[Basic] What skills for a long con or ...

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by thalcos

There's probably also an Expert Skill (Con Jobs) skill which gives you exhaustive knowledge of all the standard con jobs and their variants.

E.g., the con from The Sting is a "pigeon drop" and there are many versions of it. In Lost, half the cons Sawyer pulls are known tricks you can look up. He just tweaks them and pulls them off with authenticity and style.

Other skills (Psychology, Leadership, Acting, Fast-Talk) would help you understand the best con to pull on someone, how to plan it, and then execute against it.

Like others, I think that the ability to list con jobs is at best a Hobby skill (for someone who reads a lot of true crime stories) or a roll against Criminology (for someone with a police or criminal prosecution background).

I can understand the wish to distinguish mechanically between someone with Fast-Talk, Acting, and Leadership who has never gulled a mark, and a veteran scammer. I am not sure how (although a Perk might not be bad, and there are familiarities).

How does GURPS handle stage magic? That is another field where practice is knowing the principles of a few dozen basic tricks and being able to present them confidently and make them feel new.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

I can understand the wish to distinguish mechanically between someone with Fast-Talk, Acting, and Leadership who has never gulled a mark, and a veteran scammer. I am not sure how (although a Perk might not be bad, and there are familiarities).

Possibly Techniques, since Fast-Talk, Acting, etc. cover a lot of ground.

Originally Posted by Polydamas

How does GURPS handle stage magic? That is another field where practice is knowing the principles of a few dozen basic tricks and being able to present them confidently and make them feel new.

Sleight-of-Hand is the basic skill for tricks which require you to palm or plant small objects. Performance skill helps you put on a good show and Fast-Talk is handy if you are actively trying to misdirect attention. The sort of stage magic which involves illusions or rigged props rather than Sleight-of-Hand could be treated as a Professional Skill (Stage Magician).