New perks

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

This might be similar to an existing perk, but the game mechanics are probably different enough to make it a valid addition.

Take a Dive (Mental/Physical)

You can predictably use skills at a lower level than your actual level. You must specify which skills this perk applies to at the beginning of each scene, as well as the skill penalty you’re willing to accept (from -1 to -10). Once set, you can’t change these parameters until the scene ends, however, making this Perk risky to use if conditions might get worse than expected.

For example, if you’re normally an excellent shot, with DX 14 and Beam Weapons (E) skill at DX+4 (skill 18), you could pretend to be far less skilled and shoot as if you just had Beam Weapons at DX level (skill 14) or were even shooting using default skill (skill 11).

Realistically, it's harder to fake incompetence with tasks which rely on instinctive actions, such as Active Defenses and other rolls to prevent catastrophe. When you perform an “instinctive” action, you must make an IQ roll to remember to underperform. Failure means you use your actual skill level, allowing observers to make a Per-based roll vs. any relevant skill to realize that you're faking your incompetence.

If you use this skill to affect combat skills, your reduced skill doesn’t affect damage bonuses due to high skill (your muscles are still trained, even if you're faking), nor does it reduce your Striking or Grappling ST if you hit your target.

This is kind of like the classic pool hall hustler, except their skill level eventually does get used. I could see a Perk to appear less skilled while still using full skill.