01-26-2011, 12:03 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
I think I understand how reaction rolls work. You figure out what your modifier is, based on appearance and social modifiers, roll 3d, add your modifier, and higher is better. This determined how an NPC will react to you, unless the GM has other ideas.
I know that you can roll a reaction skill in place of a reaction roll, like Acting, Fast Talk, Diplomacy, Sex Appeal, and the rest. The basic set seems to be saying that reaction modifiers apply to this roll, too! I'm not sure how this is supposed to work, so I was hoping that some forum-goers might share their wisdom with me and explain. I could probably use an example or two as well. - /'skav.ɾa/ |
01-26-2011, 01:26 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
Yes, a lot of reaction modifiers are also added to social skills like Diplomacy, Sex appeal, Fast talk, etc. This is clearly explained in the description of each one of these skills, in the Basic Set.
Just consider them like ordinary bonuses (added to the skill and not the dice roll, this time). Note: |
01-26-2011, 01:46 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
Here is an example, to be more clear...
Samantha is Handsome. She wants to go far away from a town. But she has no car and no money. In a cafeteria, she see a lorry driver... If she just asks him, while smiling, I just do a reaction roll. Because she is handsome, and because the lorry driver is attracted by women, she has got a +4 to the reaction roll. If she tries to captivate him, she will use his Sex appeal skill: a success roll instead of the reaction roll - which can give her better odds if she has a good skill level. But, here again, she is handsome; so she will also have a +4 bonus to this roll. In the reaction roll, the +4 applies to the die result. In the Sex Appeal roll, it applies to the skill level (and not the dice roll). But it is still a bonus. |
01-26-2011, 02:10 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
Thank you, Gollum, for the reply.
This would seem to make it very easy to be disturbingly good ad social interaction rolls. It's not too expensive to increase you reaction modifier, and it's much cheaper than improving each reaction skill individually. How is the GM supposed to deal with people who have interaction skills which end up modified over 20? The reaction roll section has a table which rates how good your reaction was. Is there an easy way to map this to the reaction skills? How much better is it to succeed by 6 than by 2? How do people resist social manipulation? I seem to recall Will came into this, but that would suggest that most people are much better at manipulating than resisting manipulation. - /'skav.ɾa/ |
01-26-2011, 02:22 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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01-26-2011, 02:29 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Denmark
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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I don't think there is any problem with balance here. Also, that +10 reaction modifier will leave you standing out very clearly. The gal with the transcendent universal apperance and 5 levels of charisma can not know the perks of anonymity or discrete action. She'll stand out like a beacon where she shows her face. Last edited by B9anders; 01-26-2011 at 02:44 PM. |
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01-26-2011, 02:42 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Denmark
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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Using skill is not always the way to go. Except for sex appeal, you can only ever get a 'good reaction'. And some situations might require you to get more if you need to sway a person for more. For the suave with high reaction modifiers, social skills are often only better to use when you face heavy situational modifiers. In which case, your 20+ skill will come in handy to soak up some of those but might well end up with a situation of fairly even odds. |
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01-26-2011, 02:56 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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Having a very good reaction bonus also have some disadvantages... And playing with it can sometimes be playing with fire... |
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01-26-2011, 03:00 PM | #9 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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Yes, appearance causes trouble with jealous people (at least by RAW, even though the pricing doesn't seem to account for that). No, it shouldn't result in people who didn't have a truly bad reaction to have a de facto bad reaction. |
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01-26-2011, 03:11 PM | #10 | ||
Join Date: May 2005
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Re: Reaction modifiers and reaction skill rolls.
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The main way to keep reaction rolls under control is not to overinterpret their results. E.g. for the truck driver, a Neutral reaction means you can tag along wherever he's going. Good means he'll drop you off at your house if it's near his route. Very Good means he will go a few miles out of his way. Excellent means he might offer to take the afternoon off to help you find a place. But an ordinary reaction roll is not going to make him your full-time chauffeur and bodyguard, not without some extra incentives or a serious penalty. Quote:
TeV |
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Tags |
influence rolls, reaction rolls |
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