When a character is interacting with others from a cultural group (e.g. tribe or class in society), he/she must make a dice roll against his/her PE + Regional Knowledge (in relevant culture) to understand the culture and recognise a social situation (e.g. the need to introduce himself/herself or to compliment a host). The difficulty value of the dice roll varies depending on the nature of the social situation, as follows:
| Situation | Difficulty value |
| Common basic social interaction (e.g. recognising that there is a social convention or protocol for greeting, thanking, asking, refusing, etc.) | 2 |
| Uncommon social situations (e.g. challenges, main legal process, hierarchy in a community, etc.) | 4 |
| Rare social situations (e.g. overall meaning of traditional rites, ceremonies, etc.) | 6 |
| Obscure social situations (e.g. secret rites, ceremonies, etc.) | 8 or more |
To respond correctly in a social situation without giving offence, a character must make a dice roll against his/her CH + Regional Knowledge (in relevant culture). The difficulty value depends on what the character is trying to achieve:
| Objective | Difficulty value |
| Basic social pleasantries in a simple situation | 2 |
| Avoiding embarrassment or unintentionally giving offence in an uncommon situation | 4 |
| Participating in a traditional rite or ceremony | 6 |
| Participating in a secret rite or ceremony | 8 |
| Leading a traditional rite or ceremony | 8 |
| Leading a secret rite or ceremony | 10 |
If a character fails the recognising/understanding social situation dice roll, the difficulty value for responding correctly without giving offence is increased by the amount by which the dice roll was failed.
For example, Cogan is meeting with a group of Eastern steppe tribesmen. Cogan has a Regional Knowledge in Eastern Steppes of 3 with no relevant specialism. He has an CH of +1/2 and a PE of +1/2. His basic value for both understanding and responding to social situations is, therefore, 3 1/2. Cogan can automatically recognise that there is a need to greet the tribesmen in a particular way (which involves elaborate compliments) and can automatically respond appropriately. During the introductory process, one of the younger tribesmen interrupts the proceedings and issues a ritual challenge to Cogan (uncommon social situation), essentially along the lines of "What right do you have to address us, foreigner?". Cogan's basic value of 3 1/2 is not enough for him to automatically understand what lies behind the challenge; he, therefore, chooses to risk one dice and rolls D + 1/2. He rolls a 3, which gives him a result of 3 1/2, failing the roll by 1/2 point. The referee informs Cogan's player that the challenge is not likely to be intended as real, no physical show of strength is required and that a verbal counter-challenge is likely to be sufficient. Not fully understanding the situation, Cogan now seeks to respond appropriately - the difficulty value is increased to 4 1/2. Cogan's basic value is 3 1/2 - he decides to risk one dice and rolls D + 1/2. This time he rolls a 5, giving him a result of 5 1/2 - a success. Cogan replies "What right do you have to challenge me, you insolent pup?" The other tribesmen murmur their approval at his response and the meeting continues. Had Cogan failed the second dice roll, his verbal response might have unintentionally caused lasting offence through him picking an inappropriate counter-challenge. If he had failed the first dice roll badly, he might have thought that either a verbal answer or a physical response was necessary, both of which would have lost him face.
When a character wants to bribe someone, he/she makes a dice roll using his/her Regional knowledge (including local culture specialisms) + PE to judge the fair price of the bribe. The difficulty depending on how rare the situation is, from about 2 for a relatively common situation (e.g. asking a customs officer to turn a blind eye of smuggled goods) to about 12 for a very rare, one-off item (e.g. bribing way out of prison when on a charge for treason).