Venomous Rumors Technique

Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Understanding the Court

The Lawgiver may cast the wicked from the fetes of the righteous, or turn the knives of thieves against their king. The Solar speaks against a group member for whom she holds at least a Minor negative Intimacy, accusing her target of some major betrayal, dereliction or perversion. The player rolls a single ([Charisma or Manipulation] + Socialize) instill action against the Resolve of all present group members, ignoring the penalty for group persuasion. To characters whose Resolve is beaten by this roll, the Lawgiver's claim appears to be true: when the target interacts with affected characters, his social actions are penalized by twice the Solar's Essence score in dice, with botches inevitably reflecting the truth of the Solar's words. Affected characters may pay one Willpower to resist this influence, but that still does not remove the curse. The target must either present direct evidence with a successful persuade action to each individual member in order to cancel the effect, or leave the group for (Solar's Essence) days—when he returns he'll no longer suffer the Charm's penalty, but will still suffer the effects of the group turned against him, which he can counter with normal influence. This Charm can only be used on a single character once per story.