AcceptableInfluenceMethodology

Acceptable Influence Methodology

This is a system to rationalise the different forms of influence, and the use of Abilities to make them.

Actions And Abilities

• Bureaucracy is used for bargain attempts.
• Investigation is used for profile attempts (not a form of influence).
• Linguistics is used for written influence attempts.
• Occult is used for warding attempts.
• Performance is used for inspire and instil attempts.
• Presence is used for convince, persuade, and threaten attempts.
• Socialise is used for read (not a form of influence), and organisational influence attempts (see Principled Organisation Methodology).

If a Charm does not state the specific kind of influence it must be used on, it can be freely used on influence actions from other Abilities, and combo’d with their Charms. This does not apply to written influence attempts, which have their own Charms.

Investigation

Investigation rules have been replaced by the following:

Search

A search action is done to locate any hidden items of note in an area. It works as described in the first half of the ‘case scene’ action in EX3.

Search attempts cannot be reattempted unless you receive direct evidence that points to something having been overlooked.

Case

A case action is done on the location of a battle, crime, or other significant event to discover more about what happened, and who was involved. It works as described in the second half of the ‘case scene’ action in EX3, except that it produces one actionable clue (about the event or its participants) if successful, and one further clue for each threshold success.

Threshold successes also create a banked pool. If you case multiple locations, keep only the best result in your pool. These may be added as bonus dice to a single persuade attempt (including bargain and threaten) to convince someone of a person’s culpability, or get them to confess to such - provided it is stunted appropriately. These work whether or not the person is actually guilty of the charges laid at their feet.

Case actions cannot be reattempted until after you have used the banked successes.

Profile

A profile action is a way of discovering more about someone. To qualify for a profile attempt against someone, you must do one of the following:

• Spend a full scene interacting with them
• Shadow them as a dramatic action lasting at least fifteen minutes
• Search a private space belonging to them (e.g. home or office) for at least fifteen minutes

The basic Difficulty of a profile attempt is equal to the subject’s Guile. Each threshold success will provide a potentially useful piece of background information against them.

Threshold successes also create a banked pool. These may be added as bonus dice to a single read action against that character - provided it is stunted appropriately.

Profile actions against a character cannot be reattempted until after you have used the banked successes.

Linguistics

Written Influence

Linguistics is used for all types of written influence attempts, and creates a document called a missive. Missives are targeted at either a specific person (and have no effect on others), or at a group (receiving the group penalty for influence). A person must actively choose to read a missive to be affected by any influence within it.

Written influence attempts cannot be combined with Charms from other Abilities, except through use of dedicated Charms (Power-Snaring Image, in the Graceful Charm Methodology). Motes spent on creating a missive remain committed for as long as the Exalt wants the bonus to remain. If the missive was targeted at a specific person, the motes are automatically released as soon as they read it (notifying the Exalt that it has been read).

Occult

Some Occult Charms allow you to make a warding attempt. This is a Charisma+Occult roll that does not require an Intimacy to be evoked, and cannot be resisted by spending Willpower unless the spirit has a higher Essence than the Solar. If successful, it has effects dependent on the Charm that triggered it. Warding attempts replace the roll to bind a demon summoned by sorcery.

Non-Excellency Charms that support persuade attempts can be used to enhance a warding attempt.

Performance

There are no longer Charms for different types of performance.

Emotions

Inspire attempts create Emotions of the influencer’s choice (Anger, Sadness, Lust, etc). These are an Intimacy (neither Tie nor Principle) that is of Major strength unless stated otherwise. Emotions are not specific to a person, object, or event.

An Emotion lasts until the character expresses them with an appropriate Serious task. The player of that character chooses the nature of the task, based on their circumstances and characterisation. Until a suitable task is completed, the Emotion remains.

Emotions may affect a character's Guile in the same way that Intimacies affect Resolve. If a character's Emotion supports their goal for the interaction, mirrors their Tie toward the character reading them, or mirrors the nature of an Intimacy used to bolster their Resolve, the difficulty of the read intentions action is reduced. If the Emotion opposes these, the difficulty of the read intentions action is increased.

Instilling

You may make more changes to someone's Intimacies with instil attempts in one day than your Essence. After this point, they will need time to process the things you have said: they become immune to further instil attempts from you until after they have slept. They are still susceptible to other forms of influence, and you may still attempt to instil other people.

Presence

Beliefs

You may use Presence to convince someone of a fact or belief. The resultant Belief becomes a Minor Intimacy (neither Principle nor Tie), which behaves normally. Further convince attempts can be used to increase or reduce the strength of a person's Beliefs.

Seduction

Seduction attempts require an applicable Intimacy – usually a positive Tie toward the Exalt, or an Emotion of lust or awe - to be handled as a persuade attempt. Alternatively they can be handled as a bargain attempt, for more professional arrangements.

Sleeping with someone is usually considered a (highly pleasant) "Inconvenient" task. If it requires a person to break a law (such as with committed spouses or Abyssals) this becomes a Serious task. If doing so requires them to give up their lifestyle completely (such as with Brides of Ahlat or Immaculate monks that have eschewed sensuality) it becomes Life-Changing.

After a successful seduction attempt, each person involved may make a single influence attempt against their partner(s) that cannot be resisted by spending Willpower, or with a Decision Point. Resolve is applicable as normal.

Socialise

Reading People

The 'read intentions' action is replaced by the read action. When making a read action, the player may determine any one of the following about the subject:

• Their desired outcome for the current interaction.
• All Emotions they are currently experiencing.
• The nature of any Ties they have toward the player’s character, or that are otherwise applicable to them.
• The nature of any Intimacies they used (if any) to bolster their Resolve against a specific influence attempt, that occurred previously in the scene. The subjects of Ties are only revealed if they are present on the scene.
• Whether they were being honest when they made a specific statement - receiving an answer of "Yes", "No", or "Kind Of"

If you fail a read action against someone, you may not make further attempts against that person for the remainder of the scene. If taking part in a debate, or other form of contested influence where people take turns, making a read action is done in lieu of making an influence attempt.