Impress (Action)

Heroic Action Role-Play

The ability to dominate socially and establish yourself in a leading role. Used to intimidate, lead, browbeat, and install respect. Typically associated with alpha males and the upper classes. Impress can be used to oppress or to support others, but in both cases you establish yourself as a superior. Less skilled bullies can intimidate or threaten, but always do so in an obvious and direct manner. Impress skill defaults to Mind and an outcome matching this attribute on a stunt directed against Impress will often result in a Setback.

Use in Action

You make others feel frightened, uncomfortable, self-conscious, or inadequate. On a more positive bent you can also inspire, lead, rally, and be a figure of authority and confidence. You may do this by displaying impressive size, great skill, profound intellect, or just with an indefinable quality of superiority. Once you have successfully impressed someone, he is more likely to go along with your suggestions. This does not mean that he will automatically adhere to any request you make, but he will give it much more weight than he otherwise would have. Impress skill is also used along with Charm to interrogate.

Knowledge

You know fashions and customs, and what you can do without breaking the rules. You know which clothes to wear and how to wear them for each occasion. You have at least an instinctive understanding of etiquette and how to use social rules to establish superiority, even if you could not put such rules into words. You have a way of finding out the secret weaknesses others try to hide. You know of famous leaders past and present, tough you might not have had any contact with them.

Contacts

You know people you have browbeaten in the past, and a few strong individuals who have stood up to you. These people respect you, but might secretly want to get back to you. You know people from the organizations you have been a part of it the past. Depending on your current circumstances, your superiors may still support you or want you dead. Your former underlings will still revere you, even if they've been ordered to smoke you on sight.

Stunts

Impress stunts are used to slow down and dominate others in and out of combat.

Bad Cop Routine

Trigger Action (Finisher)

Make an opposed Impress roll against your target. If you succeed, they give up, spill the beans, and give in to your demands. Basically, they will do anything to momentarily please and appease you, which means they might give you a plausible lie instead of an uncomfortable truth, especially if you ask leading questions. They also have no qualms about causing you harm as long as it is not obvious, such as by triggering a silent alarm. Combines well with Good Cop Routine.

Browbeat

Basic Action

You try to get an advantage or force someone else to cooperate with you. The roll will be heavily modified depending on how well you describe your stunt and use the situation and available props.

Make an opposed Impress roll against your target. If you succeed you gain an Advantage. It you score an Outcome matching the target's Mind, you also inflict a Setback; the target suffers some direct penalty, as appropriate to the situation and what you did to him. He might cave in to your demands, run off scared, break down babbling, or otherwise lose his cool.

Defense

Trigger Action (Defense)

When put under pressure, you can adopt a sullen attitude and actively defend yourself. This gives you a +3 bonus to your Impress for any task where your Impress skill sets the difficulty. In a social situation where shots are not counted, this means you are not fully participating - you play tough and defensive rather than engaging in the situation - which in means you can't initiate social interactions or make stunts using social skills.

Make an Impression

Basic Action

You try to establish yourself as a person of prominence worthy of trust and responsibility. You generally only get one chance at this, but can make up for a failed first impression over time as people really get to know you.

Make an opposed Impress roll against the highest skill of those doubting you. On a success, you establish yourself as a person to be respected and not to be crossed. On an outcome matching their Mind you establish yourself in an alpha position, a leader, noble, or otherwise with a very strong authority.

Using this on enemies establishes you as a respectable and noteworthy opponent, not to be taken lightly. It makes it much more likely that they will accord you special privileges, such as accepting a settlement by negotiation or duel, but it does not make them friendly or make them back down from their position.

Gauge Reaction

Basic Action

This is useful to avoid pitfalls in social situations. You can gauge what another creatures reaction to an order or request would be. Decide on a hypothetical impress stunt and make an opposed Impress roll. On a success you can gauge the targets reaction. You understand whether the request is reasonable or if the target is uncomfortable or even violently opposed to it (which means the stunt might be impossible or require a Setback to achieve).

Upstage

Limit Break

You attract attention. Make an Impress roll against everyone present; if you succeed, you make a strong impression and they will focus their attention on you. If their next action does not include you as a target, it suffers a -2 penalty. This works both is social situations and in battle.

If you are standing on a stage, making a performance, this is a Basic Action.

Scare

Basic action

Use this to scare someone to lay off and let you be for a while; on a success, the target loses three shots and backs off, allowing you to move by or away. If your Outcome matches the target's Mind, he is seriously scared and loses a number of shots equal to your Outcome, or he might cave in and suffer an appropriate Setback instead.