The tier 2 talent Threaten says that you may suffer 3 strain to use this to inflict a number of strain on an adversary equal to your ranks in Coercion . It also says that you can extend the range of this talent through increasing your ranks in Threaten . Is that right? That the strain you inflict is based on Coercion and not Threaten ?

Sounds like there are two ways to buff the ability. Your ranks in Coercion determine how much strain you cause, while your ranks in Threaten control how far away you can use the ability. I'm assuming it starts at Engaged range, so Threaten rank 2 would get that to Short, rank 3 to medium, etc. But the only way to up the "damage" would be to pump up your Coercion (to a max of 5).

That's my reading as well; though it starts at Short range. But it seems odd to use Coercion in the middle of a fight to cause strain from what I assume is a verbal threat (since I assume use of the talent is to threaten the adversary).

Strain can represent a lot of different things. In this case, I'd interpret it as something like psychological discomfort, uneasiness, or even fear caused by the person using the talent. It's not too dissimilar from Scathing Tirade, which is also a way to weaponize your Coercion skill.

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