Indirect Influence (Text) and Time Taken

[whswhs]

On the subject of other skills, I'm going to say that no, you can't use Writing to send a text message making a request. What Writing lets you do is choose appropriate words to tell a story, express a sentiment, or state a fact or an argument. But you are using Diplomacy, or Savoir-Faire, or Politics (most often) to tell you what words are "appropriate" to the person and the request, and to judge if you've said anything that might give offense. If you choose appropriate words, the fact that you have an awkward construction isn't going to stop the recipient from understanding what you meant; if you choose inappropriate words, good writing isn't going to be any more persuasive.

I suppose that I would allow an exception in the sort of milieu where a letter is expected to begin and end with flowery compliments that cannot just be memorized and used in everything you write.

I don't see how Piggybacking is relevant to this. To used Piggybacking, you're basically making an Intelligence Analysis roll. That requires, first, extensive sampling to identify memes that are current in the target population, and second, analysis to spot one that's a suitable carrier. We're talking about time on the order of weeks, I think. And the whole work has to be done before you start planning the propaganda campaign during which you have the writing done.

Bill Stoddard

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by whswhs

On the subject of other skills, I'm going to say that no, you can't use Writing to send a text message making a request. What Writing lets you do is choose appropriate words to tell a story, express a sentiment, or state a fact or an argument. But you are using Diplomacy, or Savoir-Faire, or Politics (most often) to tell you what words are "appropriate" to the person and the request, and to judge if you've said anything that might give offense. If you choose appropriate words, the fact that you have an awkward construction isn't going to stop the recipient from understanding what you meant; if you choose inappropriate words, good writing isn't going to be any more persuasive.

Oh, I merely meant using Writing to get a bonus, like the one Calligraphy provides. I'm not proposing to replace Diplomacy.

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't see how Piggybacking is relevant to this. To used Piggybacking, you're basically making an Intelligence Analysis roll. That requires, first, extensive sampling to identify memes that are current in the target population, and second, analysis to spot one that's a suitable carrier. We're talking about time on the order of weeks, I think. And the whole work has to be done before you start planning the propaganda campaign during which you have the writing done.

Thank you for the clarification. That really does clear up the mechanics behind the Technique.