The rules presented here can be used to adjudicate all sorts of skirmishes that rely on wits, words and emotions. Furthermore, they can be applied to group endeavors as easily as individual conflicts. For example, the pool of points being targeted could belong to one character, while another mounts the defense and a third mounts the arguments. By having distinct components involved in Social Conflict, everyone in the group can play an active part– which isn’t always possible in physical combat.
Social conflict works in a very similar way to physical combat: proceedings are divided into rounds, participants act in order or Initiative, have a number of Action Points to spend, and if one participant scores a level (or more) of success greater than the opponent, a Special Effect is generated. Social Conflict differs chiefly in the skills used, the timescales over which the conflict is played out, and the Special Effects available. The principle components of Social Conflict are as follows:
Conflict Round
Action Points
Skills used
Initiative calculation
Damage inflicted
Confidence
Resolution Pools
These are described below.
Physical combat measures time in Rounds of 6 seconds each. In Social Conflict, Rounds are of variable length that must be determined by the Games Master, and based upon the nature of the social conflict being resolved. For example, a complex diplomatic negotiation might take several days, with each Round representing one full day of preparation, negotiation, rebuttal, and so on. A heated bargaining session between merchants might be played out in minutes. A legal battle might take weeks, with each Round representing several days of evidence presentation, witness testimony, cross examination, and culminating in deliberation and delivery of a verdict.
There is also no reason why each Round needs to be of the same length: the opening stages of a diplomatic negotiation might be measured in hours, while the meat of the negotiation is measured in days, and the tense, closing stages measured in minutes. Also, time limitations may well be a deciding factor in how many Rounds are available for the Social Conflict. A diplomatic mission might have only three days available; a legal presentation to save a condemned character might have a matter of hours before the character is marched to their execution. Time in Social Conflicts operates to varying scales, and Games Masters must therefore think carefully about realistic lengths for Social Conflict Rounds.
Every participant in Social Conflict has 3 Action Points. It does not matter how smart, charismatic or well connected a participant is; 3 Action Points are available regardless. These are spent on Proactive and Reactive actions in the same way that Action Points are used in physical combat. When Action Points are exhausted, then the participant cannot perform any more actions in the Conflict Round.
Conflicts are resolved using the many social skills. These can be straightforward and obvious choices such as Influence, or more be more specialized, such as Bureaucracy, Oratory, or Lore (Courtly Intrigue). The Games Master has the final say over what skills are employed by each participant, and if the skill used is not a precise match for the nature of the Social Conflict (such as Influence because a character does not have Commerce), then the Games Master can insist that it operates at a penalty– Hard, Formidable or even Herculean, depending on the circumstances. Passions can be used as the primary skill, if appropriate, and, of course, to augment another primary skill.
Also, participants can use one skill to attack, and another to defend, if they so wish. One might use Deceit as the defensive skill in a legal case, and Oratory as the offensive skill to demolish the opponent’s position. However, once chosen, a skill can only be changed by spending an Action Point to alter a skill as a Proactive Action (the equivalent of Ready Weapon in physical combat), or if forced to do so via a Social Conflict Special Effect.
A list of appropriate social skills follows, but this is not exhaustive; Lore, for example, has countless sub-branches, and some world settings have setting-specific skills that can be used in Social Conflict.
Acting
Bureaucracy
Commerce
Culture
Customs
Dance
Deceit
Influence
Insight
Lore(Politics, for example)
Oratory
Passions
Seduction
Willpower
Just as with physical combat, the order of action is important, and is determined by Initiative and a roll of 1d10. Social Conflict Initiative is based on the average of INT and CHA. There are no penalties for Armor, but one’s Initiative can be changed by a Special Effect.
The Initiative order remains in force until the Social Conflict is resolved, unless the situation changes dramatically enough to warrant recalculating Initiative.
Social Conflict involves damage, which can be emotional, reputational, psychological, and so on. Because physical weapons are not involved, Social Conflict Damage is based on the value of the offensive skill being used. Thus, highly skilled participants are capable of inflicting more damage than lesser skilled opponents.
Damage is applied to a participant’s Resolution Pools, which are Social Conflict’s version of Hit Points. Damage is mitigated
by Confidence, which is the Social Conflict equivalent of armor. If the defender rolls a successful Defense (the equivalent of a Parry in physical combat), then the damage is halved.
Skill Value | Damage Inflicted | Average Roll |
|---|---|---|
01-20 | 1d2 | 2 |
20-40 | 1d4 | 3 |
41-60 | 1d6 | 4 |
61-80 | 1d8 | 5 |
81-100 | 1d10 | 6 |
101-120 | 2d6 | 7 |
121-140 | 1d8+1d6 | 8 |
141-160 | 2d8 | 9 |
161-180 | 1d10+1d8 | 10 |
181-200 | 2d10 | 11 |
281-300 | 3d10 | 17 |
Each +20% | Follow above progression |
Confidence is one’s protection against damage in a Social Conflict. The greater one’s Confidence, the more one can shrug-off insults, insinuations, or even the damage of home truths. Confidence is equal to Willpower/20. If Willpower is less than 20, then Confidence automatically equals zero, reflecting timidity, feelings of inferiority, and so forth. Circumstantial modifiers, from fatigue say, or mystical abilities, can therefore have an effect on one’s natural Confidence rating.
Resolution Pools are the Social Conflict equivalent of Hit Locations and Hit Points. There are three Resolution Pools:
Composure represents one’s ability to remain calm, composed and equitable. When reduced to zero or less, one has been forced to anger– perhaps even physical anger– and the immediate loss of position within the Social Conflict.
Integrity represents one’s reputation, dignity, and ability to present a veneer of respectability throughout the exchange. When reduced to zero or less, Integrity has been eroded to the point of personal shame and humiliation, causing the participant to withdraw from the contest.
Resolve represents one’s ability to command the respect and sup port of others. When reduced to zero or less, that support has been lost, breaking the participant’s Resolve and forcing them to withdraw.
When damage is inflicted during Social Conflict, a Resolution Pool is rolled randomly (or selected, if the Choose Resolution Pool Special Effect is available) and the damage applied, with Confidence reducing some of the damage, just as armor soaks up physical damage. To randomly determine which Resolution Pool is hit, roll 1d12.
1d12 | Resolution Location |
|---|---|
1-4 | Composure |
5-8 | Integrity |
9-12 | Resolve |
While a Resolution Pool remains at a positive value, the participant in the conflict is able to remain active at no penalty. However, when one pool is reduced to zero or below, all skills used in the Social Conflict suffer a penalty of one Difficulty Grade; and if two pools are reduced to zero, then the participant must succeed in an immediate Willpower roll to remain in the contest, or be forced to withdraw. If the Willpower roll is a Critical Success, then 1 point is restored to the Resolution Pool. However, even on a successful Willpower roll, with two Resolution Pools at zero or less, skill for the conflict are now two grades harder. While Pool(s) are at zero or less, the Willpower roll must be made at the start of each subsequent round with failure indicating that the participant lacks the resolve to continue. If all three Resolution Pools are reduced to zero or less, it indicates that the participant has suffered a humiliation of catastrophic proportions, which the Games Master should adjudicate as circumstances suggest.
If a Resolution Pool is reduced to a negative value equivalent to its starting value (a Composure of 5 reduced to-5 for example), then the character is classed as Vulnerable, and loses one point of Confidence automatically. If Confidence is already at zero then there is no further effect. Having multiple pools reduced to Vulnerable stacks this impact to Confidence.
If two or more characters act together in a Social Conflict, calculate the Confidence and Resolution Pools based on the aver age Characteristics of the group, and then decide who will act offensively and who will act defensively, using the appropriate skill values. Players can take it in turns making offensive and defensive rolls, and Special Effects can be chosen by the group.
In some circumstances, the Resolution Pool may belong to some one other than the defender. For example, one might be attacking organization, such a cult or brotherhood; or the Resolve of one individual being protected by another. In short, the Resolution Pools do not need to belong to a solitary defender– they can belong to someone or something else. This forms part of the Framing of the Conflict.
If the target of an attack is not someone (or something) with a clearly defined INT, POW or CHA, then the Games master should assign a ratings to the three Pools using the table opposite.
Rating | Resolution Value | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
Puny | 2 | 0 |
Weak | 3 | 1 |
Standard | 4 | 2 |
Hard | 5 | 3 |
Formidable | 6 | 4 |
Herculean | 7 | 5 |
Social Conflict operates, more or less, in the same way as physi cal conflict. Working in order of Initiative participants spend Action Points to undertake certain actions designed to overcome the opposition– either by forcing the opponent to concede, or by reducing its Resolution Pool to zero.
$\quad$However, before Social Combat begins, a preparatory phase, known as Framing, takes place. Framing helps establish the boundaries of the conflict. In a melee, the objectives are usually clear, but in Social Conflict, they may not be. Indeed, participants may not even see each other. Thus, establishing a loose framework helps give the conflict a certain degree of coherence and structure.
Framing consists of the following activities in roughly this order:
Determine the nature of the conflict
Determine the conflict’s purpose
Timescale for the conflict
Determine the participants
Allow for any pre-conflict research or preparation
Participants decide the Offensive and Defensive Skills to be used
Social Conflict begins with Initiative rolls
This should be relatively straightforward: a negotiation; a seduction; a courtroom battle; a legal wrangle; an argument in the council chambers, and so on. The nature will most likely have a bearing on the timescales, but may also have a bearing on the purpose too, so it is worth ensuring everyone understands the nature of the conflict to begin with.
Anytime Social Conflict is used to this degree, and clear purpose needs to be established:
What are the stakes?
What do the winners gain?
What happens to the losers?
Is a stalemate possible?
Can both sides agree to a compromise to mitigate losses?
Are there any wider outcomes?
Establishing the purpose of the conflict helps everyone under stand what may be at stake. Some conflicts are clear-cut, but others are more nebulous, or the stakes are quite abstract to begin with. The participants– meaning the player characters should have, at the very least, an idea of what they want or need to achieve by entering into Social Conflict, and understand what may happen if they lose. Reputations can be broken beyond repair for the most innocuous of reasons, and so it is important that the purpose of the conflict is clearly understood. If there is no clear purpose, there might be a better way of handling things.
This is largely for the Games Master to decide. A conflict might be open-ended, or constrained to a certain number of rounds, or a certain point in time. At the very least, the length of a Round should be established, even though it may vary according to where in the social conflict one happens to be. Guidance is very difficult to give precisely, but some suggestions are as follows:
Purpose | Round Length |
|---|---|
Commercial Negotiation | Minutes, Hours or Days |
Seduction | Hours, Days or Weeks |
Legal Challenge | Weeks, Months or Years |
Trial | Days, Weeks or Months |
Political Debate | Minutes, Hours, Days |
Impassioned Speeches at a Husting | Minutes, Hours |
Political or Diplomatic maneuvering | Days, Weeks, Months |
Swaying an Important Argument | Minutes, Hours, Days |
Hostage Negotiation | Hours, Days, Weeks |
Intense argument among friends | Minutes, Hours |
This should be straightforward, but there may be complications. Are all the participants individuals, or do some represent other interests? Does a Resolution Pool under attack belong to the defender or a third party? Are the participants collocated, or are they remote? How does the conflict play out if they are remote?
The participants may even impact Timescales, so it is worth while establishing who is involved as part of the framing process.
This could be spying on opponents to try to understand their defenses, or attempting to discover which Resolution Pool is the best to attack when the conflict is underway. Research and preparation may take days or weeks; none might be needed at all. But always allow some time for such preparedness.
Characters will, most likely, opt for their strongest skills in any social conflict, but their strongest social skill may not be apposite for the situation, so the Games Master should arbitrate. If a character lacks a specific skill, then another may be substituted (Influence for Commerce says), but at a penalty of Hard or Formidable. This is also the time to decide if an agent or advocate will be hired instead. For example, if a character is on trial, unless they are a skilled lawyer, they will need to hire representative counsel. It will still be the character’s Resolution Pool that is under attack, but the opposition will be attacked by the counsel, and he or she will use their skills to defend the character’s Resolution Pool. Thus, the Offensive and Defensive skills used, and who uses them, are important to frame, because changing them during the conflict can be difficult.
As with standard combat, Initiative determines participants’ order of actions during the cycles of a Conflict Round. It is rolled at the start of the conflict and, unless something occurs to change the situation, remains in play until it is forced to be re rolled.
Initiative is calculated by each participant rolling 1d10 and adding their Social Conflict Initiative Bonus, which is the aver age of INT and CHA. Whoever gained the highest result acts first, followed by the second highest, and so on. When two or more participants tie scores they act concurrently.
Once initiative has been determined, the participants have the potential to perform several Actions during each Conflict Round. The number of times they can act is equal to their Action Points, but when they can act is limited to whether the action is proactive or reactive.
Proactive actions can only be attempted on the character’s own Turn, and only one proactive action may be attempted per cycle. If no proactive action is selected, the character is assumed to have used Dither by default.
Similarly only one reaction attempt is permitted for each threat, although any number of reactions may be made per cycle, provided that the character has Action Points to spend.
The end of the cycle is reached once every participant has taken their turn. If anyone still has Action Points remaining then a new cycle is begun for those characters with Action Points available. This continues until all available Action Points have been expended, at which point the round is over, and a new one begins.
As with combat, participants choose certain actions each turn: these are known as Conflict Actions. Once a participant’s Action Points are expended, they may no longer act for the remainder of that round, and must wait until their points reset at the beginning of the next.
Unless otherwise specified any Conflict Action (save for ‘free’ actions) costs one Action Point.
The following are activities a character can attempt on their Turn by spending an Action Point.
The character can attempt to use a Social Conflict skill, chosen as part of Framing, in an attempt to inflict Damage on the nominated Resolution Pool.
If magic is available and applicable to the Social Conflict, the character can attempt to cast a spell, call for a miracle, invoke a talent or summon a spirit. Once concluded, the magic can be released at any moment up until the caster’s next turn; at which point it can be held for later effect; but this requires the Hold Magic action (see below) to maintain it in preparation for later release.
The character can alter the Social Conflict skill currently in use for a different skill. Thus, someone using Bureaucracy could switch to Influence (or any other permitted social skill). The new skill comes into effect at the start of the next Round.
The character conserves his action so that he can instead per form a Reactive Action at a later time, such as an Interrupt or Counter. The Action Point cost of delaying is covered by what ever act is finally performed. If the delayed action is not taken before the character’s next turn (on the following cycle), then the character is considered to have Dithered, and the Action Point is lost.
A character can decide to simply waste their turn doing nothing useful.
Once casting is complete, the character may hold a spell, miracle or spirit in temporary check, awaiting the best moment to release it. The magic may be held back for as long as the character continues to take this action on his subsequent turns, but allows free use of the Counter Spell reaction if pertinent to his spell.
The character can engage multiple opponents in a group opposed roll of Deceit skills. Those who fail to beat this roll cannot attack that Conflict Round.
If forced to change a skill through the Disarm Special Effect, the participant must spend an Action Point to switch to another Social Skill. The new skill cannot be higher in value than the previous skill.
Used when a Social Conflict skill is under a penalty, this action allows the character pause, process, take a deep breath, and, shrug-off the disadvantage. Spending one Action Point negates one level of difficulty.
As in the previous list, a reaction costs an Action Point to perform.
The character can attempt to dismiss or counter an incoming spell, miracle or spirit. This assumes the countering magic has a casting time of one Turn, otherwise it must be prepared in advance, and temporarily withheld using the Hold Magic action. Successfully intercepting magic in this manner is assumed to negate the entire spell or miracle, even those with multiple tar gets or areas of effect.
The character can attempt to defend against an incoming attack using the nominated defensive skill.
(Delaying characters only) Halts an opponent’s turn after his or her declaration in order to take one’s own delayed turn. Assuming no change in the tactical situation, the opponent continues his turn after yours is completed. If unable to still achieve the original declaration, the opponent’s Action Point is wasted.
If a participant is using an unaugmented skill, an Action Point can be spent to seek an augmentation from either a skill he or she possesses, or similar help from a colleague or supporter. The augmenting skill must be relevant to the social conflict, and to the primary skill being used.
Free actions can be performed at any time during the Conflict Round, and cost no Action Points to perform.
If unengaged, a character can make a Perception roll at no Action Point cost. Success in the roll alerts them to any relevant changes in the situation.
If unengaged, gesturing or signaling to one or more participants (as long as they can perceive the sign) is a Free Action.
Using a Luck Point– to re-roll a particular result for example is a Free Action.
As with physical combat, scoring one or more levels of success over an opponent confers one or more Special Effects. The effects presented here are based on their physical combat counterparts, modified to a social context. Thus, if one is familiar with combat, it should be relatively easy to decide on which effects to use in a social conflict situation.
Special Effect | Offensive | Defensive | Specific Roll | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Accidental Humiliation | X | The defender deflects or twists an opponent’s attacking arguments in such a way that the opponent fumbles, humiliating themselves. The attacker must roll damage and apply it to their own Resolution Pool under attack. | ||
Choose Resolution Pool | X | The attacker chooses the Resolution Pool to receive damage, rather than rolling randomly | ||
Circumvent Defense | X | Critical | On a critical the attacker may completely bypass an otherwise successful defensive roll. | |
Compel Capitulation | X | Critical | On a critical success, this allows the character a chance to force the capitulation of a helpless or disadvantaged opponent. Games Masters may wish to reserve Compel Capitulation for use against non-player characters only. | |
Disarm Opponent | X | X | Offensive skill must be changed, if an opposed roll against the defensive skill is failed. | |
Emotional Impale | X | Damage is rolled twice and the highest result applied. Half damage again can be applied on the next turn, on a successful Insight roll. | ||
Entangle Argument | X | X | For the remainder of the Round, the opponent’s attacking or defending skill is at one grade harder. This effect can be stacked, meaning that, if applied a second time, the opponent’s skill is two grades harder, and so on. | |
Expose Flaws | X | Defender must make an opposed roll of Insight or Willpower against the original attack roll. If the defender fails, then their credibility is profoundly eroded. At the start of each Conflict Round the recipient accrues one level of Fatigue, until they are unable to act any further. | ||
Force Failure | X | X | Fumble | Used when an opponent fumbles, the character can combine Force Failure with any other Special Effect which requires an opposed roll to work. Force Failure causes the opponent to fail their resistance roll by default. |
Ignore Confidence | X | Critical | On a critical the attacker finds a gap in the defender’s Confidence, ignoring the social armor completely. | |
Maximize Damage | X | Critical | Inflict full Social Combat Damage. | |
Obfuscate Opponent | X | Successful Insight roll or lose the ability to attack for the next 1d3 turns. | ||
Prepare Counter | X | Counters a Special Effect of the opponent. | ||
Shake Confidence | X | X | Reduces the opponent’s Confidence by either 1 or 2 points. | |
Sow Doubt | X | Critical | For the next 1d3 Turns, the opponent can only inflict a Special Effect if the roll (either Offensive or Defensive) is a Critical Success. Furthermore, the opponent cannot use any of the Critical Only Special Effects. | |
Stun | X | The opponent is temporarily stunned, and loses their next Turn. | ||
Trip Opponent | X | X | The opponent must make an opposed roll of his Perception, Insight or Deceit against the character’s original roll. If the target fails, he slips-up, and suffers a one grade penalty to either his offensive or defensive skill, as chosen by the opponent. | |
Withdraw | X | The defender is able to find a way of breaking free of the conflict, and retreating to fight another day. |
The defender deflects or twists an opponent’s attacking arguments in such a way that the opponent fumbles, humiliating themselves. The attacker must roll damage and apply it to their own Resolution Pool under attack.
The attacker decides which Resolution Pool is damaged, rather than rolling randomly.
On a critical the attacker may completely bypass the opponent’s Confidence.
On a critical success, this allows the character a chance to force the capitulation of a helpless or disadvantaged opponent. Damage is not inflicted on the target; but they are threatened. The target must make an opposed roll of Willpower against the original attack or defensive roll. If the target fails, they capitulate. Games Masters may wish to reserve Compel Capitulation for use against non-player characters only.
The character uses variety of techniques to force their opponent into abandoning their current offensive skill. The opponent must make an opposed roll of their skill against the character’s original roll. If the recipient of the disarm loses, they must spend an Action Point on the Ready Skill action on their next turn or be left unable to defend.
The attacker uses cutting, barbed arguments to open deep emotional or psychological weaknesses in their opponent’s demeanor. As with Impale in physical combat, damage is rolled twice and the highest result applied.
$\quad$On their next offensive turn, the impaling character can choose to let the matter rest, or spend an Action Point to inflict one final, cutting remark. If the impaler makes a successful Insight roll to assess how to cause further damage, then they inflict half their normal rolled Social Conflict damage as they utter a withering comment. Confidence does not protect and this counts as the attacker’s action for that cycle.
This allows a character to turn the opponent’s tactics against them for a short time, by introducing contradictory information or arguments that the opponent must mentally clarify. For the remainder of the Round the opponent’s attacking or defending skill is at one grade harder. This effect can be stacked, meaning that, if applied a second time, the opponent’s skill is two grades harder, and so on.
The attacker exposes major flaws in the opponent’s arguments. If the attack overcomes Confidence and injures the Resolution Pool, the defender must make an opposed roll of Insight or Willpower against the original attack roll. If the defender fails, then their credibility is profoundly eroded. At the start of each Conflict Round the recipient accrues one level of Fatigue, until they are unable to act any further. Exposed characters can be treated by the Seek Support Reactive Action; a supporting third party must make a successful Influence roll to stabilise the situation, preventing the Exposed character from accruing any further fatigue.
Used when an opponent fumbles, the character can combine Force Failure with any other Special Effect which requires an opposed roll to work. Force Failure causes the opponent to fail their resistance roll by default.
On a critical the character inflicts the full Social Conflict damage rather than the rolled damage. If the damage is high enough to warrant two dice being rolled (i.e., a Social Conflict skill of >100%), then the largest of the two dice is maximized, while the second dice is rolled (thus, a skill of 102% would inflict 6+1d6 rather than 1d6+1d6).
On a critical defend roll, the defender briefly obfuscates his opponent with spurious arguments, rhetoric, and so on. The opponent must make a successfully Insight roll to oppose the defender, or, for the next 1d3 Turns, the opponent is unable to attack.
The defender reads the patterns of his foe and pre-plans a counter against a specific Special Effect (which should be noted down in secret). If his opponent attempts to inflict the chosen Special Effect upon him during the fight, the defender instantly substitutes the attackers effect with an offensive or defensive one of his own, which succeeds automatically.
The participant reduces the opponent’s Confidence by 1 point if a Standard success, and 2 points if a Critical Success. This Effect cannot be stacked, meaning that if a combatant scores two Special Effects, Shake Confidence can only be chosen once.
The defender manages to introduce a glimmer of suspicion or doubt into the opponent’s credibility. For the next 1d3 Turns, the opponent can only inflict a Special Effect if the roll (either Offensive or Defensive) is a Critical Success. Furthermore, the opponent cannot use any of the Critical Only Special Effects.
The opponent is temporarily stunned, and loses their next Turn.
The character attempts to lure the opponent into making a deliberate error or mistake. The opponent must make an opposed roll of his Perception, Insight or Deceit against the character’s original roll. If the target fails, he slips-up, and suffers a one grade penalty to either his offensive or defensive skill, as chosen by the opponent. He needs to spend an Action Point in Regaining Equilibrium (see Proactive Actions) to try to negate the penalty, or must suffer it until in a position to do so.
The defender is able to find a way of breaking free of the conflict and retreating to fight another day.