Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 6044510" data-attributes="member: 50304">I actually kind of hate intimidate as a skill. It's too much an attitude (player choice) and aptitude (character attributes or a social perk of a background) and less of a learned skill. It's a form of persuasion with a lot of nuance. The effectiveness of a threat in terms of skill is way more about what you know about the intended victim and your general communication skills.I actually think Knights of the Old Republic got this right in creating dialogue sequences: Intelligence or Awareness to find the leverage (if necessary) then Persuade - sometimes with the descriptive subheading (intimidate) indicating that you're taking the figurative strong-arm approach or (lie) with indicating you're shoveling B.S. the whole way.I could see a general social suite looking something like this:AwarenessCommerceEtiquettePersuadeStreetwiseAwareness and Persuade are very general, broad skills specifically targeted towards input and output in social settings. Etiquette pertains to the specific ins and outs of any polite/high society you've been able to become acquainted with - this would include history, heraldry, customs, nobility, gathering information, and local knowledge. Obviously in some situations Etiquette or Persuade would solve the same challenge - but Etiquette might have a significantly lower or higher DC than a Persuade check depending on the context. Streetwise would basically have the same effect, but among the lowest classes. Merchants and Clergy might fall into either or both categories depending on their individual backgrounds.Commerce can handle things like appraisal, finding goods and services, gathering information related to trade routes, and again overlap with Persuade in matters of haggling. Commerce gives you a lower DC to financial negotiations than a normal Persuade check.It would also be interesting if having a skill in common in your background gave some sort of bonus opportunity to interacting with NPCs on a more complex or extended level. For instance, demonstrating competence with religion/lore/commerce would be a substantive success in making a positive impression on a priest/sage/merchant. Someone who knows about cows gets along easier with ranchers, and someone who understands crops finds common interest with a farmer. Etc.- Marty Lund</blockquote>

Verification