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negotiator
The key to a successful negotiation is compromise. I needed a gun that could kill a god and she wanted my soul in exchange. In the end, I got a single bullet for the job and she got a husband.
A Negotiator's weapons are words, and the archetype has several useful tricks that let them get what they want without ever having to resort to violence (unless they want to). The archetype is a very low-tech, easily-justified one for inclusion in almost any campaign setting imaginable.
| Negotiator | Make deals. | |
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| caret-right | Bribery | Make bribes easily, cheaply, and deniably. |
| caret-right | First Impression | Improve reaction checks. |
| caret-right | Good Faith | Credibility and lasting respect. |
| caret-right | Size Up | Learn how tough a target is. |
| caret-right | Truce | Make peace, not war. |
Know if somebodys gonna betray your deal
Leave loopholes in signed contracts that can be retroactively declared
Negotiator
| Social | plus-circleWhat You Want: You can tell what others want just by interacting with them a little. A creature's wants are revealed to you in general terms, such as “to eat meat” or “to cause chaos.” Ask the referee and they'll tell you straight up, no guesswork required. minus-circleNo Anonymity: You don't need to share a common language with a creature in order to learn what it currently most wants, but you do need to have some sort of exchange in which your subject is aware of you and vice versa. Fighting totally counts as an interaction, as does a stare-down in the street. |
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| Social | plus-circleAppraisal: You know the relative value of everything that can be bargained for, even non-material things. Before closing any deal, you can ask (out of character) if you're being ripped off. The other party must answer truthfully (again, out of character). | |
Bribery
| Social | plus-circleGrease Palms: You are an expert in the giving of bribes. By spending 1 point of Dosh, you can compel most creatures to perform any minor favor for you. A given creature's definition of “minor favor” will vary greatly depending on the creature in question- a criminal thug might be willing to kill a bystander in exchange for your bribe, while an honest judge might not be willing to do anything more than give you correct instructions for navigating a bureaucracy. plus-circleAcceptable Price: No matter how powerful the target of your bribery (in terms of level or social status) they never ask for more than 1 Dosh as a bribe. You don't need to spend time haggling over this. plus-circlePlausible Deniability: If the favor you want is too large or too risky for a bribe to cover, the target never becomes offended by your crass attempt to buy them off. They simply refuse to do it, your Dosh is returned to you, and everything is forgotten. |
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First Impression
| Social | plus-circleYou Seem Trustworthy: When you or your party encounters another group and a reaction check occurs, attitude is adjusted +1 step higher than it would otherwise be. For example, if a check would normally cause an encountered creature to be Suspicious towards you this ability automatically makes it Neutral instead. | |
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| caret-right | Alternative | plus-circleCome Bearing Gifts: You can further improve reaction check results by as many additional attitude shifts as you want. minus-circleExpensive Gifts: For every additional +1 attitude adjustment, you must spend 1 Mojo. minus-circleMoments Pass: You can freely choose to spend Mojo to improve a reaction check after rolling the check, but once you actually start interacting with whatever you encountered their reaction is what it is and you can only change their attitude towards you the old-fashioned way. |
| Sidebar: Reaction Checks |
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| All creatures have a general default attitude from the following list in ascending order of friendliness: Hostile - Confrontational - Suspicious - Neutral - Curious - Polite - Welcoming. If a creature is randomly encountered, the referee might ask for a reaction check. This is a trigger die roll that adjusts their default attitude up or down the scale. |
| Die Result | Attitude |
|---|---|
| 1 | -2 |
| 2-4 | -1 |
| 5-8 | 0 |
| 9-11 | +1 |
| 12 | +2 |
Good Faith
| Social | plus-circleCredible: When you make an offer during a negotiation, a promise to deliver something later is considered just as good as delivering on the spot. You don't need to give anything more than your word. minus-circleDeceiver: If you renege on the deal, Credible no longer functions on the same target in the future or on any other party who knows that you're a dirty debt-dodger unless you can convince them it wasn't your fault. |
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| Social | plus-circleFair And Square: Whenever you successfully make a deal (such as to get a target to agree to do something for you or make an exchange of some kind) it is considered a positive experience for both you and the target, no matter what terms were eventually negotiated. You can make a friendship roll with any target negotiated with in this way. | |
Size Up
| Social | plus-circleAre You Strong? By taking an action to analyze any creature you can see you learn their total level, the allocation of their three combat skills (Melee, Remote, Whelm), and what archetypes they have training in. minus-circleGenerally: You don't necessarily know exactly which abilities your target has learned, just which archetypes they have. |
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Truce
| Social | plus-circleUnrustled Jimmies: You have a calming effect on people. As an action, you can calm down somebody who is angry or upset about something. minus-circleNot Your Enemy: If the target is specifically upset at you or otherwise blames you personally for their current troubles, calming them down costs 1 Mojo in addition to the normal action. |
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| Protection | plus-circleEverybody Be Cool: If neither you nor any of your allies took any offensive actions during a combat round, you can choose for Escalation to not increase at the end of that round. Actions taken by the opposing side are irrelevant. | |
| Social | plus-circleTime Out: As an action, you can attempt to end a battle you are involved in peacefully by convincing your opponents to try diplomacy instead. If successful, everybody stops fighting and agrees to hear you out. minus-circleLanguage Dependent: If you cannot communicate with your opponents meaningfully, then you cannot attempt to call a truce. minus-circleMojo: Attempting to call a truce costs 1 Mojo to show your sincerity and willingness to sacrifice. If you have no Mojo remaining, you cannot use this ability. minus-circleTruce Check: Calling a truce doesn't always work- once the weapons are out and battle's been joined, it can be hard to stop it. Roll a trigger die: if the result is a 9+, then combat ends (for now). If not, nobody pays any attention to you and the Mojo used in the attempt is wasted. You can try again by spending more Mojo, though. plus-circleGive Peace A Chance: If your side has not yet taken any purely offensive actions (dealing damage or inflicting conditions) or your side obviously outclasses your enemies in some way, you only need a 5+ to succeed on the truce call. If both conditions are true, the truce call succeeds automatically with no check required at all. |
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negotiator.txt · Last modified: 2021/11/23 20:37 by kyle
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