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Epic Manipulation
Topic Started: Feb 22 2008, 08:59 PM (51 Views)
Doublehex
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A Scion with Epic Manipulation doesn’t have to be attractive. He doesn’t have to be smart. He needn’t even be charming. Those qualities belong to Scions who want either to be liked or to feel superior to everyone else. A Scion who relies on Epic Manipulation doesn’t care about that. He just gets results by any means, be it reverse psychology, intimidation, deceit, blackmail or what have you.

Associated With: Aphrodite, Atum-Re, Hades, Hel, Hera, Isis, Loki, Odin, Ogoun, Osiris, Poseidon, Set, Tezcatlipoca, Tlazoltéotl, Zeus

EPIC MANIPULATION KNACKS

Bait into Response

When the Scion speaks, he cajoles and goads, and others simply cannot resist framing a response, regardless of how much they want to just ignore him. He is so provocative that even the most temperate individual feels the urge to argue. A Scion with this knack can target one individual. That target individual will be goaded into responding to what the Scion is saying, and will desire to argue any points he disagrees with, even if it is in his best interests to shut up and say nothing. The victim of the Knack can't just be dismissive either - he will do his best to frame a rational counter-response, and will find himself getting drawn into debates whether he wants to be or not. Victims of this Knack can over-ride this effect by choosing to ignore the Scion. Mortals will not normally do this, preferring to fight back (however ineffectually) against the Scion's arguments. Scions and other supernaturals will be more aware that they are being magically quietened, and are more likely to throw off the Knack's effect.

Blurt It Out

This Knack represents a gift for making people speak their minds. Scions who have it normally corner a person who has information they want, strike up a conversation, direct that conversation toward the information in question, then pry it loose when it’s top of mind. Others confront victims who are surrounded by family, friends or coworkers, in order to make those victims admit damning information when it will do the most harm. The information must have legitimately come up in conversation. The Scion cannot simply shout “J’accuse!” then use Blurt It Out to force a random confession from a guilty person.

Gods’ Honest

When she’s trying to convince someone of something, the Scion puts her hand to her heart, puts her hand on a stack of Bibles, holds up her right hand with her pinkie and thumb crossed in the palm, or performs some other gesture of sincerity. When she does so, her would-be mark accepts that the Scion is telling the truth about the subject at hand, no questions asked, for the rest of the story. Only solid, incontrovertible proof showing that what the Scion said was undeniably false will convince the mark he’s been fooled. Even then, whoever’s showing him the proof will have to convince him that the proof is genuine and not some clever forgery.

A Scion with this Knack doesn’t have to lie when she uses it. She can also use it to convince a recalcitrant skeptic of the actual truth. If the Scion does so, no mortal force can convince that person that the Scion was lying (not even professionally faked “proof” to the contrary).

Master of Threats

The Scion can intuitively find the right words to frighten someone, striking a chord with their fears, and pushing just the right buttons to intimidate them. The Scion spends a Legend Point to activate this power - when he does so, he selects a single victim, and intuitively knows just the right words and verbal posturing to intimidate the target. The target won't necessarily flee or crumble at the Scion's words, but he cannot help but take the intimidation attempt seriously, and will find the Scion's threats troubling him for some time afterwards.

Overt Order

Sometimes, the direct method is more effective than the cleverest of intricate schemes. With this Knack, a Scion barks out a command that the target must obey. The command must be one the Scion can give and the victim can perform in a single action. “Freeze!” is acceptable, as is, “Don’t shoot!” or, “Shoot him!” Ordering someone to go home and shoot his wife won’t work because doing so would take longer than a single action. A victim of this Knack can interpret the command loosely to make it not directly suicidal, but not if all he’s trying to do is keep out of trouble. For example, if a victim draws a gun and the Scion commands him to shoot himself, the victim can shoot himself in the hand or the foot rather than blowing his own brains out. Same thing goes if a Scion uses this Knack at a seedy pool hall to command a smarmy drug dealer to pick a fight with a burly ex-con at the next table. The dealer might reasonably believe that the ex-con could kill him, but he still can’t weasel out of the command. He doesn’t have to walk up and take a swing at the guy, but he still has to do something, such as singing out a racial slur or throwing a beer bottle at the guy’s girlfriend. The dealer can cheese it immediately, but he’s still got to pick the fight first.

Seductive Mien
A beautiful face and sexually attractive body might the basis of attraction, but success in seduction is based more on the art of using these natural advantages in the best way. The Scion is naturally skilled at being seductive, and can use his divine nature to all but overwhelm the pathetic attempts of others to resist his advances.

Stench of Guilt

This Knack gives a Scion an insight into the workings of a victim’s mind. If the Scion hears a topic come up while the victim is speaking that reminds the victim of a misdeed he’s keeping secret, the Scion senses the presence of that secret. The victim needn’t feel guilty about the wrongs he’s done, but as long as he’s taken, or is taking, pains to hide them, the Scion catches on. This Knack can’t reveal what secret the victim hides, nor does it point out specifically what was said in the conversation that reminded him of the transgression. Conversational context is usually enough for a crafty Scion to figure out where to start looking, though.

Takes One to Know One

Liars and tricksters know their own. If some matchstick man tries to run a scam, Scions with this Knack know exactly what sort of person they’re dealing with. Whenever the Scion hears a person knowingly tell a lie, the Scion is automatically aware of the deception. This Knack doesn’t reveal what the truth actually is. Nor does it work on text written by someone who knows it’s false or when someone speaks untrue words in a language the Scion does not understand.

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PANTS ON FIRE

When a Scion using Gods’ Honest tries to lie to a Scion with Takes One to Know One, neither Scion automatically gets a free advantage over the other. In such a case, resolve the dispute as per a normal attempt to detect lies

When two Scions attempt to use Gods’ Honest on the same victim to convince him of different or mutually exclusive “facts,” the victim believes the Scion of higher reputation. If the Scions have equal reputation, the victim believes the character with more Epic Manipulation experience. If the Scions are equal in Reputation and Epic Manipulation, the victim believes the one with more Manipulation experience. If the Scions are matched in all three categories, the victim believes whichever character genuinely believes he’s telling the truth. If both believe they’re telling the truth but only one of them is, the victim believes the one who actually is telling the truth. If both equally matched Scions know they’re lying, the poor victim comes down with a terrible headache and refuses to believe either one of them. If a Scion has both Takes One to Know One and Stench of Guilt, he is instinctively able to tell apart the wordless sensations each Knack gives him.
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