Negotiate
| Skill List |
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Tiered Skill — Charisma and Intuition
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| * Attempts to reach this level increase DC by 10 |
The Negotiate skill governs how characters interact with each other when they don't see precisely eye to eye. The skill shifts characters' dispositions towards other characters up and down on the table seen to the right.
Contents
Specific Uses
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is used specifically when a character tries to use reason to convince others to agree with him.
The base DC for the check is 25. Succeeding this check means that the characters' dispositions in relation to a specific individual or group shift one category in the direction the negotiator wishes. For every additional 10 points that the negotiator's check exceeds this DC, the character's dispositions shift an additional category.
The DC may be modified by several factors. If the target feels especially poorly towards you then the DC will generally be higher - it is doubtful you can influence your worst enemy much, as they simply will not trust you. The more justified the target's feelings are towards the individual you are trying to influence them about, the more difficult the change will be. It will be harder to worsen the disposition towards a parent or well-liked sibling, and similarly harder to improve the disposition of a target towards someone who betrayed or injured them. DCs in all of these cases are usually 30 and may be even higher.
Failure usually means that the target thinks that you are trying to manipulate them. Their disposition generally shifts one to the worse towards you.
Diplomacy may be used multiple times on the same individual, but for any particular group or person you can only influence them once per week. You can of course try to get them tho change their disposition towards many different people or groups all in the same week.
Bluff
Bluff is used when a negotiator is trying to convince other characters of a lie. The negotiator's check is opposed by the other characters' Negotiate(Sense Motive) checks.
The negotiator takes the following modifiers to his check depending on the veracity of his bluff.
| Circumstance | Negotiate mod |
|---|---|
| Target is Infatuated | +10 |
| Target gains from the information | +5 |
| Target isn't affected one way or the other | +0 |
| The target is put at slight personal risk | -5 |
| The target is put at great personal risk | -10 |
If the targets succeed their Negotiate(Sense Motive) checks, they do not believe the bluff and become Unfriendly (or lower if that was their original state). If the targets succeed by 5 or more, they realize the negotiator's intention behind them believing the bluff.
Bluffing is not always verbal, and you do not necessarily need to speak to successfully Bluff. Pretending to be wounded or dead requires a bluff check, as does pretending to belong in a place you should not be (pretending to be on official business walking around the palace).
Intimidate
Intimidate is used when a negotiator wishes to frighten a character into submission. It is opposed by the defending character's check,
Resist Intimidate Check: d20 + Character Level + Willpower"
If the negotiator succeeds, the defender is considered "Helpful" for the purposes of helping the negotiator. For every 10 points the negotiator's check exceeds the defender's check, the defender's effective Disposition increases by an additional step. If the defender is made to be a Fanatic through this method, the defender will remain a fanatic until convinced otherwise.
In other cases, a defender's disposition falls to Unfriendly or one step worse than they were previously 1d10x2 minutes after the negotiating character is out of sight.
For every 10 points of damage taken as part of intimidation, a defender must make a Will Save equal to 20 + 2 for every previous will save, or suffer a cumulative -2 penalty on all Negotiate checks and checks made to oppose negotiate checks. This penalty lasts for 1d4+2 days from the last damage. Healing allows more damage to be done without lessening the penalty.
Sense Motive
Intuition
Sense Motive allows a character to read into what another character is thinking. It is used to see through the Bluff action, above, but it also has other uses.
| Action | DC |
|---|---|
| Sense Disposition | 20 |
| Sense Intent | 25 |
| Discern Plans | 35 |
Sense Disposition — If a character makes this check, he determines which disposition category the target is in towards a specific character or specific group. A separate check must be made for each group or character. This may be opposed with a bluff check, to falsify your apparent disposition.
Sense Intent — If a character makes this check, he gains a general understanding of what the target is going to do next. If the target is planning to attack soon, the character that made this check gains a +4 bonus to his initiative if the target attacks within the next five minutes.
Discern Plans — If a character makes this check, he can get a general idea of the target's next few actions.
A very canny character will be able to counter Sense Intent and Discern Plans with a Bluff check as well, but for most people hiding their actions is more difficult than hiding their dispositions, and so the DCs above cover most opponents.
Gather Information
Gather information allows characters to glean information through asking around pubs, talking to contacts, and rubbing elbows with important people. The cost detailed in the table below covers expenses such as drinks, food, and bribes. The cost is spent whether or not you succeed on the attempt - you may have to spend more and try again. You can generally make one attempt per day.
For every five points that the DC is exceeded, the cost is cut by a third (round down).
| Obscurity of Information | DC | Example | Cost (in uV) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commonplace | 15 | The current gossip, breaking news | 1 |
| Specific | 20 | Basic details of relatively unimportant people | 3 |
| Advanced | 25 | The details on the city's economy, the people close to the ruler | 9 |
| Rare | 30 | The schedule of the city guard, the location of a particular religious artifact | 27 |
| Obscure | 35 | The identity of the man who brings the ruler his coffee | 81 |
Skill Tiers
This skill starts at Tier Zero. The upgrade cost of skill tiers is 2 + (Current Skill Tier x2) Upgrade Points.
Tier One
A character with Tier One Negotiate gains the following abilities:
- If the character has specialized in any Perform skill belonging to the Spoken Word (Oratory, Poetry, etc) or Acting division, he gains a +4 bonus to Negotiation checks when using the Diplomacy and Bluff actions.
Tier Two
A character with Tier Two Negotiate who uses the Bluff action no longer suffers the Disposition drop if he fails the check by less than 5. Characters trying to see past the Bluff must exceed the check by 10 or more to determine the Bluffer's intentions, instead of the normal 5.
Tier Three
A character with Tier Three Negotiate is especially charismatic. When dealing with characters that are not Hostile or Enraged against him, he may treat them as being one Disposition section more favorable. In other words, a Malicious character would become Unfriendly, an Unfriendly character would become Neutral, and so on.
