Rolelaying (Verbal) Intimidation - seeking various examples

[Michele]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Diplomatic immunity protects you from legal threats, it does nothing to protect you from illegal threats.

Of course. As mentioned, there are exceptions. Weirdos who take hostages in embassies, and such like.

But in that case, we're back to square one, the _hostages_ are diplomats, the so-called "students" are goons, not diplomats; and they can certainly threaten life and limb of the diplomats, but it is no longer a diplomat's Intimidation, it's a goon's. At this point the diplomat is no different from the "civilian" intimidated by the "thug" in the description, his being a diplomat has no bearing on the Intimidation.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I don't know if it's subtle or not, but my schtick in the Marines was pretty much just staring at someone without saying anything after they said something stupid. Didn't move a muscle, just looked at them without saying a word for longer than is the socially accepted norm. Usually got them to back down, apologize, or otherwise change their behavior.

IME subtle doesn't work unless you already have a reputation as someone who might do them harm. Otherwise, it's not going to even enter into their mind that you're threatening them with your otherwise innocuous words.

Interesting. You know, I suppose, about a character in a TV show, I think it was titled NCIS, who was a former marine IIRC, and sometimes did the same.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I don't know if it's subtle or not, but my schtick in the Marines was pretty much just staring at someone without saying anything after they said something stupid. Didn't move a muscle, just looked at them without saying a word for longer than is the socially accepted norm. Usually got them to back down, apologize, or otherwise change their behavior.

IME subtle doesn't work unless you already have a reputation as someone who might do them harm. Otherwise, it's not going to even enter into their mind that you're threatening them with your otherwise innocuous words.

Happily, this is a Perk-level Advantage by the name of Fearsome Stare. Does a good job of representing that some people can intimidate with just a glare and others, those either lacking the reputation or the gravitas, cannot.

[Icelander]

Humans might be a very talkative species, but none of our more primitive instincts are exactly hard-wired to our speech receptors. So Intimidation, more than any other social skill, doesn't depend just on what you say, but how you say it.

Selling a physical intimidation attempt isn't about making a colourful and complex threat. It's about making the target believe that you really would carry out your threat. To do that, short and simple is often better.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by Michele

Of course. As mentioned, there are exceptions. Weirdos who take hostages in embassies, and such like.

But in that case, we're back to square one,

No, we aren't, there's no reason to be limited to the example you gave, blackmail is often illegal for example. Threatening to expose a diplomat who has been embezzling from his own government would would a diplomatic form of intimidation. Or exposing any other form of dirt.

[Voren]

Not really specific examples, but a lot of intimidation breaks down into two
categories: 1. Credible threats, or 2. Emotional manipulation.

1. "If you touch anything I my lab I'll turn you into a tapeworm."

2. "If you love me, you won't touch anything in my lab."

1. "If you don't get out of here now, I'm calling the police."

2. "You crazy **** **** **** I hate you *********** get OUT!"

1. "What's your name again? Right. May I speak to the manager?"

2. "How could you do this to me?! My birthday, ruined!" *sob, blubber, wail*

1. "If you don't show up on time, you're fired. Tomorrow. Got it?"

2. "DON'T YOU EVER BE LATE AGAIN YOU STUPID BUTT-MONKEY!"

I think sometimes Intimidation and Diplomacy are a little interchangeable. A lot of it is in the presentation. For instance, the last #1 could be done using Diplomacy. "Bob, you've been late a lot. I need you to be here on time. You can get here on time and everything will be OK, or if you keep coming late you're going to lose your job. Does that make sense?"

[Fwibos]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I don't know if it's subtle or not, but my schtick in the Marines was pretty much just staring at someone without saying anything after they said something stupid. Didn't move a muscle, just looked at them without saying a word for longer than is the socially accepted norm. Usually got them to back down, apologize, or otherwise change their behavior.

IME subtle doesn't work unless you already have a reputation as someone who might do them harm. Otherwise, it's not going to even enter into their mind that you're threatening them with your otherwise innocuous words.

This works pretty well. Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski dis this on an episode of "Bully Beatdown." The bully in question nearly wet himself.

Of course, the fanged mouthguard helps...

There's an article on combat mindset I read once that discusses the two types of mentalities when fighting. They amount to dominance and food gatherign (hunting) combat. The above behavior, according to the article, is "hunting" behavior and our braisn are wired to take it seriously.

[Victor Maxus]

Great example from my Fantasy Campaign. One of my players was about to get into a fight with a local mercenary who just gives people trouble. He has the intimidation skill, and very often, he does use it verbally. But this time he wanted to make a real show (because the merc had three friends) so he tried to scare all four at once. He let the guy punch him, right in the head. But, with Ht 12, Fit, Perk:Special Exercise with DR1 Tough Skin, and two levels of hard to subdue, he took each hit, but then shouted mundane, generic threats like "Is that the best you got" and "My dead grandma hits harder than that" each phrase coming with an intimidation roll. After about four hits, he intimidate all four men, who promptly back off from him.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Michele

I don't think diplomats intimidate.

Maybe not but thugs attending summits do:
"Little Birds better be careful where they sing."
Joseph Stalin, Yalta Feb. 1945

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

I know, some people with direct me to Dirty Harry and stuff,

Depending on how realistic you want it, Dirty Harry is not terribly believable as intimidation. In fct, a lot of movie-screen verbal intimidation scenes don't work well off-screen.

[list]
[*]A scientist or mage telling some soldier/warrior not to touch anything in her lab.

The thing is, that's going to depend on who the scientist is, and who the soldier is. It's going to depend on reputation, and history. For ex, an unknown scientist, in a botany lab, might comment something in passing like, "Be careful, some of these plants are poisonous to the touch."

In this case, the in-passing, casual tone would make the threat more believable, and thus more intimidating, than anything more dramatic. If s/he makes a show of it, it would look more like an intentional threat and thus, paradoxically, less intimidating (in this particular situation).

(Of course that depends on the soldier not knowing anything about botany, too.)

Alternatively, a physically unimposing scientist who is working on something important, that's known to be important to the Colonel, might comment that if anything goes wrong, s/he's not taking the blame for it. In this case a little emphasis on the words and a meaningful look might be just the thing.

[*]A high beaureaucrat telling some overconfident 'adventurers'/PIs/jocks to not mess with him.

Again, depends on who the bureaucrat is and who the subjects are. For ex, a 70 year old officia, who is confined to a wheelchair, might simply nod meaningfully at the two calm, quiet young guys standing near the door with holstered guns and an alert attitude. Or he might mention in passing, with just a little emphasis, that under some particular rule he can dispense with civil rights at his discretion (whether he really can or not).

Or he might be matter-of-fact and direct: "I'm the guy who's going to decide whether you folks leave here and go on about your business, or leave here to go start breaking rocks on Devil's Island this afternoon." Here, how intimidating the threat is depends on just what his position is, and who he's talking to.

[*]A shaman talking down a skeptical fellow warrior - or a modern skeptic.

Depends on the setting. Unless he really has power and can demonstate it, there's a good chance the shaman can't intimidate a skeptic while they're in a modern office building or standing on Times Square. The skeptic is on firm familair ground and the shaman will look ridiculous (to him, anyway).

(The shaman might use non-magical means, of course, but that's hardly the point of citing the shaman.)

Now, if he does have power (or is well-prepared by mundane means), he might start casually mentioning things that there's no way he could know, that can be unnerving. Or something like that.

Now, if they're on the shaman's home ground, surrounding by items and people who fit into the theme, that's another matter. The skeptic is in the unfamiliar place, and if everyone around him is clearly terrified of the shaman, that'll add to the effect. Every ghost story and horror movie he ever saw works against his confidence now (unless he's just so skeptical he can't be intimidated anyway). The pretend-magic will be a lot scarier if he seems to be using it here, assuming he doesn't have real power.

(And of course even a charlaton, on his home turf, might have thugs or cult hand ready to make a point for him. In this case, play up the isolation, that the skeptic(s) is/are alone, far from assistance, nobody can help them and they're aware of it.

Now, if you're being realistic, there's a problem with verbal intimidation in a realistic situation that rarely crops up in fiction: it can work too well, and scare the subject so bad he does something really bad for the intimidator. If the little guy you're looming over is really convinced you're about to break his bones, he might decide it's worth going to jail to avoid it and pull out his Saturday Night Special and ventilate you, you're dead not because he's so brave but because he was so very scared of you.

Or he might panic and swing at your with something...and in a realistic situation, there's always that chance of the critical success and you're in deep crap. You see this in real life once in a while, there was an incident not too long ago where a very old man beat up a scary 20-something thug that was way bigger and stsronger than he was, he landed a good hard blow with his cane which hurt enough to slow the guy down, and a few more hits with that heavy wooden stick had Mr. Thug pleading for the cops to come.