[Basic] Skill of the week: Public Speaking

[johndallman]

Public Speaking is the IQ/A skill of being good at talking, persuasively or entertainingly. The defaults are IQ-5, Acting-5, Performance-2 or Politics-5. Acting, Panhandling and Performance have defaults to Public Speaking, and it's a prerequisite and cap for the Enthrallment skills. It appeared at GURPS 1e, as Bard.

The skill takes Cultural Familiarity and language modifiers, and is required for the Rapier Wit advantage. It is boosted by Charisma, Smooth Operator talent, and Voice, and penalised by Neurological Disorder, Shyness and Stuttering. It's used by politicians and stand-up comedians, rabble-rousers, TV and radio journalists, and anyone else who has to talk to large numbers of people. Optional specialisation in a particular field of Public Speaking is common. In Basic, you make a skill roll to determine the quality of your speech, but there isn't much guidance on the limits of what you can do.

Social Engineering adds detail: Public Speaking is useful in presenting requests, as a substitute Influence skill to gain a hearing, or get a Good reaction, to perform well in a job interview, to present a case or a plea in court, to turn a crowd into a mob or back again, or as the main skill in formal face-to-face debate or battles of wit. It can also serve as a distraction from something else you're doing secretly, be used to judge the mood of a crowd with a Per-based roll, and as a complementary skill to Propaganda. Appearing on TV, radio, trideo, etc., effectively does require some experience: a new medium is a familiarity for Public Speaking. The Charisma bonus to the skill does work through media. Before loudspeaker systems became ubiquitous, trained Public Speakers learned how to make their voices carry. Back to School covers effective lecturing.

Public Speaking shows up on templates for face-men in general, journalists, linguists, leaders and priests. Academics, artists, lawyers, mystics and writers also have uses for it. Action has rules for distracting crowds, to the point of riots, and performing cover-ups, and AtE uses it for recruiting followers to your cult (and riots). Bio-Tech has activists, engineers and executives who use this skill, and City Stats has some NPCs with very high skill levels. In DF, Bards are the archetypical Public Speakers, and many others dabble. Fantasy adds deadly druidical satire, and Roman magistrates who use Public Speaking as their main job skill. Madness Dossier uses it for memetic operations on crowds, and Infinite Worlds gives it cross-world familiarity penalties, and many uses for cross-time troubleshooters and tour guides.

Locations: Worminghall places the skill within classical education, and provides plenty of well-educated NPCs. LTC1 points out that the skill is ancient, as storytelling for entertainment, and Magic has a storytelling spell, with a skill cap of Public Speaking. Mysteries stresses the usefulness of this skill to investigators. The Power-Ups series has talents, quirks and wildcard skills for Public Speaking. Powers, Divine Favour and The Weird have abilities that work with it, as does Psionic Powers. Reign of Steel: Will to Live has Public-Speaking postmen, and it's good for persuading Supers archvillains to monologue. Thaumatology gives the skill uses in mass magic, poetic magic, and enchantment through fame. It's an example for using spells in place of skills in Magical Styles, and a candidate for triggering spell fumbles in Ritual Path Magic.

I don't think I've ever seen this skill used by a PC, although the Weird War II campaign I'm in has potential for it. What have you done with Public Speaking?