So I've been looking at the "social" action cards, particularly the ones that say they "influence" someone on a success, and I'm trying to figure out why they are needed. Do they let you do things you wouldn't be able to do with the skill normally, or are they just useful for their extra abilities and the "influence" part is just an added bonus?

In particular, Honeyed Words has me wondering. It basically let's you lie to someone to get them to agree to a reasonable course of action. If you get a success, the action succeeds and you generally get the person to go along with what you were planning. Is this something that couldn't be done with Guile normally? Or is it really just useful for the benefit that comes along with the boons, namely a fortune die on future rolls?

I'd be interested to see how people handle Honeyed Words and similar "social" action cards in their games. Thanks!

I don't normally bump, but this was originally posted when the forums weren't working for new users. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I build social encounters that focus on influencing an NPC, using a progress tracker to track overall influence. I will have may first adventure posted soon - it might give you a good idea on some ways it can be used.

I do agree that someone can use either Charm or Guile to replicate the effects of the social action cards; the way I have ruled it is if you are aiming for the same effect as an existing action card, you use the "perform a stunt" action card with the same refresh, but you may only trigger the single success line (i.e. no multiple successes, no boons from the card) while you will suffer the bane effects.

Here is my concept of the Basic Social Action to Lie. I believe everyone should start with some basic social actions.
The skill check is not a very satisfying method for resolving social encounters. Here is an example social encounter.

The thought behind this card is that the reckless lie is a fast quick and dirty lie, which if you get it wrong things go bad quickly. The conservative lie is a thought out and planned lie which if you get stumped you can always think of something else to say to get back on track.

Title: The Lie - Reckless
Action Type: Support
Traits: Basic, Social
Recharge Rating: 0
Difficulty Modifier:
Action check: Guile (Fel) vs. Intuition (Int)
Requirements: Target can hear and understand you
Special Guidelines: for each target after the first
Success Lines: *S* = Influence Target and [bB] on the next Social Action; *SSS* = Influence Target
Side Effects: {B} = 1 Stress; {BB} = [bB] on next Social Action

Title: The Lie - Conservative
Action Type: Support
Traits: Basic, Social
Recharge Rating: 0
Difficulty Modifier:
Action check: Guile (Fel) vs. Intuition (Int)
Requirements: Target can hear and understand you
Special Guidelines: for each target after the first
Success Lines: *S* = Influence Target and 2 Recharge tokens on a GM choose of Social Action; *SSS* = Influence Target
Side Effects: {B} = 1 Recharge Token; 3 Recharge Token

What I have noticed about honeyed words is that it targets Int rather than willpower which is the default resistance to guile and charm. It would be useful for perhaps targeting a vigilant guard who has a high WP but maybe a low Int.

Because of this I would only let the standard charm and guile actions (i.e. without an action card) target the enemies WP. Even with the Stunt action I would not allow it as it would be a duplication of the honeyed words action card, the Int targeting I see as the special part of that card.

This is part of how I see the stunt card, I think it should only be used if a skill is being used in a special way. Skulduggery rather than education to pass an exam, Weaponskill to analyse an opponents fighting style etc.

Amketch said:

It has been pointed out to me that even the standard skill can target Int. So I will have to rethink this one.