INTIMIDATION
Description: Intimidation takes many forms, from outright threats and physical violence to mere force of personality. Maybe you understand the unconscious cues of social alpha-ism or have a way with cutting words. Or perhaps you’re simply big enough or mean enough to inspire submission. Whatever your secret might be, this Talent gives you an edge when coercing other people, beasts, and possibly other entities as well.
Allowed Specialties: Authority, Bullying, Dominance, Extortion, Torture
Rules: Intimidation has two effects. Intimidation’s passive effect doesn’t involve a roll; it simply gives your character plenty of space – whether on a bus or in a bar. The higher your Intimidation rating, the wider the berth that others give him.
Intimidation’s active application works through subtlety or outright threat. Subtlety is based on a perceived threat (losing one’s job, being arrested, pain and agony later in life). Roll Manipulation + Intimidation in a resisted action (difficulty 6) against either the subject’s Willpower or her Manipulation + Intimidation (whichever is higher). The target must get more successes or be effectively unsettled.
Story Example #1: It would be foolish to threaten your rival openly while in the confines of Elysium. Roll Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty 8) to properly veil your threat without leaving her in doubt as to your intentions. A success might make them less likely to voice open criticism in front of the Elysium Harpies.
The blatant form of Intimidation involves direct physical threat. In this case, you may roll Strength + Intimidation in a resisted roll (difficulty 6) against either the subject’s Willpower or her Strength + Intimidation (whichever is higher).
Story Example #2: You threaten the mouthy young pup by lifting him off the floor by his collar. Roll Strength + Intimidation (difficulty 8) to get him back in line.
This system covers mundane coercion only. Player characters can spend a Willpower point to steel themselves against mundane intimidation attempts for the scene. An Intimidation roll isn’t always needed to scare someone: All but the most divinely serene or psychopathic mortals will likely quail in fear from encountering any blatant supernatural display, whether it’s glowing red eyes, a talking wolf, or even a levitating pencil.
Intimidation comes in various flavors and circumstances, which is represented by its allowed specialties:
- Authority refers to using one’s rank or position in some hierarchy to underline their will. This could be a teacher, a badge or a Prince.
- Bullying refers to coercing peers or near-peers, such as another student, or a Garou rudely coercing a spirit to cooperate in some venture.
- Dominance is primarily associated with shifters (or other bestial sorts), and applies to Staredown or Facedown contests.
- Extortion refers mostly to blackmail or racketeering attempts.
- The Torture specialty allows a character to force compliance from a (usually helpless) victim by inflicting violence upon them. Such depraved interrogation techniques involves traumatizing the victim’s mind or body, often permanently. This is an extended action wherein the torturer rolls Manipulation + Intimidation vs a difficulty determined by the victim’s Stamina + 3 or Willpower (whichever is higher). Rolls are made every ‘session’, with the ultimate target number of successes determined by the Storyteller, and highly dependent on circumstances. A fanatic Jihadi or blood-bound servant of a cruel Prince might have many layers of indoctrination that conceal their deepest secrets. A victim usually suffers at least one lethal level of health lost and one or more temporary Willpower dots per session. When they are reduced to 0 temporary Willpower, they can dig in and sacrifice a dot of permanent Willpower. Often, a particularly zealous victim has to be kept alive for days, weeks or even months before everything of worth is extracted from them.
- The torturer can also take the ‘Jack Bauer’ approach, and simply begin breaking bones or cutting off fingers until the victim relents. The torturer makes a Strength + Intimidation roll vs the lower of the victim’s Stamina + 3 or Willpower, whichever is lower. Unlike the above approach, this roll can be repeated each minute, with the victim taking a lethal level of damage for every roll. If the torturer fails a single roll, they may either accidentally kill their victim, render them catatonic, or elicit a bogus confession.