Social Riposte Stunt?

[Sanctaphrax]

Yeah, the armour restriction has always been enough for me.

[Mrmdubois]

Actually Sanctaphrax the first place I turned was the custom stunt list.  Lots of cool stuff there, but none of it seemed quite like it fit the bill for getting an edge in a social conflict the way I was imagining it.  I don't have the best head for numbers though so feel free to make me some suggestions.

[Sanctaphrax]

Ah, okay.

I don't think I can tell you what would fit your character, but if you have a concept in mind I can try to write you something.

[Mrmdubois]

He's a crafting ritualist but big on the social stuff too.  I already took Teflon Persona and Reading the Surface so he's socially durable, and can get a read on people quickly.  I'm trying to steer clear of Deceit, so Rapport is his main "attack" skill.  I'd like to ramp it up a bit somehow or be good at turning the tables in a social situation.  He's got political ambitions so I plan to grab Pointed Performance and probably other stunts that could be of help in this area later.

[Deadmanwalking]

I have no idea on mechanics (beyond just stealing Riposte's outright...which I think would be better than some others seem to believe), but thematically, calling it something like 'Witty Comeback' seems ideal. Being able to respond to people's social assaults with serious wit is both cool, clearly at least potentially Rapport, and fits the mechanics of something Riposte-like pretty well.

[Hick Jr]

I'm probably going to have to drop out of the discussion here. My understanding of how Riposte works is hazy at best, and my understanding of why it isn't useless even less so.

[Sanctaphrax]

Maybe something that lets you use Rapport to attack people's reputation would be good. Making people look like fools or bastards would be handy for a politician.

Mechanically, this'd be a simple extra trapping for Rapport.

PS: Riposte is useful because it gives you an automatic hit. If I've got a bunch of Speed and I defend at Legendary, a character with Riposte can still hit me easily if I throw an Average attack at them. Plus it lets you capitalize on a really good defence roll.

[Hick Jr]

I understand the automatic hit, I just don't understand why anyone would take it. If you've got the Weapons that thematically necessitate taking this, i'd imagine it would be better to actually attack instead of inflicting, at best barring Strength, 3 stress.

[Mrmdubois]

At the beginning of this thread I used the exact wording for Riposte, just replaced Weapons with Rapport.  So don't feel like you have to drop out.

[Deadmanwalking]

I understand the automatic hit, I just don't understand why anyone would take it. If you've got the Weapons that thematically necessitate taking this, i'd imagine it would be better to actually attack instead of inflicting, at best barring Strength, 3 stress.

Uh...I think you misunderstand how Riposte works. If someone attacks you at Good and you defend at Superb with a Weapon 3 sword, and you use Riposte, they take a 5 stress hit. Your defense roll becomes an attack and their attack their defense, with all that implies. Hence awesomeness, and why I think a social version with Rapport is fine.

Or at least that's how I've always read it, had it explained to me by the game's creators, and is strongly implied by the 'when your defense roll converts to an attack roll.' bit.

[Hick Jr]

Huh. I was apparently misreading the hell out of that, then. That's a pretty awesome stunt.

[Mrmdubois]

Yeah, the way Deadman says it works is how I'd always thought it worked too.  Someone mentioned the weapon rating thing so I thought I was wrong in my interpretation.  Even if I'm not, I'd be interested in reading other people's ideas for cool Social stunts.

[Mrmdubois]

Maybe something that lets you use Rapport to attack people's reputation would be good. Making people look like fools or bastards would be handy for a politician.

Mechanically, this'd be a simple extra trapping for Rapport.

PS: Riposte is useful because it gives you an automatic hit. If I've got a bunch of Speed and I defend at Legendary, a character with Riposte can still hit me easily if I throw an Average attack at them. Plus it lets you capitalize on a really good defence roll.

So basically like Contact's Rumormonger Stunt?  Or is there a better way to reword that?