Hi,

I'm working on the supplement for teh game that we just released Conspiracy of Shadows and one of the things I want to do is a social "combat" mechanic. As with all things in the game, I want all the game mechanics to be unified, but I have run into a little snag. I can't seem to come up with "combat maneuvers" for the social combat mechanic.

See there are several maneuvers (beat, grapple, disarm, etc.) in "combat" combat and I want analogs for in social combat. Anybody have any ideas or know of any examples?

Keith

Not knowing anything about the CoS mechanics for combat or combat maneuvers, I can't list anything specific, but here's some thoughts:

- Deflect: "Perhaps, perhaps, but had you considered..." This is a social Dodge. Whatever your opponent just said, dismiss it. Whether it was correct or not is completely irrellevant. Of course, a well-placed remark is much harder to just ignore...
- Snub/Flirt: "How repugnant! No civilized person would say such a thing!" This is a social Grapple, bringing the social combat in close and dirty - name-calling, insults, etc. or trying to succeed through personal magnetism instead of reasonable discourse.
- Irrelevanticize: "Obviously, your argument has no bearing on the situation." This is a social Disarm; whatever ideas your opponent was proposing can no longer be used in this combat, and they'll have to scramble around to find a new one or find a way to bring the old idea back into play.
- Harangue: "Hah! I'm sure you hadn't even considered this, or this, or this..." This is an all-out attack. It can be devastating to an opponent, driving them out of the social arena entirely, but someone in the middle of a harangue isn't concentrating on defending their own position and a well-timed rebuttal can leave them sputtering.
- Elevate: "A clever remark, but let us consider the wider implications." This is the social equivalent of backing off and circling, trying to broaden the subject of the conflict so that more ideas and maneuvers can be brought into play, instead of dirty name-calling. It is the opposite of a Snub/Charm.
- Witticize: "I say, that reminds me of a little story I heard the other day..." This is the social equivalent of a Feint, distracting the others in the combat. While everyone's chuckling at your joke, no one - not even your opponent - is going to notice you boring in for the kill.

How're these?

Following Jinx's lead:

Riposte - a barbed defensive remark which turns the attack on the originator. Something like a parry and counterattack, or a defense with a spiked shield.

Interrupt - stop someone speaking in mid-thought and take over the conversation. Ends the current speaker's turn.

Filibuster - similar to Jinx's harangue, with the added strength that it's a serious social or political mistake to interrupt or stop the speaker.

Pun - making a play on the opponent's words; a decent stalling tactic, and it may result in a more (or less, depending on the crowd) favorable outlook on the user.

Support - coming to a central "combatant"'s rescue, whether with more information or just another set of vocal cords.


And a couple with a slightly larger scope than conversation or debate, but they may be useful. It's still social.

Slander - publishing defamatory information about an opponent. I think that it's libel if false, slander if true. If the information is accepted, this damages an opponent's reputation considerably.

Blackmail - threatening Slander in order to pressure the opponent to yield, whether in politics or money.

Toss in all the logical argumentative fallacies:

Ad hominem (attack the person, if you can't attack their argument)
Arguing from authority (my pastor says...)
Circular reasoning
Straw man
etc.

Gives you a bonus unless the other person has the counter strategy, or something like that.

Greg Porter
BTRC

Hi,

Thanks. This is good stuff. I'll post it once I work out the details.

Keith