d20 Second World Simulations Skill Focus Talking.pdf

Skill Focus:

Skill

By Steven Palmer Peterson

Contents

Introduction...................................................................................2

Bluff..............................................................................................5

Diplomacy.....................................................................................9

Intimidation.................................................................................13

Sense Motive...............................................................................16

Gamemastering Talking Scenes..................................................18

Conversion Notes........................................................................19

Open Gaming License.................................................................21

“Requires the use of a Roleplaying Game Core Book published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.”

Designation of Product Identity: Second World Simulations, and the names Talarn, Harlan, and Makya are

designated as product identity.

Designation of Open Content: Subject to the Product Identity designation above, all other text is designated

as open content.

Second World Simulations

Introduction

Scenes where the players and gamemaster get into

character and act out their various parts put the

roleplaying in roleplaying games. They are fun and

allow for a kind of immersion that can make for

memorable moments. However, they can also pose a

problem.

effects and the dificulty of implementing them.

In some cases role-playing abilities can be used

against players (such as lying or noting what

is important to the player) but in many cases

these abilities cannot be role-played well by the

gamemaster. To account for this some ways of

accounting for NPC skills are given toward the end.

On the one hand, it’s a roleplaying scene—and

we’d like to play it out via roleplaying, with players

talking in character and the gamemaster playing the

parts of various other people in the scene.

On the other hand, these scenes are still part of the

game—and we’d like to account for the character’s

skill or talent via the rules mechanics of the game.

The traditional solution has been to talk out the

scene via roleplaying, then have the player roll dice

according to their character’s ability at diplomacy

or blufing. The gamemaster then assigns a bonus

or penalty based on how convincing the roleplaying

part was.

This approach works well enough, but can often be

unsatisfying if, for instance, the roleplaying was

good but the dice-rolling wasn’t. Moreover, if all

the roleplaying amounts to is a modiier to a die roll,

that can make the talking part, which is often the fun

part, feel less important.

These rules take a different approach in an effort to

make it feel more like the character’s skills have a

direct impact on the way the roleplaying of the scene

plays out, without reducing the entire exchange to

a die roll. The idea is to help the player be a better

negotiator, by giving them some special beneits

based on their character’s skills.

The basic premise is that each of the major

interaction skills, Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and

Sense Motive, offer a variety of special talking

actions . While roleplaying out an encounter, the

player can make a skill check for their character and,

if it succeeds, gain some special beneit during the

roleplaying of the encounter.

For example, if Talarn tells the leader of a barbarian

tribe that Talarn’s group just took out the goblins

in the nearby hills, then realizes that the barbarians

were actually quite friendly with those goblins

(perhaps by noticing all the weapons being drawn),

then Talarn could use the Bluff skill’s Take Back

action to make it as if Talarn had never said that.

Talking Actions Example

Following is an example of how a scene using the

talking actions in this book could work out. Needless

to say, not every roleplaying scene will be this thick

with dice rolling, but it should serve as an example

of how using the actions can supplement and

reinforce the in-character roleplaying—instead of

replace it.

Only one die roll was fudged in the writing of this

scene, and likely not the one you suspect.

* * * * *

Talarn (Cha 20, Bluff +18), a smooth-tongued

sorcerer a couple sides short of a d20, Harlan (Cha

14, Diplomacy +15, Sense Motive +10), a wandering

knight who prefers to solve problems with words

instead of arms, and Makya (Cha 8, Intimidate

+7), a brutal raptor with enough teeth for several

humanoids, find themselves faced with a pair of hostile

and hungry hill giants while chasing Carter Marx,

rogue demon-summoner.

Harlan sees an opportunity to talk their way out of

this and pick up some extra clues on where Marx was

heading, so he performs a Force Listen action from

the Diplomacy skill, rolls a total of 23, and succeeds.

The GM determines that since the combat hadn’t quite

begun, they’ve got a couple minutes to talk this out

before the hill giants’ hunger gets the better of them.

Talarn promptly blurts out “you gaffers there, you

really should bathe more often if you want to stay

around the movie set”. Everyone gives him an odd

look—the giants realize that they might have been

insulted, and Makya gives Talarn a “I’m going to eat

your familiar first, then you, if you screw up again”

look—so Talarn recovers and attempts a That’s Not

What I Said action from Bluff, rolling a natural 1, for

a total of 19, thus failing. Talarn tries to pass it off as

something about baking but the hill giants distinctly

remember the word “bathe” in the dialogue, and have

such a powerful aversion to the concept that they step

into nice reach and attack of opportunity range.

Makya thinks he might just skip the raven appetizer,

These talking actions are the essence of the book,

and included in the following sections with their

Skill Focus:

but first he needs to survive this. So he tries to

play it safe with a Show True Nature action, from

Intimidation—rolling a total of 21! He could have

gone for the Play Up Reputation. At any rate, the hill

giants now have a clearer idea of what kind of damage

these strange folks can cause—which is quite a bit

given that they’re around 9th level. It’d be tight, for

both sides, and maybe talking some more isn’t such a

bad idea.

Harlan’s player thinks that a little private pow-wow

would be useful here, and performs a Quick Conference

action (rolling 25 total). That gives the players a few

minutes to think out and discuss their negotiation

strategy. After they’ve agreed, we return to the

negotiation where we left off.

Makya starts with a Gain The Edge action. Since

his Charisma is only 8 and this is his second talking

action he suffers a –5 penalty on the check—it’ll be a

long shot, but worth it if the dice come up right. And

the die roll’s well, natural 20, for a total of 22, just

beating the hill giant’s passive opposed check of 21

(10 + 12 for hit dice +4 for Large size –5 for action

modifier)! This means that if the hill giants start

something, the heroes will almost certainly go first—

thus giving the hill giants a little more motivation

to conclude this thing peacefully. Makya won’t be

making any more checks this scene, since he’s up to a

–10 penalty.

Some regular conversation follows wherein the players

discover that the giants did see Marx pass by, but don’t

feel any pressing desire to let their potential dinner in

on this information.

Makya reminds them that this dinner has teeth, then

Talarn steps up to the plate and suggests that maybe

everyone can walk away from this having profited—

but figures it’d be more convincing coming from a hill

giant. So he lays down an Idea Ventriloquism (total

35), which is particularly easy since the idea is a good

one.

To the giants, it sounds like one of them floated this

notion, and they’re already inclined anyway, so now

it’s time to close the deal.

Harlan could try a Float Offer, to pin down the price

they’ll have to pay for the Marx info, but figures

they’ll be able to afford it whatever it is, so instead

tries to play off the info regarding Marx as minor,

i.e. performing a Devalue Information action. This

is Harlan’s third talking action, but he suffers no

penalties yet since he can perform 1 + 2 (his Charisma

bonus) talking actions before the penalties start setting

in. A roll of 9 + 15 = 24, enough to get the cost down

a bit more, and they avoid the battle while getting the

info for a pouchful of gold.

Talking Fatigue

“No More Talk!” — anonymous barbarian

Barbarians aren’t the only ones who get tired of

talking—they just express their feelings more

succinctly.

You can execute up to 1 + your Charisma bonus

talking actions each day without penalty. However,

each subsequent talking action incurs a cumulative

–5 penalty. All the special actions in this book are

considering talking actions, even the Sense Motive

ones. And they all fall under the same group—i.e. if

you perform two Bluff actions and one Diplomacy

action then you’ve performed three total talking

actions.

If you break off the negotiation with a particular

individual or group, then start it up again during the

same day, then the later portions of the negotiation

count as a continuation of the earlier portions, unless

something signiicant has happened (such as saving

the character’s life or property).

A new negotiation with a different group or

individual, even if during the same day, keeps track

of its own Talking Fatigue.

Note : Even a mildly skilled negotiator should

be able to use two or three Talking Actions per

conversation without penalty.

Favor Ranking

When interacting with others you’re typically trying

to get them to do something for you, and may

have to offer a favor in exchange. In order to help

determine the reasonability of these transactions you

can use the following chart (based of the dificulty

modiiers for the Bluff skill).

Each Favor is assigned a rank based on the risks

and costs the target incurs in providing it. In many

cases this is the direct cost to the target—their risk of

being caught and put in jail or ired, and so on.

However, the cost can also be to an agenda the target

favors. For instance, a believer in the importance of

law and order would consider a favor that results in

a moderate violation of justice as at least a moderate

favor. And, of course, people often value the well

being of their loved ones more than their own well

Second World Simulations

Table 1: Favor Ranking

Value

Favor

Modiier

Inconsequential The favor doesn’t cost the target anything.

Examples : actually doing the job that they’re supposed to do; picking up

something for you at the store if they’re already going anyway; baseball scores;

the names of well known members of the military command structure.

–5

Minor

The favor incurs some mild annoyance.

Examples : having to ill out or expedite some paperwork; going out of one’s way

during a trip to deliver something; a soldier’s name and rank.

Moderate

The favor places the target or one of the target’s agendas at some risk.

Examples : getting caught could result in a demotion or temporary suspension at

job; could get in minor trouble with police; the password that an army group’s

scouts use.

Signiicant

The favor incurs a signiicant risk against the target’s interests.

Examples : loss of a job; getting thrown in jail; the target’s signiicant other might

leave them; state secrets; an overview of an army’s attack plans.

+10

Incredible

The favor incurs a large risk against the target’s vital interests.

Examples : risk losing their life, or the life of a loved one; risk causing grievous

harm to a principle they hold dear; place in danger top secret national plans, such

as the Manhattan Project or the location of the ring-bearer.

+20

being.

Information Values : Information also has a value

and asking for it can be treated like asking for a

favor. Since information often doesn’t involve direct

risk to the person giving it, pay particular attention

to how giving up that information might impact the

target’s agenda or people the target cares about.

If giving up the information also violates a creed,

such as “don’t be a rat” then typically adjust the

effective Favor rank up by one level.

give up the favor if they knew for certain that, for

example, the Manhattan Project would be wiped out

if the target acquiesced. However, if there’s only a

risk that the outcome will occur, then the target can

convince themself that luck will break their way and

it’s okay to give up the info. If the bad outcome is

more certain, knock the Favor rank up another notch

or two.

The Skills

Each of the primary interaction skills is included on

the following pages. The skills include their standard

rules (from the SRD) for ease of reference, and are

paginated so that you can print out just the details for

the skill that interests you.

Talking Action Format : The talking actions

have a header that includes their name and the

dificulty class of the action, such as [DC 20/+0].

This indicates that the DC of the check is 20 or as

determined by the opposed check +0, whichever is

higher.

The Value Of a Good Is It’s Value In The

Marketplace : While the primary determiner of the

rank of a favor is its cost to the person granting the

favor, a sharp negotiator will also judge its value by

how useful it is to the person making the request.

You can gauge the apparent value to the person

making the request using the same table, but treat

risk as, instead, probability of achieving goal.

Then, if the value of the favor to the petitioner is two

or more levels higher than the value of the favor to

the target, increase the target’s favor ranking by one

level.

Modiier : Each favor rank is also given an

associated modiier based on the modiiers for the

Bluff skill. These are collected here so that the GM

can easily apply them to other circumstances as the

GM sees it.

Note : At the extreme end, people might never

Unless otherwise noted, use the standard opposing

skill for checks: i.e. Sense Motive for Bluff and vice

versa, or a modiied level check for Intimidation.

Diplomacy checks are often un-opposed, but use

Sense Motive if nothing else is speciied.

Normal uses of these skills (from the SRD) don’t

contribute to Talking Fatigue unless the gamemaster

rules otherwises.

Skill Focus:

Bluff (CHA)

Check: A Bluff check is opposed by the target’s

Sense Motive check. See the accompanying table

for examples of different kinds of bluffs and the

modiier to the target’s Sense Motive check for each

one.

Favorable and unfavorable circumstances

weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two

circumstances can weigh against you: The bluff

is hard to believe, or the action that the target is

asked to take goes against its self-interest, nature,

personality, orders, or the like. If it’s important, you

can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the

target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it

just asks too much of the target. For instance, if the

target gets a +10 bonus on its Sense Motive check

because the bluff demands something risky, and the

Sense Motive check succeeds by 10 or less, then the

target didn’t so much see through the bluff as prove

reluctant to go along with it. A target that succeeds

by 11 or more has seen through the bluff.

A successful Bluff check indicates that the target

reacts as you wish, at least for a short time (usually 1

round or less) or believes something that you want it

to believe. Bluff, however, is not a suggestion spell.

A bluff requires interaction between you and the

target. Creatures unaware of you cannot be bluffed.

on your Bluff check. Against a creature of animal

Intelligence (1 or 2) it’s even harder; you take a

–8 penalty. Against a nonintelligent creature, it’s

impossible.

Feinting in combat does not provoke an attack of

opportunity.

Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use the Bluff

skill to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives

you the momentary diversion you need to attempt

a Hide check while people are aware of you. This

usage does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Delivering a Secret Message: You can use Bluff to

get a message across to another character without

others understanding it. The DC is 15 for simple

messages, or 20 for complex messages, especially

those that rely on getting across new information.

Failure by 4 or less means you can’t get the message

across. Failure by 5 or more means that some false

information has been implied or inferred. Anyone

listening to the exchange can make a Sense Motive

check opposed by the Bluff check you made to

transmit in order to intercept your message (see

Sense Motive).

Action: Varies. A Bluff check made as part of

general interaction always takes at least 1 round (and

is at least a full-round action), but it can take much

longer if you try something elaborate. A Bluff check

made to feint in combat or create a diversion to hide

is a standard action. A Bluff check made to deliver

a secret message doesn’t take an action; it is part of

normal communication.

Try Again: Varies. Generally, a failed Bluff check

in social interaction makes the target too suspicious

for you to try again in the same circumstances, but

you may retry freely on Bluff checks made to feint

in combat. Retries are also allowed when you are

trying to send a message, but you may attempt such

a retry only once per round.

Each retry carries the same chance of

miscommunication.

Feinting in Combat: You can also use Bluff to

mislead an opponent in melee combat (so that it

can’t dodge your next attack effectively). To feint,

make a Bluff check opposed by your target’s Sense

Motive check, but in this case, the target may add

its base attack bonus to the roll along with any other

applicable modiiers.

If your Bluff check result exceeds this special

Sense Motive check result, your target is denied its

Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) for the next melee

attack you make against it. This attack must be made

on or before your next turn.

Feinting in this way against a nonhumanoid is

dificult because it’s harder to read a strange

creature’s body language; you take a –4 penalty

Special: A ranger gains a bonus on Bluff checks

Table 2: Bluff Examples

Example Circumstances

Sense Motive Modiier

The target wants to believe you.

–5

The bluff is believable and doesn’t affect the target much.

The bluff is a little hard to believe or puts the target at some risk.

The bluff is hard to believe or puts the target at signiicant risk.

+10

The bluff is way out there, almost too incredible to consider.

+20

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