Fabula Ultima Social Conflicts

“…it did not take him long to learn the various gambits and ripostes of this non-physical, but nevertheless no-holds-barred, political mayhem.” – E.E. “Doc” Smith, “First Lensman”

A subsystem for doing more detailed social conflicts in Fabula Ultima.

Damage and Healing

Damage is taken against a character’s HP. These aren’t properly wounds or injuries, but may still be treated as stressful. Healing works as normal.

Affinities

Characters (PCs and NPCs) have four new Affinities:

Ethos is the persuasive power of authority or credibility. Members of a queen’s court, a church, or a large guild are Vulnerable to Ethos. Rebels, outcasts, iconoclasts, and so on would be Resistant to Ethos.

Pathos is the appeal to feelings to create sympathy in an audience. People motivated by instinct, empathy, or passion are Vulnerable to Pathos. Stoic, toughened, or cold-hearted characters are Resistant to Pathos.

Logos is the use of logic and reason to make an argument. Scholars, thinkers, academics, and so on are Vulnerable to Logos. Impulsive people, folks suspicious of manipulation, and perfidious people are Resistant to Logos.

Kairos is the seeking and striking of vulnerable points at key moments. People with something to hide, or people who lack conviction, are Vulnerable to Kairos. People with solid plans, self-control, or strong integrity are Resistant to Kairos.

Before entering your first social conflict, you should identify one Affinity you’d be Vulnerable to, and one you’d be Resistant to. Look at your character’s Identity, Theme, and Classes for ideas. For example, a Loremaster might be Vulnerable to Logos because they favor arguments with logical foundations. Thereafter, these Affinities will remain as they are. Changes to your Bonds or Themes might trigger a change in Affinities, at the GM’s discretion.

The GM may assign social Affinities to NPCs as appropriate. There is no guarantee that any NPC will have only one Vulnerability or Resistance, for example. Certain NPCs - such as emotionless robots - may be Immune to things like Pathos!

Characters defend against social attacks with either INS (referred to as I.DEF) or WLP (referred to as W.DEF).

When entering a social conflict, characters choose to arm themselves with social weapons, taken from the list below. Characters may use the Equipment action to change tactics.

Characters may also equip a single element of Identity (e.g. a Theme), or a single Bond, as a “shield”. If the chosen element is relative to the social conflict, it adds +2 to both I.DEF and W.DEF.

NPCs may add +1 to I.DEF and W.DEF if one or more Traits would let them resist an attack. If a PC knows the NPC’s Traits, they can attempt to work around those to neutralize this bonus. For example, if an enemy has the haughty trait, and the PCs find a way to embarrass or humiliate them, the bonus from haughty might go away.

There is no concept of “social armor” or “social accessories”.

Equipping a social weapon or shield does not mean a character isn’t still carrying their normal equipment. Qualities of a character’s physical equipment still work if appropriate. For example, if a piece of armor benefited a Weaponmaster’s Counterattack skill, a verbal Counterattack in social conflict would gain the same benefit.

Bellowing Browbeat: [MIG + WLP]+1 vs. I.DEF, [HR+4] Kairos. Your presence and voice speak for you, interrupting or dominating the conversation at key moments.
Call for Cooperation: [INS + INS] vs. W.DEF, [HR+6] Ethos. You work to find common ground with your opponent.
Cutting Brevity: [DEX + WLP] vs. W.DEF, [HR+6] Kairos. A few key words can undercut minutes of rhetoric, but your timing must be perfect.
Defensive Dissection: [WLP + WLP] vs. I.DEF, [HR+6] Logos. You tear apart your opponent’s arguments and dismantle their rhetoric, revealing their weakness.
Fiery Rhetoric: [INS + WLP]+1 vs. W.DEF, [HR+4] Pathos. You pound the table, making powerful invocations and assertions with the confidence of a preacher.
Impassioned Appeal: [WLP + WLP] vs. W.DEF, [HR+6] Pathos. You bare your soul to your audience, asking for their understanding of your plight.
Methodical Indictment: [INS + INS] vs. W.DEF, [HR+6] Logos. You dismantle your opponent with precise arguments and damning revelations.
Patriotic Plea: [WLP + WLP] vs. W.DEF, [HR+6] Ethos. You invite your target and an audience to consider their loyalties.
Showy Performance: [DEX + INS] vs. I.DEF, [HR+6] Pathos. Your flourishes, gestures, posture, and movement contribute just as much as your words.
Verbal Judo: [INS + WLP]+1 vs. I.DEF, [HR+4] Kairos. You’re able to turn your opponent’s words against them, then press into the opening you create.

The GM should be permissive in letting PCs propose other social weapons.

It’s possible for a character to come across something that specially equips them for a later social engagement. Example:

Damning Documents: [INS + INS] vs. W.DEF, [HR+8] Logos. Evidence of wrongdoing by someone with wealth and power. Does 5 extra damage if you are targeting that individual in social conflicts.
Signet Ring: [WLP + WLP] vs. I.DEF, [HR+8] Ethos. A token from a monarch, a pope, or someone else with legitimate authority, which you can present as evidence you act in their name.
Necromancer’s Sigil: Social shield. +2 to I.DEF and W.DEF. When equipped, all conflicts containing only Undead species become social conflicts, as the creatures will refuse to physically hurt the bearer or their party. You may communicate with Undead creatures regardless of their normal intelligence. This could be repurposed into a Crown of Ivy for Plants, a Demon King’s Scepter for Demons, or similar items depending on your goals.

Even outside social conflicts, rare social weapons can have their uses. For example, the Damning Documents might be enough to make the Parliamentary guards move out of the way and admit you during session. Of course, if those guards are loyal to the wrong master, it may provoke a physical conflict…

Researching a particular social weapon could be handled as Forging a new weapon (“Natural Fantasy”). This might require a character to have levels in Orator or some similar class. For example, the GM might award the party a rare item that can make the Necromancer’s Sigil, but require the Necromancer PC to Forge it into the final item.

Rules During Conflicts

Actions

Most combat actions work as expected. You attack with a social weapon to go on the rhetorical offensive. You can hinder to undercut someone’s position or shake them up. You can guard to stand firm against an enemy’s attacks, or speak up on someone else’s behalf.

Actually using offensive spells or real weapons moves the conflict to a physical conflict. The use of non-offensive spells or inventory items may be noticed, and could change the direction of the conflict at the GM’s discretion.

Objectives

Sometimes you may want to do more than just beat down an enemy (verbally, that is). For example, a particular character may want more than just turning the crowd against the Cardinal. They might want to elicit a confession! The GM should treat this as a clock, gauging the relative difficulty as a number of segments. Objective actions will make progress on the clock. The GM must also decide whether making progress is an opposed check, and whether an adversary can undo progress in some fashion.

Class Skills

Try to charitably interpret class skills in the context of social conflict wherever possible. For example, a Weaponmaster might use Bone Crusher to inflict status effects and damage Mind Points, just verbally. The player must still describe the maneuver!

If a class skill, item quality, etc. would interact with the traits of a social weapon, such as whether it’s a Melee vs. Ranged weapon, the GM should be permissive in allowing the rule to proceed. For example, you might allow a Sharpshooter’s Crossfire to serve as a quick counter-comment to sarcastically undercut a verbal attack.

Opportunities

Most opportunities work as well in social conflict as in other scenarios. In fact, some (e.g. Faux Pas, Favor, Information, Unmask) work better!

Defeat

Defeating an antagonist in social conflict doesn’t mean that they’re knocked out or dead. It means concessions to the PCs. If the PCs had a request, the adversary may grant it. If the PCs wanted the adversary to reverse their position on something, it may happen. Whatever the characters want can come in the form of loot. Such loot might be intangible, such as secret knowledge, but still have value. Regardless, a defeat should mean something! It’s not enough to simply have the adversary walk away, unless that was the PCs’ actual goal.

PC Surrender, likewise, may mean a concession from the PC. If a character is an authority figure, it might mean them being hauled away in chains - although it would be a far more civilized matter for the other PCs to free them.

Adversaries

In general, creating social adversaries works the same way as for physical conflicts. The additional steps are:

Pick social Affinities (based on Traits, rather than Species)
Pick social Skills in place of (or in addition to) other Skills

Many existing Skills can be adapted to social conflict with little effort. For example, an adversary with the “Crisis Effect” skill might dig in if pushed too far, changing their Affinities to become hardened against both emotional and logical arguments. Some Skills can conceivably be used in both modes.

If you intend to let an adversary engage in both physical and social conflict, you’ll want two sets of Skills, one for each mode.

Damage Resistance: this Skill only provides Resistance to one social Affinity.

Final Act: a defeated adversary might reveal some awful secret or truth, harming everyone who hears it.

Improved Defenses: the adversary would improve their INS and/or WLP defenses.

Special Attack: rather than controlling or petrifying a PC, a Special Attack might cause them to lose or change their action. An adversary might bring up an especially devastating point or some incriminating evidence - for example, did the PCs try to peacefully negotiate with an enemy earlier? - that could start a clock which must be progressed to “free” a character.

Spellcaster: the GM can treat NPC Spells as being social in nature, e.g. “Cursed Breath” might be a fiery speech that does no physical harm, but does cause HP loss and inflict a status.

Example Adversary: Cardinal Mallus

The Church is said to be corrupt, and this reputation is largely due to the deeds of people such as Cardinal Mallus. He is officially a member of the church and must be seen to obey the dictates of its hierarchy. In this capacity, he holds great power over his territory. In secret, his secret treasure vault and wealth of blackmail materials give him vast powers over the population. He knows enough demonology to summon succubi - demonic seducers. They cannot heal the heartache of his first love running into the arms of the church’s knight-captain, but they aid him in other ways.

Cardinal Mallus – Lv 20 – Humanoid, Champion (3), Villain (5)
Traits: corrupt, hedonistic, refined, diabolical
DEX d8, INS d10, MIG d6, WLP d12 – HP 210 (Crisis 105) – MP 180 – Init 12
I.DEF 12 – W.DEF 13 – Ethos (Vulnerable), Pathos (), Logos (), Kairos (Resistant)

Social Attacks:

In God’s Name: [WLP+WLP]+2 vs. W.DEF. [HR+10] Ethos. Mallus speaks for the Church, and none can gainsay God.
Hellish Hypnosis: [INS+INS]+2 vs. I.DEF. [HR+10] Logos. Quiet. Measured. Reserved. Deadly. If the target is dazed, the Cardinal may dictate their next action.
Tempter’s Tongue: [INS+WLP]+2 vs. W.DEF. [HR+10] Pathos. Mallus may discern whatever a PC holds dear, then coolly make a threat against it. An adventurer may choose to create a Bond of Hatred toward Mallus, if they do not already haver one. If they create a Bond, they take no damage. A character who already has this Bond takes damage as normal.

Other Actions:

Demonic Servitor: Mallus may conjure a succubus as a reinforcement, paying 10 MP per succubus. Mallus is limited to ever summoning a total of 3 succubi per scene, but may summon more than one in a single action. Succubi are a soldier-type Demon adversary, who will attempt to seduce or befuddle PCs. Such reinforcements will appear to be human, but could conceivably be unmasked if a PC has the means to do so.
Soul Mark: Mallus may apply one of his Soul Mark effects (below) to an enemy. An enemy may only have one Soul Mark effect at a time. Mark effects end when the conflict ends. Effects that would remove a status effect may instead be used to remove a mark.
Unexpected Ally: Mallus may spend an action and spend 1 Ultima Point to choose a non-hostile NPC on the scene. If he does, that NPC becomes helpful to him so long as he is kind and respectful and his requests are reasonable.

Spells:

Recitation of Scripture: 10 MP, One creature, Instantaneous. The target suffers dazed and shaken.
Pose of Sanctity: 10 MP, Self, Instantaneous. Mallus heals 40 HP.

Magic Check: [INS+WLP]+2

Special Rules:

Pain’s Banquet: if attacked by a creature who has a Bond of Hatred toward him, Mallus regains 10 MP.
When Mallus enters Crisis, he can no longer maintain his holy pose, and his darker nature takes over. His Affinities change as follows: Ethos (Resistant), Pathos (Vulnerable), Logos (Resistant), Kairos (-).
Mallus may equip and use adventuring equipment. He ordinarily equips the Necronomicon.

Soul Marks:

Mark of Despair: the next time a marked creature recovers HP or MP, they only recover half as much.
Mark of Destiny: Mallus may force a marked creature to reroll both dice on any check. He may only affect a creature like this once per scene.
Mark of Forbiddance: if the marked creature performs the Guard action, they lose 10 HP and 10 MP.
Mark of Mortality: none of the marked creature’s attribute die sizes may rise above their natural values. Effects that would boost such attribute dice are suspended until the mark ends.

Loot:

Forbidden Knowledge. Mallus may offer characters dark wisdom and otherworldly secrets if defeated. This knowledge may function as a rare item usable in Rituals, Projects, and the like.
The Necronomicon (Fabula Ultima p. 270). He may drop it if forced to flee, or offer it as temptation to a spellcasting character.
Damning Documents (above). Characters who subtly search the area while Cardinal Mallus engages with others may have come across these. They implicate the Cardinal and could be used to hasten his downfall.

Characters with the Damning Documents or similarly persuasive evidence may denounce Mallus before an audience by defeating him in social conflict. The effects of this largely depend on who was in the audience at the time. It could lead to Mallus being led away in chains - or the beginning of a physical battle with a powerful demonologist!

Characters might also try to bargain with a level 20 or higher Demon to revoke Mallus’ power. In this case, Mallus will lose his Demonic Servitor and Soul Mark abilities, and any physical conflict would leave him deprived of other similar abilities. Convincing such a Demon to act against a loyal and powerful ally would no doubt be a social conflict all on its own…

Example Adversary: Goldscale

Goldscale is an ancient dragon. Greedy beyond measure, she coiled herself around the elves’ world tree and demanded tribute from any elf that wished to renew their immortality via their yearly pilgrimage to the tree. She receives visitors and will haughtily engage in discourse with them, arrogantly believing herself above all mortal threats. Mortals might entreat Goldscale for some of her gathered treasure - or might slyly try to draw out the secret of her vulnerability.

Goldscale - Lv 40 - Monster, Champion (4), Villain (10)
Traits: greedy, arrogant, ancient, talkative
DEX d8, INS d8, MIG d10, WLP d10 - HP 520 (Crisis 260) - MP 180 - Init 12
I.DEF 9 - W.DEF 12 - Ethos (Resistant), Pathos (-), Logos (Vulnerable), Kairos (-)