Making Friends and Influencing Enemies
As much as we all like it when our characters hit things, social interaction is critical in any campaign. Unless you're doing an old-school dungeon crawl, there will be times when it is essential to talk with the individuals, creatures, and even animals you encounter. Sometimes, it will be as simple as going right up and talking to them, but in many cases, you'll need to use some force or finesse to obtain what you are looking for.
There are several ways to go about this. The method you use can make it the first thing you must consider. Choosing the correct strategy can make drawing out the information you're looking for much easier, cause the target to question your motives or outright attack you. Second, you and your fellow party members must decide who will attempt to gather the knowledge you seek. It's not always about ability scores, depending on how you want to go about it. Sure, they will play a significant role but don't get locked into such traditional thinking. Being creative, to the point of possibly driving your DM crazy, adds to the fun of any campaign. Below are some of the ways to go about becoming friends or influencing your enemies.
Let's be Friends
The adage "you get more flies with honey than with vinegar" means being nice to others is a good idea. You can win over people more easily by being polite and kind. A friendly NPC can not only help you by sharing what they know but may also join you on your quest.
Ability Check. This is the most common way to win over the person you are talking to. A Charisma check (Persuasion) is the default ability check people will use. By attempting a Persuasion check, you'll use your social graces, appropriate etiquette, and your good nature politely. Making an Insight check first may be wise, allowing you to get a bead on the target's motives and intentions before you try to sway them. If you can determine they are lying, you can switch gears on what your following action should be. It's sad, but not everyone thinks you are as awesome as you think you are.
Race and Language. Your DM may give you advantage or disadvantage to an ability check if you're the same race as the person you are talking to. Dwarves and kobolds are sworn enemies (Google Garl Glittergold and Kurtulmak to see why). It's hard for tieflings to trust anyone, so it might be better for someone of the same race to do the talking. Language can also be a barrier. Not everyone speaks Common. Communicating with someone in their native language may set them at ease, creating a sense of camaraderie with them.
Spells. When words won't do the trick, there are many spells one can cast to become quick friends. Be careful, though. When most enchantment spells end, the target will realize that you used magic to influence its mood and may become hostile toward you. These spells include charm person and friends, so you'll probably want to milk everything you can from your new 'friends' and get out before the spell ends. Fast friends doesn't specify the target will get angry, but they will know you charmed them, leaving it up to DM how they react.
Don't discount spells that may not be as direct in gathering information. Animal friendship combined with speak with animals can help you convince a beast to give up their secrets. Calm emotions may only make the target indifferent to you, but it's a lot better than them being hostile. The spells gift of gab and modify memory reshape how the target feels towards you. Even such spells as enthrall and suggestion can give you an advantage to win over a person when used under the right conditions.
Not so Nice
You may have to force the issue when you can't cozy up to someone. Intimidating someone to tell you what you want to know may not be nice, but you may not have a choice. Some creatures are always going to be hostile toward you. When honey doesn't work, you may have to turn to vinegar.
Ability Checks. You can use an Intimidation check to threaten someone into telling you what you need to know. You can do this with threats or physical violence. We all know slapping someone like a bitch and threatening to escalate the level of violence isn't very nice. It may, however, convince them you're willing to use any means necessary to get what you want. You can also use Deception to lie or cheat to get the information. You could make a Strength check to grapple the target and squeeze the information out of them. It's depressing, but using violence works more often than not.
Class Abilities. Some classes grant you the power to scare the pants off a target. In doing so, you can not only make them pee their pants but put them at a disadvantage when you ask them questions. A Path of the Berserker barbarian's Intimidation Presence will induce the Frightening condition, resulting in disadvantage on all ability checks. The same goes for the College of Whispers bard's Mantle of Whispers and the paladin's Abjury Enemy action, to name a few. A Battle Master fighter's Commanding Presence grants advantage when they make an Intimidation check. You can find many other class abilities to scare an individual so much that they'll be begging to tell you the truth.
Spells. Some spells can force or trick your target. You could try to command someone into telling you what you want to know. Zone of truth is self-explanatory, but while the target can't outright lie, they may be able to phrase their answers in a way that is hard to decipher. Use the antipathy aura from the antipathy/sympathy spell to frighten a target into the waiting arms of the barbarian willing to squeeze them till they give it up.
You can, once again, get creative with spells to get what you want. You can use bestow curse to not only have the target have disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws but also tell them you'll remove the curse after you get what you want. Several Illusion and Transmutation spells can trick people into thinking you are someone or something they can trust. There are so many possibilities here, including something as simple as threatening to cast a fireball in their face.
These are a few ways to coax what you need out of someone. Being friends with someone, even for a short time, can make you feel good inside. Fooling someone into giving up their secret isn't nice, but you can feel better than resorting to violence. Being a bully could make you feel guilty later unless you play a character who doesn't mind punching someone in the throat to get what they want.
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