7.18 Persuasion (Per)
The Persuasion skill represents your ability to convince people to think what you want them to. Depending on how it is used, it represents a combination of verbal acuity, tact, argumentative ability, grace, etiquette, and personal magnetism. Using a Persuasion check usually takes at least a minute of sustained conversation.
Not all social interactions require Persuasion checks. Much of the time, being extraordinarily persuasive is unnecessary, and creatures can be convinced with normal, inartful conversation and good reasoning. Persuasion checks should only be used when your personal persuasiveness matters.
7.18.1 Common Persuasion Tasks
Compel Belief: As part of conversation, you can make a Persuasion check to cause creatures to believe something you say to be true. If you are lying, you must also make a Deception check to avoid revealing the lie. The base difficulty value is equal to each creature’s Mental defense. It is generally easier to convince creatures of things that are highly plausible or beneficial to them. Similarly, it is generally harder to convince creatures of things that are highly unlikely or detrimental to them.
Form Agreement: As part of conversation, you can make a Persuasion check to cause creatures to accept a deal or arrangement you propose. The base difficulty value is equal to each creature’s Mental defense. It is generally easier to convince creatures if the deal is good for them, and harder if it is bad for them.
Gather Information: You can make a Persuasion check to gather information from people around you. The difficulty value is 5 for basic information, 10 for information that most people wouldn’t know, and even higher for secrets or intentionally concealed information. This generally requires spending a few hours to meet a variety of people and learn what they know.
7.18.2 Common Persuasion Modifiers
The Persuasion skill has unusually large circumstantial modifiers compared to other skills. This is because the social context surrounding any given persuasion attempt is of critical importance, and only a GM can reliably determine that. Note that these modifiers apply regardless of whether you are telling the truth (see Deception).
Relationship Modifiers
All Persuasion checks are affected by your relationship with the target.
| Relationship |
DV Modifier |
| Intimate: Someone who with whom you have an implicit trust. Example: A lover or spouse. |
-15 |
| Friend: Someone with whom you have a regularly positive personal relationship. Example: A long-time buddy or a sibling. | -10 |
| Ally: Someone on the same team, but with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: A cleric of the same religion or a knight serving the same king. | -5 |
| Acquaintance (Positive): Someone you have met several times with no particularly negative experiences. Example: The blacksmith that buys your looted equipment regularly. | -2 |
| Just Met: No relationship whatsoever. Example: A guard at a castle or a traveler on a road. | +0 |
| Acquaintance (Negative): Someone you have met several times with no particularly positive experiences. Example: A town guard that has arrested you for drunkenness once or twice. | +2 |
| Opposition: Someone who is part of a group that consistently works against your interests, with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: An outlaw (to a law-abiding person), a paladin of law (to an outlaw), or a soldier who fights for a country at war with your country. | +5 |
| Enemy: Someone with whom you have a specifically antagonistic relationship. Example: An evil warlord whom you are attempting to thwart, a bounty hunter who is tracking you down for your crimes, or a bandit currently robbing you. | +10 |
| Nemesis: Someone who has sworn to do you, personally, harm, or vice versa. Example: The brother of a man you murdered in cold blood, or the person who murdered your brother in cold blood. | +15 |
|
|
Compel Belief Modifiers
| Believability |
DV Modifier |
| Expected to be true (“Nothing interesting happened while I was on patrol”) |
-5 |
| Plausible (“The mayor is too busy to see you now.”) | +0 |
| Unlikely (“That bloodstain was just an accident I had with a razor.”) | +5 |
| Extremely unlikely (“Your neighbor is secretly a werewolf.”) | +10 |
| Virtually impossible (“That crime was committed by my identical twin, not me.”) | +15 or more |
| Incentive | DV Modifier |
| Extremely beneficial (“You have an uncle who died and left you his inheritance.”) |
-5 |
| Somewhat beneficial (“That dress looks lovely on you.”) | -2 |
| No particular impact (“I really like bananas.”) | +0 |
| Somewhat detrimental (“You can’t come with us to the party.”) | +5 |
| Extremely detrimental (“Your brother is a murderer.”) | +10 or more |
|
|
Form Agreement Modifiers
| Risk vs. Reward |
DV Modifier |
| Fantastic: The reward for accepting the deal is very worthwhile; the risk is either acceptable or extremely unlikely. The best-case scenario is a virtual guarantee. Example: An offer to pay 10gp for directions to the well-known local tavern. |
-10 or more |
| Good: The reward is good and the risk is minimal. The target is very likely to profit from the deal. Example: An offer to pay someone twice their normal daily wage to spend their evening in a seedy tavern and later report on everyone they saw there. | -5 |
| Favorable: The reward is appealing, but there’s risk involved. If all goes according to plan, though, the deal will end up benefiting the target. Example: A request for a mercenary to aid the party in battle against a weak goblin tribe in return for a cut of the money and first pick of the magic items. | -2 |
| Even: The reward and risk more of less even out; or the deal involves neither reward nor risk. Example: A request for directions to a place that isn’t a secret. | +0 |
| Unfavorable: The reward is not enough compared to the risk involved. Even if all goes according to plan, chances are it will end badly for the target. Example: A request to free a prisoner the target is guarding for a small amount of money. | +5 |
| Bad: The reward is poor and the risk is high. The target is very likely to get the raw end of the deal. Example: A request for a mercenary to aid the party in battle against an fearsome dragon for a small cut of any non-magical treasure. | +10 |
| Horrible: There is no conceivable way that the proposed plan could end up with the target ahead or the worst-case scenario is guaranteed to occur. Example: An offer to trade a broken sword hilt for a shiny new longsword. | +15 or more |
|
|