Gathering Information.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Rasmus Wagner

"Masculine wiles".... That gets me thinking. About what the Sex Appeal skill is for a man. I know female Sex Appeal when I see it, as something distinct from Appearance. And it's very obvious to me how it's used to get a "good reaction". I've been on the receiving end lots of times, and I have used female friends to persuade other men.

For men, I think it's about body language, eye contact, confidence and other archetypical "alpha male" traits. It's the art of tasteful, subconscious dickwaving. It will make women think "he is THE MAN, I should treat him well and do what he needs me to do" rather than "Ooh, sexy; maybe if I do what he wants he'll share the sexy with me".

Watch an attractive female waitress in a bar-and-grill for an hour and you will see a large range of male Sex Appeal tactics.

A womans Sex Appeal rolls could be based on anything from a little blush, a little giggle, and a little indirect peeking all the way up to undoing the first two or three buttons on your shirt, adjusting your bra so "the twins" are almost bursting out the top of your now-half-open shirt, and suggestively sucking on the end of a pen.

Similarly a man's Sex Appeal roll might be some calculated direct eye contact and friendly/interested facial expressions, carefully standing to emphasize your physique, and using a slightly deeper tone of voice than normal, or it could go all the way to undoing the first two or three (or all!) buttons on your shirt, wearing a necklace designed to attract attention to your presumably attractive chest, a dramatically suggestive wink and a nudge, and a few bawdy-yet-flattering comments.

There are a lot of ways to flirt with someone, not all of them will work with everyone. Projecting yourself as an dominant figure EDIT:Doesn't Have to be Sex Appeal, but that's obviously one way to do it. Leadership and Intimidation would be two other, less sexualized ways.

Now I'm wondering about what skill projecting a "strong, maternal, matronly" image that coaxes the victim into confiding in you would be.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by CraigR

So, should Gather Information be a Bang! skill?

I get it :/

heh

OR "Tell me what I want to know, or I'll shoot." I guess we did leave out Intimidation.

"If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog"

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Now I'm wondering about what skill projecting a "strong, maternal, matronly" image that coaxes the victim into confiding in you would be.

Still Sex Appeal, just don't go all Oedipal on us. *grin*

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The question that keeps perplexing my circle is, "What do you use to get information from an informant without overtly questioning them, by discreetly steering the conversation toward the topic of interest and/or drawing inferences from things they said that were indirectly related to it?" It's clearly not Interrogation, but it hasn't been obvious to us what other skill you'd roll against for that task. Or is it a bunch of skills with a modifier for trying to be subtle?

Been pointed out already, but getting people to tell you things is Interrogation, even if you use smiles and trickery instead of threats and torture. Of course, some GMs may balk if you tell them that you want to get information out of the prisoner, and you intend to do it by having a friendly chat with him...

By "drawing inferences" I suppose you mean drawing plausible conclusions from little hints and scraps of information, and the general skill for that is Intelligence Analysis. I would also allow a lot of other skills for this, possibly at a penalty, depending on the subject matter; for instance, a cop interrogating a suspect, gang member, or something might use Criminology (is that a listed skill?) or Streetwise. If they're dealing with abuse or serial killings, Psychology. Figuring out the inner dealings of a business might be Administration or even Politics (Corporate).

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Now I'm wondering about what skill projecting a "strong, maternal, matronly" image that coaxes the victim into confiding in you would be.

Matronly?

Leadership, I suspect. Possibly Psychology. This might be a basis for a Perk, too; it's not too different from Honest Face.

[PK]

Originally Posted by CraigR

So, should Gather Information be a Bang! skill?

<duck and run>

:)

It's a little late to duck & run -- I already suggested this in post #4 on the thread. It's a perfectly logical Wildcard skill.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The question that keeps perplexing my circle is, "What do you use to get information from an informant without overtly questioning them, by discreetly steering the conversation toward the topic of interest and/or drawing inferences from things they said that were indirectly related to it?" It's clearly not Interrogation, but it hasn't been obvious to us what other skill you'd roll against for that task. Or is it a bunch of skills with a modifier for trying to be subtle?

The specific situation that I was most perplexed by was not about subterfuge at all. It was the Interview. So you go to interview witnesses. To take their testimony and ask good follow up questions. You are not being discreet. You are interviewing them after all. The description for Interrogation does not apply at all. Interviewing is not the ability to question prisoners, reserved for intel agencies, polics & prison services, the military and the underworld. And it doesn't seem like Fast-Talk either. Interviews can go on for quite some time. Lots of people might have the skill...reporters, police detectives, HR people, all sorts of people.

It isn't carousing, we aren't at a party. It isn't Diplomacy or Sex Appeal.

Maybe it is Psychology?

What is the skill to talk to someone (a witness, a suspect, your mom), and tease out good information. To make them feel at ease so they open up. To interview not interrogate.

I think there probably should just be an Interview IQ/A skill.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by trooper6

The specific situation that I was most perplexed by was not about subterfuge at all. It was the Interview. So you go to interview witnesses. To take their testimony and ask good follow up questions. You are not being discreet. You are interviewing them after all. The description for Interrogation does not apply at all. Interviewing is not the ability to question prisoners, reserved for intel agencies, polics & prison services, the military and the underworld. And it doesn't seem like Fast-Talk either. Interviews can go on for quite some time. Lots of people might have the skill...reporters, police detectives, HR people, all sorts of people.

Eh, that doesn't sound like a unified skill. Do, say, sports reporters, homocide detectives, and the HR dude at a tech company all have the same skill for interviewing people?

I'd submit they're all using different skills. Probably Expert Skill (Reporter), Interrogation, and perhaps Administration respectively. They're looking for different information, have different legal situations respective to their targets, etc. I don't the fact that a cop doesn't have you under arrest means he can't use his Interrogation skill on you...and willing targets aren't going to resist anyway.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

I'd submit they're all using different skills. Probably Expert Skill (Reporter), Interrogation, and perhaps Administration respectively. They're looking for different information, have different legal situations respective to their targets, etc. I don't the fact that a cop doesn't have you under arrest means he can't use his Interrogation skill on you...and willing targets aren't going to resist anyway.

Agreed, though I'd call Reporter a Professional Skill. Interrogation definitely looks like a good fit for questioning witnesses, especially based on comments up-thread, though you should be able to substitute related skills.

[jspade]

Originally Posted by trooper6

The specific situation that I was most perplexed by was not about subterfuge at all. It was the Interview. So you go to interview witnesses. To take their testimony and ask good follow up questions. You are not being discreet. You are interviewing them after all. The description for Interrogation does not apply at all. Interviewing is not the ability to question prisoners, reserved for intel agencies, polics & prison services, the military and the underworld. And it doesn't seem like Fast-Talk either. Interviews can go on for quite some time. Lots of people might have the skill...reporters, police detectives, HR people, all sorts of people.

To me, this is usually a base reaction roll in the "request for information" class. I'd use the skill appropriate to the kind of information you're gathering -- Criminology for detectives, job skills for job interviews, Public Speaking (or Intimidation) for TV reporters, etc. -- to guide the conversation to useful information. And, of course, Detect Lies is always helpful.