You compel other characters—or yourself—to do or believe something that they're not ordinarily inclined to do or believe. Compels are the most freeform type of action. The Deceive and Persuade compels can be used to resolve any social interactions. This section also contains rules for structuring these interactions and the regard other characters have for heroes.
Compel Actions
An opposed compel roll is a ✦ Success if it beats the foe’s Spirit. It’s a ⬖ Struggle if it beats the foe’s Will. A compel is a ⓧ Failure if it doesn’t beat either the foe’s Spirit or Will.
Persuade
Roll Compel to convince one or more nonhostile characters to take a course of action they’re disinclined to take.
✦ Success: The character is convinced and does what you say.
⬖ Struggle: The character is intrigued, but skeptical: they can take -1 spirit to cause your persuasion to fail.
ⓧ Fail: The character refuses and won’t countenance your suggestion again.
You can’t Persuade a target to do something suicidal, abusive to them, or totally against their nature. If a target you’ve persuaded loses regard for you, they are no longer compelled by this action. Also, make this roll with -2 penalty for each of the following criteria that apply:
Your compel lacks a carrot or stick.
Taking this action would place the character or their loved ones in significantly greater danger.
The character is wary.
Deceive
Roll Compel to convince one or more characters to believe something which you know is untrue.
✦ Success: The character believes you.
⬖ Struggle: The character is suspicious: they can take -1 spirit to cause your deception to fail.
ⓧ Fail: The character realizes you’re lying to them, won’t believe anything else you say about the matter, and loses regard for you.
Bolster
Roll Compel to bolster an ally who’s Standing fast in the same round. The ally can use your Compel roll in place of their Stand fast roll. You can use this action after the ally makes their roll, as long as you’re both acting in the same round.
You can also use this action to bolster a dying ally’s Survive Brace or Return Compel roll in the same manner.
Return
Roll Compel to adjure your soul to rejoin your body after failing a Survive brace roll. .
✦ 5+: You soul returns to your body. On your next turn, roll Survive.
⬖ 3–4: Your can take -1 spirit and struggle against the current—but only until your next turn, when you must make this roll again.
ⓧ 1–2: Your soul drifts into the undifferentiated flow of the Rephaim.
An ally standing close to you can use Bolster to increase your odds of success.
Social Interaction
This section provides a few rules that give more structure to compel actions during social encounters.
Regard
Regard is a simple measure of how other characters are inclined to treat you. There are three “notches” on the regard scale:
Friendly characters are trusting and hospitable. If you’ve taken a risk or made a sacrifice to help a character or their community, they’re likely to be friendly.
Wary characters are skeptical and guarded. Most people in the troubled realm of Tel-Kanan are wary by default.
Hostile characters regard you as their enemy and may immediately try to capture or kill you. Roaming monsters, Zordin raiders, and characters you’ve fought—or are fighting—are probably hostile.
When you try to persuade a target, their regard for you directly impacts how effective your action is. Attempting to persuade a hostile character, even a gullible one, is normally impossible. Getting caught in a lie will decrease a target’s regard for you.
Shared Ideals
Shared ideals can bump a hostile or wary character up a notch on the regard scale. If you Persuade a hostile character by speaking to an ideal you share with them, treat them as wary. Likewise, if you speak to a shared ideal with a wary character, treat them as friendly.
Speaking to a shared ideal is separate from invoking your own ideal for an advantage die; you can do both.
Carrots and Sticks
A carrot is a material, tangible good that the target values. Carrots include money, supplies, and arms. Carrots do not include promises or appeals to high-minded ideals. Also, the target must value the carrot being offered. A rich merchant-prince won’t regard an offer of stale bread as a carrot, nor will a well-armed mercenary consider a pile of scavenged weapons as a carrot.
A stick is a threat or insinuation that things won’t go well if the target doesn’t do what you want. To invoke a stick, you need some sort of leverage over the target—for example, clearly superior numbers or arms, or a hostage. Invoking a stick to persuade a friendly target will invariably turn them wary. At the Guide’s discretion, it may turn a wary target hostile.
If your carrot or stick are not real, roll the Deceive compel before you roll the Persuade compel.
Languages
All heroes, no matter their origin, speak Common, the language spoken throughout Tel-Kanan. But some NPCs and many monsters don’t speak Common, which presents problems for both persuasion and deception. You can still communicate with a character who doesn’t speak your language, but you’ll have to be creative about describing how you do it. The Guide has broad leeway to impose -2 penalties on Deceive and Persuade rolls against characters who don’t share your language.