[Gaming] Realistic Social Combat in RPGs

There's been a lot of chatter on some forums I attend about social combat; the idea that unlike traditional systems where social tests use simple skill rolls, social situations should have as much detail and emphasis as physical combat.   And so one of the questions has been: which game has the most realistic social combat rules?  I thought long and hard about the indie games I knew, and came to this conclusion:


Basic D&D has the most realistic social combat rules!

Why?  It's because the social combat actually involves social combat with the GM. When you tell your GM you want to do something social, like persuade a noblewoman to leave her husband, you'll find out if she's receptive immediately. If she's not, you engage in social combat with the GM, until either you or he gives in.

the nice thing is that there's so much flexibility in the combat: the player can use persuasion, logic, precedence, whining, bribery, intimidation, promises and bargaining; the GM for his part can use appeals to authority (others or his), rationality, recalcitrance, carrots and sticks, negotiation, and the classic “Blue Bolt”, if things go sour.

It’s really one of the most fun and realistic parts of the game.