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Assabian Rites Articles - Persuasion
Assabian Rites Articles - Persuasion
By Jonathan Drake
Second, consider the Attitude of non-player • Agreeing a peace deal between rival
characters, which modifies relevant skill rolls city states, cults or crime gangs;
depending upon the situation and objectives. • Securing a deal to run trade through a
Consider how the Sympathies, Prejudices or barbarian tribe’s territory;
Mood of key non-player characters can be • Seducing someone of high status or
discovered and influenced by player influence when there are rivals willing
characters, shifting Attitudes to support their to do anything to stop you succeeding;
influence attempt. If there are additional • Stirring up a rebellion;
social, class, cultural or language barriers to • Winning a high-stakes court case;
navigate, how might these be tackled or what • Persuading a powerful supernatural
modifiers might apply? And finally, if ‘honest entity to provide you with magical
persuasion’ looks a little chancy, can a bit of support
bribery swing the balance?
These are all meaty opportunities for play if
Third, review the wide range of social skills that they are used to provide multiple challenges
may be used, and note the circumstances that which can engage more than one PC in
may make then more or less useful to the planning, action and skill rolls as they are
situation and objectives. complex enough to be team efforts. Applying
to be a member of a Brotherhood or Order,
Finally the influence attempt(s) are played out perhaps normally handled in downtime could
(assuming a Bribe hasn’t made this take a similar path. For example to get a place
unnecessary!). This can be a simple skill roll, an at the state-sponsored Sorcery school at
Opposed Roll, or played our using the Task Felsang in Tarsenia might require Bureaucracy
System and Task Rounds, for permanent or augmented by Influence to get on the shortlist;
complex efforts at persuasion. Literacy to pass a basic aptitude test; and a
final Influence to convince the examiner.
approach. Outside of choosing the right words and depending on what the proposed object of
it could involve revealing an uncomfortable Sympathies are then Seduction may prove the
truth, for example showing a magistrate hard ideal skill to use.
evidence that his superiors are corrupt. Or it
Folk Magic: Glamour can be used to ensure a
could involve intimidation, such as making dark
character experiences more positive
threats about the future safety of the target’s
Sympathies from those they encounter. A
loved ones, or even a dramatic gesture, tossing
suitable spell producing the opposite effect
a sack of heads taken from previous opponents
should be allowed.
at the feet of the persuasion target!
PASSIONS can affect persuasion attempts in
Folk Magic: as an alternative mechanism
either direction. It is easier to provoke
Demoralise or Fanaticism spells can drive an
someone to fight for the liege lord towards
Indifferent target’s Resolve two steps towards
whom they have a Loyalty passion or to defend
the relevant extreme instead of inducing a
the family they love, than it is to challenge that
temporary Passion.
loyalty or to persuade them to abandon those
SYMPATHIES indicates whether a target has they love. Modifiers should apply if the
existing opinions and prejudices that affect persuasion attempt conflicts with or takes
how receptive they are to what someone else advantage of a Passion held by the target,
has to say. Sympathies (which when negative through the rules for Augmenting skill rolls.
include prejudices) often derive from deeply
Passions may serve as a modifier to the target’s
ingrained world view and take time or a
skill in an Opposed contest, or Passion may be
dramatic moment that forces a rethink of that
used as an opposing roll rather than as a
world view to change. The GM should decide if
passive modifier.
Sympathies are a factor in any situation. They
should always reflect the way the target thinks Attempts to alter or suppress a target’s Passion
about a person, whether this is the accused in will have an effect lasting CHA hours. Passions
murder trial, the lawyer or advocate, or even are an ingrained, deep-seated emotional
the witness. Sympathies are something people phenomenon. A target’s Passions can be
can choose to have or to set aside, or to be affected using the Seduction skill.
aware of and consciously attempt to rise
above. They are more malleable than Passions, CHANGING ATTITUDES
and it is a reasonable objective to shift, deflect Usually a successful skill roll appropriately
or redirect a target’s Sympathies. Detecting a deployed will move a target’s Attitude one step
target’s Sympathies may be a use for Insight, or in a direction desired by the character, and a
perhaps simply a Customs or Culture roll. Critical roll will result in a two step change. A
Winning hearts and minds or stirring them up failure has no effect and a fumble can result in
can be a job for Influence, Deceit or Oratory,
but a shared Passion could also be called upon
TASK ROUNDS
Influence rolls can often be augmented by a With a critical success the target not only
bribe. Even where corruption is frowned on accepts the bribe and does what is asked, but
there is always the chance you will find an will provide additional help and make very
individual prepared to look the other way or clear they are open for further business in the
agree to something they otherwise wouldn’t future – perhaps even an ongoing retainer.
for financial gain. Bribery can be part of an Rarely the target may do what is asked but
Influence, Commerce or Oratory roll, and in have an attack of conscience and decline the
certain circumstances can be used with a money.
Deceit or Seduction roll.
A fumble results in the target swiping the
Offering the right bribe can do one of the money and not even trying to deliver; or
following, and the player whose character is perhaps refusing the bribe and calling out the
attempting the bribe must choose what the attempted dishonesty for all to hear, or
intended effect of the bribe is before making reporting the attempt to their superiors.
the Influence roll: Perhaps they are merely insulted by the
clumsy, low-ball offer. Such things can end
• It can remove any opposed roll to the
badly, even in bloodshed.
Influence attempt
Enhancements Table
Enhancement Effect
Affecting The target’s Attitude moves one step in the
direction desired by the player
Inspiring A relevant Passion is permanently increased by
1d6+6
Enduring The duration of the effect of the persuasion skill
is increased by one step: minutes become
hours, hours becomes days etc
Productive The value to be gained from a transaction or
encounter is increased by 50%, or its cost is
halved
Disheartening A relevant Passion is permanently decreased by
1d6+6
The Bribery table provides a few examples of and the bribe cannot be used to negate the
suitable bribes for a variety of situations. opposing roll.
Depending on the situation and the skills of the
Of course some individuals are easier to turn
character a Commerce, Culture, Custom,
than others. If the target can be engaged in
Insight, Streetwise or in some cases even
conversation or observed over time an Insight
Courtesy roll may provide a guide to what the
roll will give clues as to whether personal
right size bribe should be. In practice
principles, weaknesses or even financial
the cost of a bribe is dependent on the status hardship may make them more or less
of the person you are trying to bribe, how susceptible than others in similar positions.
much they need the money, the likelihood of
them getting found out, the consequences to Handling Social and Cultural
themselves if they are – and of course the
Barriers
trouble they have to go to.
Corruption runs deep in many societies, and a As a GM it’s easy to overplay social divisions.
bribe can be a requirement to doing business. The advice here is to think about many
In places such as Djesmirket bribery can be an different aspects and angles of social
accepted part of life, priced in to everyday interaction and mine it for material to play
transactions, in which case the only likely with, rather than rubbing players’ noses in the
opposing roll is Commerce. social divisions that affect their characters’
lives. Hard social divides – between lord and
Some jobs are very poorly paid – or not at all – commoner, free and slave, between castes,
because they bring with them the chance to age classes or perhaps between genders can
make money in bribes. Even so, failure to offer present any number of challenges to be
a bribe of sufficient value is taken as an insult. overcome especially when these differences
Custom and Culture are useful skills in finding are institutionalised or systemic. But in the end
out whether a bribe is likely to be culturally always remember people are people. They can
acceptable. relate to one another as human beings, not
In the Taskan Empire offering a bribe to a state only as cyphers.
official amounts to treason, and the roll is On a practical level different cultures have
always opposed by the target’s Willpower, or different mannerisms as well as a host of other
their Loyalty (Emperor) whichever is higher, signals in speech and action that can be hard to
read and even unfathomable for others.
SOCIAL STATUS
Verbal communication is a key part of People of a more elevated social class may
persuasion and so not being able to fluently write you off as a dull-witted country bumpkin
communicate in the language of your target is because you come from the wrong family, the
a serious problem. But it’s not totally wrong village, or even the wrong city. They
insurmountable. As persuasion is a two-way may like you well enough but know that
process, the GM should use the lower of the associating with you, or giving you a break,
influencer or the target’s Language skill as a brings no social benefits and you are certainly
cap on the Persuasion skill being used. not the calibre of person to consider marriage
Exceptions can be made for interactions where to. In some situations this will result in
the GM can judge that the verbal part of the difficulty grades being applied to skill rolls
communication is of limited relevance. when you are dealing with them.