Andy Hauge​ I totally get that that’s the intent! But it doesn’t work in practice we found. In practice, players are very good at advocating for the approach they want.

Instigator: I draw my sword on him in the middle of the street! He has nowhere to run. Steel, right?

Responder: oh I draw my sword but my goal here is to wear him out. Dodge, bob, talk. Let him swing. Eventually he’ll run out of steam. Water!

Now, it is entirely possible this is a feature and not a bug. Maybe the stat is there to nudge the player toward consistent narration. I feel like that makes the “challenger has a lot of power to set the terms of the duel” stuff misleading or an outright lie, though.