Social actions are for interacting and communicating (using some form of Language) with others, influencing them, exchanging information, and causing them to act. There may be Social Features that leverage Social activities.
Common Standards: Social Standing/Status is reflected directly in a Standard of Living and indirectly in Clothing and signifiers such as Prestige in Places as well as Items and Marks. Conversely, such things may also be used to reflect or even present a specific level of Prestige fame, etc. A certain measure of such things may be required in Social Dealings and leveraged by Social Features and expected by Contact and shared bond of culture. All of these may vary by Availability and culture within a Setting and/or specific Properties of a Locale/Settlement.
For social activities to be understood, it requires some type of shared language, sometimes improved or gained through Communication Expressions. A certain matter of expectation also comes with a relationship – i.e. it must be kept up through interaction and use. Contacts can be purchased at the time of Character Inception, though afterwards, relationships must be built in game. They are typically providers of goods and services. Many things can influence this – species/race, fame/infamy, charisma, bribes, bureaucracy, and role-playing itself.
Oftentimes, characters actions will produce unpredictable results in those they interact with – the reaction check simulates this. When a character commissions a smithy for a weapon, his natural charisma, mood of the smith, and situational modifiers can combine to produce spectacular results. Perhaps the master smith will take an instant liking to a character, and give them a cheaper price; Catching the smith on a bad day can mean the character is going to pay more.
| Degree | Predisposition | Positive | Acceptance | Neutral | Rejection | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acceptance | 01 – 40 | 41 – 65 | 66 – 80 | 81 – 95 | 96 + |
| 2 | Positive | 01 – 25 | 26 – 65 | 66 – 80 | 81 – 95 | 96 + |
| 3 | Neutral | 01 – 15 | 16 – 40 | 41 – 80 | 81 – 95 | 96 + |
| 4 | Negative | 01 – 05 | 06 – 20 | 21 – 40 | 41 – 80 | 81 + |
| 5 | Rejection | 01 – 05 | 06 – 15 | 16 – 35 | 36 – 55 | 56 + |
If a character does not possess competency in the Language they are using to communicate, they are only getting primitive/basic notions. Differences in accents and local variants easily reduce communication to the basics – with conversation becoming barely intelligible. In order to take social actions, you must be understood by those you are interacting with. Communication issues can lead to bad reactions, affecting the availability of goods and their cost in buying and selling.
Haggling, where a vendor/seller allows it, pits the charisma and wit of the Seller‘s Charisma (Persuade, Bluff, Fast-Talk, etc.) vs the Buyer‘s Charisma (Deception, Bluff, Fast-Talk, etc.) to shift the value. Haggling is generally for individual items, not large batches, especially of different types of items.
Persuasion is using all manner of fast talking, deception, convincing, etc. on a single or few similar targets. Persuasion is not interrogation; such would be effected using torture or physiological constructions to break a victim. It is much different than swaying a large, diverse crowd – that is Oratory.
Social Persuasion: Social is the default and most widely used type of persuasion. It is merely the ability to use the character’s charisma, knowledge of social cues and norms (including bribery if necessary), and reasonable arguments to illicit a positive reaction or to convince a target of the validity of an argument and/or seeing things in the character’s favor. This can usually be done quickly, through conversation. Assuming a character knows enough about a subject, they may haggle for deals using Persuade in a battle of wills.
Seductive Persuasion: This is the art of attraction and using sexual and/or emotional desire to guide a target’s thinking to influence the opinion of the target. It can work on any denger, as long as there is would be a desire in the target for the character. This is a protracted and long play for persuasion. Suggestions are seen in a more favorable light, and they are far easier to influence through social persuasion.
Bluff Persuasion: This is the art of fast-talking, misdirection, obfuscating, etc. while seeming to tell the truth. It employs disarming tactics to make the character seem harmless or pathetic if need be. Conversely, it can leverage intensity to intimidate. Both rely on changing the perceived presence of the character. Usually the character starts trying to ‘dig their way out of a hole’ with bluffing. The Result Level of the Persuade check becomes the reaction degree that the character has swayed the target towards.
Swaying large crowds to your point of view can be a daunting task. Orating to a government assembly, cooperate committee, or social club audience are all good examples of this. A preacher seeking to convert others is also done through an oratory check.
The Prepared Speech: A speech can be written ahead of time. If applicable, the speech writer can first make a Lore:[area] check – success means local references and reading level will infuse the speech for a +2 bonus on the speech writing check. The speech is written using a language check. If the check is successful, it gives the Persuade check a bonus equal to the RC of the language check. The GM may wish to impose a penalty if the speech maker is noticeably reading from a script; or they may give a bonus if its been memorized and seems impassioned and spontaneous.