Editing Stars Without Number: Back in Black (section)

=== Talk Show Rules ===

Okay, these are going to be the rules for the talk show.

As always, creativity is rewarded. Also, these are going to be subject to what is going on in the fiction, and the results may be tilted or reinterpreted in that light.


Pre-Game

You need to be able to make a decent presentation of yourself. This can be seen as basically a wardrobe check. You can use an appropriate skill (Leadership, Business, Any Culture/World* skill if you are going to dress like a person from that world), modified by Wisdom, to dress like a person who belongs on television. If you hit at least a difficulty seven, you manage to present yourself appropriately. If you fail the check, you will receive a -1 to every check you make until you succeed at a check.

If you hit at least a twelve, you will gain a +1 to any one check you make during the show. You must declare you are using this bonus beforehand.


Rounds and Players

There will be three rounds, each representing about a half hour of air time. During each round, three members of the party and three NPCs may take an action. The three NPCs are Alkaylee and two expert commentators. No PC may act two rounds in a row; therefore each player character will act twice. Rook acts as part of your group and will also act twice. You can kibbitz as much as you want in the OOC thread, because Delan's telepathy will allow you to coordinate your actions.


The following actions are available. Other actions might also be available. There is some flexibility in what skill is used, but please don't try to just always push towards using your highest skill.

*What's your agenda here?: This action can be used against any participant who has acted at least once already. It is a perception check with a difficulty of 7. Success gives the party information about the purpose and likely subsequent actions of another participant. If Delan uses this action, her Empathy power gives her the option of using it against every NPC. In this instance, they will make a saving throw versus mental effect instead of her making a Perception check. The amount and type of information obtained will depend on the NPC's emotional state and what action they are attempting that round. This action always takes place at the end of a round.

*...but you aren't entitled to your own facts!: This action uses an appropriate knowledge-type skill. History and Tactics are the most obviously useful, but this is another area where creativity will be of great assistance. This action starts at Difficulty 7, and allows the establishment of a common ground of fact, which must be within reason. No later action can that rests on incompatible premises can be successful. This action can be countered by later uses of the same action; each subsequent use to alter the same factual landscape increases the difficulty by one. Facts which are not closely related or incompatible can be established without reference to each other's current difficulty. (For example, an Tech/Astronautic argument about the quality of Chittik vessels and a Steward argument about the effects on the State's coffers may indicate contradictory conclusions about the best course of action, but the facts themselves are not in contradiction.)

*Rhetoric: Once facts are established, a character can use Persuade to push the audience toward a conclusion. This will fail if the facts are later controverted. Build your argument on solid premises!

*Conclude: If Rhetoric was used successfully during a prior round, and has not been countered, then a use of Leadership can effectively seal the deal so far as the audience is concerned.

*Challenge Credentials: With this check (probably based on Persuade), you can compel another character to reveal the skills they have that are relevant to the discussion. This action will automatically succeed if the target has failed a check in the prior round. A character who has had their credentials challenged receives a -1 to all checks until they succeed on a check.

*Establish Credibility: With this check, using an appropriate skill, you demonstrate that your group has credibility. Everyone on your side gains a +1 to their checks on the next round of actions.

*Question Credibility: If you have already determined another party's agenda, you can reveal it and attempt to argue that they're too biased. If successful, everyone with that agenda will be at -1 to any future actions relevant to their agenda, unless they can manage to shake off the accusation of bias.

*Build Reputation: This action allows the user to gain temporary Reputation (or some other benefit) from an outside organization or group by self-promotion or promoting the agenda of that organization or group. This will have effects that only apply outside of the combat, and those effects may vary wildly.

*Provoke: This action may be taken in a round after an opponent has failed an action. The opponent may contest it with a roll of their own, but if the target loses the roll then they are removed from the show and may no longer act. The target may decide if they storm off, lose it and have their mic cut off, or what.

*Straw Man: The user of this action may (within reason) dishonestly impute a position to a target who has used ...but you aren't entitled to your own facts! in the prior round. The straw man must be a reasonable corollary to the facts the target established. If successful, that person must either accept that position or lose their next action to disclaim it (automatic success.)


Note: Culture/World specifically means a world, it does not include spacer, traveler, criminal, et cetera.