Charm (Action)

Heroic Action Role-Play

The skill to be slick and seductive; to lie well with both words and posture and to sense when others are less than honest. A good charmer is also empathic, but there is no guarantee this makes him a nice guy. Charm skill defaults to Mind and an outcome matching this attribute will often result in a Setback on a Charm stunt.

Use in Action

You can play confidence games and give a good impression. You behave like people want and expect you to behave, which makes them likely to bye your story. You are sensitive to moods and adjust well to social situation, while being able to penetrate the social antics of others. This has may uses; you are a perfect host, socialite, gambler, diplomat, negotiator, or lover. You can project emotions, either trough socializing or as a performer on stage.

Knowledge

You know languages and customs, fashions and human behavior. You also recognize taboos and can avoid faux-pas. You have a lot of practical knowledge about human nature and social rituals. You know many colorful anecdotes of notorious rogues of the past and present.

Contacts

This skill has a very impressive contacts element. Basically, you can know anyone who you could conceivably have met. However, these are acquaintances, old lovers, and past social encounters rather than friends or colleges. Most are reliable and friendly, but not all. Some of them still pine for you, and, in spite of their better judgment, would still do almost anything for you. Others have been deliberately putting money in a savings account; they plan to use this money to hire an assassin to kill you as soon as they get a clue as to your whereabouts.

Stunts

Charm stunts cover a wide variety of social situation and action uses of the skill.

Acting & Disguise

Limit Break

You can disguise yourself as somebody else and play out an assumed role with an opposed Charm roll. Against people with only limited knowledge of your assumed role, the difficulty is their Mind. Make a roll on the initial encounter and a further roll at important junctures, which generally works out to once per scene. You cannot impersonate a specific person, and need bulky clothes to change your apparent race or gender.

Common Ground

Limit Break

You can convince people that you have common values and should be allies. First, you must find some conviction or loyalty the target has, then you convince the target that you share this belief and that these common values make you allies. Once you have found some common ground, you can convince the target in the same manner as a Seduction.

If you don't live up to the values you are claiming to have and can't provide a very convincing excuse, the charm fails.

Defense

Trigger Action (Defense)

If you suspect your character is being hoodwinked, you can adopt a skeptical attitude and actively defend yourself. This gives you a +3 bonus to your Charm for any task where your Charm skill sets the difficulty. In a social situation where shots are not counted, this means you are not fully participating - you remain aloft, standing back and observing rather than engaging in the situation - which in means you can't initiate social interactions or make stunts using social skills.

Distraction

Basic Action

You can baffle others with tricky words and misleading demeanor. Make an opposed Charm roll; on a success, your target loses 3 shots and you can move past or by them or claim some minor boon from them. Typical uses include distracting a doorman or police officer, conning someone out of some change, or stealing an unsuspecting kiss. It can also be used to get a respite in a fight.

If your Outcome matches the target's Mind, you cause him major consternation; he loses a number of shots equal to your Outcome or otherwise suffers a Setback.

Gambling

Basic Action

When gambling against another character, make opposed Charm rolls to see who gains the advantage at each stage. The Outcome is a bonus on your next roll. If you get an Outcome matching your opponent's Mind, you win. As in any fight, various stylish stunts can give you a bonus. Stakes are raised raised before each roll; refusing to raise and roll means you forfeit the game at the current stakes. Rigged games give the cheater a bonus of +3 or more, but if the target would ordinarily have won, he becomes suspicious.

Gather Information

Special: 1 hour or more

You hang out with people, perhaps bye a few drinks, and get in on the local gossip. This gives you the local scuttlebutt and rumors, and possibly some real information as well. When gathering information about someone, make an opposed Charm check to learn their whereabouts and general information about them. On an Outcome matching the target's Mind you catch wind of some secret or unusual information. If the roll fails, you still learn general information, but not his current whereabouts, and friends of the mark may inform him of your nosing around.

Good Cop Routine

Trigger Action (Finisher)

Make an opposed Charm roll against a prisoner or someone who is otherwise at your mercy or dependent on you. If you succeed, you gain their confidence and they see how you are trying to work out the best for them in their current situation; they would not lie to you or play tricks on you, but they still maintain their old loyalties and might not spill the beans to you either. Combines well with Bad Cop Routine.

Palm Object

Basic Action

You can swipe a small object without attracting attention. This is usually used to steal, but can be used for other purposes, such as to to plant evidence or for parlor tricks.

Make a Charm roll opposed by Charm or Spot (whichever is higher). On a success you can swipe a small object that is not attended, secured, or attached and the theft will not be immediately noticed. If you fail and score a negative Outcome matching your Reflexes the attempt is noticed. To swipe an object that is larger than your palm, is attached or worn in a pocket, or that is in clear sight you must score a positive outcome matching the observer's Mind.

Seduction

Special: 1 hour per roll

Charm can be used to get others to help you because of love and desire. Seduction is slow and takes a minimum of an hour per roll, in an appropriate setting and mood, and only works on someone potentially exited by your species and gender.

Seduction requires an opposed Charm roll to work. On an Outcome equal to the target's Mind, the target falls for you. On a lesser success, add the outcome as a bonus to any later seduction roll. A failure means the mood is lost and you can't continue in this scene.

Once someone has been seduced, they will willingly follow and help you out. They seek to avoid conflict with their old allies, and if push comes to shove you cannot guarantee how they will react; they will try to avoid seeing you harmed, but they might make you a captive to save you later or even to have you at their mercy, or they might decide to throw in their lot with you and abandon their former loyalties.

Someone who you have seduced expects sexual favors from you; if you refuse them when the occasion present itself or if they discover you've been unfaithful your power over them is broken and they might become vindictive or even downright hostile.

Sense Motive

Limit Break

Observe someone in a social context and make an opposed Charm roll to learn his immediate goals and motivations, seeing trough surface motives into another person's deeper motivations and personality. You know what kind of person this is; gaining insight into his motivations, methods, and habits. This is not an exact science, and if the target is projecting a social facade, that counts as actively resisting your attempt.

Tete-a-Tete

Limit break

You have a one-on-one interaction encounter with another character present at the scene. This is strictly a social encounter, there is something that prevents this from escalating into combat or that makes attacks impossible. In the middle of a fight this might be a pause enforced by the environment, an impasse, or a mexican standoff.

This interlude happens immediately and is quite short; you can each make an interaction check against the other and have a meaningful conversation. You have a +3 bonus on Charm during the tete-a-tete. It happens outside of the normal sequence of rounds. Short as it is, it can still be used to have a meaningful relationship development, make points clear, or otherwise be used to establish common ground or revitalize a rivalry.

Trick

Basic Action

You gain an advantage against an opponent by quick and deceptive actions or words, causing him to stumble or otherwise make a fool of himself. This is a useful set-up both in and outside of combat. The roll will be heavily modified depending on how well you describe your stunt and use available props.

Make an opposed Charm roll against your target. If you succeed, add the Outcome as a modifier to your next skill roll against this target. You can also give away this advantage to someone else, effectively setting the target up for an attack by someone else.

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 how you described your maneuver. He might mistake you for an ally, strike past you at a friendly target, run off after some imaginary danger, or otherwise temporarily make a fool of himself.