VERBAL COMBAT 2045

BY EMPTY DINGO

IMAGE CREDIT: Chris Hockabout, INTERFACE magazine, Volume 1,

Issue 2, January 1991R. Talsorian Games Inc.
A Rules Mod for CYBERPUNK RED

Ported over from The Witcher TRPG and formatted to fit this screen; when you’re
running a more diplomatic game or have a lot of Rockerboys, Fixers, or talkative
characters, you may want to use this Verbal Combat system which grants Persuasion
and other verbal skills their own form of “combat.”

VERBAL COMBAT 2045: A Rules Mod for CYBERPUNK RED is unofficial content provided under
the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This
content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees. No
copyright infringement is intended regarding any content used in this document.
> Determining Resolve
All verbal combat takes place using opposed rolls. When starting a Verbal Combat,
each party establishes what their goal is in the combat. Each player then determines
their Resolve, which acts as their Health Points for the Verbal Combat. Resolve =
((WILL + COOL)/2)x5, round up to nearest whole number. Resolve is modified by
anything that modifies COOL and/or WILL.

COOL
RESOLVE
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 10 13 15 18 20 23 25 28 30

3 13 15 18 20 23 25 28 30 33

4 15 18 20 23 25 28 30 33 35

5 18 20 23 25 28 30 33 35 38

WILL 6 20 23 25 28 30 33 35 38 40

7 23 25 28 30 33 35 38 40 43

8 25 28 30 33 35 38 40 43 45

9 28 30 33 35 38 40 43 45 48

10 30 33 35 38 40 43 45 48 50

A Verbal Combat works much like a regular combat, with each person using an Action
to attack and their target who defends with one of the Defenses noted below. The
person who rolls higher does Damage as listed to their opponent’s Resolve. The person
whose Resolve falls to 0 first loses the combat and is convinced of whatever their
opponent is proposing. A Verbal Combat can take place between any number of people,
and you can aim attacks at any or all of your opponents in the argument, who all get a
chance to defend. Each person who succeeds in defending does damage to the
attacker’s Resolve. Instead of attacking, you can roll Complementary Skills or take
Actions in order to modify the conditions of the Verbal Combat, as listed under Verbal
Combat Modifiers, below. These take one full turn to implement, but they can help you
in a Verbal Combat.
> Empathetic VS Antagonistic Attacks
Verbal Attacks are split up into Empathetic and Antagonistic attacks. Empathetic attacks
aim to endear your target to you. Antagonistic attacks, on the other hand, benefit from
torture and torment.

Empathetic Attacks
Name Skill DMG Effect

If you end a combat with a successful

Appeal Conversation 2d6+EMP Conversation check, you have convinced
them to comply and that it was their idea.

If you end a combat with a successful

Persuade Persuasion 2d6+COOL Persuasion check, you have convinced them
to agree with you.

Antagonistic Attacks
Name Skill DMG Effect

If you end a combat with a successful

Deceive Persuasion 2d6+COOL Persuasion check, you have convinced the
defender of the lie.

If you end a combat with a successful

Interrogate Interrogation 2d6+COOL Interrogation check, you have convinced the
defender to break down and comply.
> Verbal Combat Defense
When engaged in Verbal Combat, your ceremetal reinforced Flak vest can’t do a thing
to help you. You need to be a quick witted master debater and a cunning linguist. You
need Verbal Combat Defenses.

Verbal Combat Defensives are techniques to dismantle your opponent’s attacks against
you. When defending in Verbal Combat, a successful Verbal Defense roll not only
prevents you from taking damage to your Resolve, but it damages your interlocutor’s
resolve in return.

Verbal Combat Defenses

Name Skill COUNTERS DMG Effect

Instead of taking a defensive

Counter- Persuade & action you can make an
Persuasion 1d6+COOL
Argue Deceive attack that negates the first
attack.

The defender changes the

Change the
Conversation Appeal 1d6+EMP subject or pulls the
Subject
conversation off track.

The defender refuses to

Resist answer the question,
Stonewall Interrogate 1d6+WILL
Torture/Drugs resorting to jokes, mockery,
or silence.
> Verbal Combat Modifiers
Certain actions, conditions and situations can modify a Verbal Combatant’s offenses
and defenses.

Social Tools & Conditional Modifiers

Name Skill DMG Effect

If you have a target at your mercy and do damage to

them, you take a -1 to Empathetic Attacks and gain a
At Your +1 to Antagonistic Attacks. Bringing a target down to
NONE NONE
Mercy their Serious Wound State gives you an additional -1
to Empathetic Attacks and an additional +1 to
Antagonistic Attacks

You gain +1 to all Empathetic Verbal Combat rolls for

Bribe Bribery NONE the rest of the fight if you succeed on your Bribery
roll.

Anyone who is your Fan suffers a -2 to your

Charismatic Empathetic Verbal Attacks.
Fan NONE Note: this penalty does not apply to checks made against
Impact
Charismatic Impact, but is meant to cover situations where
Charismatic Impact is not applicable.

Anyone you have faced down is afraid of you and has

Intimidation Facedown NONE their resolve lowered by 5 points for the duration of
the combat.

The Romanced party suffers a -1 against the

Romancers Empathetic Attacks in Verbal Combat if
the Romance ended well (a result of 5 on the Friends
list in the Lifepath).
Romance NONE NONE
If the romance ended poorly (basically any result on
the Tragic love Affair list in the Lifepath), the defender
gets a permanent +1 against the attacker’s
Empathetic Attacks.

If the Character speaks the same Native Language

as the Target, whether through skill acquisition or the
Speaks the
Language NONE Fixer’s Grease ability, they gain a +1 to any Verbal
Language
Combat Defense rolls. Chipped languages do not
provide a bonus.