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Old 05-30-2015, 04:55 AM   #1
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default [Basic] Skill of the week: Fast-Talk

Fast-Talk is the IQ/A skill of quickly persuading people to do things that they wouldn't normally consider. It takes penalties for lack of Cultural Familiarity or limited command of the language being used, and if you are Easy to Read, others get +4 to resist your Fast-Talk. Fast-Talk is penalised by Low Empathy, Oblivious, Shyness, Stuttering and Truthfulness, and boosted by Voice. It defaults to IQ-5 or Acting-5, and Fortune-Telling defaults to Fast-Talk-3, and Panhandling to Fast Talk-2. Fast-Talk at 20 or more gives +2 to all reactions in situations where you can talk.

Fast-Talk is generally the skill to use for getting quick decisions made in your favour, while Acting is the skill for long-term schemes where the target makes their own decision, based on wrong information. It's also the skill used to tell lies believably. Like any Influence skill, it's worth having Fast-Talk at a fairly high level if you plan to rely on it, since you need to win contests against the target's IQ or Will. A special use of Fast-Talk goes with Intimidation: if you want to appear more intimidating, to have backup that you actually lack, and so on, winning a contest of Fast-Talk with your target's IQ gives you +3 to Intimidation, as Specious Intimidation. People who have succumbed to Fast-Talk will normally realise it when they have time to think about the event, and will usually be indignant about it. They might let it slide if they're particularly fatalistic, or if they gained something, but habitual Fast-Talk is not the way to build a good reputation.

There are at least two reasons why the GM may be interested in the line of argument of a Fast-Talk attempt. The first is that it's likely to affect NPC actions, both while they still believe it, and in what they conclude about your intentions once they realise they've been fooled. Another is to assess penalties or bonuses for a particularly (un)convincing argument. The latter is a lot more subjective, and some groups dislike it, since it makes the character's abilities more dependent on those of the player.

Social Engineering provides more detail for Fast-Talk: how it interacts with other skills, how it works when communication isn't face-to face, how to use it for mockery, romance, distraction, lies, manipulation, confidence tricks, and many other purposes. Influence Without Words, p30, can be extremely valuable.

The example GURPS adventure, Caravan to Ein Arris, makes a lot of use of Fast-Talk, and GURPS in general seems to assume its use is common on the seamier sides of society, where lots of adventures take place (only three of the 17 Dungeon Fantasy PDFs don't mention Fast-Talk). Fast-Talk is standard on templates for face characters, salesmen, propagandists and dragons, and common for characters who may have to impersonate someone, or explain away something embarrassing, such as a spy or Cleaner. Action has lots of applications for Fast-Talk, including such tricks as a HT-based roll for passing a polygraph test. Madness Dossier has an important place for Fast-Talk in its mind-control games, and Infinite Worlds characters need it for covering up inconsistencies. Monster Hunters makes similar use of Fast-Talk to Action and Mysteries has a lot about Fast-Talk in interactions with witnesses and suspects. Power-Ups 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 have examples that involve Fast-Talk. as do Psis, Psionic Powers and Psionic Campaigns. Space has corruption rules where Fast-Talk can be important, and you can Fast-Talk some Zombies.

There's a error in several GURPS books, in writing "Fast Talk" without the hyphen. The Basic Set does it in a few places, as do others from Caravan to Ein Arris to Monster Hunters 5: Applied Xenology. It doesn't really matter in print, but it does for PDF searching. I've reported errata.

Personally, I've often been willing to pay the extra points for Diplomacy, because of its safety, but Diplomacy will only work when your cause is something that the subject could agree with. This is pretty common when PCs are saving the world or otherwise clearly being heroic. It's a lot rarer when your objectives are simply mercenary or criminal.

What bridges have you sold with Fast-Talk?
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