Social Combat

Primer

Sometimes standard social rolls are not enough to convince NPCs of acquiesing to Player Character requests/demands. For these instances, Social Combat can be initiated to help wear down the character. Normal combat does not prevent social combat: sometimes a conversation in the heat of battle is more effective than without it.

Meta Goals

The Out of Character goal of the Social Combat system is to provide a dice based mechanism to socially influence NPCs. This provides a greater challenge than single die rolls of Persuasion or Deception and allows these situations to rely less on stellar roleplay and more on tactical social decisions.

This system won't be necessary for every situation, but should be effective in situations regarding more stubborn NPCs or where the stakes are higher.

This system is NEVER to be used against PCs, who should retain full autonomy over their characters' ability to be socially influenced.

GM Setup

Like combat, NPCs will have a Social AC and a Social HP pool (Resolve). Unlike combat, these values will change from encounter to encounter based on the social situation.

Resolve

Resolve is calculated using the following formula: 10 + WIS + (Proficiency x Relevant Bond) + (Proficiency x Relative Background) + Level

Relevant Bond refers to any of the personal connections the NPC might have with a person/place/thing related to the subject of the encounter.

Relative Background refers to an attribute of the NPC that would reinforce their feelings/behavior against a situation.

Example: The Party needs to convince a Guard to let them into the castle. The Guard's position as a Guard provides the Relative Background (this is his job, after all). Unbeknownst to the players, the Guard is in love with the Princess and the Guard thinks the players appear to be dangerous. Afraid the Princess might be in danger, the Guard's bond is invoked. Prior to this combat, the Guard's partner initially rejected the party's request. Wanting to look strong for his partner adds another bond. Assuming the Guard is level 3, has a +1 WIS and +1 Proficiency the Guard would have an HP of 17.

Social AC

To prevent attacks against their resolve, NPCs have social AC they can work with. This AC is calculated with the following formula: 10 + [Strongest Attribute Score] + (1 x Relevant Bond or Background)

From our previous example, the Guard has an AC of 14

Social Feats

To help enhance NPCs, they can be assigned social feats to help them resist certain types of social attacks. Some example feats include:

Unshakable

This character cannot be intimidated while at greater than half health unless they or a vital connection to them is threatened as with the threat action.

Stubborn

Persuasion attempts against this character are rolled at disadvantage and compromises cannot be made until the character’s resolve is at ¼

Paranoid

Deceptions rolls made against this character always increase the AC by 1 and bribery attempts start at 50%

Hard to Read

Negotiate attempts must be performed at disadvantage against this character

Wicked

This character is not subject to appeal actions

Social Flaws

Opposing Feats, Social Flaws make NPCs more susceptable to certain types of social attacks. Generally, these should be taken along-side a social Feat to balance out the character a bit better. Some flaws include:

Easily Frightened

Intimidation attempts against this character are made with advantage, unless an ally within ten feet uses their bonus action to reassure them.

Gullible

Deception rolls against this character are made with advantage; allies may use persuasion rolls to boost resolve but only to this character’s base resolve.

Like an Open Book

Negotiate attempts are at advantage with this character so long as this character can be seen.

Corrupt

Bribery actions decrease by only 10% against this character and reduces resolve HP by 1d4 each time it is used.

Go With the Flow

Persuasion rolls are rolled with advantage against this character and compromise can be made at ½

Player Engagement

Once NPC stats have been set, the Social combat can begin. Outside of Physical Combat, Social Combat moves freely, ending only if an action condition would end the combat OR if the encounter lasts longer than the GM views reasonable.

Within normal combat, players may choose to take a Social Attack action in place of their normal action. Several additional actions are also available, some of which use a Bonus Action or Reaction instead. Effects like Silence or the Deafened status prevent Social attacks in most cases.

Social Attacks

Players have access to three types of Social Attacks. These attacks allow them to damage their opponent's Resolve. Critical successes double dice damage. Reducing an opponent to 0 Resolve ends the combat. These attacks are:

Intimidation

Social Damage: 1d8+[Relevant Skill]

On Miss: Strengthen's the target's Resolve by the damage value rather than weakining it.

Intimidation attacks can be used with a large variety of skills, provided the player can explain why that skill makes sense in the moment. However, failure to successfully intimidate the NPC increases their Resolve. This can increase the Resolve above the original value.

Persuasion

Social Damage: 1d6+Cha

Bonus: Damage can be reduced by 1d4 to reduce the AC by 1 (Min: 10+WIS)

Persuasion attacks can ease the minds of NPCs, lowering their guard, at the cost of lowering the amount of damage done overall. Of course, everyone has their lines in the sand.

Deception

Social Damage: 1d8+Cha

Bonus: Allows the character to make an insight check (with proficiency if a relevant bond or background is in place) against the roll (even on a miss). However, successful insights increase AC by 1.

Deception can allow the attacker to learn valuable information about the NPC at the cost of strengthening the NPC's defenses. This information is vital to some of the bonus actions.

Additional Actions

To make things easier, additional actions are available for players to take to help the encounter go smoother. These range widely in their effects, with some being able to end combat prior to Resolve hitting 0.

Appeal (Bonus Action)

The player uses a personal connection to the character or one of the character’s bonds to decrease the AC by 1d4; the same bond or connection cannot be used multiple times within the same combat.

Bribery (Bonus Action)

The player offers an item, service, or monetary value to aid in their attempts, giving them advantage on Persuasion and Deception rolls. After the first use, the player must roll a D100 with each attempt decreasing the success by 20%

Threat (Reaction)

A player may use their reaction while within range of the character to establish themselves as a threatening presence, granting advantage on the next Intimidation roll.

Compromise (Full Action)

Once the character is at one third or less of their base resolve, players may choose to offer a suitable compromise and end the combat outright. Attempts to compromise prior to the 1/3 point return 1d8 resolve HP and 1 AC

Negotiate (Full Action)

The player may make an Insight check against the character’s Social AC while asking a relevant question to reveal a connection or bond that the character has, or to attempt to gain advantage on the next social attack roll by interpreting the character’s body language.

Ultimatum (Full Action)

Using an identified connection to the character, players set an ultimatum. Each player participating in the Ultimatum adds a D20 to either an Intimidation or Deception roll (depending on the situation). If all participating players succeed, the character’s resolve is knocked down to 0 and the social combat ends. On any single failure, social combat ends for all participating players, and the character’s resolve HP and AC are increased accordingly. Characters who did NOT participate in the ultimatum may continue social combat. Characters who failed will more than likely be placed into physical combat if physical combat is not already taking place.