Previous General Eloquence This is essentially a "miscellaneous" type of social rule - the GM might call for it when you need to lend extra weight or eloquence to your in-character words, but you are not pursuing a social action described elsewhere. Simply make a d12 social offense roll; if successful, your character is presumed to be speaking eloquently and/or confidently, regardless of your exact phrasing, just as with any social offense roll success. It is up to the GM whether another roll is required should the conversation continue (generally not), or how soon you may re-attempt a failed roll. A lack of relevant cultural literacy may make this roll impossible, or may add 3 Hindrance.
Intimidation This activity involves threatening other characters, whether explicitly or subtly. Although intimidation is useful in combat, you might also use it outside of a physical confrontation - for example, to cause an opponent in a debate to take -TNs to social rolls (careful, however - if the situation is too inappropriate, this could hinder your efforts in a persuasion social action).
In combat, intimidation requires a verbal free action. You may intimidate as many characters as can hear and understand you and that you desire to affect. Spend 5 insight and make a d12 social offense roll; if failed, you may immediately roll again, at a cost of 5 insight per roll. Once successful, you inflict an amount of terror depending on your renown and reputation:
Impersonal, Comical, Benevolent: 0
Oppressive, Audacious: Half your renown, to a
maximum of 15
Barbaric: Equal to your renown, to a maximum of 30
Terror inflicted by intimidation does not stack with other intimidation (that is, a character suffers only the most severe intimidation currently inflicted). It is however added to other sources of terror (see Trauma & Terror). Appeal Abilities can increase the amount of terror, independent of your reputation.
The effects of intimidation continue for the duration of the battle or social encounter.
Rallying This activity involves quickly fostering courage in yourself and your allies, countering the effects of terror. Rallying warcries have been used ever since the first Antecessor tribe picked up clubs, and a quiet-yet-confident reassurance may be all your friend needs to stand their ground against an intimidating social opponent.
In combat, rallying requires a verbal free action. You may rally as many characters as can hear and understand you and that you desire to affect. Spend 5 insight and make a d12 social defense roll; if failed, you may immediately roll again, at a cost of 5 insight per roll. A successful rally reduces any terror you and your listeners are currently suffering by 2. Allied characters of No Rapport towards you also remove an additional amount of terror depending on your renown and reputation:
Impersonal, Comical, Barbaric: 0
Oppressive, Audacious: Half your renown, to a
maximum of 15
Benevolent: Equal to your renown, to a maximum of 30
Allied characters of greater Rapport instead remove an additional amount of terror depending on their Rapport with you:
Low Rapport: 5
Medium Rapport: 10
High Rapport: 20
Appeal Abilities can increase the effects of a rally, independent of renown or Rapport. In your own rally, you do not remove an additional amount of terror from either your own reputation or Rapport with anyone, meaning that it is useful for two characters in a party to rally each other. However, the terror removed by a rally does not stack with other rallying attempts (that is, a character receives the benefits of only the best rally currently affecting them).
The effects of a rally continue for the duration of the battle or social encounter.
Gathering a Crowd Adventurers sometimes have a need to spread word throughout a village or city. Gathering a crowd is also a prerequisite for some social actions and Appeal Abilities. If deemed reasonable by the GM, it can also assist actions such as persuasion - for example, persuading an entire village to keep an eye out for your enemies or raise a militia. If nothing else, you may encounter a crowd gathered by someone or something else, which you may then wish to speak to.
Direct Gathering You may attempt to gather a crowd simply by shouting at surrounding people in a village or city. This may be difficult without either Appeal Abilities or a beneficial reputation; first, you must spend 10 insight and make a d20 social offense roll. If you lack cultural literacy, you must add 3 Hindrance in this roll. The reactive +TN from using Willpower cannot be applied in this roll. If you succeed, take note of the amount by which you have succeeded on the roll. Next, add that number to another value dependent on your reputation with the people:
Benevolent: Add 150% of your renown
Oppressive, Audacious: Add your renown
Impersonal, Comical: Add 50% of your renown
Barbaric: Subtract your renown
Finally, compare the result to the following chart to determine the size of the crowd you summon. The category of size (small, medium, or large) is generally what impacts other social action rules, but approximations are also given for the actual crowd size.
| Result | Crowd Size (category) | Crowd Size (approximate) |
| 0-10 | Small | 10% of a village's population, or 1/1000 of a city's population |
| 11-30 | Medium | 50% of a village's population, or 1/500 of a city's population |
| 31+ | Large | Almost all of a village, or 1/100 of a city's population |
Scheduled Gathering If you can afford to wait, you may have better luck gathering a crowd if you arrange the gathering ahead of time. This may involve such methods as spreading the word through local contacts or simply posting notices in taverns. To gather a crowd in this way, simply follow the above rules for gathering directly, but add 1 Easing to the d20 roll. You must announce at least 4 hours before the gathering. If you announce a gathering far in advance, you gain an additional 1 Easing per day, to a maximum of 4 total Easing from these rules (that is, 3 days).
Bad Gathering Contexts You must add 4 Hindrance in the roll to gather a crowd during the hours that people normally sleep. The GM may similarly require Hindrance if there is a major event or disaster happening at the same time, if you are gathering a crowd for a bizarre reason, or if you are being evasive about your reason.
Repeating Attempts Your party may attempt a direct gathering once every 4 hours, but you must add 2 Hindrance for every previous attempt anyone in your party has made that day in that city/village. A failed roll still counts as an attempt. You may attempt scheduled gathering attempts as often as you like, but your party cannot have more than 1 scheduled gathering "pending" at once in a given city/village. You must add 4 Hindrance during a direct gathering if your party already has a pending scheduled gathering.
Public Speaking Hindrance After a crowd has been assembled, you must add 1 Hindrance to all social offense rolls made towards them, due to the natural stress of public speaking. Social Competence (Appeal) removes this Hindrance.
Lie Detection You may attempt to read a character to determine whether or not they are lying about a certain topic, though this may be difficult against strong-willed characters. To attempt lie detection, spend 5 insight, then make a d12 social offense roll. You might add Hindrance or Easing if any of the following situations are true:
-3 Hindrance if you cannot see their face, or if they are non-organic
-1 Hindrance if you and they are different
species (except if you are both antecessoroid)
-1 Easing if they are an elf and their ears are
visible
Additionally, intimidation and threats are
counterproductive to lie detection, as signs of anxiety and fear
overlap too much with signs of lying. You must add 5 Hindrance if the
character has any degree of terror caused by you or your allies, if you
have applied intimidation in a persuasion attempt to get them to talk,
or if you are threatening them with harm if they don't talk. This
Hindrance continues throughout the social encounter, even if the terror
is removed or you stop threatening them. Such tactics produce
information, but rarely reliable information.
If your roll is successful, the other character makes a
blind d10 social defense roll to resist; they
must make this roll even if deliberately trying to be honest with you, as you know that a stronger-willed character may possibly be resisting. They must add 2 Hindrance to this roll if the possible lie is about their philosophical beliefs or other core outlooks, as it is harder to lie convincingly about one's worldview without training.
If you succeed and the defense roll fails, you are able to determine whether or not the other character is speaking deceitfully. If you detect deception, you do not automatically ascertain the truth, or to what extent the lie is a lie; you simply know something is wrong. If unsuccessful, you may not use lie detection on that character again for at least 15 minutes. Unsuccessful attempts do not compel you to believe the character; you just can't be sure. Lie detection can detect only deliberate deception, not honest mistakes (i.e. falsehoods the speaker believes to be true).
A successful attempt to use lie detection is effective until the subject of conversation notably changes. At that point, if you have not failed an attempt, you may attempt lie detection again.
Character Observation Lie detection rules may
also be used to resolve the
act of observing a character to determine their intentions.
Instead of
revealing whether the person's words
are false, a successful usage will reveal whether their behavior
is false. For example, if you're curious whether a person who acts
happy to see
you is actually angry, whether a person who acts like a normal tavern
customer is actually snooping for information, or whether a
friendly-looking adventurer who beckons you to approach really just
wants you to walk into a trap. As with lie detection, a successful
attempt does not give you the exact details of the dishonesty, only
that something is wrong. It cannot be used to indirectly ascertain if the character's friend(s) are lying.