Nekomimi-Maiden/SocialCombatRedux

Integrating Influence into Exalted

The current social combat system in Exalted, while certainly superior in concept to other systems such as D&D's "Diplomacy DC 50 to make my lifelong nemesis embrace me as a brother", is severely lacking in certain aspects. While willpower makes sense for a heroic character to be able to use to resist social influence, the all-or-nothing nature of it with only potential Limit when resisting unnatural mental influence once a scene, is a very poor stick indeed. This rewrite intends to incorporate the idea of graduated levels of success into Exalted, permitting people to protect core ideals from social influence while still being susceptible unless they perform a truly heroic effort to resist the words of the Chosen.

This system intends to use my Composure rework of Appearance as well.

When making a social attack, you total the pool considering all relevant modifiers and roll it, subtracting your opponent's MDV [similarly modified by intimacies and the like]. Every success above your opponent's MDV generates a point of Influence. Influence is typically casual; intimate Influence requires a relevant intimacy: If someone has an intimacy of fear towards you, your intimidation is intimate Influence. Unnatural Influence requires a relevant intimacy and the social attack to be a form of appropriate unnatural mental influence.

After Influence has been totaled, the successes are assigned to force the target to perform particular actions, limited by the level of Influence you have with the target:

• A success of Casual Influence allows you to convince someone to do something they have no inherent objection to, reveal information that could cause some trouble but would not threaten their livelihood or life, or ensure the scene acts as a scene of social interaction for the formation of a new intimacy. Additonally, a success can be expended to make another success act as Intimate Influence, or ensure an order lasts for a scene rather than only as long as it takes to perform.
  
• A success of Intimate Influence allows you to convince someone to take an action or reveal information that could endanger their livelihood or health or get them in serious trouble, act against or degrade an established intimacy. Intimate sway automatically lasts the scene barring someone else swaying the target against it or it being resisted, but an additional success can ensure it lasts for [target's Conviction] days.
  
• Unnatural Influence can do all of the above, and even convince someone to act against or change their Motivation, temporarily; however, they get a free Willpower roll to resist this sway, and can resist with virtues, as listed below.
  

After Influence is assigned, your target has the opportunity to resist. A given target has three basic options.
Accept the Influence: The target spends no willpower and accepts all forms of Influence. They are compelled to obey the orders you gave, feel the emotions you inspired, and otherwise act according to your social influence. Extras automatically choose this option unless the Influence is casual and opposes their motivation or an intimacy. They may ONLY resist as below if the Influence is not intimate or unnatural and opposes an intimacy or their motivation. An extra can still choose to accept the Influence, even if it contradicts an intimacy, if they lack the willpower or virtue, or otherwise have sufficient cause to accept it in spite of those facts.
Resist with Willpower: The target spends the willpower cost to resist -- normally 1wp, though charms can modify the cost -- and rolls their Willpower score. Every success permits them to counter a point of Influence dictated to them.
Resist with Virtues: The target spends the willpower cost as per resisting with Willpower, plus one relevant virtue channel, such as Temperance to refuse a bribe or indulgence, or Valor to resist fear; they roll the channeled Virtue, and if they score even a single success, they may negate all Influence dictated to them.
[Social defense charms' altered effects will come later]