Social Combat

Words, Social Power, Poise and Wit

Diplomacy requires a few changes if a political campaign is needed. While resolving a diplomatic
situation with a single die roll in a campaign built primarily around combat works just fine, the
method fails to deliver anything fun for a campaign built around social intrigue and interaction.
Words become the weapons of diplomatic combat so Diplomacy must become as dynamic as
physical combat.

How Social Combat Works

Like melee and ranged combat, social combat is cyclical; everybody acts in a regular cycle of
rounds. Social Combat follows essentially the same sequence as regular combat, as follows:

Each combatant starts out socially flat-footed. Once a combatant acts he is no longer
socially flat-footed.
Determine which characters are aware of their opponents at the start of the social battle. If
some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents (or even that a social
battle has begun), a surprise round happens before regular rounds of combat begin. The
combatants who are aware of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for
initiative. In initiative order, highest to lowest, combatants who start the battle aware of
their opponents each take one action (either a standard action or a positioning action)
during the surprise round. Combatants who are unaware do not get to act in the surprise
round. If no one or everyone starts the social battle aware, there is no surprise round.
Combatants who have not yet rolled initiative do so. All combatants are now ready to
begin their first regular round of social combat.
Combatants act in initiative order, highest to lowest.
When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative acts again and
Steps 4 and 5 repeat until the social combat ends.

Social Combat Statistics

This section summarises the rules and attributes that determine success in social combat and then
details how to use them in sequential order to resolve any social combat situation.

Social Attack Roll

A social attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent's social standing or position on
your turn in a round. When you make a social attack roll you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus.
To make a social attack, make a social attack roll and compare the result to your target's Social
Defence. If you equal or exceed the target's Social Defence, your words have hit home and
damaged his social standing. Roll your verbal damage and subtract that many points from the
target's Social Power.
Automatic Misses and Hits: If you roll a one, your verbal attack automatically misses. If you roll
a 20 it automatically hits and may be a critical hit. Roll again, and if the second check is also a
success you do double damage.
A character is normally aware of a social attack unless the situation warrants otherwise.

How to Calculate a Social Attack Bonus

Your attack bonus is your Diplomacy skill total.
Social Attack Bonus = Diplomacy skill ranks + Charisma modifier + other applicable
modifiers

Social Damage
Words function as a weapon, used to attack another person's social standing or to win a point.
The words used to attack another must be chosen to fit the situation. Unless a character has a
feat allowing him to wield two social weapons at once, he can only use one weapon at a time. The
situation may warrant which socialweapon is allowed. A characters Charisma bonus is added to
all weapon damages, and his intelligence modifier is his weapon's Armour Piercing score, should
he be facing an opponent with the savoir-faire special ability (see Savoir-Faire and Damage
Reduction).
Knowledge Weapons: The words used to attack another come from a characters knowledge
about the topic or the person. Words are used to expose flaws in logic or use gentle persuasion.
This requires a Knowledge (local) check. The effectiveness of the words depends on the DC
beaten (see table). A character may take 10 on this check but he cannot roll more than once per
day. The check determines how much damage he can do to a person's Social Power or Position
per attack on a given day.
Bullying Weapons: The character who uses bullying weapons does not worry about logic or
coherence. He bullies and browbeats others into compliance. He make threats, promising that if a
character does not do what he wants it will be on the characters head. He throws religion into it
or argue with humorous jabs. Above all, he hints at consequences. This requires an Intimidate
check. The effectiveness of the words depends on the DC beaten (see table). A character may
take 10 on this check but he cannot roll more than once per day. The check determines how much
damage he can do to a person's Social Power or Position per attack on a given day.
Innuendo Weapons: The character who uses innuendo weapons drops scandalous hints or tell
all-out lies about a person or position to make his point. He will claim to have evidence he does
not have or hint that anyone who disagrees with him is disloyal and traitorous. He argues from
false authority and makes questionable conclusions. Sly insinuations are his favourite tools. This
requires a Bluff check. The effectiveness of the words depends on the DC beaten (see table). A
character may take 10 on this check but he cannot roll more than once per day. The check
determines how much damage he can do to a person's Social Power or Position per attack on a
given day.
DC
Under
5
5
10
15
20
25
30

Verbal
Damage
0
1
1d3
1d4
1d6
1d8
1d10

Social Defence
Social poise allows a character to avoid damage directed at him. Social Defence functions in a
similar manner to Parry or Dodge Defence in regular combat: it functions to determine how
difficult a character is to hit with a social attack. A characters Social Defence score is equal to the
result he gets from taking 10 on his Sense Motive skill check plus his Social Rank. Having a high
Social Defence means people are less likely to believe rumours and indicates that a character
knows how to take attacks well, responding to verbal traps with aplomb.
Social Defence = 10 + Sense Motive ranks + Wisdom Bonus + applicable modifiers +
Social Rank

Some modifiers lower Social Defence. For example, if a character is being socially attacked with
evidence then he cannot evade damage as effectively, he suffers a -2 penalty on Social Defence.
Sometimes a character cannot defend himself at all. If a character cannot react to a social blow,
such as when an opponent takes him by surprise and he is 'flat-footed,' he cannot use his Sense
Motive ranks and is vulnerable to social smear attacks.

Social Power
Use the character's Social Power score as the basis for his ability to resist social attacks, which
serve in a Hit Point-like manner. Social Power Points represent how well people think of a
character and how hard it is to harm him through innuendo and verbal attacks.

Position
Social attacks use a characters strength of position as the basis for his ability to resist negotiation
attacks. His position strength is equal to his Diplomacy score plus his Intelligence modifier and his
Reputation modifier (minimum one). A character's position strength is tracked separately in each
debate or negotiation. The character receives all of his position strength at the beginning of each
new debate or negotiation, even if he is participating in two debates at once or interrupts on
debate to participate in another. When a character has no position strength left on a particular
debate, that character is out of the debate. The Knowledge is Power special ability adds two to a
characters Position Score
Position Score = Diplomacy + Charisma modifier + Intelligence modifier + Reputation
modifier

Initiative
In Conan the Roleplaying Game striking first can mean the difference between social life and social
death, winning the point or losing the point. To reflect this, higher-level characters are significantly
quicker-witted than those of lower levels.

Initiative Checks
After the first social attack is made, everyone involved must make a Knowledge (local) check for
their Initiative. Characters act in order, counting down from highest result to lowest. In every
round that follows, the characters act in the same order unless a character takes an action that
results in his initiative changing; see Special Initiative Actions. If two or more combatants have
the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total initiative
modifier, with the highest going first. If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll again to
determine which one of them goes before the other.
Initiative = 1d20 + Knowledge (local) ranks + Intelligence bonus + any applicable
Knowledge check modifiers + any relevant feats or other bonuses
The Knowledge is Power special ability adds two to the social initiative check. Other people may
join the social fight at any point. They must make a social initiative check and can then act the
next time that number comes around.

Flat-Footed
At the start of a social battle, before a character has a chance to act (specifically, before his first
regular turn in the initiative order), he is flat-footed. A character cannot socially defend himself
while flat-footed.
A flat-footed character cannot make social attacks of opportunity.

Inaction
Even if a character cannot take actions, he retains his initiative score for the duration of the
encounter. This may be necessary to determine when an effect occurs for a character in a given
round or when he may overcome some adverse condition.

Surprise
When a social combat starts, if a character is not aware of his opponents and they are aware of
him, the character is surprised. Conversely, careful tactics or blind luck can provide the
opportunity for Player Characters to achieve surprise on unprepared or unsuspecting opponents.
Generally, surprise does not occur often, as most people are constantly wary when they are in the
kinds of situations where combat is a likely occurrence. A Games Master is the final authority on
when surprise occurs for any given encounter, if at all.

Determining Awareness
Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents, sometimes none are and
sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware and the
other combatants on each side are unaware.
Determining awareness may call for Listen checks, Spot checks, Sense Motive checks or other
checks.

The Surprise Round

If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens
before regular rounds begin. Any combatants aware of their opponents can act in the surprise
round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who start the
battle aware of their opponents each take a standard action during the surprise round. A
character can also take free actions during the surprise round. If no one or everyone is surprised,
no surprise round occurs.

Unaware Combatants
Combatants who are unaware at the start of the social battle do not get to act in the surprise
round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they can neither
dodge nor parry.

Social Attacks of Opportunity

Sometimes a combatant in social combat lets his guard down. In this case, combatants can take
advantage of his lapse to attack him for free. If someone rolls a one on a social attack or takes a
critical hit, a character may immediately make a social attack against him. This is in addition to
his normal social attacks and independent of his position relative to the combatant who has
lapsed. The victim of such circumstances is highly vulnerable.

Savoir-Faire and Damage Reduction

Social Status

One's social status rank (see page XX) is the social equivalent of basic armour. It provides Damage
Reduction equal to a characters Social Status Rank against social attacks. It does not protect his
Positional strength from negotiation attacks.
Whenever a character is hit in social combat the Damage Reduction (DR) score is deducted from
the damage rolled by the social weapon.

Savoir-Faire
The savoir-faire ability (see Conan the Roleplaying Game) is the social equivalent of adding layers
to one's armour. It provides additional Damage Reduction equal to a characters Social Power
bonus against social attacks. It does not protect his Positional strength from negotiation attacks.

For example, a nobleman with the savoir-faire ability has a 72 Social Power, so he has Damage
Reduction of eight in regards to attacks against his Social Power.

Armour Piercing
Powerful word weapons have the can penetrate through Social Status and savoir-faire armour in
Conan the Roleplaying Game, bursting the faade of unreachable Status and Social Power. Every
type of social weapon has an Armour Piercing (AP) score based on the attacking character's
Intelligence modifier plus the attacking character's Social Status.
If a character suffers a hit from a weapon whose total Armour Piercing score equals or exceeds the
Damage Reduction score of his armour, the Damage Reduction provided by the armour is halved
(rounded down) for purposes of that blow.

Actions in Social Combat

The Anatomy of a Social Combat Round
Each round represents a variable amount of time in the game world. In general, each round is
about three hours long; at a minimum a round must be long enough for someone to make a
pointed comment, listen to the response and then back it up and for observers to change their
opinions about the people in the social combat. Damage is not physical, but reputational, based
entirely on third parties and their perception of the combatants. Someone has either lost face or
they have not. However, if an attack involves spreading a scurrilous rumour, a single round might
take up to a day or more. If the roleplay of the scene involves a dialogue or formal debate each
round is about five minutes of game time, while if the roleplay involves talking to many people
each round takes longer.
A round presents an opportunity for each character involved in a combat situation to take an
action. Each rounds activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then
proceeds, in order, from there. Each round of a combat uses the same initiative order. When a
characters turn comes up in the initiative sequence, the character performs his entire rounds
worth of actions. For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.
For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. A
round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the
last, but it usually comprises a span of time from one round to the same initiative count in the next
round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count on
which they began.

Action Types
An actions type essentially tells a character how long an action takes to perform (within the
framework of the variable social combat round) and how movement is treated. There are four
types of social combat actions: standard actions, positioning actions, full-round actions and free
actions. In a normal round, a character can perform a standard action and a positioning action, or
can perform a full-round action. He can also perform one or more free actions. A character can
always take a positioning action in place of a standard action.

Standard Social Actions

These are the basic things characters and creatures can do during a social combat round. Basic
social and negotiation attacks are covered under this type of action. Most actions taken by
combatants are standard actions, though timing or outside influences might change this status.

Attack Actions
Making a social or negotiation attack is a standard action. There are two kinds of basic attack:
social and negotiation. Social attacks are the diplomatic version of lethal attacks in standard
combat. Negotiation attacks are the diplomatic version of nonlethal attacks.

Social Attacks
With words, a character can strike any opponent. The battling characters must all be at the same
social event and must speak a language spoken by most of the other attendees. Otherwise, they
need not be particularly close to one another. A rumour dropped at one end of a hall can strike at
someone at the other, after all.
Non-Native Speakers
A social attack by a non-native suffers a penalty to their attack roll. No matter how well that
Corinthian Duke speaks Aquilonian he will still have an accent and be viewed as an outsider whose
word is to be discounted. Use the Non-Native Speaker table as a guideline for applying this nonproficiency modifier. These modifiers stack when appropriate.

Non-Native Speaker
Speaker's Native
Country
Viewed as neutral
Viewed as strong
Viewed as an ally
Unknown to audience
Viewed as highly
biased
Viewed as weak
Viewed as sorcerous
Viewed as barbaric
Viewed as an enemy

Attack
Modifier
+0
+2
-1
-2
-3
-3
-4
-5
-5

Attacking Someone of Higher Social Rank

Likewise, attacking someone of a higher social station has a penalty. The attacking character does
not know the correct etiquette and protocol to make such attacks effectively. Attacking someone
of higher social rank imposes a non-proficiency penalty of -2 to each attack for each rank above
the attacker the target is. For example, if a commoner of Social Rank zero socially attacks a duke
of Social Rank four, the commoner suffers a -8 non-proficiency penalty. The duke does not suffer
such a penalty, although he will probably not counter with a social attack he will probably just
have the commoner killed, regardless of the success of the attack. In Vendhya, this applies to
caste, not Social Rank.

Negotiation Attacks
This covers striking for nonlethal damage against an opponents position and is the social
equivalent of a grapple or unarmed strike. A character is not trying to harm his targets Social
Power but rather is attempting to shoot down his position or win a negotiation against him by
knocking down his Position strength.
Social Attacks of Opportunity: Attacking with negotiation tactics provokes a social attack of
opportunity from the character who has been attacked provided he is already engaged in
social combat with a players character.
'Armed' Negotiation Attacks: Some feats or tactics allow negotiation attacks to deal Social
Power damage instead of damaging the opponent's position strength.
Negotiation Damage: A negotiation attack from a civilised noble or temptress does 1d4
points of damage to a characters position strength plus Charisma modifier (the character
needs to have at least one level in noble or temptress to qualify for this level of damage).
A negotiation attack from another civilised character does 1d3 points of damage to a
characters position strength plus Charisma modifier. A negotiation attack from an
uncivilised character does 1d2 points of damage to a characters position strength plus
Charisma modifier.

Dealing Social Power Damage: A character can specify that his negotiation strike will deal
Social Power damage before a character is makes his attack roll but he takes a -4 penalty
on his attack roll if he does so.

Multiple Attacks
A character who can make more than one attack per round must use the full attack action (see
Full-Round Actions, below) in order to get more than one attack.
A character's number of attacks is determined by his Diplomacy ranks. Each iterative attack is
done at -5. Thus, a character with 18 ranks in Diplomacy and a 17 Cha (+3 modifier) has a social
attack bonus of +21/+16/+11.
Ran
ks
1-8
9-13
1418
1923

# of
Attacks
1
2
3
4

Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action

A character can choose to fight defensively when socially attacking. He focuses his attention on
keeping his own Social Power intact at the expense of offensive potential. If he does so, he takes a
4 penalty on all social or negotiation attacks in a round to gain a +2 bonus to Social Defence for
the same round.

Critical Hits
When a character makes a social attack roll and gets a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), he hits
regardless of his targets Social Defence and has scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or
crit). To find out if it is a critical hit, the attacking character immediately makes a critical roll,
which is another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the social attack roll he just made. If
the critical roll also results in a hit against the targets Social Defence, then the original hit is a
critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to result in a critical hit. It does not need to come up
20 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then the original hit is just a regular hit. A critical hit means
that a character rolls damage more than once, with all his usual bonuses, and add the rolls
together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on a social attack roll is 20
and the multiplier is x2.

Exception: Extra damage over and above diplomacys normal damage is not multiplied
when a character scores a critical hit. This includes additional dice from magical effects or
class features such as Smear Attack.
Increased Threat Range: Sometimes a characters threat range is greater than 20. That is,
he can score a threat on a lower number. In such cases, a roll of lower than 20 is not an
automatic hit. Any attack roll that does not result in a hit is not a threat.
Increased Critical Multiplier: Some feats allow diplomacy to deal better than double
damage on a critical hit.

Use Special Ability

Using a special ability is usually a standard action but whether it is a standard action, a full-round
action or not an action at all is defined by the ability.

Supernatural Abilities: Using a supernatural ability is usually a standard action, unless

defined otherwise by the abilitys description. Its use cannot be disrupted, does not require
concentration and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Extraordinary Abilities: Using an extraordinary ability is usually not an action because most
extraordinary abilities automatically happen in a reactive fashion. Those extraordinary
abilities that are also actions are usually standard actions that cannot be disrupted, do not
require concentration and do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Rally, for example, is a full round action certain nobles can take to give their allies a +2 morale
bonus. At the Games Master's discretion, special and social abilities may work in social combat
just as they do in standard combat. Special abilities such as Rally, Do You Know Who I Am? and
Absolute Power are abilities that should easily work in social combat as well as they do in regular
combat.
Social abilities from other sourcebooks for Conan the Roleplaying Game, such as Conan: Hyboria's
Finest, may work in social combat just as well.

Total Social Defence

A character can defend himself as a standard action. If he opts to take total social defence he gets
a +4 bonus to his Defence for one round. This bonus applies from the start of this action. The
character cannot combine total social defence with fighting defensively or with the benefit any
feat or action requiring him to declare an attack or full attack. A character cannot make social
attacks of opportunity while using total social defence.

Positioning Actions
With the exception of specific positioning-related skills, most positioning actions do not require a
check. As the title of the type of action suggests, all positioning actions centre around shifting the
focus of a debate, argument or other social warfare.

Draw a Weapon
Choosing a weapon so that it can be used it in social combat or choosing to use a different weapon
so as to reposition a debate or argument requires a positioning action. If a character has
Diplomacy ranks of one or higher, he may choose a social weapon as a free action combined with
a regular positioning action.

Build the Argument

A character methodically establishes each point of his argument and defends it with inexorable
logic and passion. If his opponent attacked him with an Intimidating Weapon or an Innuendo
Weapon on the opponents last turn, the attacked character gains a +2 bonus on his next social
attack and a +1 bonus to social damage. If he does this as a full-round action (essentially taking a
double-positioning action), he gain a +4 bonus on his next social attack and +2 bonus to social
damage. The maximum amount he can gain by building the argument is a +6 bonus on his attack
and +3 to damage (by taking a double positioning Build the Argument in one round, then Building
the Argument again on the next round and then taking the social attack). Once used in an attack,
he can begin the process of building his next argument.

Invoke Higher Power

A character connects his attack or argument to some tradition, religion or ideal highly regarded in
his society. If his opponent attacks with a Knowledge Weapon or if he builds his argument and
successfully attacks with any weapon, then the attacked character gains a +2 bonus on his next
social attack and a +1 bonus to social damage. This stacks with building the argument but not
with itself (doing this action twice does not double the bonus). Characters with the Priest feat gain
an additional +1 bonus either to the next attack or the damage (but not both).

Hide
A character makes his attack anonymously and his opponent does not know that character is
attacking him. The character is attacking through others. He are essentially invisible. His
opponent must make an opposed Gather Information check against his Bluff check to find who

attacked him. If he is hiding, the attacking character takes a -4 penalty to any hidden attacks
because attacking through others is less accurate than attacking directly. However, opponents
trying to fight a hidden attacker take a -8 penalty to their attacks because they do not know the
exact target of their attack.

Point of Order
A character questions an opponent's protocol or methodology. This confuses the opponent and
delays him as he explains how he is observing the correct procedures. If the attacking character
succeeds on his next attack roll, his opponent loses his next action.

Present Evidence
A character counters his opponent's arguments with hard facts. Any time a character can present
solid evidence he adds +2 points of damage and +5 AP to his social weapon.

Shore Up Defences
A character anticipates objections, defending against his opponent's arguments by strengthening
his own. The character may add his Intelligence modifier to his Social Defence this round even if
he is otherwise unable to defend himself.

Full-Round Actions
A full-round action requires an entire round to complete. Thus, it cannot be coupled with a
standard or a move action, though if it does not involve moving any distance, the character can
take a five-foot step.

Full Social Attack

If a character gets more than one social attack per round because his Diplomacy skill is high
enough, because he fights with two social weapons or for some other special reason, he must use
a full-round action to get his additional attacks. The character does not need to specify the targets
of his attacks ahead of time. He can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the
later ones. A character cannot make a positioning action during a full social attack.
If a character gets multiple attacks because his Diplomacy is high enough, he must make the
attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest. If he is using two social weapons, he can strike with
either weapon first.

Deciding between an Attack and a Full Attack

After a characters first social attack, he can decide to take a positioning action instead of making
his remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out.

Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action

A character can choose to fight defensively when taking a full attack action. If he does so, he
takes a 4 penalty on all social attacks in a round to gain a +2 bonus to Social Defence for the
same round.

Profound Conclusion
The extra attacks granted by the Insightful Conclusion feat or Profound Conclusion feat can be
taken whenever they apply. This is an exception to the normal limit to the number of attacks a
character can take when not using a full attack action.

Miscellaneous Actions
Use Feat
Certain feats let you take special actions in social combat. Other feats do not require actions
themselves but instead give you a bonus when attempting something you can already do. Some

feats are not intended for use within the framework of social combat. The individual feat
descriptions tell you what you need to know about them.

Use Skill
Most skill uses are standard actions but some might be full-round actions, free actions or
something else entirely. The individual skill descriptions tell you what sorts of actions are required
to perform skills.

Social Damage and Recovery

[[[ Boxed Tex ]]]

'Rinaldo is largely responsible,' answered Prospero, drawing up his sword-belt another notch. 'He
sings songs that make men mad.'
Robert E. Howard, Phoenix on the Sword
[[[ End Box ]]]
A characters Social Power measures how hard he is to kill socially. No matter how much Social
Power a character loses, he is not hindered in any way until his Social Power drops to zero or lower.
Use of Social Power in social combat is summarized above but the full rules regarding it is listed in
this section.

Loss of Social Power

The most common way that a character gets hurt socially is to take social damage and lose Social
Power score. Note that this damage is more abstract than even Hit Points. If a character loses Hit
Points, they are lost until healed, no matter whom he encounters. With Social Power loss, only
those who witness the loss register the loss. The most effective attacks are the most public ones
and they are the hardest to counter-attack.

What Social Power Represents

Social Power score means two things in social combat: the ability to take social punishment and
keep going and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.

Massive Social Damage

If a character ever sustains damage so massive that 20 points of damage or more are inflicted in
one deduction and the character is not reduced below zero Hit Points outright, the character must
make a Will saving throw.
Massive Social Damage Will Saving Throw DC = 10 + ( damage dealt)
If this saving throw fails, the characters Social Power total is reduced to -10 immediately and he is
socially dead regardless of his previous Social Power score. He can still spend a Fate Point to be
shunned instead of socially killed outright; see below.
If some or all of the damage dealt by the attack is nonlethal, the character instead completely
loses the debate.

Effects of Social Power Damage

Damage does not slow a character down until his current Social Power score reaches zero or lower.
At zero Social Power score, a character is socially disabled.

From 1 to 9 Social Power score, a character is socially dying.

At 10 or lower, a character is socially dead unless he spends a Fate Point to leave him
Shunned

Socially Disabled (Zero Social Power score)

When a characters current Social Power score drops to exactly zero, he is disabled. People snub
him, or even laugh at him. Any Charisma-based skill checks made are made as if he had rolled a 0
(zero) on the d20; a character cannot take 10 or 20 on any Charisma-based skill check while
socially disabled. He cannot add Social Power bonuses (see pages XX-XX) on any check against
people who were witness to the social combat or heard about it. He can only take a single
standard social action each turn but not both, nor can he take full-round actions. He can take
move actions without further injuring himself but if he performs any social action, he takes one
point of social damage after completing the act. Unless a characters activity increases his Social
Power score, he is at 1 Social Power Points and is socially dying.
Social healing that raises a characters Social Power Points above zero makes him fully functional
again, just as if he had never been reduced to zero or fewer Social Power Points. He can also
become disabled when recovering from dying. In this case, it is a step toward recovery, and he
can have fewer than zero Social Power Points. See Stable Characters and Recovery below.

Socially Dying (1 to 9 Social Power score)

When a characters current Social Power score drops to between 1 and 9 inclusive, he is socially
dying. A socially dying character can take no actions. Any Charisma-based skill checks made are
made as if he had rolled a negative number equal to his Social Power score on the d20; he cannot
take 10 or 20 on any Charisma-based skill check while socially dying. A socially dying character
loses one Social Power every round. This continues until the character socially dies or becomes
socially stable; see below.

Socially Dead (10 Social Power score or Lower)

When a characters current Social Power score drop to 10 or lower, or if he takes massive damage
(see above) and fails the requisite Will saving throw, he is dead. Some cultures, such as the
Zuagir, will quite literally kill a socially dead leader but simply ignore or exile socially dead nonleaders. Other cultures may exile a socially dead character, strip him of his lands and titles or
imprison him. A socially dead character is certainly no longer held in favour by the rulers or the
populace. Characters who have declared Allegiance to another character now socially dead may
break their Allegiance without penalty.

Shunned

When a characters Social Power score reaches -10 by any means, he may spend one Fate Point to
avoid being socially killed outright. He is instead shunned.
A character who is shunned appears socially dead to a casual examination, though he still has a
chance of recovering, particularly if attended by a character with the Etiquette special ability (see
Conan the Roleplaying Game). If a noble with the etiquette special ability chooses to take up the
cause of a shunned character, that noble may be able to restore the character to good graces
(although it may take a social battle on the noble's part).

Socially Stable Characters and Recovery

On the next turn after a character is reduced to between 1 and 9 Social Power score and on all
subsequent turns, roll d% to see whether the socially dying character becomes socially stable. He
has a 10% chance of becoming stable. If he does not become stable, he loses one Social Power. A
character who is socially dying cannot delay his social death by using any special action that
changes the initiative count on which his action occurs.
If the characters Social Power score drops to 10 or lower, he is socially dead immediately.

Recovering With Help

A character can keep a socially dying character from losing any more Social Power score and make
him stable with a DC 15 Diplomacy check; a character with the Etiquette special ability can

automatically stabilise a socially dying character and restores him to one Social Power Point,
making him fully functional again, just as if he had never been reduced to zero or lower.
One hour after being tended, a socially dying character recovers his Social Power score naturally.
He is back to normal when his Social Power score rises to one or higher.

Recovering Without Help

A socially dying character who is left alone usually dies. He has a small chance, however, of
recovering on his own. A character who becomes stable on his own (by making the 10% roll while
dying) and who has no one to tend to him still loses Social Power score, just at a slower rate. Each
time he misses his hourly roll to become stable, he loses one Social Power. He also does not
recover Social Power score through natural healing.
Even once he becomes socially stable, an unaided character still does not recover Social Power
score naturally. Instead, each day he has a 10% chance of starting to recover Social Power score
naturally, starting with that day; otherwise, he loses one Social Power.
Once an unaided character starts recovering Social Power score naturally, he is no longer in
danger of naturally losing Social Power score even if his current Social Power total is negative.

Recovery
After taking social damage, a character can recover Social Power through natural recovery. In any
case, he cannot regain Social Power past his full normal Social Power total.

Natural Recovery
A character recovers Social Power Points equal to his Charisma bonus every day (minimum one)
per day.

Effects of Position Strength Loss

A character can also lose position strength in a 'nonlethal' debate. Damage does not him you
down until A character current Position Strength on that particular debate reaches zero or lower.
At zero Social Power score, he is out of the debate re-entering the debate without a restored
position strength on that topic causes him to lose 1d6 points of Social Power per round until he just
gives it up.
The use of Position Strength can be as complex as needed. If two characters have multiple items
on their political agenda, each one of those items could have a position strength of its own.

Special Social Attacks

Aid Another
In social combat, a character can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with
an opponent. If he is in position to make a social attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend
in social combat, he can attempt to aid his friend as a standard action. The helping character
makes a social attack roll against a social defence of 10. If it succeeds, his ally gains a +2
circumstance bonus to his social attacks or to his social defence, at the helping characters
discretion.

Feint
Feinting is a standard social action, representing a red herring, bold lie or other distracting topic.
To feint, a character makes a Bluff check opposed by a Sense Motive check by his target. The
target may add his Diplomacy ranks to this Sense Motive check. If the feinting characters Bluff
check result exceeds his targets Sense Motive check result, the next social attack he makes
against the target does not allow him to defend your next social attack at all. This attack must be
made on or before a characters next turn. Feinting is a favourite tactic of many politicians.

Feinting in social combat does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Social Smear Attack

Only characters with the Smear Other special ability (see Conan the Roleplaying Game) can make
smear attacks, which function in social combat as sneak attacks do in regular combat. A sneak
attack can only be made against a character who is unable to defend himself. A character who is
socially blinded, flat-footed, socially stunned, socially helpless, the victim of a successful feint or
socially pinned can thus be smeared.
If a character is able to defend himself he is not susceptible to a smear attack, unless the smear
attack is of a kind that the chosen defence cannot help against.
Each smear attack does +1d6 Social Power damage to the smeared opponent. Each time the
Smear Other special ability is taken, this damage increases by +1d6, just like sneak attack
increases for a Thief character.

Special Initiative Actions

Here are ways to change when a character acts during social combat by altering his place in the
initiative order.

Delay
By choosing to delay, a character takes no action and then acts normally on whatever initiative
count he decides to act. When a character delays, he voluntarily reduces his own initiative result
for the rest of the combat. When his new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round,
he can act normally. A character can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time
later in the round and act then, thus fixing his new initiative count at that point. He does not get
back the time he spends waiting to see what is going to happen, nor can he interrupt anyone
elses action, as he can with a readied action.

Initiative Consequences of Delaying

A characters initiative result becomes the count on which he took the delayed action. If he comes
to his next action and has not yet performed an action, he does not get to take a delayed action,
though he can delay again. If he takes a delayed action in the next round, before his regular turn
comes up, his initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle and he does not get his
regular action that round.

Ready
The ready action lets a character prepare to take an action later, after his turn is over but before
his next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke a social attack of
opportunity, though the action that he readies might do so.

Readying an Action
A character can ready a standard action, a move action, or a free action. To do so, specify the
action the character will take and the conditions under which he will take it. Then, any time before
his next action, he may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs
just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another characters
activities, the readying character interrupts the other character. Assuming the interrupted
character is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once the readying character
completes his readied action. His initiative result changes as noted below. For the rest of the
encounter, his initiative result is the count on which he took the readied action and he acts
immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered the readied action.

Initiative Consequences of Readying

A characters initiative result becomes the count on which he took the readied action. If he comes
to his next action and has not yet performed his readied action, he does not get to take the

readied action, though he can ready the same action again. If he takes his readied action in the
next round, before his regular turn comes up, his initiative count rises to that new point in the
order of battle and he does not get his regular action that round.

Social Combat Manoeuvres

The following are specialised social combat manoeuvres that may be performed by anyone who
meets their requirements. Unless otherwise stated, a character may only perform one of the
following Social Combat Manoeuvres per turn.
Unless otherwise noted, the following social combat manoeuvres can only be used in social
combat.

The Big Lie

A character waves his laundry list and screams about traitors in the heart of the heart of the
government. He raves that his opponent is a cunningly disguised Stygian. Whatever the lie is, it
is so outrageous that foolish people believe whatever is said because so far everything the liar has
said has been quite factual.
Prerequisites: Bluff skill
Circumstance: The character must have used Knowledge weapons for the past three of his
attacks; this is a complete change of tactic.
Effect: He does +1d6 points of innuendo damage, which stacks with smear attacks.
Special: If a character fails the attack roll when using this manoeuvre, he takes the damage he
would have done to his opponent had it been successful. He looks the fool and loses ground.

Dazzling Rhetoric
The characters words soar. With decorative and embellished phrases he can persuade people by
putting an interesting spin on his descriptions and arguments.
Prerequisites: Perform (oratory) skill
Circumstance: Make a Perform (oratory) check (DC equal to opponent's social defence) as a
Positioning action
Effect: Successfully making the Perform (oratory) check gives a character +2 social damage and
+1 to his social defence for the next round. Failing the check gives him -2 social damage and -1 to
his social defence for two rounds.

Offer Compromise
A character finds a point of agreement between his position and that of an opponent and then
offers to build a greater agreement from that promising beginning.
Circumstance: The character uses diplomacy to steady his ground.
Effect:. As a full-round action the character can increase his damage potential by staking Social
Power or Position Points. Each point he risks adds +2 to the damage he deals. His opponent must
make a Will save against a DC set by the initiating characters Diplomacy check. If the opponent
fails the initiator deals social damage according to the last weapon type he used plus the bonus
indicated.
Special: If the character makes his Will save the initiator loses the points he staked on this
manoeuvre.

Tantrum
A character yells, throws things or hits objects around him to prove he is dangerous and needs to
be taken seriously.
Prerequisites: Perform (oratory) skill, Intimidate skill
Circumstance: Make a Perform (oratory) check (DC equal to opponent's social defence) as a
Positioning action
Effect: A successful check gives the character +2 attack with his bullying weapon.
Special: If the characters fails the Perform (oratory) check he loses one Social Power or Position
Point.

Multiple Opponents

Being attacked by multiple foes, especially if they are at all well-trained, is socially dangerous.
There is always a danger that halfway competent foes will attack in concert, making it hard to
defend against them all at once.
During each round of social combat, if several characters make social attacks against one enemy
in the same round, each of the attackers after the first to attack gains a cumulative +1
circumstance bonus on his social or negotiation attack rolls. These bonuses only ever apply to
social or negotiation attacks.