The way that influence works has been changed. Instead of regenerating fully once a season or year, it gains one level at the end of each month up to the maximum. When you use it, it falls by 3 (for a personal or appointment influence), 6 (a mistress influence) or disappears altogether (certain special bits of influence that you can get in some cases). They are represented on the character sheet as 5/8, i.e. a piece of influence of maximum level 8 which is currently at 5. Levels may go negative, in which case you have to wait for them to become positive before you can use it again. They will be displayed as 0/whatever.

Appointment influences are at maximum when you get an appointment. If you court a mistress successfully, her influence will be where her previous lover left it (+1 per intervening month of course).

You may use the same piece of influence more than once in one month, assuming it does not totally expire in the process. However, the actions you are trying to influence must occur in the correct order: you may use a fully charged level 8 influence as an 8, a 5 and a 2 in one month, but only if the action you want to use the 8 on occurs first, then the 5 action and finally the 2. You may even use the same piece of influence twice on the same action. (This is more a program feature that is too much hassle to try and fix than anything intentional.)