Thus Spake Zaraborgstrom/SocialCombat
rebeccaborgstrom - 11/22/2003 18:10:29
Hm.
To a degree, this is "social combat". The interesting thing about social combat, in Exalted, is the relative absence of defense Charms and---at that---defensive dice pools. However, since it's the attacker's choice to use this attack form, I don't feel that it's fair to nullify defensive options just 'cause the mechanics don't cover how they work. So I think you have to assume that people use their defenses against persuasion automatically, and figure out how those defenses function.
Let's examine what defenses generally 'look like' in Exalted. There are really three types:
- Inadequate (e.g., mortal extra);
- Breakable by force, cleverness, or exhaustion;
- Breakable by cleverness or exhaustion.
Let's pretend for the moment that social defense *does* work this exact same way. I'm going to assume that the mortal extras' inadequate social defense is pretty much taken into account by the rules for success. Accordingly, for a 17-success perform roll against a crowd of extras, I figure the PC pretty much wins. Anyone who hears the PC has their brains rewired by social Solar fu. The PC's words burn into their minds, and when they think about slavery AT ALL, it's the Solar's anti-slavery passion that fills their hearts.
Dealing with major NPCs---including heroic mortals---is a little different than dealing with faceless crowds. Even should they be standing in a faceless crowd. :) I figure they should default to one of the other two options: some you can beat down with sheer success count, but for the rest, you need to find a weakness or exhaust their resistance. Note that Respect Commanding Attitude is pretty good for the latter---you can brainwash someone even if you're the one tied up. :)
In the case of a fanatic D-B, I think that you have to find the weakness in his belief system or batter him down with roll after roll after roll. (Like in physical combat.) This isn't meant to nerf the persuasion---in fact, 12 successes should be more than enough to convince him. He *believes* you. But heroic characters should get to say, "I am being preached to by someone with the devil's own persuasive tongue," and cling rockily to their former course of action, even knowing that it's 'wrong', possibly by spending a Willpower. Because, well, a Willpower is all it takes for a Compassion 5 Solar with Heart of Tears to torture a puppy.
To defeat the D-B entirely, you need to understand where his fanaticism comes from---not in terms of timing, like where he learned it, but in terms of the map of his mind. Does he think his world will fall apart if the Order's words are lies? Is he violently suppressing preexisting sympathies for Anathema? Does he think that Master Seshou *must* be right, because he's just that cool? Does he love the Order? Does he love _order_, and genuinely believe that Anathema disrupt that? Figure that out, and target *that* with a Listener-Swaying Argument, and then your 12 successes can make him your lackey. :)
Rebecca
rebeccaborgstrom - 11/24/2003 20:21:37
Hm!
The major reason that there aren't real "social combat" systems, I suspect, is the Law of Multiplication of Ineptitude. Put simply,
_Increasing the available arenas of competence decreases the competence of the average character._
The more skills a system has, the less competent characters become. (You can remedy this to a degree by assigning lots of skill points.) Similarly, if you have social combat, mental combat, and physical combat, then characters need three times as many Charms to mount an effective defense.
That's why I tend to assume that characters should be assumed to have social defenses appropriate to their type. For PCs, it seems fair to assume they have the equivalent to a persistent and a perfect defense available, whereas most NPCs have more limited defenses. At least against raw social rolls; Charms for mind control generally have their own rules.
Other solutions exist.
Rebecca
