Can you learn Empathy?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

What's the proper build for someone who specializes in detecting written lies, and/or figuring the emotional state of a person through written communication? (Like Foster does in one or more episodes of Lie To Me)?

I think that Psychology would be fine, to be honest. Nothing says that the "interview" can't be written, that the "tests" can't be writing samples, or that the "file" can't be provided by the subject himself. I'd probably allow it to default to Writing-6 instead of IQ-6 for a trained writer, though. I've guessed correctly at many, many things about writers over my years as an editor – age, education level, health, nationality, politics, sexual orientation, etc. – and of course "knowing when the writer is lying about deadlines" is the classic editor skill (and "being diplomatic about revealing this" is another, so I'd let Diplomacy and Fast-Talk default to Writing instead of IQ, at the same penalties).