first, or a price you pay for indecision. It might just be a bit more information to act on.
Example from actual play: characters are normal people who have been confronted with weird shit. In the game there were several scenes where they are sitting in a bar, talking about this stuff, trying to decide what to do. Kind of like library scenes in Buffy. Often the conversation stalled, going nowhere -- people had different opinions on what to do, but no-one felt strongly enough to press his or her POV, and everyone was feeling uncertain. A semi-regular gimmick I used was a cellphone call that presented the situation in a new light. Sometimes the new information was added pressure: "If we don't do something NOW, something BAD is going to happen SOON!" Sometimes it validated some of their options or made some of them seem less appealing.
...but this is not really about HQ rules anymore. I'm rather enjoying the conversation, though, and am happy to continue -- but perhaps this is outside the remit of the current forum.
Cheers,
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