TROSSocialCombat

Social Combat

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This system is designed to give more mechanical detail to non-Combat conflicts between characters in TROS, adding a layer of game tactics to those situations roughly equivalent to the TROS combat system.

Acknowledgements, Disclaimers and Permissions

This system owes a great debt to two other games; Burning Wheel by Luke Crane (whose Duel of Wits was the initial model for this system) and the Shadow of Yesterday by Clinton R. Nixon (whose Bringing Down the Pain mechanic is actually closer in style to this system).

This system has NOT been playtested, so use at your own risk. Let me know (at skalchemist@yahoo.com or on the discussion page) if you have feedback or do use it.

By all means, edit these rules in any way you wish. It is a wiki, after all. All I ask is that if you make substantive changes to the rules (as opposed to editing my grammar, spelling, making things more clear, etc.) that you add your reasoning for the changes to the Discussion Page, and that you add a Summary to any changes made.

When and How to Use Social Combat

You should NOT use Social Combat for every single non-Combat conflict characters get into, or even a large proportion of them. Most non-Combat conflicts can be resolved through either role-playing without any rolls at all, or a simple unopposed or opposed skill test. Social Combat should only be used for those critical or climactic scenes (the Big Trial, the Presentation before the King, etc.) that warrant a detailed way to resolve them, as well as a lot of actual game play time spent on them.

Social Combat can be used when two characters are opposed and want some from each other, but it can also be used when two characters are opposed and want something from SOMEONE ELSE (a single person or a group of people). This person is called the Audience. There are only slight differences in the procedure, see below.

Procedures

At the beginning of any Social Combat, each participant must choose a goal and write it on the Social Combat record. This goal is some action you want your opponent to take, behaviour you want them to adopt, information you want them to provide, etc. A goal should not be the changing of some internal attitude of the character; this is not under the control of anyone but the player of that character. For example: a goal could be “the bartender gives me a steep discount on a room for the night”, but it cannot be “the bartender likes me”. This is very important, so much so that it deserves making it bold:

Social Combat CANNOT alter the interior attitudes of a character, it can only make them do something, provide some information, or behave in certain ways. Only the player of a character can decide what that characters attitudes are.

Social Combat, as mentioned above, can be used to convince the Audience of something (i.e. two advisors trying to convince the king to follow their plan). In this case, both participants still put their own goals down, but the goals should be phrased as something they want the other person to do.

You must determine who will speak first. This is usually self evident, but if it isn’t, roll Wits vs. the other persons Sociality as a TN in an opposed roll. The starting Argument Pools (AP) are:

Speaker: Wits + Social Non-Speaker: Wits + Social + Willpower

The non-speaker rolls any number of AP dice against a target number of 7. This is called a Position roll. Keep all successful dice on the table; don’t move them aside.

The speaker then chooses a maneuver, and narrates it. He then refreshes into his dice pool the appropriate number of dice based on the maneuver, chooses the number of dice he will roll for the maneuver from his pool, chooses the appropriate skill, and rolls the dice versus that skill TN. Compare the number of successes to the number of dice sitting in front of the opponent. If this is the start of the social combat, this will be the Position roll. The player with the most successes wins, with a MoS equal to the difference in successes. If the speaker wins, certain effects occur, typically a willpower roll to see whether or not the non-speaker is Convinced. If the non-speaker is Convinced, the social combat is over. See Resolution, below.

If the participants are trying to convince someone else of something, then whenever a maneuver is chosen, its target must be selected; either the non-speaker, or the Audience. The Audience takes blows just like the other participants, and makes Willpower rolls to be Convinced as well.

The non-speaker now has three choices; they can continue the Social Combat, they can break it off, or the can escalate.

• If they continue the Social Combat, the non-speaker now becomes the speaker, and the process continues. The speaker throws out his last maneuvers successful dice before rolling new dice (unless he chooses the repeat maneuver, see below).
• If they break it off, it means they literally walk away or otherwise refuse to speak with the person any longer, getting out of range of that persons arguments. If the person can get away from their opponent, then they simply leave; the Social Combat is over and unresolved. If they CAN'T get away from the opponent, this is treated as a Refuse maneuver, round by round, until they CAN.
• If they escalate, they take some physical action against the opponent. Use the combat rules or other appropriate means to resolve from that point forward.

Note that you are always comparing your current roll with the successes the opponent made on their last roll in their last action. You are always responding to whatever it is they just said.

Resolution

As soon as one character is Convinced, the Social Combat is over. The character who is Convinced will act in accordance with the Goal that their opponent specified. However, resolution can be somewhat more complicated than that. Compare the number of blows taken between the two characters and consult the following table.

Unconvinced Character Blows Taken	Convinced Character Blows Taken
	1	>1
0	Quick victory: if the Goal requires a lot of activity, the Convinced character may have 2nd thoughts before it is entirely complete.	Complete victory
>1 but less than or equal to Convinced Character	Victory – Unconvinced character must provide some minor concession.
More than Convinced Character	Slim Victory - Unconvinced character must provide a major concession.

If there is an Audience involved, there are two possible outcomes. In the first, the opponent is Convinced. In that case, the opponent simply gives up trying to convince the Audience, and cedes the point to the other participant. In the second case, it is the Audience that is convinced. The Audience will bring an end to the Social Combat by accepting the points of one of the participants, and simply no longer listen to the other participant.

A minor concession is some action/behaviour on the Unconvinced characters part that either a) makes the Goal less onerous on the part of the Convinced character or b) gives the Convinced character at least a portion of what the Convinced character wanted as their goal.

A major concession is some action/behaviour of the Unconvinced characters part that either a) makes both the Goal less onerous on the part of the Convinced character AND gives them at least a portion of what the Convinced character wanted as their goal or b) gives the Convinced character MOST of what they wanted from their goal, but not all.

Maneuvers

Reason/Rebut

Refresh: Wits

Role-play: Make a logical, factual, or reasoned point or statement that is intended to convince your opponent that your way of thinking is the best.

Skills: Persuasion, Diplomacy (in a political situation), Diplomacy +2 (in a non-political situation), Orate (if the point or statement is made as part of a speech or other formal setting), Orate +2 (if made outside the context of a speech or formal situation), Leadership (if dealing with a subordinate), Leadership +2 (if not dealing with a subordinate).

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice vs. skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win, opponent takes a blow and rolls WP vs. (Blows + MoS) or is Convinced. If tie or loss, nothing happens.

Insult

Refresh: Wits

Role-play: Say something bad about your opponent, or insinuate something bad about them, in order to put them off their guard.

Skills: Ridicule, Intrigue (if the insult has to do with gossip), Intrigue +2 (if it has nothing to do with gossip), Sincerity +1 or Acting +1 (if the insult is contrary to your own feelings about the person), Sincerity +2 (if you know the insult is a complete lie)

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice vs. skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win, opponent loses MoS from his AP, and cannot use Reason/Rebut or Obfuscate next maneuver. If tie or loss, nothing happens.

Placate

Refresh: Social

Role-play: Make soothing statements intended to make the opponent feel good about themselves and reduce their anger against you.

Skills: Etiquette (of appropriate type), Diplomacy (in a political situation), Diplomacy +2 (in a non-political situation), Sincerity +1 or Acting +1 (if the placation is contrary to your own feelings about the person)

Mechanic: Can only be used after Insult, Intimidate, or Refuse. Roll assigned CP dice vs. Skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win or tie, opponent does not refresh next round, and cannot use Intimidate, Insult, or Refuse next maneuver. If lose, nothing happens.

Intimidate

Refresh: Social

Role-play: Threaten someone with harm, physical or otherwise

Skills: Intimidate, Diplomacy +1 (if making political threats in a political situation), Intrigue +1 (if you are using gossip against them or are trying to threaten without actually making the threat obvious through insinuation), Sincerity +1 (if the threat is really completely beyond your power)

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice vs. skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win, opponent takes a blow and rolls WP vs. (Blows + MoS+2) or is Convinced. If lose, you lose your opponents MoS in AP. If tie, nothing happens.

Obfuscate

Refresh: Wits

Role-play: Lie about something that will make your opponent do what you want.

Skills: Sincerity, Acting (if you are pretending to be something that you are not as part of the lie), Intrigue +1 (if you are making up slander or gossip)

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice vs. skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win, opponent takes a blow and rolls WP vs. (Blows + MoS) or is Convinced, and your opponent loses half your MoS in AP. If lose, you lose half your opponent’s MoS in AP (rounded down), and if your opponent uses Reason/Rebut, Dismiss, or Insult next maneuver, they refresh 2 extra AP. If tie, nothing happens.

Avoid

Refresh: Social

Role-play: Avoid the topic by raising some other issue, either related or completely irrelevant.

Skills: Etiquette (if the topic raised is a polite one), Ridicule (if the topic raised is not a polite one), Diplomacy (if in a political situation), Intrigue (if the topic raised is one about gossip), Orate (if part of a formal debate, or relating some unrelated anecdote or proverb).

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice + 2 vs. skill TN for successes. No other effect.

Dismiss

Refresh: None

Role-play: Make a statement that attempts to close off the argument and demand a final resolution.

Skills: As Reason/Rebut (if being reasonable), Intimidate (if being threatening), Obfuscate (if lying).

Mechanic: Roll assigned AP dice vs. skill TN. Compare to successes from opponents last maneuver. If win, opponent takes a blow and rolls WP vs. (Blows + MoS + 3) or is Convinced. If lose, lose half opponents MoS in AP (rounded down).

Refuse

Refresh: Willpower

Role-play: Stubbornly cling to your own points in the face of your opponents arguments.

Skills: None.

Mechanic: Cannot be the first maneuver in Social Combat. Roll assigned CP vs. TN 6 for successes. If you make a WP roll on your opponents next maneuver, you are at +MoS to your WP.

Repeat

Refresh: None.

Role-play: Stick to the same point/insult/intimidation/whatever you made last time, and make it again, driving it home.

Skills: None

Mechanic: Can only be used if you succeed at a particular maneuver (other than Dismiss), and then your opponent fails in their response to it. Do not reroll, but instead take remove two successful dice from your last roll and treat that as your successes, as normal, for the maneuver you last rolled. All effects of the repeated maneuver occur normally.

Steel Yourself

Refresh: Willpower + 2

Role-play: Say nothing, just prepare yourself for what your opponent is about to do to you.

Skills: None

Mechanic: You cannot use this maneuver in response to Steel Yourself, Gather Wits, or Compose Yourself. Make no roll, meaning you will be treated as having 0 successes in your opponent’s next maneuver. If your opponent uses Intimidate or Insult against you as their next maneuver, they are at -1 to their MoS.

Gather Wits

Refresh: Wits + 2

Role-play: Say nothing, just absorb what your opponent just said.

Skills: None

Mechanic: You cannot make use this maneuver in response to Steel Yourself, Gather Wits, or Compose Yourself. You may choose to assign CP and roll for successes, or make no roll, meaning you will be treated as having 0 successes in your opponent’s next maneuver. If your opponent uses Reason/Rebut or Obfuscate against you as their next maneuver, they are at -1 to their MoS.

Compose Yourself

Refresh: Social + 2

Role-play: Say nothing, just get yourself back together and put your game face back on

Skills: None

Mechanic: You cannot make use this maneuver in response to Steel Yourself, Gather Wits, or Compose Yourself. You may choose to assign CP and roll for successes, or make no roll, meaning you will be treated as having 0 successes in your opponent’s next maneuver. If your opponent uses Insult against you as their next maneuver, they are at -2 AP.

Example of Play

Night Hawk and Peregrine are having an argument about a Secret Manuscript, and decide to use Social Combat to resolve it.

Night Hawk's relevant statistics: WP 6, Wits 3, Social 2, Intimidate 7

Peregrine's relevant statistics: WP 4, Wits 4, Social 3, Sincerity 7

Night Hawk's Goal: Get Peregrine to give him the Secret Manuscript without a fight

Peregrine's Goal: Get Night Hawk to leave him alone with the Secret Manuscript, at least long enough for Peregrine to get the information from it.

Peregrine senses that Night Hawk is going to try to get the Secret Manuscript, and begins the Social Combat as the first speaker.

Action 0

Night Hawk starts with an AP of 11 (sum of his WP, Wit and Soc). He rolls 5 of his AP vs. TN 7 (per the rules) as his position roll. He gets 1 success, and leaves that die sitting on the table.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 6 Current Successes: 1

Action 1

Peregrine starts with an AP of 7 (sum of his Wit and Soc). Since Sincerity is his best social skill, he decides lying is probably his best bet, so he starts of with the Obfuscate maneuver, and lies to Night Hawk about the value of the value of the Secret Manuscript. "C'mon Night Hawk, its just an old piece of paper, its not worth us having trouble over!"

Peregrine refreshes his Wits in dice (4) into his AP, giving him 11 dice. He then takes 9 of these dice, and rolls them against his Sincerity TN (7), and gets 4 successes. Comparing this to Night Hawk's current successes, he has a MoS of 3. Night Hawk loses half of the MoS (1) from his AP, and takes a Blow. He must make a WP roll versus a TN of 4 (1 Blow + 3 MoS). He easily makes this roll; Night Hawk is partly swayed by Peregrine's lie, but not enough to make him back off.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 5 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 1

Peregrine's Current AP: 2 Blow Taken: 0 Current Successes: 4

Action 2

Night Hawk decides that he needs more dice to work with. He chooses the Refuse maneuver, and stubbornly refuses to accept what Peregrine is saying. "Don't give me that crap, Peregrine. I just don't buy it. That Manuscript is important. I can't believe it isn't."

Night Hawk throws away the 1 die sitting in front of him (the success from his Position roll). He then refreshes his WP into his AP (for a total of 11 dice), and rolls 3 of these dice vs. a TN of 6 (per the rules for Refuse)for 3 successes. He leaves these in front of him. If he has to make a WP roll next turn to be convinced, he will do so with his MoS (3) in extra dice.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 8 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Peregrine's Current AP: 2 Blow Taken: 0 Current Successes: 4

Action 3

Peregrine has almost no dice, so he decides to Gather Wits. He says nothing, and lets Night Hawk keep talking. He refreshes his Wits + 2 (6) into his pool, but throws away the 4 dice he has sitting in front of him from his Obfuscate, leaving him with no successes (since he can't roll dice on a Gather Wits).

Night Hawk's Current AP: 8 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Peregrine's Current AP: 8 Blow Taken: 0 Current Successes: 0

Action 4

Night Hawk keeps talking, as Peregrine has not really responded to him yet. He decides now is a good time for a big play, and chooses the Intimidate maneuver. "So hand over that Manuscript right now, buddy boy, or I'm going to push your nose into the back of your head!"

Night Hawk throws out the 3 dice currently in front of him (from his Refuse). Night Hawk refreshes his measly 2 Soc into his AP, and then uses all 10 dice against a TN of 7 (his Intimidate). He gets 3 successes, which gives him a MoS of 3 compared to Peregrine's 0 successes. Peregrine takes a Blow, and must make a WP roll against a TN of 6 (1 Blow + 3 MoS + 2 for Maneuver). He makes this with 1 success. Night Hawk's threats have shaken him, but he still wants to keep that Manuscript.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 0 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Peregrine's Current AP: 8 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 0

Action 5

Peregrine didn't much like that threat, moreover, he doesn't really feel that Night Hawk can make good on it. But Peregrine decides a Placate maneuver is in order. "C'mon, Night Hawk, my friend, there is no call for that. I know that you are the best bounty hunter in the business, you don't have to prove it to me with the tough guy routine. Let me do what I do best here, eh?"

Peregrine refreshes his Soc of 3 into his pool (for a total of 11) and rolls 7 dice vs. a TN of 8 (his Sincerity + 1, he doesn't have appropriate Etiquette, so is having to lie about his true feelings). He gets 3 successes, and ties Night Hawk's current successes. This has no effect except that now Night Hawk can't use Intimidate, Insult, or Refuse next action.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 0 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Peregrine's Current AP: 4 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Action 6

Night Hawk has seen Peregrine toady up to people before, and he knows what is coming. Besides, he doesn't have any dice! He decides to say nothing and let Peregrine paint himself into a corner, and chooses the Steel Yourself maneuver. He refreshes his Willpower + 2 (8) into his AP. Unfortunately, he also has to clear away the 3 dice sitting in front of him, leaving him with 0 successes.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 8 Blows Taken: 1 Current Successes: 0

Peregrine's Current AP: 4 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 3

Action 7

Peregrine notes that Night Hawk's cold stare gives nothing away, so he keeps talking. He'd like to use a refresh maneuver like Gather Wits, but Night Hawk's Steel Yourself maneuver prevents him from doing so, he has to keep going. So he choose to Obfuscate some more. "Besides, Night Hawk, how can you possibly trust that old woman we got this Manuscript from. She was obviously out of her mind and had no idea what she was talking about. Its just a piece of paper, my only hope is we didn't COMPLETELY waste our money on it."

Peregrine gets rid of the 3 successes in front of him, and refreshes his Wits into his AP, for a total of 8. He rolls all 8 of these dice against his Sincerity TN of 7, getting 2 successes. This gives him an MoS of 2. Night Hawk loses one of his AP (leaving him 7), takes a blow and makes a WP roll versus a TN of 4 (2 Blows + 2 MoS), easily making it with 5 successes.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 7 Blows Taken: 2 Current Successes: 0

Peregrine's Current AP: 0 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 2

Action 8

Night Hawk decides the cold start thing is working pretty well, he keeps it up, and chooses Steel Yourself again. He refreshes 8 (his WP + 2) into his AP, for a total of 15, and continues to say nothing.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 15 Blows Taken: 2 Current Successes: 0

Peregrine's Current AP: 0 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 2

Action 9

Peregrine is really getting annoyed by Night Hawk's silence, but decides to keep up the bullcrap and Obfuscate again. "And you KNOW that if this were REALLY the Secret Manuscript we have been looking for, it would be written in a language other than Informatio. The Valongo didn't start using Informatio in their official communications until after the manuscript we are looking for would have been written."

Peregrine gets rid of the 2 dice in front of him, and refreshes his Wit into his empty AP, giving him 4 AP. He throws all 4 into the roll vs. TN 7 (his Sincerity)...and gets NO successes. Not good.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 15 Blows Taken: 2 Current Successes: 0

Peregrine's Current AP: 0 Blow Taken: 1 Current Successes: 0

Action 10

Night Hawk thinks the cold stare has done its job, now is the time to strike. He chooses the Intimidate maneuver again. "Cut the crap, Peregrine. What part of nose into the back of your head don't you understand! Hand over the manuscript right now, buddy, or *cracking his knuckles* get ready to feel some pain."

Night Hawk refreshes his Soc into his Pool, giving him 17 dice. This is the big play, he rolls all 17 of them against his Intimidate TN of 7, and gets 5 successes. This gives him a MoS of 5. Peregrine takes a Blow, and must now make a WP roll versus a TN of 9 (2 Blows + 5 MoS + 2 for the Intimidate). He fails it! Peregrine is now Convinced, and the Social Combat ends.

Night Hawk's Current AP: 0 Blows Taken: 2 Current Successes: 5

Peregrine's Current AP: 0 Blow Taken: 2 Current Successes: 0

Resolution

Consulting the table and comparing the number of blows both Peregrine and Night Hawk have received (2 each) we see that Night Hawk has won a Victory. Peregrine will comply with Night Hawk's stated Goal, but Night Hawk has to provide some minor concession. Peregrine's player suggests that Night Hawk might let Peregrine continue to go over the document while Night Hawk looks over his shoulder, but Night Hawk's player doesn't agree to that. Night Hawk's player instead suggests that Peregrine can make a copy of the document, if he is quick about it, before he hands it to Night Hawk, and Peregrine's player agrees.

Peregrine says "Ok, ok, Night Hawk, be cool, can I at least make a COPY of the thing?"

Night Hawk says "Be quick about it, my fists are itching!"

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