9.1.9 THE INFLUENCE SKILL (Common)
The skill of Influence is a non-lethal form of interaction with the
sentient denizens of Lusternia (non-player characters). Rather than
slaughtering such denizens for such base reasons as gaining experience,
you may instead enter into ego battles that are not considered as hostile
(i.e., won't get you enemied). Influencing a denizen is an engagement in
forces of personality to try to temporarily change that denizen's
behavior. Losing an ego battle will result in a loss of experience similar
to that of losing a battle in combat, whereas winning an ego battle will
result in gaining experience similar to winning a battle in combat.
There are five general types of ego battles: (1) Seduction, which will
charm the denizen and cause him or her to attack your enemies; (2)
Empower, which will raise the denizen's level; (3) Weaken, which will
lower the denizen's level; (4) Charity, which will cause the denizen to
give you gold or an item (if available); (5) Paranoia, which will cause
the denizen to succumb to paranoid behavior and not act in a normal
manner. There is a sixth form of ego battle that is not dependent on your
skill in influence, but rather your rank in a city or commune, and can
only be used on denizens of villages during the window of time when
that village is 'in play' and not under any sphere of influence.
Once the type of ego battle has been started, the denizen will become
fixated upon it and only ego attacks of the same type will be recognized.
Further, the denizen will become resistant to an ego attack used over and
over. For example, a denizen will become resistant to begging (a charity
attack), so it is more beneficial to alternate with other charity attacks.
Once a denizen has won or lost an ego battle, he or she will be exhausted
and not enter into another one for some period of time. The power of your
influence skills increases the higher the prestige of the clothing and
jewelry you wear. The exception to this are the charity influence skills,
which is more effective with tattered rags than fancy clothes (i.e., the
lower the prestige of your clothing, the better you are at charity
influence attacks).
Note that the speed at which you execute influence abilities is primarily
determined by your race's charisma level. (See HELP RACES.)
