Influence Attacks

An influence attack is the effort to change someone’s behavior. Influence attacks may be mundane or magical and can only target a creature that has Will Points. Multiple people may work together over several actions to build up influence attacks.

To perform an influence attack, the player must define what behavior their character is trying to trigger.

If the behavior would come naturally to the target, no influence is necessary. For example, a random person on the street is likely to give directions if asked, because most people are reasonably likely to do that. Similarly, merchants are happy to trade goods for cash without influence (though persuading a merchant to sell an item at a significant discount would require an influence attack). If a character convinces a cowardly guard that an enemy army is approaching with a Charisma (Deception) check, the guard is likely to flee with no attempt to influence needed. If, on the other hand, the guard was not cowardly and felt it was her duty to remain and face the army, convincing her to run would be an influence attack that followed the Charisma (Deception) check.

Characters can never be convinced through an ordinary influence attack to do something that they believe would endanger their lives or the lives of those they care about.

Mental Armor Class
The difficulty of the influence attack skill check is based on the target's Mental Armor Class (MAC). The formula is:

MAC = Base Mental Armor Class + Position Modifier + Intelligence ModifierThe difficulty of the check is based on how likely the target is to perform the behavior on their own, adjusted by the Wisdom modifier of the target:

Making Influence Attacks
Mundane influence attacks use skill checks as follows:

Charisma (Intimidation): an attempt to influence behavior by threatening a consequence if the target doesn't do what has been asked. (I.e., using a stick.) A basic influence attack that adds 1d6 influence points to an influence pool.

Charisma (Persuasion): an attempt to influence behavior by offering a reward if the target does what has been asked. (I.e., using a carrot.) A basic influence attack that adds 1d6 influence points to an influence pool.

Wisdom (Animal Handling): can be used in place of either Persuasion or Intimidation (either carrot or stick), but only when the target is an animal. A basic influence attack that adds 1d6 influence points to an influence pool.

Some skills can also be used to affect influence attacks indirectly:

Charisma (Deception): an attempt to mislead the opponent about what kinds of influence attacks will be effective. A successful check [vs what?] temporarily increases the DC of a particular influence pool for an ally.

Intelligence (Investigation): an attempt to deduce what kind of influence attacks will work well. A successful check [vs what?] identifies a good position -- a behavior that the target can be influenced to take at a particular DC. For example, piecing together clues that indicate an opponent is impoverished, and likely will be open to bribery. A higher degree of success leads to identification of a behavior with a lower DC.

Wisdom (Insight): an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of an attack. A successful check [vs what?] temporarily decreases the DC of a particular influence pool for an opponent.

Other skills can be used to help an ally, granting them advantage on a skill check, if used appropriately. Unskilled Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma checks can be used to help an ally. The DC is 15 (moderate).

Each class also has special abilities that it can use during influence attacks.

Influence Pools
An influence pool is a collection of points from attacks that attempt to trigger the same behavior in the target. Each successful influence attack results in 1d6 points add to the appropriate influence pool. Each character who contributed to the influence pool is considered an influencer.

Once an influence pool exceeds the target’s current Will Points, the target is considered temporarily influenced. The desired behavior is triggered and lasts as long as at least one influencer is present.

If an influence pool exceeds the target’s maximum Will Points, the target is considered fully influenced. The desired behavior is triggered and lasts until the target has their next long rest.

There are additional modifiers to the influence pool contributions based on the skill used: The first influencer to contribute to a pool defines the exact behavior desired. Anyone other influencers can contribute to that pool or start a new pool. However, each pool must include more points than the target’s current Will Points.
 * If Wisdom (Animal Handling) is used and the influencer uses an appropriate tool for the control of an animal (a bridle or lasso for a horse, a dog whistle or leash for a dog, etc.) then a successful check adds 2d6 to the pool.
 * If Charisma (Intimidation) is used and the influencer is brandishing a weapon that the target finds threatening then a successful check adds 2d6 to the pool.
 * If Charisma (Persuasion) is used and the influencer has given something of value to the target during this scene (information, money, tools) then a successful check adds 2d6 to the pool. Note that if the target is willing to sell a good or service, then a Wisdom (Persuasion) check is unnecessary—you don’t have to convince the shopkeeper to give you a cloak for a fair price or a farmer to sell you some apples for a few coppers, since they do this quite often for anyone. However, it might be necessary if you’ve woken them up in the middle of the night, or want to offer them less than what they think is a fair price, or if they mistrust you for some reason.

Each target is considered to have their own pool. When attempting to influence multiple targets the total points must be divided between the pools in whatever way the influencer wishes.