I also want to point out the main reason I stick to using DnD and ttrpgs that are very similar (e.g. pathfinder) as a framework is it lets your group get right into the game instead of spending a lot of time getting used to an unfamiliar system.

That does have some value, but sunk cost is not always a great justification. Also, a lot of systems are way easier to learn than DND. I think people think it's going to be as hard as memorizing all the DND jank - stat to bonus mappings, attack bonus by level, spell slots, a hundred different unique spells - but many systems aren't like that. (Quick, can you Sacred Flame and object? Smite with a thrown spear?)

I've been playing Vampire and the guy that's only played DND before has had no trouble picking up the rules. Fate is maybe easier, though more creatively demanding. Lot of tyranny of the blank page potential there.

It would be something like the player asking the goons to move, the goons saying no, the player asking why, the goons giving some answer, the player rolling insight and then deciding a follow up question, probably ending with a persuasion or intimidation check with a DC dependent on how well the rest of the discussion went, with the possibility for other shenanigans to influence as well (like maybe the party mage used minor illusion to fake a badge to pretend to be cops).

That's how DND would typically play it out, but some things worth noting.

One, where armor class, saves, and HP are very codified, the DC for persuasion or intimidation is very loosey-goosey in DND.

Fate, by contrast, has a stress track (like hit points) for physical and mental harm. So when your character pulls a knife and says "I'm gonna cut your fingers off one at a time and make you eat them", and you roll, there's mechanical oomph to it. You roll +7, and they're either out of the scene of suffering a consequence. DND is just DM whims.

I honestly don’t think something like “social HP” would be better than RP and shenanigans, but idk, I would be curious to try.

I like how Fate does it. You're not limited so much by your personal ability to act and the GM's mode. You roll high on Provoke and it mechanically hits.

Oh, another subsystem from Fate I'd recommend importing: Concede. Solves all those "omg I wiped the party" problems.

I think the issue with combat oriented spells is you have spells at each level that do “vaguely this level’s worth of damage” for every damage type so you get a nice progression curve.

This is almost certainly a root cause. I think you could build a neat system where you don't have two dozen variations of "do damage" spells, but you rather have rules for how much damage and other effects can go into a spell slot. Which is kind of how Mage works, actually.

But then casters would be having all sorts of fun and fighters would be left out again. Which, come to think of it, is a common problem in DND.

Also I’m not sure what you have against exploration and movement type spells because those are very useful in an intrigue heavy campaign.

Nothing against them. I just meant the majority of spells are combat.

Anyway, DnD does have a lot of combat mechanics, but it has plenty of non-combat mechanics too. The combat is more regimented and structured, but I don’t see that as a weakness, just the difference between combat and intrigue.

And sometimes that's fine. But it's not the only way for a game to be. If your game has little physical conflict and a lot of social conflict, DND is probably the wrong engine. Be like wearing a winter jacket on a summer beach trip.

Anyway. Like I said this is one of my bugbears so I can go on. Thanks for reading