Dueling (CTL)

Dueling is a ritualized form of conflict used to resolve disputes between changelings.

Overview
Changelings tend not to duel for concrete things like land or wealth. Instead, they may duel for things like honor, revenge, and the like, especially if pledges would ordinarily get in the way of restitution, since a Dueling Oath undercuts any other pledges to which the duelists are bound (see Dueling Oath).

Duels are not always in the form of combat, which would usually fall under the auspice of physical duels; indeed, not even all physical duels are combat — a thumb war might even technically fall into that category. Mental duels might include a war of riddles or trivia, or perhaps rhetoric. Social duels use reputation, intimidation, shame, and sometimes art as weapons; a game of volleying insults might fall here, as would contests of song. Finally, mystical duels are determined by the combatants’ skill with Contracts and other Wyrd powers, such as oneiromancy or Hedge-shaping.

Etiquette
Often, freeholds hold different views on the responsibilities and privileges of the challenger and the challenged. These roughly fall into four general categories: Cheating, naturally, is held in poor taste. Ordinarily, cheaters are dissuaded by the sanctions of the Dueling Oath (see below). However, if the challenger is just setting up a duel as a distraction, or as an opportunity to kill a rival, he may not care about potential consequences.
 * Defender’s Choice: Favoured by the Winter Court, this tradition holds that the one being challenged has the choice of the duel’s type, circumstances, and oath. As such, challenging another to a duel is an incredibly risky proposition, especially if one’s strengths and weaknesses are well known. In freeholds where this is the tradition, duels are comparatively rare.
 * Aggressor’s Choice: This tradition, common in Summer strongholds, holds that the challenger makes all arrangements necessary, sometimes even before the challenge is formally made. This gives the challenger immense responsibility, but also a great advantage. Duels conducted in this manner are rarely used in life-or-death matters.
 * Aggressor’s Challenge, Defender’s Oath: Often used by the Autumn Court, in this arrangement, the challenger specifies the manner of duel, while the challenged crafts the Dueling Oath. This places the two parties on roughly equal footing.
 * All in Agreement: When Spring is ascendant, agreements to duel often must be painstakingly hammered out, with no duel taking place until all parties are satisfied with the wording of the Oath to be used. This process can take up to months, which is useful for both parties to train themselves in whatever skills the duel will utilize.

Dueling Oath
To avoid the temptation to cheat, duelists swear an Oath with the weight of the Wyrd behind it. This act like other pledges, bar the inclusion of the boon “Sanctity of the Duel”, which permits the participants to break oaths in the process of dueling (this facet must be very specific) without facing sanctions, effectively creating a loophole within other pledges. Dueling oaths do not add to zero as other pledges do, and should include the following: The form of the duel (should specify how, where, when, and with what weapons, if any), the winning condition (should include whether a Judge is required; if so, the Judge usually swears an impartiality oath), and the sanctions for trying to cheat. These oaths are usually in the form of a vow (i.e. a pledge invested into the participants’ Wyrd).

The Courts’ Opinions
Spring Court duels are often focused on renewal in some way — for what purpose is the duel made? What do the duelists get out of it? What happens after the duel’s end? These duels are often passionate and unrestrained. Physical duels are rarely to the death (unless accusations of betrayal to the Gentry are involved; at that point, no holds are barred), and dexterity or endurance are far more common than strength as deciding factors. Mental duels tend to be of the more practical sort, drawing on ingenuity to solve a problem quickly. Social duels, those most stereotypically associated with Spring, are often creative affairs rather than destructive; passionate works of art, rather than insults. Finally, mystical duels run the gamut from subtle to obvious.

Unsurprisingly, the Summer Court is known for duels of honor and vengeance and duels involving weapons. However, the Court is very serious when it comes to the consequences of duels; is it worth losing a potential warrior to exile or death? As such, Summer has duelist codes that prohibit unskilled changelings from dying at the hands of their martial betters. Additionally, the convention within the Court is to vent grievances in bar brawls rather than duels, as a general rule. Physical duels take a wide variety of forms, usually involving either combat or tests of strength and endurance. Mental duels, argued before an impartial judge, often rely on participants’ knowledge of facts or traditions. Social duels are similar to mental ones, but involve appeals to emotion. Mystical duels bear the same broadness of form as physical ones but are usually about recognizing adopted limitations while still allowing the Glamour to flow.

Among the Autumn Court, duels are seen as a learning experience; as such, duels to the death are rare, being seen as wasteful. It is not unknown for young changelings to challenge elders to a duel for a chance at apprenticeship (a period of indentured servitude, technically). There also must always be an element of risk in Autumn duels, given the Court’s emotion.

Within the Winter Court, duels are not showy things. While an Onyx courtier will adhere to the customs of other freeholds and Courts, between two Winter changelings, no one else will know what is going on until it is over. This is for the purpose of avoiding the notice of the Gentry. The challenge is delivered silently, the challenge taken at an unremarkable time, and the matter settled when the duel ends, regardless of outcome. Often, oaths are sworn never to speak of the matter again. Physical duels are often to first blood, enabling quicker duels; when not involving combat, stealth is a key factor in physical contests. Mental duels rely on using extant knowledge to make quick, decisive action. Social duels, when on the artistic side, usually leave behind beautiful, but anonymous pieces; insult contests focused on brevity are also common. Mystical duels are particularly uncommon, since undue use of Glamour can attract Others.

Examples
Spring Court: Summer Court: Autumn Court: Winter Court:
 * Physical Duel — Pistols at Dawn: In the classic form, the combatants stand at ten paces, turn and fire one shot. Given the ready access to the healing powers of Spring Contracts, this is less likely to be fatal than one might imagine. When the matters at hand are less serious, combatants wear masks to minimize potential damage in the case of a headshot. Systems: usual firearms and initiative rules apply.
 * Mental Duel — The Bartender’s Duel: Both participants are given three to five ingredients and a time limit (ten to thirty minutes, usually) to make a drink. Whoever made the best drink wins. Systems: Intelligence + Streetwise (knowing the Judges and what sorts of drinks they like), Wits + Socialize (mixing the drinks; probably an extended action).
 * Social Duel — Pygmalion’s Battle: This is a contest of statue-making. If the matter is not particularly serious, the contestants usually craft grotesque caricatures of one another. In serious duels, mashed goblin fruits are worked into the clay, briefly bringing the statues to life, whereupon they attack one another. The creator of the surviving statue wins. Systems: Dexterity + Crafts to sculpt the statue, Manipulation + Expression to direct it in battle.
 * Mystical Duel — The Strings of Desire: Often called when the defender is accused of misusing Spring’s Contracts, this duel involves the two combatants sitting down with a drink prepared for the other. Each must try to amplify the other’s desire to drink it. Contracts of Fleeting Spring are the most direct route, but the contest is eased by learning the opponent’s favorite drink and creating circumstances in which he will want to drink. Systems: Wits + Investigation (ahead of time, to learn the opponent’s history), Wits + Subterfuge (to recognize psychological faults) and Manipulation + Intimidation (to unsettle the opponent enough for Contracts of Fleeting Spring to take full effect).
 * Physical Duel — The Bladeless Battle: The combatants engage in unrestrained combat using only blunt weapons, from ornate clubs to simple baseball bats. Systems: Standard combat rules; a Storyteller might rule that a called shot to the head inflicts lethal damage rather than bashing
 * Mental Duel — Appeal for Peace: The defender argues in front of a Judge agreed upon by both participants that a fight is unnecessary because he is innocent or justified in whatever action precipitated the challenge. If decided in favor of the defender, the matter is dropped. If in favor of the challenger, the matter proceeds to a physical duel. Systems: Manipulation + Politics (making the argument based on precedent); Presence + Persuasion (begging for clemency).
 * Social Duel — Staredown: The participants stare one another in the eye. Whoever backs down loses. One (called the aggressor here) can, however, throw a punch; if the aggressor pulls the punch back and the defender flinches, the aggressor wins; if he does not flinch, the defender wins. If the punch connects and the defender is knocked down, the aggressor wins; if the defender stays standing, the duel is resolved in a fistfight. System: Manipulation + Brawl (throwing a convincing fake punch) contested by Wits + Brawl (recognizing a fake punch); Strength + Brawl (throwing a punch; apply a penalty equal to the opponent’s Strength instead of Defense, and success means the defender must check for Knockdown as described on p. 168 of the World of Darkness Rulebook).
 * Mystical Duel — No Catches: Battle through use of Contracts. Participants are prohibited from use of catches, with all Glamour coming from the changelings’ own pools. Systems: Game mechanics for Contracts and catches, of course, can be found in Changeling: The Lost.
 * Physical Duel — Fight to First Blood: Armed with token blades that ignore armor, combatants fight to first blood. This is mitigated by certain abilities of the blades: each duelist may spend a point of Glamour to prevent a wound from visibly bleeding. A duelist may, then, press on until running out of Glamour or passing out from blood loss. Systems: Dexterity + Weaponry in a contested action against an opponent’s attack to parry a blow (this is an instant action); both parties should reveal their intent to strike or parry at the same time. Wits + Medicine to guess how injured the opponent is based on his facial expressions and speed of movement.
 * Mental Duel — Traps: One or both contestants are trapped in a room and must escape before something painful or fatal occurs. Traps are usually imagined by the opponent, though they may hire others to put deathtraps together if the oath permits. Escape through the Hedge is usually seen as both an immediate forfeiture and a good way to escape should the trap truly prove inescapable. Systems: Dexterity + Crafts as an extended action (building the trap), Intelligence + Investigation as an extended action (figuring out the trap).
 * Social Duel — Psychological Warfare: This duel is a series of protracted investigations into the opponent, followed by rumors spread throughout the freehold designed to erode the opponent’s self-control and stability. Perhaps the simplest way of doing so is by attacking the target’s Clarity, especially through re-enactment of parts of his or her durance. Systems: Intelligence + Investigation (learning about a character’s durance); Manipulation + Intimidation (verbal psychological warfare); Resolve + Composure (resisting the terror of having one’s durance revisited)
 * Mystical Duel — The House of Doors: Competitors navigate through a series of marked doors in and out of the Hedge. Checkpoints are usually set up, with a third party ensuring the proper order of doors has been taken. Skill in navigating the Hedge is accounted for, as is physical speed. Systems: Mechanics for opening gateways into and out of the Hedge and for using keys can be found on pp. 210–220 of Changeling: The Lost.
 * Physical Duel — Ice Maiden’s Embrace: A test of endurance, this sort of duel requires that both parties are lowered into a frozen pool of water (a lake, river or vat of water will do). The first to pass out or ask for release loses. Often, these challenges are less for the sake of winning and more for the sake of causing the other party pain. Systems: Stamina + Resolve each turn to withstand the cold. See the effects of temperate extremes on p. 181 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.
 * Mental Duel — Riddles in the Dark: Both contestants retire to some cold, dark place and exchange riddles until one is unable to answer. Systems: Intelligence + Investigation to figure out a riddle (or to get a hint from the Storyteller, if the player would rather suss it out), Manipulation + Expression (to make up a new riddle).
 * Social Duel — The Whisper Gambit: The contestants spread gossip anonymously through letters sent around the area; other changelings know who is involved, but not which participant wrote a given letter. As such, it’s possible to win by writing letters meant to impersonate one’s opponent. The Whisper Gambit requires a pre-established way to send and receive letters, as well as a way for the recipients to make their decisions known. The Winter Court, fortunately, is usually well-equipped for this kind of communication. Systems: Manipulation + Expression (to write a convincing letter; this duel can be represented as an extended and contested action).
 * Mystical Duel — The Broken Glass: Both participants use magic to break a glass of liquid. This sometimes turns into a series of attempts to fulfill a variety of catches on Contract clauses to avoid expending Glamour. Systems: Various, depending on the Contracts being employed.