Two quick social skill questions.

[Kingmaker]

1. In my reign of steel campaign, my characters have encountered a Redjack, which for those who haven't played, are a Terminator style infiltrator unit.

Now the stat block for it indicates it has an IQ of 9, and an acting skill of 9 (pretending to be human) or 10, this is going from memory.

Long story short, if a person has even a point or two into detect lies, will they be able to identify it as a robot that easily?

2. If a person is attempting to dig for information subtly, what skill would that be, I'm not talking an interrogation, but something more subtle, where the person doesn't know what you're doing.

Thanks for any help provided!

[vicky_molokh]

1. Assuming you have the proper voice, biomechanics and appearance, acting as a human should be much, much easier than pretending to be of a specific race or a specific person. Something like +10 easy, assuming the robot was made properly.
Also, it's not about Detect Lies. Those detect outright lies. You need Empathy or Body Language to detect a non-human through short observation, or Psychology to figure discrepancies in behaviour.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Kingmaker

1. In my reign of steel campaign, my characters have encountered a Redjack, which for those who haven't played, are a Terminator style infiltrator unit.

Now the stat block for it indicates it has an IQ of 9, and an acting skill of 9 (pretending to be human) or 10, this is going from memory.

Long story short, if a person has even a point or two into detect lies, will they be able to identify it as a robot that easily?

2. If a person is attempting to dig for information subtly, what skill would that be, I'm not talking an interrogation, but something more subtle, where the person doesn't know what you're doing.

If you ask "Are you a robot?' it is as simple as Detect Lies in a Quick Contest v. Acting.

Detect Lies is alos noted as working in social situations rather than requiring Interrogation set ups. So if the Redjack doesn't start shooting as soon as it comes into range you can ask it "So where are you from?" and you can use Detect Lies on it when it says "I-AM-FROM-ZONE-WASHINGTON." in either a monotone mechanical voice or even that peculiar Austrian accent.

The Redjack probably starts shooting as soon as it comes into range. :)

ROS is probably somewhet low tech compared to the mivie setting it draws inspiration from. Even a T-800 is probably brighter than IQ9. One of those T-888s from the TV series si brighter than that.

Molokh's ideas about bonuses for simply looking like a human apply to the Disguise roll that is a prereq for Impersonation. The Redjack doesn't even need Dsguise. The Zonemind that built it can be the one to use that with high equipment bonuses. It would probably be Observation v. Disguise to spot the Redjack as a robot at range and it probably passes most of those.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Molokh's ideas about bonuses for simply looking like a human apply to the Disguise roll that is a prereq for Impersonation. The Redjack doesn't even need Dsguise. The Zonemind that built it can be the one to use that with high equipment bonuses. It would probably be Observation v. Disguise to spot the Redjack as a robot at range and it probably passes most of those.

Assuming it is superficially human, no Disguise roll seems to be required. Kinda like with Morph or Alternate Form, except tat Redjack only has the one, human form. At worst you'd be rolling Per against the Skynet's Crafting skills.

[cptbutton]

Digressing, if you realize that it is a killer robot but pretend not to until you can get closer to the cabinet with the assault cannon, does the Redjack get to roll against Detect Lies or Psychology to realize this?

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

Digressing, if you realize that it is a killer robot but pretend not to until you can get closer to the cabinet with the assault cannon, does the Redjack get to roll against Detect Lies or Psychology to realize this?

They don't sound all that sophisticated from what I read in the thread, but if the Redjack knows there's an assault cannon in the cabinet, it might preemptively attack as a tactical choice (not letting the human arm itself).

[Kingmaker]

Hmmm so I'm not sure how I should really handle this. The redjack write up specifically says "acting like a human" under it's skill block, but it also indicates that it has unnatural features, like the base level model isn't a perfect emulation.

So a body language roll vs acting? With a + to the redjack for equipment?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

Digressing, if you realize that it is a killer robot but pretend not to until you can get closer to the cabinet with the assault cannon, does the Redjack get to roll against Detect Lies or Psychology to realize this?

Probably not. They'd probably be working off a default skill, penalized for trying to figure out an a non-machine intelligence. So chances of success would be less than zero.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Kingmaker

2. If a person is attempting to dig for information subtly, what skill would that be, I'm not talking an interrogation, but something more subtle, where the person doesn't know what you're doing.

What you are trying to do is persuade them to answer a question. That's basically a Request for Information reaction roll, and any reaction modifier can help you get people to talk about what you're interested in.

But there are a couple of other things to note.

You can use an Influence skill to get them to talk about what you want to know. Use Diplomacy to come up with a reason that they would want to answer that makes sense to them; Fast-Talk to confuse them; or Savoir-Faire or Streetwise to convince them that you're the right sort of person and they can talk freely with you.

Or, to keep things more concealed, use the manipulation rules in Social Engineering. This basically works like specious intimidation: If you can win a Quick Contest of a deceptive skill such as Fast-Talk, Acting, or Psychology (Applied) against their IQ, you get a bonus (usually +3) to their reaction to your question (which I would take as "they told you more than they thought they were telling you")—but if you lose, you get a really bad reaction, automatically.

Bill Stoddard

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Kingmaker

Now the stat block for it indicates it has an IQ of 9, and an acting skill of 9 (pretending to be human) or 10, this is going from memory.

That seems low for something designed as an autonomous infiltration unit, especially one consciously modeled on the T-800 from the Terminator movies.

The cheap and easy fix is to boost IQ to 10, possibly give it levels of Talent, and possibly remove disadvantages which mess with Acting skill.

Alternately, assume that the T-800 was an exception version of the Redjack. If you want a scary smart Terminator in your game, make it yourself.

But, if you've watched the original Terminator movie, you'll notice that a typical T-800's role is to pass for human just long enough to get close enough to a human hideout and "crash the gate." The T-800s real advantage seems to be the fact that it is human-sized and shaped, allowing it to use the enemy's weapons and to navigate easily in human warrens.

The battlefield is also a confusing place. The fact that a Redjack could be a human might make humans hesitate long enough for it to kill them. Likewise, the presence of Redjacks might make humans trigger happy, so that they accidentally kill more humans. That's where low levels of Acting skill work.

So, for the stock Redjack, any ability with Psychology or Detect Lies, or possibly even good Observation skill, should be enough to reveal a Redjack for what it is.

Originally Posted by Kingmaker

2. If a person is attempting to dig for information subtly, what skill would that be, I'm not talking an interrogation, but something more subtle, where the person doesn't know what you're doing.

By RAW, Psychology (Applied) skill. Possibly Carousing or Sex Appeal in the proper situations.

If you like, define an "Interview" or "Conversation" skill, based on Psychology or Interrogation skill, to politely and subtly pump people for information in settings where none of the skills listed above seems appropriate.

Alternately, just assume that Interrogation skill works in situations where the subject isn't strapped to a chair under bright lights. After all, REAL interrogators use all sorts of subtle and gentle methods to get their subjects to reveal information. Often, the subjects don't even realize that they're being pumped for information!