Icebreaker - Charisma Knack

Icebreaker - Charisma Knack - No Prerequisites

You tell the darnedest jokes. By sharing a brief witticism, strange or flirtatious comment, or a funny face, you can make any character smile, laugh, giggle, or blush in spite of themselves. Doing so costs you nothing, and is a reflexive action that affects equally anyone who sees or hears it. The content of the joke is irrelevant, all that matters is the moxie and chutzpah with which you deliver it. The effect lasts only a few seconds per use, and does not inflict mechanical penalties of any sort. For one willpower, you can make an individual "not get it" - in that case they alone react as they see fit, not necessarily as you directed.

The most potent use of this knack is thus to create complicated situations by making someone react inappropriately in public, or make people feel self-conscious. Characters with Legend zero have no defense against this. Those with a Legend of 1 or higher may guard themselves against it after your first use. One willpower renders them immune for all future attempts for the rest of the scene. If they encounter you again in a later scene, they may spend a willpower as soon as they see or hear you.

This knack has other, more benign, uses as well. It can help to break the tension or establish yourself as a friendly fellow. If you use this in a way that leaves no one feeling left out, miffed or embarrassed (GM's call if that's debatable), it gives +1 die on all the social rolls you make for the remainder of this scene. This is not cumulative with itself - telling lots of jokes doesn't result in an ever-increasing bonus.