The West That Wasnt - Social Combat

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Social Combat

Most characters in TWTW will wind up having some kind of skill with a weapon in order to defend themselves and bring physical harm to others when the need arises. In TWTW, this is simply labeled “physical combat.” Most game systems have fairly detailed systems to simulate how this works, with all sorts of emphasis on maneuver, hit locations, weapon effects, and the like.

There are times, however, when you want to win a fight without drawing blood, without engaging in physical combat. As the saying goes, “violence doesn’t solve anything,” even though most of us can probably agree (especially in RPGs) that adage is patently false; in RPGs, violence solves many problems perfectly well. But sometimes it may solve one particular problem while creating a whole host of other issues. A middle ground might be “violence shouldn’t solve everything.” For that, the players can resort to Social Combat. At its core, Social Combat (or SC) involves a character using their words to sway the thoughts of another by one of several methods. In order to streamline the skill system, these broad approaches fall under the aegis of a single skill, but the various approaches are covered by four specializations in the form of attack styles. A specialization is not required to attempt any of the attack styles, but if the aggressor has a specialization in an attack style, they get a free bump on a successful skill check. Presence is the primary Trait associated with social combat, but each attack style has a secondary associated trait, which is listed below.

Social Combat encounters are limited to 2 parties: The Instigator (the one who initiates the encounter) and the Audience (the person or people the Instigator is attempting to sway). Each round of an SC encounter is composed of 2 phases where both participants take a turn verbally "attacking" the other. During each of these phases, one of the parties is the Aggressor (the one who is attacking) and the other is the Target (the one who is being attacked). If one of these parties is a group of NPCs, the Judge will determine a rough average for their attributes and treat them as a single unit. For the sake of ease and simplicity, much of the action flow and game mechanics in SC follows the same general pattern as physical combat.

Attack Types

Each attack will fall under one of four general categories. One should note that the approach a character takes in Social Combat may have role-playing repercussions. Also, based on whether your attack fails or succeeds, the attack type may cause modifiers that persist for the remainder of the encounter. The attack types are listed below, along with a brief description and the secondary Trait each attack uses.
• Intimidation: The threat of consequence—be it the threat of physical violence, blackmail or financial ruin—used to bully others into compliance, or rattle them in physical combat. (Secondary Trait: Strength)
• Argument: The use of logic, facts and debate to prove you are right, someone is wrong or make a solid case that your way is the best way. Argument is often a safe approach due to reduced negative effects from failure, and the ability to optionally strengthen your own verbal position instead of weakening your opponent's. (Secondary Trait: Knowledge)
• Persuasion: The use of charm and empathy to win the heart and mind of an adversary, and convince them to see things your way or coax them into doing something they might not otherwise do, such as ending a fight. Persuasion is often non-confrontational, and has less chance to cause negative repercussions. (Secondary Trait: Essence)
• Fast talk: The use of trickery, misdirection, deception and blathering to confuse or deceive a person. This can be a risky approach; the rewards for success can be great, but failure often makes conversation much more difficult. (Secondary Trait: Acuity)

In physical combat, certain things are fairly straightforward and relatively easy to model; you are attempting to hit a target and cause damage. Enough physical damage (of any type) will generally convince a target to disengage from combat or will knock them out or kill them. Social combat attacks cause their own type of wound, which is tracked by the Stress attribute. Stress damage degrades a character’s abilities in a similar manner to physical wounds. Stress wounds represent a character being rattled, unnerved, having their faith shaken, and generally mess up the victim's focus and concentration. As the Size attribute determines how much weapon effect causes a physical wound, the Willpower attribute determines stress wounds from social combat. When a social combat attack causes effect, divide by the target’s Willpower to determine the number of stress wounds, and apply the remainder to the target’s Stress (just as physical damage causes wounds, and the remainder of an attack’s effect is applied to Concussion).

In social combat, the attack types listed above are akin to the “weapons” in one’s SC armory, and some weapons are better suited to achieving certain ends, or in a particular milieu. Some targets may also be more susceptible to certain SC attacks or may be resistant to others. A Jesuit priest or a lawyer may be more resistant to Argument, while a conniving salesman might be resistant to Fast Talk and Persuasion. Likewise, a crowd gathered up before a snake oil salesman might be more susceptible to Persuasion. Winning someone over using Argument may work just fine in a courtroom, but may have little use in less formal settings such as a saloon right before a brawl breaks out. Trying to stop that brawl in the saloon might call for Intimidation. However, using Intimidation to get a better deal from a shopkeeper might just cause him to call the police or have him throw you out of his store!

Ultimately, social combat shouldn’t be a complete replacement for role-playing, but we feel that there should be some system to allow characters with the proper skills to attempt to modify the behavior of others that is a bit more engaging than making a simple one-and-done skill check to see if you have successfully cowed/convinced/bamboozled your verbal sparring partner.

Stakes

Social combat ought to be somewhat limited in scope. You might try to get a better deal from a horse trader, but you should not be able to convince him to sell you his entire stable at cost. You might intimidate an opponent into fleeing from combat, but you should not be able to use the social combat system to convince him to switch sides and fight for you, and then commit suicide after the battle out of abject terror no matter how many bumps you get. Just as you would not be able to sink an ironclad steamship with a shot from your Peacemaker, there should be a sort of limitation in place. In this sense, social combat will require some discretion on the part of the Judge, and some “literary cooperation” on the part of the players.

Toward this end, when a character engages in social combat, “stakes” are declared. Simply put, this is the end goal the player is hoping to achieve should they best the target in a round of social combat. It might also conspire that a target may simply not be willing or able to engage in social combat with the stakes or approach being used. Declaring stakes lets the Judge know what you are trying to accomplish and whether it is even possible.

Miranda, Hank and Cyril walk into the town store owned by their nemesis, Angus Laroq. Miranda and Hank each try to engage the shopkeeper and keep him distracted while Cyril slips upstairs to investigate a lead. Miranda eschews Hank's idea of tipping over a bin of nails to occupy the shopkeeper, and sidles up to the counter. Her player informs the Judge that she would like to engage the shopkeeper in social combat by using her feminine wiles to persuade him into selling her some goods (that she actually needs, anyway) at a discount. The judge informs her that this will not work since the prices are fixed, and the shopkeeper is not allowed to haggle. Hank has a second idea and pushes Miranda aside to drop an armload of supplies at the counter. Hank tells the Judge that he is going to engage the shopkeeper in social combat using fast talk. "My goal is to confuse the fella into thinking he already rung something up, so if I win I would like to get $2 of my total of $10 merchandise for free." The Judge declares that this is acceptable, and shakes his head in befuddlement at the notion of the hapless Hank Daggett trying to fast talk anyone.

In physical combat, these distinctions generally don’t need to be made. If you punch or shoot at someone, it’s pretty clear what you’re trying to accomplish and how it plays out. It is easily understood what an acceptable target is, along with whether damage results from the attack, and if so, how much. This is not always the case with social combat. Even a character who is highly skilled at all manner of social combat skills shouldn’t be able to schmooze, cajole and threaten everyone all the time to get everything they want. This would probably make gameplay tedious and mechanical, and maybe throw a story off the rails just as much as if the players opted to fight their way through every conversation! Players should use some discretion in what they would like to accomplish with social combat and how often they attempt it, and Judges should also prepare for such encounters just as they prepare the occasional (or frequent!) action scene.

For some example encounters, a player might attempt to bluff their way past a guard using Intimidation, sweet-talk a clerk into slipping them a useful tidbit of information with Persuasion, use facts and evidence to convince a jury to acquit by Argument to present their case, or simply engage a lookout in idle conversation with Fast Talk long enough to allow their pals to sneak past unnoticed. In each of these cases, a player would tell the judge their intention to engage in social combat and lay out the stakes. For example, a player might say, “I suspect the clerk would have details about the Rail Baron’s itinerary, which would enable us to lay an ambush for him. I would like to use Persuasion in social combat to see if I can learn something from her.” The Judge would determine if this is reasonable, and allow the player to proceed or shut them down. If the character had specializations in intimidation, argument or fast talk, they might also use those approaches to achieve the same goal, but they might have different consequences when everything is said and done, so choose carefully!

In this case, the stakes are that if the character is successful, he may convince her to tell him something that is useful to him. Using a different example from above—the one using Fast Talk to distract a lookout—the stakes might be “I would like to use Fast Talk to distract the lookout and allow the rest of the group to sneak past.” Stakes can be modified at the discretion of the Judge. In this case, the Judge may decide that letting the others sneak past guaranteed if the fast-talker is successful is inappropriate given the circumstances (maybe the well-lit street is deserted and any traffic would be considered unusual, or perhaps the lookout is guarding the villain’s headquarters and the Judge doesn’t want the players to breeze in quite so easily). The Judge might modify the stakes to allow the others a chance to sneak past with a bonus to their skill check, for example. If modifying the stakes, the Judge should let the player know in advance and allow them to decline the encounter to avoid accusations of bait-and-switch.

Similarly, the Judge may impose a set of stakes as well, depending on the situation. This is appropriate if the target will engage in a counter-effort against the Player. If a player wants to bluff their way past a guard, the Judge may lay out stakes, a goal the NPC is attempting to achieve. The Player might say, “I want to use Intimidation to attempt to get past the guard,” which the Judge sees as being reasonable. However, the guard isn’t just going to sit there like a lump; the Judge might declare stakes: “Okay, but if the guard wins, he has convinced you that you’re not talking your way past him and you skedaddle with your tail ‘twixt your legs or we go into action time.”

Hank is attempting to fast talk the shopkeeper out of $2 of supplies as a cover for distracting him. The Judge declares counter-stakes: If the shopkeeper defeats Hank in the encounter, he catches on to Hank's scheme and things will get...complicated. Hank's player assumes that "complicated" in this context means he will be kicked out of the store, or the merchant might summon a deputy, or even worse, one of Laroq's Vaqueros who is bound to be lurking nearby...

Remember: When you choose to engage in social combat, you are taking a risk. For story purposes, you should be willing to accept the consequences of failure. If your character gets into a fist fight, you can’t just say “I refuse to be knocked unconscious” and continue to fight when your character has taken too much damage. The same goes for social combat. There is a point at which your character is defeated, and you will have to deal with the aftermath. The primary difference here is that in SC, your character will be alive/conscious, and you may have to roleplay (or at least rationalize) your defeat. As a participant in the social combat, the player has a choice when to disengage, depending on how many stress wounds he is willing to suffer in pursuit of his goal.

Scope

With the limitations set in place by the Stakes system above, there is one more limitation to consider which differentiates physical combat from social combat. In a physical altercation, the combatants can always carry on until they run out of blood, or some other external event makes combat impossible. A character cannot cut a swath of social destruction through the countryside with charm, logic and reasonable requests, relying on the fact that they can eventually wear down any target and get the better of them. In social combat, if the interaction is allowed to drag on too long, or the Instigator doesn’t make a decisive point quickly enough, then the Audience will become inured to their attempts as their opponent drones on, repeating himself. People who are unskilled at social combat techniques will generally have a limited arsenal to affect the will of others. Those who are more skilled have developed the ability to prolong these interactions, and thereby forestall the inevitable point of argument immunity or Godwin’s Law*. To reflect this, characters who are more skilled in SC skills will be able to take more actions before an SC is forcibly concluded.

* Godwin's Law states: "As a…discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." It is commonly agreed that when a debate reaches this point, further discussion is wasted breath.

In each SC encounter, there will be an Instigator and an Audience. The Instigator is the one initiating the attack, and the Audience is their target. Each party engaging in SC will have a number of Action Points (APs) determined by their traits and perks. These APs are used to make attacks and enhance them. If the Instigator runs out of action cards before defeating the Audience or reaching a victory condition, then they fail to achieve the stakes they established, and cannot further engage this Audience in SC for the remainder of the scene.

Action Points for social combat are determined by adding 8 to the bonus value of the Verve skill. Add 1 AP for each specialization for the Social skill. If a character does not have the Social skill, subtract 2 from their AP total. This will allow the savviest character in the history of interpersonal relations to have up to 14 AP to conclude an SC encounter. This should ensure SC encounters are resolved fairly quickly without disrupting the flow of gameplay too much.

While Miranda and Hank are distracting the shopkeeper, Cyril has encountered his intended quarry in the upstairs offices: one of Angus Laroq's secretaries. He attempts to engage her in social combat to see if he can convince her to divulge some information about the villain's whereabouts. Cyril's player declares that he will attempt to persuade her. Cyril has 2d8 in Presence (+1 bonus), and no specializations in the Social skill. He will have a total of 9 APs to use in social combat. Meanwhile, Hank has no levels in the Social skill, and has a rank of 1 in Verve. Hank only gets 5 APs; 8 - 1 (for Verve bonus) and - 2 more (for being unskilled).

Triggers

Not every encounter will require you to completely break the will of the Audience, and depending on the choices you make, you may not have the opportunity. Based on the stakes you have set and the nature of the target, the Judge may set one or more trigger points for them. This is a number of Stress wounds you must inflict before the target gives in. At the Judges’ discretion, there may also be other triggers that will cause the target to take other actions that seem appropriate which will effectively end the SC encounter. Just as the Hero can break off SC at any time, NPCs may have reasons to do so, as well. For example, in certain circumstances, if you use an intimidation attack (on purpose or because the target perceives that you are threatening them), the target may become physically hostile (beginning a physical combat encounter), run away or attempt to summon help or the authorities.

If the Judge declares counter-stakes (a consequence for the Player being bested), the Player must declare a trigger point. The lower the trigger point, the less likely the negative consequences will come into play. If the NPC causes enough Stress wounds to meet or exceed the Player's trigger point, consult the Step element on the NPC's final action card; if it is equal to or less than the Player's trigger point, the consequences are applied. In this sense, the less committed the Player is, the less inclined the NPC will be to escalate things. If the Player always states that their will must be broken before giving in, then NPCs stakes will always be applied.

Sometimes, counter-stakes are as simple as "you cannot achieve your goal with social combat," and nothing more. Even if those "stakes" are not applied, the Hero cannot engage an Audience more than once per scene.

The trigger point should be scaled to diametrically opposed the Audience would be to allowing the Instigator to succeed based on what the Player is attempting to achieve and possibly the nature of the Audience. If the stakes are small and/or the Audience is undisciplined or agreeable, the trigger point should be lower than if the stakes were greater, or the Audience is more rigid or opposed to your success. See the table below for some sample trigger points:

Trigger Point	Examples
1	Asking a friend for a small loan or favor; bartering for a small discount
2	Getting out of a small legal infraction; convincing a layperson you work for a certain company or agency
3	Convincing a security guard to let you into a restricted, but not secure, area; Getting secret information about someone from a loyal servant
4	convincing an employee of a company or agency that you work for said company or agency; requesting a stranger to invest in a fraudulent business deal
5	Convincing someone to act in violation of an impetus

For Hank's social combat, the Judge sets the trigger point at 1 stress wound, since the stakes are low and the merchant won't face serious repercussions for losing $2. Upstairs, the Judge determines that the secretary's trigger point is 3 stress wounds because of her fierce loyalty to Angus Laroq and the fact that she knows he would harshly punish her if he discovered she had given up any information to some lawman. If Cyril was trying to persuade her to open the safe, it might require 5 stress wounds because the secretary knows this is an outright betrayal of her boss (loyalty being an impetus), however Cyril doesn't want to try for that. He plans to try and break in later with Hank when the store is closed and see if they can crack the safe.

Lastly, if one party or the other is performing poorly, the Judge may choose to modify the trigger. If the player has a calamity or fails on two consecutive attacks, the Judge may increase the NPC's trigger point by one. If an NPC suffers a calamity on one of their attacks, the Judge may reduce their trigger point by 1, or grant the player another AP to their pool. To maintain suspense, the Judge can keep any triggers secret.

Optional Rule: Negotiations

Sometimes it may transpire that two parties enter into an encounter which might require a binary result. A man might need to be declared innocent or guilty, two parties might need to be convinced to make peace or continue a war. A trade deal must either be accepted or rejected. Some encounters, once entered, cannot result in a draw. These encounters are called negotiations.

During a negotiation encounter, neither party has an AP pool, and there are no trigger points. The turn order continues until one party scores 5 stress wounds on the other, at which point stakes are applied. Due to there being no limit to AP, if one party takes an action that would result in the expenditure of additional APs, they take an equal TN penalty to their current action.

Cyril has been hired by a group of farmers to negotiate a peace treaty with a group of local ranchers; the two groups have been having a feud for years over grazing rights, and recently things have turned bloody. Normally, Cyril would have 9 AP, but because the Judge declares that this is a negotiation, Cyril can make as many attacks as it takes to seal the deal, and his opponents, who are not as skilled and would collectively only have 6 AP, have the same advantage.

Using Your Words

Before starting an encounter, each party will choose their attack style: Argument, Fast Talk, Intimidation or Persuasion. Each party can only attempt one attack style at a time, and must pay APs to change their attack style (See Switching Gears, below). The Presence trait is associated with each type of attack, but each style also has a secondary trait associated with it. Each time an attack is made, one of the two traits will be used to determine the cause result and the other for the effect; one trait is used to determine if the attack is successful and the other is used to determine how successful it is. Make your choice based upon your talents, your target, or what strategy you would like to employ. You may need to use a higher trait to ensure a successful attack, or—if the target is an easy mark—you might want a higher trait for a more powerful attack. You can change which traits you use for cause or effect from one attack to the next. Make sure to specify before the action card is drawn; if the Attacker does not specify, Presence is used for cause and the secondary trait is used for effect.

The Aggressor must also select one of three attack types, called the barb, the attack, and the tirade. Barbs are cutting remarks that are more likely to have effect (-1 to TN), but the effect deals reduced damage, and cost 1 AP. Attacks cost 1 AP and have no modifiers to damage or TN. A tirade consists of an overwhelming verbal outpouring intended to make the greatest impression on the target, costing 2 AP, but have a TN modifier of +1 and granting a bump to effect if successful. Attacks can also be carefully worded, granting a -1 modifier to the TN for an additional AP to the attack cost.

Since Hank is so lousy at this sort of endeavor, he attempts to use a carefully-worded standard attack on the merchant, which costs 2 AP, granting him a -1 to the TN. The associated traits for this attack are Presence and Acuity. Hank has 1d6 Presence and 1d8 Acuity. Since Hank is unskilled with Social Combat and his skill check will be using the d4 column anyway, his player opts to use Presence to determine his cause, allowing him to use Acuity to determine the effect—if he manages to succeed in the first place!

The TN of the attack is based upon the target’s social combat skill. For the Audience, the TN is modified by the risk they face should the Instigator succeed. If the consequences are minimal, the modifier is +0. If the target may come to some minor social/physical/economic harm (such as a risk of being disciplined by the boss or roughed up by a villain), the modifier is +1. If the consequences are severe (such as risking their job or reputation) ), the modifier is +2. If the consequences for failure are dire (risk of exile from an area, expulsion from one's line of work entirely or having a boss that may severely hurt or kill them), the modifier is +3 (or more, at the Judge's discretion). The base TN for an attack is 4 plus 1/2 the target's Social skill level, rounded up.

The Judge decides that the merchant has a social combat skill of 1, meaning that Hank will have a TN of 4 (SC rank 1 / 2 = .5, rounded up to 1; plus 4 = TN 5; minus 1 for careful wording = 4) for a successful attack. Upstairs, Cyril's Audience knows that Angus Laroq would be very angry with her if he knew she blabbed to a stranger, but probably wouldn't beat her or fire her, so his attacks against her will have a TN modifier of +1.

If the attack is successful, then proceed to determine how the Target interprets the attack. (see A Matter of Perception, below). If the attack fails, it is the Audience's turn to be the Aggressor, and they are able to make their own attack. If the card result is a calamity, the Aggressor automatically takes a loss this round (see Words Can Hurt, below).

A Matter of Perception

Some experts tout that up to 90% of one’s message is delivered to others not by what one says but how one says it. These are called paraverbals, and they are crucial to messaging in conversation. They include such elements as vocal rate, tone, inflection, volume and physical body language. This sort of detail is difficult to simulate, but the end result is that ultimately, one’s intended message or delivery can come off wrong, or be misconstrued by one’s audience. You may be making a logical argument, but your target might perceive it as a personal attack or a threat. An attempt to gently persuade someone might result in them interpreting your slick words as an attempt to pull a fast one. Employing calm menace trying to scare someone might be seen as an appeal to reason. Misconstrued attacks can be dangerous, since some attack styles (most often Intimidate) can be a trigger. However, if such a trigger exists, and the Audience is misconstrued in such a way that they use their trigger attack, it removes that trigger; once somebody accidentally starts threatening people, they can't clutch their pearls and cry foul when people start shouting back at them!

The Clarity attribute acts as the reliability (REL) score of a character's SC attacks. When the action card is turned, regardless of whether the attack was successful, consult the breakdown element. If it is present, compare it to the aggressor's Clarity score. If the Aggressor's Clarity score is greater than the number shown on the broken wrench, then there is a chance that the attack has been misconstrued by the Target. Consult the phase element of the card to determine how the target perceives the attack. This will yield a result between 0 and 5*. If the result is 0 or 5, the attack is perceived as intended. The remaining results are assigned 1 to 4 in alphabetical order:
• 1: Argument
• 2: Fast Talk
• 3: Intimidation
• 4: Persuasion

*Since the 0 and 5 phase numbers only appear on 1 action card each, which may or may not have breakdown elements on them, you can optionally decouple this determination by some other method such as drawing a new card or cutting the deck and checking the phase on the action card shown.

If the attack is misconstrued, any effect you deal will cause reduced damage (use the d4 column and the aggressor’s skill level to determine effect). Any bumps from the skill check can be used to modify the phase number up or down. (in this case, bumps can "wrap around;" if the result is 1 or 4, it can be bumped down or up to 4 or 1, respectively, but not 0 or 5) If an attack is misconstrued, the aggressor can attempt to rephrase or switch gears (see below).

Cyril is attempting to persuade a secretary to let slip some details about Angus Laroq's whereabouts. His chosen attack is Persuasion, but the action card comes up with a wrench in the breakdown element and the number 8. Cyril's Clarity is 10, which means that the target has misconstrued his attack. A 2 in the phase element means that the secretary perceives Cyril's attempt at Persuasion as Fast Talk. If the phase number had been 0, 5 or 4, he would have gotten a lucky break, as the target would have perceived it as Persuasion, and he would have dealt full effect.

Rephrasing and Switching Gears

If an attack is misconstrued, the Aggressor may have some options. The Aggressor can attempt to rephrase or switch gears. To rephrase, the aggressor spends an extra action point and draws another card for a second chance to check the phase element. Regardless of the result, the aggressor is stuck with this result for this round (note that bumps can be used on this card, as well; a bump might not have helped on the original card, but might work for the second).

Alternatively, the Aggressor can "switch gears," and roll with how the Target is choosing to perceive the Aggressor's style. To switch gears due to the Target's perception of the attack, the Aggressor spends 2 AP. The Aggressor can also voluntarily switch gears to the style indicated by the phase element at a cost of 1 AP (or 2 AP for the style of their choice). Whether voluntary or not, this alters their attack style for the remainder of the encounter to the new one indicated on the original card, and allows them to inflict normal damage for the current attack instead of reduced damage. If switching gears, use the secondary trait associated with the new attack style to determine effect for this attack. During subsequent attacks this party can choose which of the two traits to use for cause and effect.

Since Cyril has a value of 10 in Acuity (the secondary trait for Fast Talk attacks) and because the use of Persuasion is not a trigger for this encounter, his Player opts to spend 2 AP switch gears. When it comes time to deal damage, Cyril will use the d10 column instead of the d4 column (which would be used if the attack was misconstrued and dealt reduced damage). In later rounds, he can choose whether to use his Presence (d8) or Acuity (d10) for cause and the other for effect, but this round he must use Acuity to determine effect. On the downside, the rest of his attacks for this encounter will now be Fast Talk attacks, unless he chooses to spend extra AP to switch gears again later on. It's not getting the job done the way Cyril wants--he may have to deal with this secretary again later--but it's getting the job done. Now, however, this secretary will probably remember Cyril as "that city slicker who bamboozled me that one time."

Rephrasing and switching gears use up available AP faster (and with the latter, changes your attack style), but having your attack misconstrued will yield reduced results and can increase the Target’s defenses due to your verbal flailing and mixed messaging. If the Player does not want to proceed with the attack as the Target perceives it, they can take a loss for that action which causes the aggressor to suffer the stress wounds of their attack (see Words Can Hurt, below), but this option does not increase the target’s defenses (if using the optional rules described later in The Defense Rests). Taking the loss might be necessary or desirable to avoid a trigger, such as if the target perceives that you are attempting to intimidate them, or to prevent unwanted adjustments to the target’s Nerve. The aggressor must have the required AP available to rephrase or switch gears.

Words that Cut Deep

Once the perception of the attack is determined, consult the hit location element. If the hit location is the vitals, increase the effect by one row, and if it is the head, increase the effect by two rows. This reflects a particularly effective verbal attack on the part of the aggressor. Bumps can be used to alter the hit location as described in the Conflict chapter.

Next, determine if the attack penetrates the Target's resistance. Compare the Aggressor's Resolve attribute (plus or minus the result of the penetration element on the action card) against the Target's Nerve attribute. If the attack's PV is 2 or more than the Target's AV, the attack penetrates and deals full effect. If the PV is equal to or one greater than the AV, the attack "ablates" and causes reduced effect and reduces the target's Nerve by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If the PV is less than the AV, the attack deflects and causes no effect and does not affect the target's Nerve.

Cyril has switched gears to a Fast Talk style. The hit location of the action card is chest. Two locations up, the card indicates a hit location of head. If he had 2 bumps, he could shift the hit location, and increase his effect by 2 rows from 2d10 to 4d10 when it comes time to determine effect, but for now he has to determine whether his attack makes an impression on his target, or if his words roll off her like water off a duck's back. The secretary has a Nerve attribute of 1 (due to her having a d8 value for her Essence trait). Cyril's Resolve is 2, and the card has a +1 in the penetration element, so his attack has a PV of 3 versus the target's AV of 1. The attack penetrates, and causes full effect. If the action card had not granted bonus penetration, Cyril's attack would have ablated. He would have done 2d4 effect instead of 2d10, and the Target's Nerve would have been reduced by one to zero.

Effect is based on the skill level of the Aggressor and the trait used to determine effect for the attack, plus the bonus value for the trait used (just as the bonus value for Brawn is used in hand-to-hand combat). Use the trait value to determine the column and the skill level to determine the row. If the Aggressor switched gears for the attack, use the secondary Trait to determine the effect column. Reduced effect uses the Aggressor's skill level and the d4 column. Stress damage is divided by the Target's Willpower to determine the number of stress wounds the Target suffers, with the remainder deducted from the Target's Stress.

Cyril's player checks the 2d10 cell in the effect section of his action card to find a 10. The secretary has a Willpower attribute of 6. 10 divided by 6 is 1 with a remainder of 4. Cyril's attack causes 1 stress wound and reduces the secretary's Stress by 4.

The Defense Rests (Optional)

As an SC encounter continues, the target will tend to become more resistant to SC attacks. The Nerve attribute determines the target’s “Armor Value” (AV) against incoming attacks. If the target has a specialization, they can increase their Nerve by 1 against that type of attack.

The Judge determined that the secretary would have a specialization in persuasion, so perhaps it was fortunate for Cyril that he switched gears; her Nerve against persuasion attacks would have been 2 instead of 1, and his previous attack would have ablated and caused reduced damage.

Optional Defense Rules:

1. Progressive Defense

After each attack, the Target increases their Nerve by one, unless the Aggressor took the loss (see above). If the Aggressor makes a successful attack and it is not misconstrued, the Target does not increase their nerve. As such, the target becomes resistant if the aggressor’s arguments are misconstrued or if they fail.

Hank's first attempt at fast talk was unsuccessful, which causes the merchant's nerve to increase from 1 to 2. Now, it will be even harder for Hank to succeed on his next attacks. It appears to the old coot that he may have gotten in over his head, and he wonders what they are serving for dinner at the clink tonight.

2. Individual Defenses

Alternatively you can keep track of the target’s resistances to each attack type, which may shift over the course of the encounter. This requires a bit more bookkeeping, but can provide an increased “tactical” flair by rewarding success, punishing failure and creating useful combinations of attack types that may arise. If using these rules, some approaches synergize well, while others can work at cross purposes; it might be difficult to sweet-talk someone after you have spent a stretch of time threatening them, or if you have gotten them to buy into a bunch of malarkey, they are probably ripe to believe a real argument that isn't based in pure baloney. The target’s perception of each attack made will then have the following effects:

Intimidate:
• If the attempt succeeds or fails, increase the target’s Nerve versus Persuasion by 1
• Failed attempts increase the Target’s Nerve versus Intimidation by 1
Argument:
• Success reduces the target’s Nerve versus Fast Talk by 1
• Failure allows the Target to heal Stress wounds (use the Target's Education skill to determine effect)
Persuasion:
• Success reduces the Target’s Nerve versus Persuasion by 1
• If the attempt succeeds or fails, increase the Target’s Nerve versus Intimidation by 1
Fast Talk:
• Failure increases the TN for further attacks by 1
• Success reduces the Target’s Nerve versus Argument by 1

A failed attempt is one that does not meet or exceed the TN. If the skill check is equal to or greater than the TN but does not penetrate, it is still considered a success, it will just do reduced damage or none at all.

Additionally, if the attack is misconstrued, the Target increases the Nerve versus the chosen attack by one unless the Aggressor spends AP to switch gears or they took the loss for that round. Ultimately, if an SC encounter wears on with no initial success from one party or the other, their opponent will become increasingly resistant to one type of attack, which may necessitate switching gears.

Hank's first attack on the shopkeeper had a cause result of 3 against a TN of 4. Even with his careful wording (reducing the TN by 1), his Fast Talk attempt failed, so now the merchant is on to his game, and the remainder of Hank's attacks are now at a TN of 6.

Other Effects

As another optional rule, each SC attack has one or more special effects:
• Intimidate: Can be used in physical combat once per round (at a cost of 2 AP, or an additional 2 AP to an attack) to try and rattle an opponent. The number of available attempts that can be made in each combat encounter is equal to the character’s Verve rank and Presence die type bonus, plus one if they have a specialization for intimidation. When used in physical combat, intimidation is always perceived as such (if the breakdown element indicates the attack is misconstrued, you lose the ability to intimidate for the remainder of the encounter). Any stress wounds dealt in this manner instead reduce the target's available APs. This reduction is in addition to any other penalties the target may suffer from other sources. Alternatively, the target may choose to instead flee the combat on their action, in this case no APs are lost from the intimidation attempt. The target must use their action to move both away from combat and the character who intimidated them. The target can attempt a recover action once per round for 2 APs, and make a Bravery check at TN 5. If successful, they recover one AP lost to intimidation, with an additional AP recovered for each bump. Many non-human targets (such as certain animals or zombies, for example) may be immune to intimidation at the Judge's discretion, while almost all human targets are susceptible.
• Argument: Stress wounds dealt to the target can instead be used to recover stress wounds suffered by the aggressor.
• Persuasion: Can be used in physical combat once per round (at a cost of 2 AP) to try and de-escalate an opponent. Used like this, Persuasion can be attempted while the “aggressor” is dodging/blocking or behind cover. The number of available attempts that can be made in each combat encounter is equal to the character’s Verve rank and Presence die type bonus, plus one if they have a specialization for persuasion. When used in physical combat, persuasion is always perceived as such (if the breakdown element indicates the attack is misconstrued, you lose the ability to persuade for the remainder of the encounter). Any stress wounds dealt in this manner instead reduce the target's available APs. This reduction is in addition to any other penalties the target may suffer from other sources. If the target is reduced to 0 APs or less, they are either calmed down or must disengage from combat. The target may attempt to recover and build up a full head of steam by making an attack at a cost of 2 additional APs; if the attack hits, they recover 1 lost AP with an additional AP recovered for each bump. Additionally, if any opponent causes damage to the target, they recover all APs lost from persuasion. Unlike intimidation, some human targets (at the Judge's discretion) may be immune to persuasion. If attempting to persuade an animal, use the Animal Handling skill, instead.
• Fast talk: Failed attempts cause the target to recover stress using the target's Awareness skill to determine effect (vitals and head hit locations increase healing effect by 1/2 rows), while a success earns an automatic bump that can be used for added PV, adjusting hit location or increased effect (as with physical combat, increasing effect takes 2 bumps per level). Before the attack is made, the Aggressor can declare an attempt to blather; blather damage is resolved normally, but rather than cause Stress wounds, reduce the target's AP.

Cyril successfully fast-talked the secretary on his first action, and received an automatic bump. He was unable to use the single bump to improve any part of his attack, so he takes the bonus counter instead for use later. Hank was unsuccessful in his fast talk attempt, so the merchant could have been eligible to recover 2d6 (the merchant's Acuity trait) effect if Hank had already caused him any harm, which he hasn't, so Hank lucked out.

Words Can Hurt

When an attack causes effect, use the associated trait that was not used for the skill check to determine the effect column and the Aggressor's skill level to determine the row. If the Aggressor switched gears for the current attack, use the secondary associated trait for that attack style to determine effect. Divide this number by the Target's Willpower attribute to determine the number of stress wounds delivered to the Target. Any remaining effect is subtracted from the Target's stress.

If a character receives 5 stress wounds, their will is temporarily broken. They might be confused, angry, cowed, or they might even admire the Aggressor, depending on the circumstances and what type of attack style was used. If the Target is an NPC that might appear in the story again, it is recommended that the Judge make use of this to add depth to the story, just as much as if the Players encountered a minor character that they had beaten up in a previous physical combat! If a Target is reduced to 0 Stress, they are temporarily mentally exhausted, stymied or flummoxed; their Nerve is reduced to zero, and their Social skill is reduced to 0. If this happens to the Target, it makes it much easier for attacks to be successful. If the Target is stressed, do not check for misinterpretation when making an attack on them. Outside of social combat, a character who is reduced to 0 or less stress is in a mental haze; they perform all actions that require mental clarity, focus or concentration at a +2 TN penalty for the remainder of the scene or until the Judge determines that they have begun to recover Stress points.

If the Aggressor opts to take the loss (due to his attack being misinterpreted), then their words are turned around on them. The Aggressor suffers the damage they would have caused to the Target had the attempt been successful. Added effect from hit location will also apply to the Aggressor; this might represent a verbal gaffe, or an embarrassing self-own. Taking the loss does not check against the Aggressor’s Nerve to determine penetration. If taking the loss resulted from a calamity, increase the effect by one row.

Hank's flailing attempts to confound the shopkeeper have been for naught, and he is out of AP. The merchant is not, and is keen to get to the bottom of Hank's trickery. The merchant continues to respond to Hank with Argument, attempting to counter Hank's balderdash with reason. Disaster strikes the merchant, and he suffers a Calamity! Had he been successful, he would have checked the 1d8 column for effect against Hank, but a Calamity means he automatically takes the loss for this attack, meaning the merchant suffers the effect instead. Also, because taking the loss was due to a Calamity, the effect is increased by one row to 2d8, which in this case increases the effect from 7 to 13. The shopkeeper causes himself 2 Stress wounds and 1 Stress as he inadvertently sets $2 worth of merchandise he is trying to sort into the pile of goods that has already been rung up, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

In some encounters, the audience does not want to verbally crush the instigator, they are just trying to resist the proposed stakes. In this case, each stress wound the Audience causes removes 1 AP from the Instigator's AP pool rather than inflicting Stress wounds, and the audience does not inflict Stress damage.

The secretary doesn't want to win anything against Cyril (the Judge did not establish any counter-stakes), she simply doesn't want to give up the information. She uses Persuasion for her attack to try and convince Cyril that she doesn't know what he's after. Her attack is successful, and causes 13 effect. Cyril has a Willpower of 6, so this would normally cause 2 Stress wounds and 1 Stress damage, but instead the Judge opts to have the Stress wounds remove 2 of Cyril's AP. He used 3 AP for his first attack (1 for the attack and another 2 to switch gears), which left him with 6. Now, he is down to 4 AP. The remaining 1 Stress damage is not deducted from Cyril's Stress. He better make sure his next couple of statements are on the money, as he still has to deliver 2 Stress wounds to the target to reach her trigger point.

Stress wounds reduce the number of AP available to the target in physical and social combat. However, AP lost due to Stress wounds can be used for movement to disengage from combat if no attack actions are being taken.

Sizing up the Opposition

On any round, the Aggressor may spend an AP to use the Judge Character skill instead of making an attack. The TN is the same as if they were making an attack, and it can be carefully worded (-1 TN) for +1 AP. If the check succeeds, the Aggressor may reduce the TN and the Target's Nerve against the next attack or Judge Character attempt by one, with an additional reduction for each bump. These bonuses persist until the Aggressor makes an attack; if the Aggressor successfully spends multiple actions conversing and judging the character of their Target, they can slip in a decisive verbal blow. When using Judge Character, failed attempts do not alter the Target’s Nerve or individual resistances, but a Calamity will increase their Nerve and the TN to attack them by one for the remainder of the encounter.

With the Judge's approval, the Instigator (and possibly even their allies) may attempt to use the Judge Character skill on a potential Audience in advance of an encounter. This may only be attempted once per scene per Target, but can be used to reduce the TN and Nerve of the Target for any single attack during the encounter.

Cyril had spotted this woman making the rounds of businesses they suspected Angus Laroq owned several days ago, and started putting two and two together. Prior to this encounter, he had waited to chat her up when she stopped by the saloon across the street to collect their books. He had successfully used his Judge Character skill on her then (outside of social combat), and decides to use the bonus he earned earlier, reducing the TN to succeed on his next attack from 5 to 4, and her Nerve from 1 to zero. If Cyril has to make another attack, the TN will revert to 5, and her Nerve will go back to 1.

The Set Up

At the beginning of a Social Combat, shuffle the action card deck. In an SC encounter, the Instigator normally has a limited number of actions to achieve their goal. This is determined by their action point pool. This can be tracked using the AP counter on the back side of the character sheet or with some kind of physical counter.

The Judge will determine the Audience’s appropriate attributes such as AP, Social skill level, any specializations and the target’s Nerve and Resolve attributes, along with any triggers they may have, etc. If using optional defense rules, these can be easily tracked using the back page of the character sheet and counters or dice on the Phase I-IV box to track the resistances of each attack type.

When the Judge is ready, the Instigator has first crack at being the Aggressor. After their action has been resolved, it is the Audience's turn to be the Aggressor. If the Instigator has AP remaining and neither party has disengaged, the round starts over again with the Instigator. Continue until one party disengages or the one party's trigger point has been reached.

This Conversation is Over

The encounter continues until one party disengages, their trigger point is reached, or both parties have spent all their AP. As an encounter carries on, the Instigator or Audience will eventually reach one of these end points. If either party does not have any AP available, they may not make an attack this round. They have run out of things to say and nothing else they might say or do will have any further effect on the Target. If both parties' AP are exhausted and no trigger point is reached, the encounter is a draw; neither party suffers the penalties of stakes or counter-stakes except that if the Instigator was unsuccessful and did not meet the Audience's trigger point, they cannot achieve the stakes they laid out through social combat for the remainder of this scene, though escalation to physical combat is always an option! Failure by the Instigator does not mean that the Audience is automatically successful, however.

Even with his cunning preparation, Cyril is unable to cause 2 stress wounds to the secretary with his last attacks. He is unable to reach her trigger point (3 stress wounds), so she manages to resist his efforts to trick her into revealing Angus Laroq's location. Cyril's player cannot further engage the secretary in social combat this scene. He could now attack the secretary if he were that sort of person, which he is not. He smiles and tells the woman, "Thank you, Ma'am. Sorry to have wasted your time." Now, to plan B, where he and Hank break in later and try to get into that safe, and hope that it might contain the goods that he wasn't able to talk out of the secretary.

The trigger point for NPCs will be determined by the Judge. The trigger point for Heroes depends on how many stress wounds they are willing to suffer, and must be established at the beginning of the encounter. Most encounters will likely feature the PCs as the Instigator. If the PC runs out of APs before an NPC, they may (at the Judge's discretion) still face attacks from the NPC, typically if there are counter-stakes involved and the NPC has something to gain. The Audience will then continue to make attacks until they run out of APs, the player chooses to disengage, or the Hero suffers enough Stress wounds to reach their trigger point. If the PC voluntarily disengages, this is the same as if the NPC had reached a trigger point, but they can adjust their trigger to the number of Stress wounds received when they disengaged for the purpose of determining whether counter-stakes are applies. If the Player set their trigger point at 5 and they suffer 5 Stress wounds, their will is broken; they must concede defeat, and they automatically suffer the penalties of any counter-stakes. If the NPC runs out of APs, the Hero can attack unopposed until they run out of APs, or the NPC's trigger point is reached.

Keep in mind that even if one party is out of APs, it is still possible for the other participant to suffer a calamity that deals self-inflicted stress wounds! This may tip the hand of one party or the other to victory.

If things had gone a bit differently, and luck had not been on Hank's side, His player had determined that if Hank had been by himself, would probably have capitulated as soon as the merchant delivered him a single Stress wound. With Miranda nearby, he was prepared to stick it through to the bitter end if need be, setting his trigger point at 5, because he is loath to reveal to his friends what a yella' belly he really is. Fortunately for Hank it didn't come to that, and he walks away from the encounter with $2 worth of free stuff, and he managed to provide Cyril the distraction he needed!

Getting Back on Your Feet

Stress wounds from social combat can rattle a person something fierce, causing a lack of concentration from playing the exchange over again in their head, or the shakes from a surplus of adrenaline or lingering fear or anger. This manifests in the same penalties as physical wounds. Each Stress wound suffered will subtract 1 AP from the character’s pool for physical and social combat. However, as stated above, APs lost from stress wounds can still be used for movement to disengage from physical combat.

Stress wounds are “healed” at the same rate as physical wounds. The character can recover one per scene, if another character is able to perform a successful TN 5 Leadership skill check, or the character can attempt a TN 7 Spirit check on themselves. With either approach,each bump allows for the recovery of an additional Stress wound per scene.