ETIQUETTE
Description: You understand the nuances of proper behavior, which makes you a quick study when determining the right course of action when encountering varied social circumstances. Examples include not embarrassing yourself at your boss’ dinner party, navigating a gang-controlled neighborhood at night (combined with Streetwise), passing through a military checkpoint (no doubt combined with a little Subterfuge), not dropping the soap in the shower or the entire plot of Lawrence of Arabia.
In many cases, intuiting how to broach a topic is as important as the discussion itself, and a person with poor etiquette (i.e., social IQ) will never have an opportunity to make herself heard because she doesn’t know when or how to interject.
Allowed Specialties: High Society, various supernatural factions, mortal cultures and subcultures are all appropriate.
Rules: Ultimately, this Skill represents – at a certain fundamental level – knowing how to not piss people off.
Story Example: You (a young Cliath werewolf) want to conduct yourself as respectfully as possible around the high-ranking elder of your tribe. Roll Wits + Etiquette (difficulty 8).
- While a character understands the culture in which he was raised, the Storyteller may raise the difficulty should he be faced with traditions and mores that are not his own. Fortunately, a character with the necessary social IQ to thrive in one culture is usually perfectly capable of learning and applying the rules of another.
- In certain situations (as determined by the Storyteller), a character’s other social Abilities (such as Seduction or Diplomacy) will be limited by their Etiquette. Similarly, a successful Etiquette roll might offer an additional advantage, such as when exercising Leadership…or Subterfuge.
- High Society: Social graces are your forté. Through a blend of cultured manners and people skills, you know how to make a good impression. Given the elaborate gamesmanship and baroque expectations found at certain levels of society (and the local customs of cultures other than your own), this can grant an extremely valuable edge in negotiations, seductions, and other forms of diplomacy. And because social rules often exclude everyone except “the right sort of people,” this Skill provides a passkey to many important engagements.
- Narratively, expect that characters without the ‘High Society’ specialty are much less likely to be taken seriously by the wealthy and privileged elite.