How do you use Intimidation in your game?

[Bren]

[Fallon Kell]

[vanir]

Like I suggested earlier, use it as the opening phase of combat. Give combat bonuses/penalties based on Intimidation rolls.

modify initiative, catch them flat footed, cause a fear reaction, these things can modify combat rolls or negate parries/dodges.

It's easier using it that way so that players have full control over role playing their characters (except for the success/failure of skills). I don't like forcing them to do anything relating to how they play their characters (like fleeing in magical horror in D&D), instead I prefer to try to break it down and for a badly failed Willpower/Intimidation give a fear reaction in the form of a simple free attack by the enemy with you caught flat footed.

Frustrates players without routinely taking over their characters. It's not so good to do that very much.

[Bren]

[garhkal]

[vanir]

Yes that seems a good system, we don't have a table written down but essentially abstract that.

[garhkal]

Give me a few days.. i will make a proper chart.
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[garhkal]

Bringing this question back up. In one of the modules Sparks uses, one of the combat situations has a Whiphid who possesses a 10d intimidation value, and it is wrote that he opens the combat scene up with that skill, everyone resolves it against their willpower. Every 10 less they get on their willpower roll equates to a 1d penalty to all skill (not attribute) rolls made.
But in looking up the skill, i see nothing mentioning whether it is a ME vs You
or a ME vs all of you skill.

Who here runs it where an intimidation works against all who are witnessing it, versus where its an opposed roll of PC (or npc) vs NPC (or pc)?
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[DougRed4]

Very interesting thread! The hulking Barabel in our game tends to use Intimidation quite a bit, and I usually rule it very much as the rules suggest. If he were doing it to a group of people, I tend to figure out how the leader responds, with the followers falling in line. In a recent event, for example, had he successfully Intimidated the Whiphid leader, the others would have likely followed his lead (fortunately for him, the Jedi used the Force to calm things instead).

[garhkal]

Bringing this thread up, as i have yet to see anyone reply to the last question i posed, in that is this skill a One vs One, or one vs all who see it roll?

IE if darth vader showed up and wanted to intimidate a group of 5 PC's does he have to declare 5 actions to Intimidate everyone individually, suffering MAPS on all of it, or can he just do the One Intimidation roll, versus all the PC's individual Willpower rolls??
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[ebertran]

I would do it as D&D handles it with its monsters.... basically anyone that can see Vader would have to roll their willpower. He makes one Intimidation roll and everyone would have to try to resist.

My solution for how NPCs intimidate PCs without taking away player's agency to decide how their characters act? By treating them as "stunned". Vader intimidates you by beating your willpower, you are "stunned".

Pretty simple solution.

[Naaman]

I guess that would he situational, but going with the face value of your question, I'd roll once for Vader and everyone would each roll to resist individually.

I might even give the group a bonus based on their numerical advantage (if that would be relevant to the circumstances).

Also, FWIW, I don't consider intimidation an "action," though, you could assign MAPs and make a single roll (in this case at -4D) to simulate the obvious numerical advantage of the opposing party (instead of granting the bonus I mentioned above).

[Error]

I use Intimidation in my games basically just as it is written here, which I believe is basically the wording from the 2E R&E Core Rulebook.

If a character succeeds wildly in intimidating someone, it is generally that someone's response to put as much distance between him- or herself and the intimidating character as fast as possible (e.g. "The Weequay customs officer gets one look at you and runs screaming from your ship's entry ramp, disappearing somewhere into the crowded spaceport."). If someone who has been greatly intimidated can't do that, they will be generally be cowed enough to give up real information and/or be temporarily more susceptible to the Command skill.

Characters who only succeed in intimidating someone lightly (by like 1-10 points) I generally treat a little less severely. They may still back away and let their hands drift down toward weapons. They may give up some information, but definitely not the juiciest bits. The objective for any intimidated character (who can't immediately disengage) is generally to mollify the intimidating character, so whatever they have to do to accomplish that is generally what they'll do.
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[ebertran]

How do you make NPCs intimidate PCs? Do you force PCs to say things they dont want to?

[Whill]