System Shock - Social Combat

Paizo's Social Combat cards for Pathfinder.

Paizo recently released their Social Combat card deck, featuring a quick and handy way to develop social encounters as something more than a single die roll. These cards are modeled after their Chase Card deck and present an interesting spin on social situations in Pathfinder. Today's System Shock article addresses my own interpretation of that very idea, a rules mechanic I've been tinkering with off and on for the last few years.

Originally developed long before the Pathfinder RPG was in production, my initial version of Social Combat wasn't too far removed from what you'll see below. However, some of the principals have been streamlined and molded to fit with Pathfinder's normal combat mechanics. The most important takeaway regarding today's article is that it isn't perfect—not even close. Social combat is a pet project of mine that may not ever really be 100%, it requires more testing than I and my own group alone can do, but my passion for developing a sub-system that takes the ideas of Diplomacy and Intimidate checks to a new level needed to be shared with the world, even if it might not be perfectly ready for prime time.

Maybe somewhere down the line, years from now, I'll have the time to fully develop this system into something more robust, or maybe a fan who reads this article will take the rules for social combat and develop something amazing in a direction I'd never have imagined. That's part of the beauty of 3rd-party publishing and the Open Gaming License—you develop a skeleton and others will put meat on its bones (or tell you the skeleton is broken!)

Let me know what you think of Social Combat in the comments section, or discuss it on the Encounter Table's Facebook page!

Interview - Mark Seifter

Paizo Designer Mark Seifter

This week the Encounter Table is fortunate enough to sit down with the newest member of Paizo's family, designer Mark Seifter. Many of you from the Paizo community will recognize Mark from his posts under the alias "Rogue Eidolon" on the Paizo forums. Mark talks about Pathfinder Unchained, his first days as a Paizo employee, a humbling encounter with Frank Mentzer, and much more! Check out the interview after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments section or on the Encounter Table's Facebook page!