I meant to post this last night but I fell asleep before finishing:
Zheng Sao is not going to fight Swift Snake unless he attack her. She has no reason to duel him or anything. She has zero investment in him being on her boat. The party is literally paying her to take them along with the cargo she transports as part of her actual job.
So, when Swift Snake imposes on her against her explicit wishes, whether it's because she wants to have a nice lunch with just her sister or because she is actually going to meet a buyer for the stacks of bear hookers she is hiding in her private room, she has no reason to tolerate it.
Maybe this would have been more apparent if Swift Snake or another player spent some RP time with her specifically, but I will tell you all this: Zheng Sao is pragmatic above all else; she aims to survive. She is not someone that you can earn grudging respect from by fighting her. If you beat her in a game or contest, she will not care because it's just a game or contest.
Your analysis makes total sense DS, I just saw it the wrong way.
Zheng Sao for a hefty price takes on her boat a group of dangerous individuals knowing very well that both her dealings and theirs might bring both parties trouble. One of them makes it clear he won't leave her alone, he doesn't mind whatever she does so long as she doesn't go up against them and he could also be of help acting as a bodyguard should danger come looking (remember the injured guard), an asset offered free of charge.
This individual is strange, he seems and acts dangerous, she has no way of knowing whether he is there to help or to kill her should she try to betray them or merely nosey. The way I saw it, a duel would help demonstrate that he is in fact capable of protecting her better than she can do herself.
Things went differently unfortunately for me
Lucky for her Swift Snake isn't a heartless criminal or fugitive and he is also still partly a child so he got intimidated easily by the prospective of complicating things for the others.
drvolwolfen, in case you missed this:
I was thinking of using
an idea from The Angry GM:
Every character begins each session with Inspiration, which is a thing you either have or you don’t.
If you have Inspiration, you can spend it at any time to take an Inspired Action provided that action somehow ties into one of your character’s personal characteristics. If your Ideal is “I will do anything to save a person in danger,” and you want to swing across a ravine on a vine to rescue someone who is about fall into the ravine and hanging by one hand, that fits. You can claim an Inspired Action.
When you take an Inspired Action, you can either gain advantage on an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw OR you can give advantage to someone else’s ability check, attack roll, or saving throw provided you are in a position to assist them directly in some way OR impose disadvantage on someone else’s ability check, attack roll, or saving throw provided you are in a position to hinder their action directly in some way. Whatever it is, the Inspired Action MUST somehow connect to one of your Personal Characteristics.
So, let’s take that “I will take any risk to save a person in danger.” You could do the aforementioned “swinging across the ravine to catch them from falling” thing. Or if they have to attempt a saving throw to avoid a collapsing ceiling, you could throw yourself at them to save them, giving them advantage on the saving throw. Or if a monster is about to attack someone standing near you, you can interpose yourself and give the monster disadvantage on the attack roll. See? Easy.
When you don’t have Inspiration, you can Claim a Setback to gain Inspiration. To Claim a Setback you must either impose disadvantage on one of your own ability checks, saving throws, or attack rolls based on one of your Personal Characteristics OR make a decision that creates a significant story setback, obstacle, or hindrance. When you want to Claim a Setback, simply ask the GM. For example: “I’m easily distracted by shiny objects, so I’m distracted by the giant pile of treasure. Can I Claim a Setback and take disadvantage on my saving throw against the dragon’s fire breath?” Or: “This guy wants to help us, but I distrust all strangers. I’m going to be rude and accusatory of him. Can I Claim a Setback for that?” And then the GM might have the stranger refuse to help or get offended or start a fight. Whatever.
After you Claim a Setback, you get Inspiration. You can use the Inspiration to take an Inspired Action. And on and on it goes.
So, basically, starting from now, everyone has Inspiration. I was about to explain further but I realized the above is pretty simple and succinct already. How do people feel about this?
So, you can use Inspiration only to affect rolls that make align with your traits, so, for example, you could have used it to gain advantage on your stealth roll before because that was about you not trusting people.
As it does not fit your traits and is rather counter to your traits, you can't use it to gain advantage on a Persuasion roll to ask for forgiveness.
I had already read this.
I thought it was warranted since Swift Snake would do whatever necessary for the mission to succeed, even beg for forgiveness as he did in the end. (One of his personality traits is that he gives himself 100% in everything he does, we can agree that he has been doing whatever necessary for the mission and not for personal gain from day one of their journey even scouting the lands around the river and going to great lengths to keep an eye on a potential danger for their mission)
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