Social Combat

Individual warriors can wreak terrible violence upon their enemies, and armies can put an entire nation to the sword. Yet, battle is not the only means of conquest, nor even the chief art of statecraft. Social combat is the arena of demagogues and diplomats, in which words strike blows and jaded repartee affords parries and ripostes. Interestingly, the rules for social combat closely mirror the rules for normal fighting.

Beginning Debate

Social Combat and Exalted

The world of Exalted is a world of epics. Epics are full of stirring speeches and impassioned arguments in closed council, which decide the fate of nations—the souls of the men of Creation are stirred by passionate argument. These social combat rules are made to model charismatic individuals attempting to put the full weight of their persuasive power behind a matter.

Characters know when they are engaged in social combat—everyone can tell when they are trying to be made to agree with something. Exalted characters using unnatural command of social combat to make servants and converts will be seen as using supernatural power to do so and will likely attract negative attention. Heroic mortals will be seen as prophets or would-be adventurers and may become popular or unpopular, depending on the climate of the day. Extras do not generally engage in social combat, but there may be a use for them—as ill-educated praters called out to debate theology with a character, for example.

In any case, these rules are not what one uses to convince others where to go for dinner. Rather, they are how one turns someone into an instant convert to his cause or wins the argument over the strategy his nation needs to follow in an upcoming war. Social combat can be used for small matters—intimidating the warden at a bridge may be minor but an essential use of a persuasive character's silver tongue. However, social combat should never be used for trivial situations or casual debate. If it is used in an argument over clothing, that argument should figure prominently in some larger matter or depict a character who is an unrelenting social bully.

Never forget that characters can flee the presence of individuals attempting to engage them in social combat or attack them in an attempt to cut short the conversation. However, part and parcel of the world of Exalted is that there are individuals whose words and truths are so divinely convincing that you dare not have an extended conversation with them lest you become a convert, and Creation in general is prone to heroic gesture and impassioned oratory. These rules model those realities. As a result, it is probably better to use them sparingly and grudgingly in your game than to ignore them entirely.

The Join Debate action replaces Join Battle, with the roll using (Wits + Awareness) being made as normal. Time progresses forward in long ticks lasting one minute each, the same time frame used in mass combat. Unexpected social attacks are quite possible but do not involve being physically hidden. Instead, a surprise attack represents an unexpected shift in conversation from innocuous small talk to serious matters. In place of (Dexterity + Stealth), the aggressor conceals his intent with (Manipulation + Socialize), while the defender reflexively counters with (Perception + [[Investigation).

Reestablishing surprise later in a social engagement requires that the assailant make a completely new point unrelated to the earlier discussion (i.e., changing the subject), which is the equivalent of finding a new place to hide. Otherwise, this miscellaneous action uses the same rules, apart from the dice pools used.

Actions

Characters may take a variety of possible actions in social combat, each with a Speed and associated DV penalty. Keep in mind that DV functions differently in social combat (see below), but the concept of a protective value that is penalized by action remains.

Move (Speed 0/-0 DV) and Dash (Speed -3/-3 DV)

Physical location plays little role in social combat, so as long as the interacting characters remain close enough to actually interact with one another. Therefore, although characters can move at 10 times the speed in a long tick that they can cover in second-based ticks, moving has no significance unless they move out of the encounter entirely. Because dashing actually counts as an action and forfeits opportunities for rebuttal, taking the dash action is generally only used for literally running away.

Guard (Speed 3/-0 DV)

The character listens warily, waiting for the right moment to interject a comment. This action functions like a standard guard, preserving maximum DV and keeping the frequency of DV refreshes high. Guarding in social combat follows the rules of a standard Guard action.

Inactive (Speed 3/Special DV)

It is unlikely that a character will become physically incapacitated and drop out of social combat altogether. Furthermore, while unconsciousness makes characters physically vulnerable, such a state generally serves to make them socially invulnerable by making it impossible to communicate with them. If a Charm allows social attacks to be applied to an unconscious character (such as a subliminal programming Charm that functions against sleepers), the victim ceases to be inactive but remains socially invulnerable to anyone unable to communicate with her. This state otherwise follows the rules for a standard inactive action.

Monologue/Study (Speed 3/-2 DV)

This action is the social combat equivalent to the Aim action available in standard combat. If a character takes time to deliver an extended speech as a social attack, doing so translates to an action cycle of Monologue, Monologue, etc. until the concluding point is an Attack with the usual bonuses for aiming. Unlike a standard Aim, a Monologue does not need to be directed at a single target, but instead requires that the final attack be a logical continuation of the same speech. Studying a target follows the Aim action more closely, in which the character listens and formulates an argument specifically intended to resonate with a particular target, rather than a group. Except as noted, both Monologue and Study follow the same rules as Aim.

Miscellanous Action (Speed 5/-2 DV)

The character does something unrelated or tangentially related to the discussion at hand. Keep in mind that in long ticks, Speed 5 indicates five minutes of time, so either the action must take less than five minutes or the character must perform the action as a set of sub-actions with five-minute intervals. Unlike miscellaneous actions taken during normal combat, applying full concentration to a task does not make the character completely vulnerable (i.e., reduce DV to 0). Actually, such characters are so single-mindedly focused that they receive the same social invulnerability as being inactive. Deliberately ignoring someone in this fashion requires that the character not be restrained. (Prisoners undergoing interrogation generally do not have the luxury of doing anything but listening, answering and suffering.) Furthermore, a character who chooses not to listen or look at someone (turning away and covering his ears) cannot perceive the character he is ignoring and will automatically suffer the penalties for surprise if she gives up on talking and decides to physically attack.

Except as noted, miscellaneous actions follow the same rules as described Combat.

Join Debate

This miscellaneous action is the most common one in social combat, and like Join Battle, this action has a DV penalty of -0.

Attack

In order to physically attack someone, a character must perform a Join Battle action, prompting everyone who observes the impending hostility to do the same. This removes the scene from social combat and begins counting time in standard combat ticks.

Read Motivation

This is resolved normally in the span of five long ticks, like any other action. See page 131 for rules.

Flurry (Speed Varies/Varies -DV)

A social flurry follows usual flurry rules, allowing a character to make a barrage of interconnected or unrelated points, possibly while doing something completely unconnected to the discussion at hand.

Activate Charm/Combo/Power (Speed Varies/Varies -DV)

Characters may use Charms appropriate to a social scene, according to the standard timing rules for such. Most social Charms with a simple type list their Speed in terms of long ticks for easy integration into these rules. Using a Charm inappropriate to social tasks (such as magic that increases the damage of a physical attack) require the appropriate conditions be present. Therefore, characters must Join Battle and leave a social combat behind in order to physically attack someone. Ergo, characters cannot use Charms pertaining to physical attacks without first dropping down to standard combat time. The Storyteller remains final arbiter of what Charms may be used without shifting the scene and/or its narrative sequence of time.

Attack (Speed Varies/-2 DV)

The character makes a social attack. The rules for making (or defending against) such attacks are explained in full in the next section.

Resolution of Social Attacks

When a character makes a social attack against another, this attack represents any type of communication intended to change the feelings, actions, intentions or other aspects of another character, encompassing a broad range of interactions from intimidation to seduction to aggressive sale pitches.

Social Traits

A number of basic traits play a role in resolving social combat:

Charisma: Charisma measures a character's force of personality and honest expression. Characters with low Charisma are viewed as weak or diffident—or simply as louts without social skills. Those with high Charisma are eminently noticeable and often outright eminent. People love them or hate them (or maybe a bit of both), but everyone respects them. Characters use Charisma whenever they speak of anything in which they genuinely believe.

Manipulation: This measures guile and persuasiveness. Manipulation can be a subtle weapon or a blunt instrument of malice, but it is always a weapon. Those with low Manipulation are honest or naïve. Those at the high end are conniving and ruthless, able to don whatever mien best serves their needs. Characters use Manipulation to control others through deception or emotional trickery.

Appearance: Combining physical attractiveness and poise, a high Appearance aids in virtually any social endeavor, from oration to seduction to intimidation. Characters with a hideous visage have a higher effective Appearance rating for the express purpose of intimidating others or resisting intimidation (Appearance 1 = Appearance 3, while Appearance 0 = Appearance 5).

Bureaucracy: While social in nature, the uses of this Ability, operating as it does on a dramatic time scale, exceeds the scope of social combat.

Integrity: The "passive" defense of stubbornness and selfassurance, this Ability helps derive Mental Defense Values.

Investigation: This Ability focuses on obtaining the truth, which typically takes the form of an interrogation in the context of social combat. Each Investigation attack can reach only one target, whether that target is a single individual or a Magnitude 9 social unit. However, a unit must be an actual organized group with a unified agenda and allegiance, rather than everyone or anyone who happens to be in attendance. Often, those swayed by Investigation attacks speak the truth on the matter queried, though it is also possible to use this Ability to glean information without the target knowing, through a miscellaneous action (see p. 171). Investigation attacks have a Speed of 5 long ticks and a rate of 2.

Linguistics: Characters making or receiving social attacks through a letter, book or some other indirect proxy that relies on verbal eloquence rather than personal poise and delivery have an effective Appearance equal to their Linguistics rating, regardless of their physical attractiveness (or lack thereof). This provides bonuses or penalties to DV as described above.

Performance: The Ability governing oration, heart-stirring dances and theatrics, Performance reaches out to affect everyone who can perceive the effort. Characters cannot selectively apply a Performance roll, so they cannot exclude targets within its area of effect. This lack of intimacy is both a strength and weakness of the Ability, allowing demagogues to sway the hearts of crowds but also risking that weak-willed friends in attendance might throw themselves into causes they merely intended as political propaganda. Performance-based attacks have a Speed of 6 long ticks and a rate of 1.

Presence: This Ability controls intimate social attacks in which the full emotional weight of a character's personality descends upon a hapless opponent. Presence attacks follow the same targeting restrictions as Investigation attacks, with a Speed of 4 long ticks and a rate of 2.

Socialize: While many functions of this Ability operate on a dramatic time scale outside the scope of social combat, (Manipulation + Socialize) replaces (Dexterity + Stealth) for veiling intentions, and any instance where War would be used to manage a military unit changes to Socialize for social units and setting up coordinated social attacks. In general, Socialize cannot be used to make social attacks.

Mental Defense Value

This derived trait measures a character's resistance to all forms of persuasion. Like standard DV, Mental Defense Value (MDV) has two forms:

Dodge MDV

This represents a character's capacity to avoid being influenced through a disciplined refusal to engage. By not arguing and instead standing fast to principles or sheer will, the character remains untouched. To calculate a character's Dodge MDV, halve (Willpower + Integrity + pertinent specialty + Essence), rounded down.

Errata: In this specific instance, Willpower is treated as an Attribute for the purposes of Charm bonus maximums.

If magic makes a social attack undodgeable, the attack cannot be resisted with stubbornness, and must be refuted.

Parry MDV

This is a character's capacity to deflect persuasion through retort, calculated as ([Charisma or Manipulation) + Ability + pertinent specialty] ÷ 2), rounded up. Just as characters can parry blows with weapons or their hands, so too may social combatants use a range of possible Abilities according to the method employed. Investigation cuts through the charm of Charisma and finds the treacherous guile at the heart of Manipulation. Performance deflects with convincing rhetoric. Presence relies on forceful counterarguments. By default, characters will base their Parry MDV on the better of Charisma or Manipulation combined with the best rating in any of the valid social Abilities. Those who wish to use a stunt in their defense must match the stunt to the Attribute and Ability selected, and so may use any valid traits they wish. Unblockable social attacks defy all argument, though they may still fail before the unassailable walls of the ego.

Social Stunts

Using social combat rules, players can reduce their characters' attacks to "I seduce her" or "I scare him" without any greater detail. This is the equivalent of a player saying "I hit him with my sword" during physical combat; it works and allows a roll, but it is inherently bland. Unless the action is of trivial consequence, players should endeavor to do a better job articulating social attacks. Physical combat rules exist to abstractly represent the fact that two players will not beat on each other to decide which of their characters wins a fight. In contrast, players can (and should) debate, argue and haggle with one another or the Storyteller. After all, Exalted is a roleplaying game, and playing a role is the point of the exercise. As a result, Storytellers should assign a stunt bonus of level one simply for talking in character (rather than describing the gist of what the character says). Better dialogue should qualify for better stunts. By liberally awarding stunts for good characterization, the Storyteller rewards those who put in extra effort and establishes the fact that the protagonists really do have an edge over most of the supporting cast who cannot stunt.

Mental Defense Value Modifiers

Characters suffer a DV penalty for taking actions as in physical combat, and this penalty vanishes when DV refreshes immediately before the character's next action. Characters can suffer an onslaught penalty after enduring a flurry of social attacks by one person, as well as the penalty for coordinated attacks by multiple individuals linked through a leader's Socialize. As usual, an inapplicable defense option leaves the appropriate MDV reduced to 0 before adding bonuses or penalties, and the usual rule of automatic success applies against extras. Physical modifiers associated with standard combat such as cover, terrain, reach and so on do not apply. However, characters do face two additional modifiers that often come into play:

Relative Appearance: Characters affected by a social attack made by a being of lower Appearance add a modifier to their mental DV equal to (their Appearance – the Appearance of the attacker). Characters attacked by beings of greater Appearance suffer a DV penalty of (the aggressor's Appearance – their own Appearance). This modifier cannot exceed +3 or -3.

Intimacy, Virtue or Motivation: If a social attack attempts to convince a character to take a course of action that directly supports an existing Intimacy, she is at -1 MDV to resist. If the attack would result in a character acting in direct accordance with a dominant Virtue (any rated at 3+), she is at -2 MDV.

Social attacks that directly align with a character's Motivation impose a -3 MDV. Only the greatest of these penalties apply, so attacks that play on a Virtue and an Intimacy impose a -2 penalty, not a -3. Social attacks that demand a character act against an existing Intimacy give the target a +1 MDV. If the attack is patently unreasonable and/or would force a character to betray her core values (i.e., perform an action prohibited by a Virtue rated at 3+), the MDV bonus increases to +2. Convincing someone to violate her Motivation and/or place her in immediate physical danger gives her +3 MDV to resist. Only the highest of these bonuses applies.

While players may suggest and justify penalties or bonuses based on Intimacies, Virtues or Motivation, the Storyteller remains final arbiter and should use common sense when determining the modifier. This is especially true when testing previously unstated loyalties. Most characters will feel protective loyalty toward their family members and friends and will be equally devout in their enmities. Convincing someone to betray a friend should be harder than convincing her to harm a rival. A bonus and penalty may simultaneously apply from these factors, such as when a character finds her high Compassion opposed to an action deemed necessary by high Conviction. In this case, the +2 and -2 would cancel out.

For quicker resolution, the Storyteller can simply reference the character's previous behavior to determine how opposed or amenable she would be to the suggested course of action, assigning a -3 to +3 personality modifier to MDV as appropriate. This rule makes characters accountable to player decisions: If a character condones a cold-blooded murder, others will probably have an easier time convincing her to permit another such murder in the future.

Attack Steps

In general, social attacks follow the same 10 steps as normal attacks, with slight changes appropriate to the nature of such encounters. These differences are explained here, with steps not listed following the exact rules of physical combat.

1) Declare Attack: The attacker must decide the traits used for the attack, first selecting Charisma (for honest persuasion) or Manipulation (for guile or deception) and then Investigation (interrogating a target character or unit), Performance (affecting everyone in range who observes the attack) or Presence (targeting a character or unit). The declaration should also indicate the desired effect of the attack so the defender knows how to respond.
2) Declare Defense: Doing nothing is tantamount to going along with whatever the attacker wants, often removing the need for a roll unless a magical effect requires such. Parrying or dodging works as described previously for MDV. The declaration of defense can be as simple as "I stubbornly refuse!" for a dodge or "I object and argue!" for a parry. 3) Attack Roll: This uses the (Attribute + Ability) dice pool established in step 1.
7-8) Determine Effect: Social attacks do not inflict damage, but instead compel behavior or force willful resistance (see next section). Similarly, no mental soak exists. This compresses steps 7-8 into one step.
10) Apply Effect: In place of damage, the usual effects of the attack occur at this stage.

Threshold Successes on Social Attacks

Social attacks cost one additional point of Willpower to resist for every three full successes above the target's MDV. Charms and other effects which list specific Willpower expenditures necessary to resist them (such as Heart-Compelling Method, which costs two Willpower to resist) replace the default one Willpower expenditure with these values before the addition of threshold successes.

For example, if a Solar used Heart-Compelling Method and rolled seven more successes than the target's MDV, that target would need to spend four Willpower to resist the Charm (two for Heart-Compelling Method, and another two for the threshold successes). Threshold successes cannot force a character to spend more than five Willpower to resist a single social attack.

Natural Mental Influence

Characters cannot be forced to spend Willpower more than once within a scene to resist natural mental influence originating with the same character. After a character has spent Willpower to resist natural mental influence from any character during the course of a scene, all other individuals' attempts to levy natural mental influence against the character suffer an external penalty equal to the character's Integrity.

Unnatural Mental Influence

Unnatural mental influence does not clearly announce itself as magical mind control unless it comes from an Obvious source and fails to affect the targeted character—characters targeted even by Obvious unnatural mental influence only realize this fact once they have successfully resisted it (although unaffected bystanders who witness an Obvious Charm's use can tell the target is being subjected to mental coercion of some sort).

Effects of Social Attacks

When a social attack roll successfully overcomes a character’s MDV, she typically has a choice. She may either consent to the attack, performing the behavior described in the initial attack declaration, or she can refuse by reflexively paying one Willpower point to do so. If consenting to a social attack would violate a character’s Motivation (at the discretion of the Storyteller), she must refuse. Characters who lack the Willpower required to pay the refusal cost accede to the behavior asked of them. Keep in mind that additional successes on the attack roll have no bearing on the intensity of the final effect. A 15-success attack is no more compelling than a five-success attack against a character with an MDV of 4.

Without the aid of magic that explicitly grants some form of unnatural persuasion (from hypnosis to possession), the only form of persuasion available to a character through her Attributes and Abilities is natural persuasion. In a given scene, a character can suffer only two points of Willpower drain from natural persuasion attempts. Once this has happened, the character becomes jaded and suspicious. All further natural persuasion attempts automatically fail unless the attacker uses a stunt to try a new approach. Unnatural persuasion suffers no such limitations and may force characters to pay more than one Willpower per refusal and continue depleting Willpower all the way to zero in a single scene. Moreover, every time a Solar Exalt pays Willpower to resist unnatural persuasion, he also gains a point of Limit, but this can happen at most only once per scene.

Social attacks can impose a range of possible effects:

Building/Eroding Intimacies

Characters may establish their loyalty to causes, beliefs or other characters as they desire. Doing so forges a metaphysical attachment that some Charms may reference, as well as providing bonuses or penalties to MDV when facing persuasion that supports or violates an Intimacy. Characters must spend a total number of scenes deliberately establishing an Intimacy equal to their Conviction rating in order for the relationship to provide these effects. These scenes do not have to be consecutive. Building an Intimacy can involve private contemplation of a growing friendship or silently nursing a grudge as it blossoms into full hatred, but the process typically involves doing something in support of the Intimacy at some point in the scene. Breaking an Intimacy is equally voluntary and follows the same process, as gradual disillusionment wears away at the relationship for a number of scenes equal to the character's Conviction. Note that a Motivation runs deeper than an Intimacy and cannot be eroded in the same way. Only a life-changing event or powerful magic can alter someone's Motivation. Characters cannot generally have more Intimacies at any one time than their (Willpower + Compassion).

Each successful social attack that a character does not (or cannot) resist can: reduce one existing Intimacy by a point and/or increase a new or growing Intimacy by one point. Fully established Intimacies that have suffered "damage" still count as Intimacies for all purposes until they have been damaged a number of times equal to the character's Conviction.

Typically, characters will spend Willpower to resist having existing loyalties eroded (even loyalties that have already suffered erosion), but they are less likely to oppose gaining new Intimacies unless these new Intimacies directly conflict with existing Intimacies. Only those with the weakest faith may be swayed to join a leader’s cause in a single speech, however stirring it may be, and such fickle individuals will leave the cause as soon as anyone else wins their heart. Disabusing the faithful of their beliefs invariably requires a program of brainwashing (i.e., consecutive scenes of successful social attacks).

Example: An Imperial peasant develops a loyalty to the Immaculate Order at a young age, which manifests as an Intimacy. If confronted with a persuasive Solar Anathema, she falls back on this Intimacy to resist his supposed lies. If the Solar convinces her of his heroism and depletes her Willpower into compliance, she gains a "point" toward an Intimacy with him and loses a "point" from her Intimacy with the Immaculate doctrine. With her Conviction 2, she stands at the brink. Another scene buffeted by the Solar’s heroism could push her to join him and abandon her faith. On the other hand, she could instead return to an Immaculate temple, hear the comforting sermons of the monks and find her original faith restored.

Compelling Behavior

Characters who do not or cannot resist a successful social attack can be convinced against their better judgment to spend the rest of the scene doing any one task, provided that doing so does not violate their Motivation. Typically, characters will resist any course of action that violates their Intimacies, but they are not required to do so. A husband might have an Intimacy to his wife and still accede to the proposition of a beautiful concubine, for instance, though doing so would count as a scene of damaging that Intimacy. If a character tries to incite a crowd into an angry mob without winning its Intimacy, it might choose to follow him rather than suffer Willpower drain, particularly if its constituents perceived no risk to themselves. Once the Black Helms showed up, a new scene would begin, and the compulsion would end. At that point, the leader can try to hold the crowd together with a new roll, but it would almost certainly spend Willpower to resist, and most would scatter.

Example: Snarling at a crowd to "Back off!" with an implied threat of violence (Charisma + Presence; Manipulation if the character is bluffing about the violence). Demanding that a captured brigand reveal the location of his band's hideout (Manipulation + Investigation; forcing the prisoner to betray this Intimacy would likely require several scenes of interrogation). Convincing a swordsmith to sell a priceless blade (Manipulation + Presence; Charisma if presenting an honest reason why the character is worthy to wield it).

Breaking Motivation

If a character is reduced to zero temporary Willpower through social attacks opposing her Motivation and she goes (permanent Willpower + Essence) days without ever recovering back her full Willpower, her will is broken. In this state (which lasts until the character has full Willpower), successful social attacks may compel her to take actions betraying her Motivation. This condition does not change her Motivation, but merely forces her to betray that Motivation temporarily. Storytellers should be wary of inflicting such a dire fate on a protagonist. (See the "Stop Playing My Character!" sidebar.)

Example: A faerie noble takes a pair of young mortal lovers captive and imprisons them in her dungeon. She observes that their love is deep and true (loving each other forms the core of their Motivation), but the boy is weaker (Willpower 4, Essence 1). After two scenes of mind games and torment, the noble reduces him to Willpower 0. Through a combination of sleep deprivation and further torment, she keeps him from ever regaining full Willpower for five days, breaking his spirit. Eagerly savoring his deepest anguish, she hands him a gossamer knife and commands him to kill his lover.

See also: Limit Break—It's a completely different thing.

Written Attacks

Characters can work a single social attack into a letter, tract or other missive. This attack uses Charisma or Manipulation as normal, depending on the honesty of the message and an Appearance modifier based on Linguistics (see MDV Modifiers: Relative Appearance). The Ability in question must be Performance if the attack will affect anyone who reads it (up to once per scene per reader) or Presence if the message is tailored to affect a specific person whenever she first reads the letter. Besides coming outside the timing of social combat (and obviating an opportunity to retaliate), written attacks follow the same resolution process as any other social attacks. It is even possible to parry with retorts, and particularly vociferous readers might do so aloud (to the astonishment of those around them). Prayers to gods or other magical beings capable of receiving prayers are a special form of written attack in which the ritual conveys the message to the spirit in place of a physical letter. Characters cannot use Charms that grant unnatural influence through the medium of the written word unless those Charms are specifically intended for such use.

Social Units

Stop Playing My Character!

Social combat exists because social traits exist, much as the presence of combat traits necessitates a physical combat system. However similar the two systems are in scope and purpose, many players resent being told how to play their characters. If a merchant hawks his wares and a simple roll of the dice dictates whether a given character breaks down and reaches for her money, what is the point of roleplaying at all? Fortunately, the limitations on Willpower drain for natural influence make it very difficult for an entire bazaar of the most honey-tongued merchants to do more than frustrate and exhaust a protagonist, and characters with sufficiently high trait ratings won’t even feel that. Characters wielding sufficient persuasion to crack through this mental resilience should be rare enough to satisfy most players.

While most social combat encounters pit individuals against one another, other occasions involve clashes of organized groups or individuals seeking to impose their will on such groups. As with the complementary units of mass combat, social units have the statistics of their leaders and several other traits that confer bonuses. Unlike military units, social units use all the traits of their leaders, including Essence, Virtues, Willpower and any other personal qualities. The reason for this is that the unit can be attacked as a unit only through social combat with its leader. Attacks on constituent members are also possible, but they must be resolved as normal social attacks against the characters in question rather than the unit.

Social unit leaders may invoke the benefits of their office at any time they have all members of their unit in attendance observing them. A character can be a leader of multiple units simultaneously, but he receives the benefits of only the largest unit on scene, and all units must be components of the same organization (or at least allies). For example, a king is both the leader of his nation and of his court. Normally, he receives only the benefits of leading the court, due to the impracticality of having the entire nation in attendance.

While exercising their office, social leaders cannot have more dice from a social Ability in their pool (or a static unrolled rating) than their Socialize. This represents the strain of looking and acting the expected part of leader, with all due gravitas and dignity.

Magnitude

This trait is scaled exactly like the Magnitude of military units. Social units add bonus successes to all social attacks and MDV equal to (their Magnitude – the Magnitude of the opposing unit). If the opponent has greater Magnitude, that unit receives the bonus instead. This bonus cannot exceed +3 successes.

Policy

This collection of traits captures the Motivation of the group (the core agenda that all members share) and all its lesser loyalties. When a social attack against a unit could result in a course of action that upholds or opposes a unit's Policy, the usual modifiers to MDV apply.

Loyalty

Although unit leaders have Willpower, they may not spend from their own reserves for unit actions or to resist the compulsions of successful social attacks. Instead, the unit itself has a Loyalty rating that equals the permanent Willpower of its leader and has a temporary pool equal to its permanent rating. The leader spends Loyalty points as if they were Willpower for all social actions (including to resist compulsions). Spent Loyalty points return at the rate of one per scene.

Damaging Social Units

If a character or unit manages to pierce the enhanced MDV of a unit with a social attack, the unit leader has the usual choice. Provided the course of action does not oppose the unit's Motivation or any loyalties (see "Policy"), he can elect to implement it for the organization or pay one Loyalty point to resist (and take a point of Limit, if he's a Solar). If he exhausts his Loyalty pool, his ineptitude as a leader causes the unit to lose a dot of Magnitude as characters walk away, or worse, remain on hand like hyenas for the fatal mistake that affords an opportunity for coup. He must also accede to whatever demand reduced him to Loyalty zero, unless doing so violates the unit's Motivation. Immediately after these effects take place, the unit’s Loyalty pool resets to maximum (-1 if the action that reduced Magnitude would have forced the leader to act against the unit's Motivation). This cycle repeats until the character is left alone at Magnitude 0, abandoned by all those he once led.