Homebrew Rules: Deadlier Social Combat
Sept 3, 2018 11:35:24 GMT -6
Post by konate on Sept 3, 2018 11:35:24 GMT -6
CHAPTER XIV.2
SOCIAL COMBAT EVOLVED: TACTICS ADVANCED 2
SOCIAL COMBAT EVOLVED: TACTICS ADVANCED 2
Types of Social Combat
Simple
Simple Social Combat is easy, straightforward, and best for kick-in-the-door combat-oriented games. It involves making opposed social skill tests to determine binary outcomes, usually without touching resolve. It's quick and clean, but not very deep.
Vanilla
This Social Combat is the one described in the core books. It's not quick, but it's fairly simple - choose Charisma or Fellowship, and then one of the primary Social skills, and test it against a target's Mental Defense. The target can choose to defend by using Scrutiny + Wisdom, similar to defending against a weapon attack with Parry or Dodge. If you succeed, they must either do what you ask, or lose one Resolve. This is best if Social Combat is not your focus, or if you don't want to spend too long in a single scene talking someone down.
Social Combat Advanced
This style is the one presented here. It's deeper, with harder definitions and syntax, and can provide a lot of options for a party who uses social skills often. It's best fit for political intrigue and spy-centric games, allowing you to wade through Social Combat as though words were actually swords.
THE RULES
RESOLVE
Resolve is your character’s sense of self. It is calculated by adding together your Willpower and Composure.
You recover Resolve at the beginning of each new day by making a TN 10 Composure test. You gain 1 resolve on a success, +1 for each raise on the test.
This stat is unchanged from Vanilla DTD.
CONFIDENCE
Confidence is your ability to push through social combat, and take the verbal blows that come with it. You calculate your Confidence by adding your Charisma, Intelligence, and Level together. You regain your Charisma in Confidence at the beginning of every scene. When taking Social Damage, you remove it from Confidence first. If you have no Confidence remaining, you suffer -2k1 to all tests until you regain at least 1 point of Confidence.
Temporary Confidence does not stack with other sources of Temporary Confidence, is lost first from Social Attacks, and any remaining is removed at the end of a scene. If you gain Temporary Confidence from a second source, you replace your current Temporary Confidence if the new amount is higher.
MENTAL DEFENSE
Your Mental Defense is your base ability to deflect social attacks against yourself and remain unflappable. It is calculated by multiplying the sum of your Composure and Wisdom by 3.
SOCIAL INITIATIVE AND ROUNDS
Your Social Initiative is calculated by adding your Fellowship to your Composure. At the beginning of Social Combat, everyone rolls 1d10 and adds their Social Initiative to the result. Those with higher Initiative takes their turn first, then each character follows in descending order of initiative, until the last character has finished their turn. Then the round ends, and the next round begins with the first character. See ACTIONS below for what a character can do on their turn.
During a Social Surprise Round, everyone rolls Initiative as normal, but the characters who initiated Social Combat gain +1k0 on their Social Attacks until the end of the Surprise Round.
A round of Social Combat takes about one minute.
SOCIAL ATTACKS
A Social Attack gives you a Skill and Characteristic combination, keeping Characteristic, to test against a target’s Mental Defense. If a Social Attack succeeds, the target must yield or take Social Damage equal to 1 + the number of raises on the Social Attack.
You may only use one Social Attack per round, regardless of which one you use.
You can only use Social Attacks to have the target act in a way within their current Alignment, unless they are Broken (see SOCIAL DAMAGE, NO CONFIDENCE, NO RESOLVE below).
YIELDING
If you choose not to defend against a social attack, or have no more Confidence or Resolve, you must Yield to the social attack, performing the action described by the attacker.
DEFENDING
Each character normally has one Reaction they may use in Social Combat, usually to defend against Social Attacks with the Refute or Talk Down actions. Other features of the character may give them additional Reactions or uses.
SOCIAL DAMAGE, NO CONFIDENCE, NO RESOLVE
Social Damage is removed from Confidence first, and then from the target’s Resolve. Characters take an amount of Social Damage equal to 1 + the number of raises the Social Attack had against their Mental Defense.
If a character has 0 confidence remaining, they suffer -2k1 to all tests until they regain at least 1 Confidence.
If a character is unable to recover their full resolve for a number of days equal to their Devotion, they become Broken. You can use Social Attacks to have them perform an act that goes directly against their alignment. They suffer all of the penalties for doing so as normal. This rule regarding Resolve is mostly unchanged from Vanilla.
ATTITUDES
How someone views the subject matter of a social attack can give them bonuses or penalties to their Mental Defense against a Social Attack. If you use Command to tell someone to die for the emperor, they might just try if they’re Fanatical. However, if you try to Persuade someone to give you money, and they feel Kismessitude towards organized crime, you’ll have a much harder time.
A character's attitude can be changed no more than two steps from their starting attitude in a single scene. In addition, characters may burn Hero Points to negate Social Attacks that would result in becoming an Enemy or Ally of a subject. Using Hero Points in this manner ends Social Combat immediately.
| Attitudes | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enemy | The character becomes an Enemy of the subject, as the Hindrance, but without granting additional experience, along with the benefits and penalties of Kismessitude. |
| 2 | Kismessitude | +10 to mental defense against positive requests, -10 against negative requests. |
| 3 | Hostile | +5 to mental defense against positive requests, -5 against negative requests. |
| 4 | Unfriendly | No change, but the character does not like the subject. |
| 5 | Neutral | No change, and the character has no opinions of the subject. |
| 6 | Friendly | No change, but the character is generally nice towards the subject. |
| 7 | Helpful | -5 to mental defense against positive requests, +5 against negative requests. |
| 8 | Fanatical | -10 to mental defense against positive requests, +10 against negative requests. |
| 9 | Ally | The character becomes an Ally of the subject, as the Background, but without costing additional experience, along with the benefits and penalties of Fanatical. |
ENTERING AND EXITING SOCIAL COMBAT
You can begin Social Combat with any number of targets at any time in a scene, so long as no one is participating in physical combat.
Social combat ends when one or more characters yields to a social attack. The yielding characters can choose not to participate in any further Social Combat that scene.
LEAVING SOCIAL COMBAT EARLY
Anyone can choose to leave social combat early on their turn, whether by leaving the room or by initiating Combat, but they immediately lose all of their Confidence, suffering -2k1 to all tests for the remainder of the scene.
ACTIONS
Each character involved in Social Combat may make two Half Actions or one Full Action on their turn, any number of free actions within a round, and one Reaction action per round. The table below lists out the common actions taken in Social Combat, with more in-depth descriptions after the table.
| Name | Use | Type | Description |
| Bribe | Social Attack | Full Action | Use wealth as your characteristic with Persuasion. |
| Charm | Social Attack | Half Action | Improve someone's attitude towards you. |
| Command | Social Attack | Half Action | Take control of a situation, with a bonus if you're actually in charge. |
| Deceive | Feint | Half Action | You set up your next argument to bypass defense. |
| Intimidate | Social Attack | Full Action | A powerful attack that reduces the target's attitude towards you. |
| Monologue/Study | Aim | Half or Full Action | Set up your argument to gain a bonus on your next Social Attack. |
| Move | Narrative | Free Action | Change your position within the scene. |
| Orate | Social Attack | Full Action | Speak to a group of people, attempting to change their attitude towards a specific subject. |
| Pep Talk | Assist | Full Action | Support your ally and improve their Confidence. |
| Persuade | Social Attack | Half Action | Ply your target for assistance; But if you burn them, their attitude towards you decreases. |
| Poker Face | Defense | Full Action | Gain an additional Reaction and increased Mental Defense. |
| Reason | Social Attack | Full Action | Use facts and logic to overwhelm your target's attitude. |
| Refute | Defense | Reaction | Push back against social aggression and peer pressure. |
| Scrutinize | Social Attack | Full Action | A defensive action to improve your retorts while challenging your target's attitudes. |
| Support | Assist | Half Action | Provide a bonus to an ally's next Social Attack. |
| Talk Down | Counterattack | Reaction | Challenge someone's Social Attack. If successful, you can immediately attempt to Charm them. |
Bribe (Social Attack)
Full Action
You must have at least 2 Wealth to use this action. You make a Persuasion + Wealth test, keeping Wealth, against the target. Use the normal rules for Wealth Strain when doing so. If the target yields, they must perform one act that takes no longer than the scene, answer one question truthfully, or become a one-time-use Contact. In addition, on your next Wealth test, you take a -2k0 penalty, and the target gains a +2k0 bonus on their next Wealth test.
If using the optional Wealth rules, instead of a -2k0 penalty and +2k0 bonus, you lose an amount of Thrones equal to 25% of your income, and the target gains an equal number of thrones. If you don't have enough Thrones, you can not use this action.
Charm (Social Attack)
Half Action
This Social Attack uses Charm + Charisma to make someone like you, whether before a business deal or to seduce them. If the target yields, their attitude towards you increases one step.
Command (Social Attack)
Half Action
This Social Attack uses Command + Charisma. If the target of the attack has fewer Background dots in the same Backing as you, you are their leader, or they recognize you due to Fame or Status, you gain +1k1 on this test. However, if the target has the same, more, or no dots in the Background, you take -1k1 on the test. If the target yields, they must perform a simple repetitive action for a duration up to the end of the scene, such as “hold the front line” or “take us home.”
Deceive
Half Action
You attempt to mislead and confuse your target before your next social attack. You must make a Deceive + Fellowship test against the target's Scrutiny + Wisdom. If you succeed, the target may not react against your next Social Attack. If your next action is not a social attack, this bonus is lost.
Intimidate (Social Attack)
Full Action
You forcefully compel the target of this attack to see your point of view. Use Intimidate + Charisma, and gain a +2k0 bonus. Whether you succeed or fail, your target’s attitude of you drops by 1 step. If the target yields, they are compelled to answer one question truthfully or perform one action that takes no longer than a full action.
Monologue/Study
Variable
You can take a Half Action for a +1k0 bonus, or a Full Action for a +2k0 bonus, to your next Social Attack. The next action you take must be a Social Attack or the benefits are lost, and if you take a Reaction action the benefits are likewise lost.
Move
Free Action
Unless the encounter becomes combat-oriented, Movement is a free action and does nothing but look cool.
Orate (Social Attack)
Full Action
This Social Attack uses Performer + Fellowship and can be used against more than one target. You suffer -1k0 for every target after the second, up to a maximum of -5k0. Each target defends separately. If a target yields, their attitude towards a specific subject increases or decreases by one step.
Pep Talk
Full Action
You target either yourself or an Ally and reinforce their mental stamina, granting Temporary Confidence equal to your Fellowship. You can only use this action once per scene.
Persuade (Social Attack)
Half Action
You use Persuasion + Fellowship to talk someone into doing something for you, whether it’s give you information or perform an action. If the target yields, they are compelled to answer one question truthfully, lend you an item, or perform an act that takes no longer than the scene. If this action burns them in some way, their attitude towards you immediately decreases one step.
Poker Face
Full Action
You can take one additional Reaction and gain +10 to your Mental Defense.
Reason (Social Attack)
Full Action
By citing facts or solid examples, you make an argument using a relevant Lore skill + Intelligence. If you have actual in-game evidence pertaining to what you are talking about, you gain +2k0 to the test. If the target yields, their attitude towards a specific subject increases or decreases by one step.
Refute
Reaction Action
When someone makes a Social Attack against you, you can use your Reaction Action to Refute it. Refuting is performed by making a Scrutiny + Composure test and adding half your total to your Mental Defense against the Social Attack. You can Stunt to use different skills, such as Athletics + Strength to defend against an Intimidate social attack, or Academic Lore + Intelligence if you “know” the target is speaking lies. The exact combination is resolved by the SM.
Scrutinize (Social Attack)
Full Action
You choose your words carefully, using Scrutiny + Composure. You take -1k0 to this social attack, but gain +1k0 to Social reaction actions until the beginning of your next turn. If the target yields, their attitude towards a specific subject increases or decreases by one step.
Support
Half Action
You help a friend, providing a +1k0 bonus on the target's next social attack. No more than 2 characters may support the same person, and you can never support someone if the Story Master deems it inappropriate.
Talk Down
Reaction Action
You attempt to talk someone out of their current course of action. Make a Persuasion + Fellowship test against the target's Social Attack test. If your total exceeds theirs, their social attack fails and you may immediately make a Charm social attack as a free action, but with a -2k0 penalty.
