Basically, although I may rename it since it's also the intimidation attribute. Something like Physicality maybe, dunno.
Combining Social and Combat attributes sounds interesting. I appreciate the way it allows players to be more versatile in a single playthrough. One of the oddities in other RPGs is that you character could be a musclebound monster of a man but sucks at intimidation.
Yup, the combat attributes here translate fairly smoothly to social interactions:
Athleticism = Intimidate
Perception = Investigate
Intellect = Reason
Willpower = Charm
Sanguinity =
Command
There are a bunch of uses for attributes outside of combat. For now I've planned three primary ones:
1. Traditional skill checks
2. Social interactions with NPCs
3. How your captains behave
The first is pretty self-explanatory.
The second comes up when you meet with NPCs like rival/allied gangsters or whatever. Each NPC in the game has a hidden rating across all five attributes that they're more susceptible to. For example, someone who is bad liar will be more susceptible to the Investigate option governed by Perception. This allows players a social way to engage with NPCs in friendly/hostile/neutral ways outside of just combat.
And also encourages hybrid builds instead of dnd style Single Ability Score Dependent (SAD) powerbuilds.
You can go through the game guns a blazin', but just like in real life, it's often more beneficial not to immediately resort to violence. The vampire criminal network is a tangled web of alliances, animosity and sometimes even iron-clad magic promises. I think it'll be fun for the player to navigate. And the social element essentially forces the player to learn the NPCs, their strengths and weaknesses.
NPCs include your companions too. Who you can eventually (if you get far enough into the vampire hierarchy) promote into Captains with their own crews. You'll be able to send them to do stuff or run rackets of their own. How they go about it (and their chances of success) will depend on their own attributes. They also might betray you. Who knew you can't trust a bunch of low-life, criminal scum?
Everything will be governed by a hand-scripted AI that takes your actions into account.
I don't want to make too many promises or heap too much on my plate, since this is rapidly edging towards "best arpeegee evah" territory, but I think I know how to make it work, and not have to spend 10 years of my life on it.
