Using Erotic Art Skill

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Hey, Philosophy deals with all of human existence and it doesn't do anything either.

Not to violate the +1 rule, but I don't try to find game applications for Erotic Art myself, but I have never regretted that it's the main thing I learned in college.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Plane

Diplomacy may not involve duress as immediate or obvious as something like Intimidation but I expect it does involve subtler amounts of it, like subtly alluding to the armaments of a nation, or who controls the waterways or food production or energy production in international trade.

Actual diplomacy may consist, as Walter Trumbull said, of soothingly saying "nice doggie" untiil you have a chance to pick up a rock, but I expect that whswhs was referring to the inaptly-named GURPS skill rather than to the branch of statecraft.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Not to violate the +1 rule, but I don't try to find game applications for Erotic Art myself, but I have never regretted that it's the main thing I learned in college.

what's the +1 rule? I think we should have game applications for this, like mechanically represent why people benefit from doing this.

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by Plane

what's the +1 rule? I think we should have game applications for this, like mechanically represent why people benefit from doing this.

I thought they meant the informal rule that you shouldn't reply to a forum post just to say "+1", as in "I agree".

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Actual diplomacy may consist, as Walter Trumbull said, of soothingly saying "nice doggie" untiil you have a chance to pick up a rock, but I expect that whswhs was referring to the inaptly-named GURPS skill rather than to the branch of statecraft.

Indeed. I quoted that line on page 69 (attributing it to Will Rogers, whom I've seen named as its source), but Diplomacy in GURPS has a specialized meaning, like Acting or Honesty.

Most Influence skills can go wrong, and cause offense (Bad reactions, or Very Bad to specious Intimidation): Fast-Talk when people see through your bafflegab, Intimidation when they resent your threats, Savoir-Faire and Streetwise when they dislike your high- or low-class manners, and Sex Appeal when you turn them off rather than turning them on. But Diplomacy at worst leaves you with the outcome of a reaction roll: It's the art of presenting an offer or suggestion in a form that doesn't itself provoke a reaction (though its content may do so).

And while diplomacy may be used for transactions based on negative value ("If you don't do this we'll make you worse off"), it can be used just as well for transactions based on positive value ("if you do this we'll make you better off").

Duress properly in applied through Intimidation. Fast-Talk is used for fraud and misrepresentation, and Sex Appeal for (a common form of) undue influence. It's possible for either Savoir-Faire or Sex Appeal to be used for less blatant forms of duress, but they can also be used to invoke class solidarity, or even to appeal to people through sheer coolness, which I suppose might be considered a different form of undue influence.

In (at least American) vernacular, "being diplomatic" can mean making suggestions in ways calculated not to provoke.