Social Combat

Social Combat
These rules allow for debates to be much more in depth than 1c: The Opening Argument
a single Persuasion vs Insight roll. It allows for wordplay Once all participants have set their Resolve, the initiator
battles with similar complexity to the swordplay battles more makes their first Argument, following the rules laid out in
commonly focused on in these games. It makes traits like Step 2 for making an argument.
Alignment and Ideals mechanically relevant rather than mere
flavor choices. These rules will not be for everyone, but for 1d: Roll Initiative
certain playstyles they can be invaluable. Note that even if you After the initiator completes their opening argument, all
include these rules in your game, not every disagreement present who wish to join the debate roll initiative as though
needs to become a formal debate. starting physical combat, using Intelligence in place of
Just like with physical combat, these rules can be used for Dexterity, as this represents how quickly you can formulate
PvP but are intended for use between PCs and NPCs. your argument or counterargument.
There are two core statistics for these rules: Conviction
and Resolve. Think of Conviction like your social Armor Class Step 2: Make an Argument
and Resolve like your social Hit Points.
An Argument is to social combat as an Attack is to physical
Step 1: Initiative combat. It is a statement made by a creature to attempt to
convince those involved in the debate to agree with the
Social combat begins similarly to how physical combat current Topic. It takes an Action on your turn, but can take
begins, with the exception of surprise. The one who initiates anywhere from five seconds or less to two minutes or more,
the debate gets a "surprise round" in that by initiating they get depending on the complexity of the argument being made.
to set the Topic and make the Opening Argument. Usually, Your turn is not limited to six seconds, but lasts as long as
social combat cannot be started during physical combat. necessary to complete your argument.
1a: Setting the Topic 2a: State Your Case
The Topic is the point being argued. It should be a declarative State, in character, the argument your character wishes to
statement no longer than one sentence which may be either make. If you are uncomfortable roleplaying this deeply, you
agreed with or disagreed with, which the initiator wishes can simply describe their point in the abstract, but you must
those involved in the debate to agree with, such as "We are say more than simply "I roll a Persuasion check" as the nature
allowed to be here" or "The king isn't such a bad guy, really" of your point will affect your damage roll.
or "You are going to give us that gemstone". Your argument is made with a Charisma check, using
1b: Setting Resolve Intimidation if your argument is an appeal to fear, Deception if
As soon as the Topic is set, each creature who will participate it is a deliberate attempt to make others believe something
in the debate sets their starting Resolve for that Topic based you know to be false, or Persuasion otherwise.
on their beliefs and opinions, as follows: 2b: Determine Conviction
Resolve - Opinion Unlike with most physical attacks, you do not choose a target
for your argument. Arguments target all participants in a
-20 Very Strongly Agree debate simultaneously, assuming they can hear the argument
-10 Strongly Agree and it is in a language they understand. You can choose
whether your argument includes yourself as a target or not.
-5 Agree As a physical attack must overcome its target's Armor
0 Unsure Class, an Argument must overcome each participant's
5 Disagree
Conviction in order to affect that creature's Resolve.
Your Conviction is equal to 10 + your Wisdom modifier. If
10 Strongly Disagree your alignment is Lawful, you get a +2 bonus to Conviction; if
20 Very Strongly Disagree your alignment is Chaotic, you get a -2 penalty instead. If your
alignment is Neutral on either axis, you get a -1 penalty to
Resolve has a maximum of 20 and a minimum of -20 Conviction (this stacks to -2 if you are True Neutral).
regardless of the amount you start with. When a creature's If you are proficient with the Insight skill and the argument
Resolve changes to (or past) a number on the chart over the is a Deception, you can add your proficiency bonus to your
course of the debate, their opinion on the Topic changes Conviction for that argument.
commensurately. 2c: Determine Damage
If the same Topic is brought up again later, whether in the If the Argument's Charisma check is equal to or greater than
same debate or a future one, you do not get to choose a new your Conviction, the arguer rolls 1d4. Your Resolve for the
Resolve for it, but must use your last Resolve for that Topic. current Topic is reduced by the amount rolled. This die is
The DM can rule a new Topic too similar to a previous one, doubled on a natural 20 attack roll as normal.
causing it to use the Resolve for that Topic rather than
starting afresh.
The damage roll is modified based on the nature of the Huff. You pig-headedly dig in your heels and refuse to listen
argument, as described in step 2a. For each of the following any further. Your Resolve for the current Topic returns to the
traits that the argument plays up to (or fights against), position you originally set it to for this Topic, but you take a -1
increase (or reduce) the damage by 1: Alignment (per axis), penalty to all future Social Combat rolls targeting anyone who
Personality Trait, Ideal, Bond, Flaw. Damage to Resolve can observes you doing this, as you have shown yourself to be
become negative with these modifiers, and increases Resolve unreasonable. This penalty stacks with itself if you do this
by that amount. If using these social combat rules, every multiple times. (DMs should use this option sparingly; if these
creature should have either 1 or 2 of each of these traits. Social Combat rules are part of your game, your players
These adjustments should be made in secret by the DM should be given every reasonable opportunity to make use of
when affecting NPCs, as the players may not be aware of all of them.)
that creature's relevant traits. Researching your mark and
learning their biases is an essential tactic to successfully Interrupt
engaging them in debate. You can use your Reaction to make an Argument or
Whether a particular argument plays on or fights against a Counterargument or Leave the Debate or Change Topic on
particular trait is up to the DM's judgment, but DMs are someone else's turn. If you make an Argument or
encouraged to listen to their players' interpretations as they Counterargument this way, it takes a -5 penalty on the attack
are the ones who best understand their character's mindset. roll and a -1 penalty on the damage roll. If you Change the
Topic this way without Conceding, your Opening Argument
Step 3: The Rest of Your Turn takes the aforementioned penalties, in addition to which you
take a -1 penalty to all Social Combat rolls until the Topic you
Anything you can do on your turn in physical combat, you can changed away from becomes the current Topic again.
also do on your turn in social combat. Making an Argument is
an Action, but you can take any other Action available to you, Step 4: Ending the Debate
in addition to any one available Bonus Action, plus your
movement and anything that can be done as part of an action Once all participants have a Resolve of -5 or less, or all
(such as drawing a weapon) or without spending an action participants have a Resolve of 5 or more, or all participants
(such as ending concentration on a spell). have left the debate, the initiative order is dropped and the
If you take any hostile action during social combat, such as debate ends. If the debate would end this way but a
taking the Attack action, the debate immediately ends and participant wishes to keep the debate going with the current
new initiative is rolled for physical combat as usual. participants and initiative order, they can use a reaction to
In addition, there are some special options available to you Change Topic with no penalty.
specifically for use in Social Combat, as follows: If the debate is ended in some other way, such as by
physical combat being initiated or by the floor giving out from
Counterargument under everyone's feet, all participants are treated as having
A Counterargument is much like an Argument, but it is made taken the Leave Debate (Postpone) action.
in opposition to the Topic rather than in favor of it, and heals All Resolve for all Topics stays where it is from debate to
Resolve rather than damaging it. In all other ways, it follows debate. If your Resolve for a Topic is between -9 and 9, you can
the same rules as making an Argument. initiate a debate on that Topic with yourself, but if you Change
Topic or Leave Debate in a Huff when debating with yourself
Leave Debate/Change Topic you take the described penalty vs anyone who discovers you
As an Action, you can give up your place in the initiative order have done this as though they had observed you doing so.
and stop participating in the debate.
Alternatively, as an Action you can shelve the current Topic Step 5: External Evidence
and introduce a new Topic, making an Opening Argument as Sometimes you encounter clear evidence outside of a debate
part of the same Action. that proves you right or wrong. At DM discretion, when
Whether leaving the debate or changing the topic, you must sufficient evidence is brought to your attention other than
do so in one of the following three ways. (You can pretend to through debate, it may increase or decrease your Resolve for a
use one method while really using another with a successful relevant Topic, or even set it to a particular level.
Deception vs Insight roll, but you must behave as though you
used the method you are pretending to use, otherwise the Variant: Haggling
Deception roll automatically fails.)
Concede. You set your Resolve to -5 for the current Topic (if You can use these rules to haggle over prices, with the Topic
it is already lower, it stays where it is), claiming to agree with being the item in question instead of a declarative statement
the statement being argued. and each participant's Resolve being the percentage of market
Postpone/Agree to Disagree. You state your intention to price they wish to pay/charge for said item rather than their
think on the Topic and continue the argument at a later time. opinion on the Topic.
Alternatively, you state your respect for the other participants' The debate ends when both participants have the same
positions but choose to maintain your own. In either case, you Resolve. Conceding sets your Resolve to the other
can set your Resolve for the current Topic to 0, otherwise it participant's Resolve instead of setting it to -5. Change Topic
stays at its current position. can be used to change to haggling over a different item.
Setting your Resolve to 0 sets it to 100% instead.
 Thanks for
Reading!
These rules were inspired by the Social Combat
segments of the Lunar Quest webcomic by
Jukashi, which was itself based on Exalted.

©2019 Caleb Wichman

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