[Basic] Skills of the week: Enthrallment and Musical Influence

Railstar · 07-28-2016, 07:27 AM

As Horror suggests, I like using Enthrallment for vampires or similar creatures as “soft” mind control – the Mind Control advantage represents the brute force taking over the will, while Enthrallment is the slower and more subtle variations.

I never really understood Captivate enough to make use of it. They act as your loyal supporters, but they perceive themselves as in a tale… which to me sounds like they are aware of being under some kind of judgement impairing effect afterwards. That is in many ways the most risky because it is closest to obvious mind-control.

Persuade is one of my favourites because it is both lasting and subtle – the improved reaction rolls last until you alienate that person, so it can be used for establishing long-term influence over a subject. There's no effect if the roll fails, so barring FP costs you can make lots of regular use of it.

Suggest is a more short-term trick – it specifies that the target believes their actions were their ideas, which to me suggests the spirit of the rules is that they do not trace their behaviour back to you. In some ways I think it would make good “throwaway/disposable pawns”, although with the resistance bonuses for dangerous or immoral actions I think knowing what to Suggest is as much a skill as being able to Suggest it. I'd very much enjoy making a list of general ideas that would work within Suggest's limitations.

Sway Emotions is one I have never truly bothered with – I generally assume a Public Speaker could invoke the emotions desired anyway. However, I suppose it is a good combo move, such as to motivate them to be more receptive to Suggest.

07-28-2016, 07:27 AM	#11
Railstar Join Date: Jul 2012	Re: [Basic] Skills of the week: Enthrallment and Musical Influence As Horror suggests, I like using Enthrallment for vampires or similar creatures as “soft” mind control – the Mind Control advantage represents the brute force taking over the will, while Enthrallment is the slower and more subtle variations. I never really understood Captivate enough to make use of it. They act as your loyal supporters, but they perceive themselves as in a tale… which to me sounds like they are aware of being under some kind of judgement impairing effect afterwards. That is in many ways the most risky because it is closest to obvious mind-control. Persuade is one of my favourites because it is both lasting and subtle – the improved reaction rolls last until you alienate that person, so it can be used for establishing long-term influence over a subject. There's no effect if the roll fails, so barring FP costs you can make lots of regular use of it. Suggest is a more short-term trick – it specifies that the target believes their actions were their ideas, which to me suggests the spirit of the rules is that they do not trace their behaviour back to you. In some ways I think it would make good “throwaway/disposable pawns”, although with the resistance bonuses for dangerous or immoral actions I think knowing what to Suggest is as much a skill as being able to Suggest it. I'd very much enjoy making a list of general ideas that would work within Suggest's limitations. Sway Emotions is one I have never truly bothered with – I generally assume a Public Speaker could invoke the emotions desired anyway. However, I suppose it is a good combo move, such as to motivate them to be more receptive to Suggest.