2.22.2 Manipulation

A character can manipulate someone to do something by exploiting known character weaknesses, for example, teasing, bullying or taunting them into action. Effectively, this involves berating, goading or nagging the other person until they do what the character wants. Continual manipulation of another person will cause that person to dislike or eventually hate their tormentor.

A character can successfully manipulate another person if he/she makes a dice roll using his/her IQ + Intimidation (including Manipulation specialism) and gains a better result than the other person's resistance dice roll.

There are bonuses or penalties depending on how well the character knows the person being manipulated:

How well the character knows the personality of the person being manipulated Modifier to manipulation dice roll
Knows nothing about the person -4
Never met the person but has heard about them -2
Has met the person a few times +0
Has known the person for some time and interacted with them frequently +2
Knows the person intimitely (e.g. has lived with the person) +4

For example, Cogan has ventured into the lair of an evil magician, entered a large chamber and come across the magician on the other side of it, surrounded by chained up slave-girls. Sensing danger and wary of magical traps, Cogan hesitates. The magician has heard of Cogan and attempts to goad him into crossing the room - He pulls out a knife, puts it to the throat of one of the girls and calls out "Ah, you must be Cogan. So disappointing in the flesh. Afraid of my magic. And I thought you were supposed to have no fear. Perhaps, I should sacrifice one of these girls in your honour". The magician's Intimidation score is 4 with a +1 bonus in manipulation and his IQ is +2. The referee gives him modifiers of -3 (significant downside to Cogan charging the magician) and -2 (knows Cogan only by reputation), making a basic value of 2. He rolls 2D-4, gets a 5 and 3, making a dice roll result of 4. Cogan has an Influence score of 1 with a +1 specialism in assertion and a WP of +2 1/2. The referee gives him modifiers of +2 (irrational fear of magic) and -3 (chivalric conduct towards women makes him want to protect the slave-girls), giving him a basic value of 3 1/2. He rolls 2D - 2 1/2, gets a 4 and a 3, making a dice roll result of 4 1/2. Cogan barely holds his anger in check; the attempt to goad him has failed and Cogan's player can decide what Cogan does next.