Using Erotic Art Skill

[dataweaver]

Originally Posted by whswhs

My take on this is that basic sexual technique is Erotic Art+5, which equates to DX (or Per or HT or whatever) if you haven't made a study of it.

Everyman Tasks. Who wrote that article, hmm?

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

I'm a little cautious (okay, quite a lot cautious) of throwing optional specialisations of Merchant around too freely, by the way. Remember, they're optional specialisations -- which means that, if you take them to a decent level, they give you the whole damn skill at some kind of fair level. An adept courtesan may be skilled at politely negotiating her rewards, but that doesn't mean that she knows going prices and bidding tactics down at the corn exchange.

Sounds like a good option for a technique rather than a specialisation. Possibly Elicitation on Merchant for haggling-without-haggling?

Unrelated:

A few uses I've used for Erotic Art was for a "romantic vampire" as per GURPS Horror...

-Assisted in Enthrallment skills or Brainwashing through magical hypnosis, causing penalties equivalent to "Influence skills on PCs".

-Feeding undetected. Margin of Success on a Quick Contest of Erotic Art vs HT/Will/Per (choose highest) is the amount of HP that can be taken through Leech or Vampiric Bite without the target being aware they were hurt at the time.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Everyman Tasks. Who wrote that article, hmm?

Yeah, well, I thought it was a good solution then and I still think it's a good solution now.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Minor nitpick / expansion to ensure an old misunderstanding isn't unintentionally perpetuated:
Sex Appeal neither holds a monopoly among Influence skills on getting people into bed, nor is a necessarily restricted to that task.

True, but if you're going for simple seduction, Sex Appeal is the skill to use. Use of other Influence skills requires slightly unusual circumstances, such as a party or similar hedonistic setting in order to use Carousing, or a prior sexual relationship to use a skill such as Fast Talk or Diplomacy.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

It is also probably also the appropriate skill for monthly job rolls of certain occupations.

Only if you're a "kept woman/man" in a purely sexual relationship with a single employer. Even then a skill like Carousing, Psychology, or Savoir-Faire might be just as valid.

Some form of Professional Skill, and possibly a complementary skill, such as Streetwise, Sex Appeal, Savoir-Faire, or Fast Talk is needed to cover the commercial and professional aspects of being a sex worker.

For ordinary sex workers, Erotic Art plays very little part in what they do.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

True, but if you're going for simple seduction, Sex Appeal is the skill to use. Use of other Influence skills requires slightly unusual circumstances, such as a party or similar hedonistic setting in order to use Carousing, or a prior sexual relationship to use a skill such as Fast Talk or Diplomacy.

I don't think that's true. The "silver-tongued devil" is one of the classic models for the successful seducer, and his use of Fast-Talk is likelier to succeed with a lot of prospects that direct resort to Sex Appeal. And Diplomacy at least provides you with a way to express an interest without being resented as a letch. I don't think this need be restricted to people with whom such a relationship already exists.

[AlexanderHowl]

How would you model someone who uses the appearance of innocence or naivety to seduce another individual through seeming to 'accidentally' excite their passions?

[TGLS]

I'd use Acting.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

How would you model someone who uses the appearance of innocence or naivety to seduce another individual through seeming to 'accidentally' excite their passions?

I think that that is a case of what GURPS Social Engineering (p. 37) calls "manipulation," based on the rules for specious Intimidation in the Basic Set. In this case, you roll Acting vs. the target's IQ to assume an appearance of naïveté (I agree with TGLS about this).

If you win, you get +3 to an apposite Influence skill. In this case I actually would make the skill Sex Appeal: You're trying to produce arousal under the cloak of not realizing the passions you're betraying, which gives you +3 to Sex Appeal, making you seem far more tempting than a seemingly experienced vamp.

If you lose, you fail to achieve the desired arousal, and instead the target sees through you and has a Very Bad reaction (per GURPS SE, p. 76, openly disgusted rejection and -2 to any further attempts).

I think that mechanics fairly well fits what you're describing. It would be kind of like the mini-drama in Joni Mitchell's "Raised on Robbery."

[AlexanderHowl]

Interesting, I think Acting would also be a good choice, though I can see someone using Performance to adopt the guise of an innocent character (with hundreds of thousands of plays, movies, etc and millions of characters, you could potentially find a suitable character for every social interaction). If the individual in question is unfamiliar with the material, they could mistaken a good performance for the real thing.