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Old 03-24-2017, 03:46 PM   #1
johndallman
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Default New Technique of the Week: Follow Closely (Dancing)

This thread is part of a series where I intend to invent a lot of Techniques, to fill out the support for non-combat skills. There's more about my plans and objectives here.

Follow Closely (Dancing), Hard, Default: Dancing. Prerequisites: Dancing and Stealth; cannot exceed Dancing +4.

This is the ability to move as one with someone else, at very close quarters, without bumping into them or otherwise giving yourself away. It's mostly useful to those with reliable invisibility, enabling them to get through doors accompanying someone who's unaware of them. This requires a success on Follow Closely (which takes vision and encumbrance penalties), and sufficient success on Stealth that you would not be heard. You also need some reliable way of concealing yourself in plain sight such as Invisibility, Invisibility Art, or ultra-tech equipment. Some kinds of doors give penalties, such as small unpowered revolving doors. Having a visible confederate whose presence is accepted gives +3 to Follow Closely, but may require an Acting roll from them to avoid acting suspiciously. Body Language is often usable as a complementary skill to Follow Closely.

This is a technique rather than an optional specialisation simply because Dancing is DX-based. Dancers trying this for the first time will have an unfamiliarity penalty, which depends on the kinds of dancing they're practised in. Learning the technique is normally confined to specialised infiltrators.

I've encountered security doors, such as the ones at the Old Bailey, which make this trick impractical. They're very sturdy vertical transparent plastic cylinders, only big enough for one person (and not a Very Fat one). They have a door on each side. You go in, the door shuts, and the metal detectors, explosive sniffers and so on do their work. You only get let through if they're happy.
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Old 03-24-2017, 04:19 PM   #2
RogerBW
 
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: Follow Closely (Dancing)

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
I've encountered security doors, such as the ones at the Old Bailey, which make this trick impractical. They're very sturdy vertical transparent plastic cylinders, only big enough for one person (and not a Very Fat one). They have a door on each side. You go in, the door shuts, and the metal detectors, explosive sniffers and so on do their work. You only get let through if they're happy.
The original idea of these was to stop people casually letting others through that they were aware of, which happens distressingly often even in supposedly secure facilities. The sniffers and things came later.

They have a similar system at a large Internet site in London. The way to get round it is to be carrying bulky equipment, at which point you're ushered through the side door.
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Old 03-24-2017, 05:09 PM   #3
Phil Masters
 
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: Follow Closely (Dancing)

My instinct says that this should go with some other skill - Acrobatics? Stealth? Dancing is artistic...

Meanwhile, the name of the technique made me think it should be the art of following a partner's lead precisely at every step. Don't knock it; there's a character in a Disney movie who almost manages to use it to take control of an entire country.
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Old 03-24-2017, 05:35 PM   #4
johndallman
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: Follow Closely (Dancing)

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
My instinct says that this should go with some other skill - Acrobatics? Stealth? Dancing is artistic...
I originally thought it would be Acrobatics, but Kromm argued convincingly in favour of Dancing.
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Old 03-24-2017, 06:11 PM   #5
whswhs
 
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Default Re: New Technique of the Week: Follow Closely (Dancing)

I would call it Stealth or Shadowing. When I saw it as a Dancing technique I figured it for the ability to follow your partner's lead in an actual dance. Like the old joke, "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, in high heels and backward."
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