Roleplayer #23, May 1991
Intimidation and Ineptness
New Skill Rules for GURPS
by Steve Jackson
No matter how complete we think the system is, interesting new
additions continue to crop up -- because we have an interesting, creative
group of users! Here are two new ideas for character creation -- a skill
and a skill-related quirk -- from our gamer feedback.
Intimidation
This skill was suggested by a number of GURPS
users on the BBS
and elsewhere. After a great deal of discussion, we decided to add it. Certainly
intimidation is similar in many ways to Acting and Fast-Talk -- but it is
also different in many ways. A thug can be a skilled intimidator without
being at all quick-witted, and a fast-talking actor can be poor at intimidation.
Or, perhaps, very good . . . .
Intimidation is a Mental/Average skill, defaulting to ST-5 or Acting-3.
It is a social "influence" skill, used for persuasion. The essence
of intimidation is to convince the subject that you are able and willing,
and perhaps eager, to hurt him.
Intimidation may be substituted for a reaction roll in any situation, though
it is at a -3 penalty when used in a request for aid. A successful Intimidation
roll gives a Good (though not friendly) reaction. A failed roll gives a
Bad reaction. Most people will remember an intimidation attempt, whether
successful or not, for a long time; it can permanently affect an NPC's attitude.
When Intimidation is used against a PC (or, at the GM's option, against
a NPC), this can also be rolled as a contest of Intimidation vs. Will. See
Influence Rolls, sidebar, p. B93.
Modifiers: Up to +2 for displays of strength or bloodthirstiness,
or +3 for superhuman strength or inhuman bloodthirstiness. Appropriate reputation
modifiers will certainly count! + 1 for each 6" of height that you
have over the subject, -1 if you are shorter (-2 if you are more than 6"
shorter). +2 for hideous appearance.
The GM may give a further +1 bonus for witty or frightening dialogue, but
should apply a penalty if the attempt is clumsy or inappropriate.
Fearlessness counts against intimidation attempts. The GM may apply
any level of penalty if the PCs are attempting to intimidate somebody who,
in his opinion, just can't be intimidated. This includes anyone with the
Unfazeable advantage.
Magical and Psionic Modifiers: Spells and psi talents can also
be used to frighten people. If any such ability is used to supplement an
attempt to intimidate, allow +2 for a successful attempt -- +4 for a critical
success. A failure has no effect unless the GM wants to penalize a critical
failure in some creative way.
Intimidating a Group: This skill may be used against several
people at once. For every five targets you attempt to intimidate with a
single roll, apply a -1 penalty to your skill -- up through a maximum of-5
(25 people). A single person cannot intimidate a group of larger than 25
people. A group of characters may attempt to intimidate a group of larger
than 25 -- 3 characters could intimidate up to 75 (3 x 25) people! Use the
bonuses of the best intimidator in the group, and the penalties
of the toughest target in the enemy group.
Running a Bluff: If the PC can make both a Fast-Talk and an Intimidation
roll, and roleplays it well, he can appear to be intimidating even when
he can't back it up. This is the only way to intimidate some people (martial
arts masters, world leaders, bellicose drunks). Success on both rolls gives
a Very Good reaction. Success on one and failure on the other gives a Poor
reaction. Failure on both gives a Very Bad reaction.
Note that Interrogation skill can default to Intimidation-3. It will not
help you tell a good answer from a bad one, but it can get people to talk.
Disabilities
There's been a lot of discussion of the general idea of "disabilities"
or "ineptness." It adds a lot of a character conception to say
that the person is simply terribly inept with certain skills. On the other
hand, it would be easy to abuse a rule that gave points for ineptness. "Let's
see. . . I'll be totally inept with weapons of all kinds. I'm a pacifist,
so it won't matter. How many points do I get?"
The solution: Ineptness is a quirk, worth one point, good mainly
for defining your character. When you are inept at a skill (or group of
related skills -- GM's call), you cannot study the skill, and your default
is at -4. Sure, you can try . . . Thus,
the point value is minimal, and the amusement and roleplaying value is high.
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#23 Table of Contents)