Nekomimi-Maiden/SocialCombatRedux

With MUCH credit to WoD: Mirrors, which has provided the basic founding idea for building this...

Rewritten System: Social Influence

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.

Social influence is normally levied as a dramatic action, which typically takes up to one minute per social attack, but may be performed as a speed 6, DV -2 miscellaneous action in normal combat, though this imposes a -3 internal penalty. The Monologue action is added to normal combat as well, as a Speed 6, DV -2 action that gives +1 die to the following social influence every second tick, which may be aborted early for a partial benefit.

When attempting social influence, the intent of the influence is stated first. Generally, this is compelling a particular behavior - "Join an alliance with me". "Buy my wares". "Believe my report of an army camped to the south". "Form an intimacy towards me". The character declares any charms she intends to use on the social influence, and the target [or targets] choose their form of resistance.

When subjected to social influence, the target should write down a "Commitment Track" for this influence. This is typically equal to their Conviction; however, intimacies, Virtues rated at 3+, and their Motivation can modify the track:

• Relevant Intimacies add or subtract 1 Commitment Level, depending on whether the influence harms or supports the subject of the intimacy, in addition to any MDV modification.
• A relevant Virtue at 3+ adds or subtracts 2 Commitment Levels, as with Intimacies. Convincing a very Compassionate person to take an action that benefits many is easier, while convincing them of the justification of wanton slaughter is far harder.
• If the action goes against the target's Motivation, the Commitment track is doubled after all other modifiers. If it supports their motivation, it is halved after all other modifiers.

The target of social influence has several means of resisting available to them.
First, they may use their Dodge MDV, attempting to shut their mind and heart to the influence. This is generally superior to Parry MDV due to the inclusion of Essence and the high potential rating of Willpower, but it carries a critical flaw; any influence that passes their DMDV cannot be resisted with Willpower or Virtues.
Second, they may instead use their Parry MDV, choosing an attribute and ability combination appropriate to refusing the particular influence to set their MDV. If their Parry MDV is defeated, they may still spend Willpower afterwards in order to reduce the influence that gets through, but may not channel Virtues to reist.
Third, the target can choose a Virtue appropriate to resisting the influence, such as Valor to ignore an attempt at intimidation, Temperance to resist seduction or temptation, and so on. They spend the willpower cost to resist the influence as well as a single channel of that Virtue, and the influence is completely negated.
Alternately, the target can accept the influence without resistance; this willing acceptance of someone else's command [and not having to take responsibility for their actions] grants the target one temporary Willpower, though they may not gain this benefit more than once a scene.
Social defense charms may also be used in this step as well.

After the form of defense is chosen, if the target has not completely negated the influence [whether through Virtue or an appropriate social defense charm], the character rolls her social attack, subtracting the appropriate MDV. If any successes remain, they are applied to the target's Commitment track for the influence in question. If the target has the option of spending willpower, such as if they applied their Parry MDV, they may pay the appropriate cost [usually 1wp, though some charms can increase the cost to resist] and roll their Willpower; every success reduces the 'damage' to the track by one level.

Once the target's Commitment track is filled, they are subject to the influence and must act appropriately. [work in progress]