Bribery (sage ability)

Bribery is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Coercion, permitting the character to assess an individual's greed, caution and circumstances, revealing the appropriate amount of money, goods or other payment that persons will require before agreeing to perform a desired service, act, compliance, cooperation, concession or breach of duty. Those most susceptible to bribery are commonly non-leveled persons of little means, whose need for money outweighs their attachment to duty, law or principle. Such persons may compromise themselves once a sufficient payment is plainly within reach.

As persons become attached to an office, patron, guild, temple, army, noble household or other authority they sincerely support, however, the cost of bribing them rises. Likewise, persons with two or more experience levels, and therefore income, reputation and prospects of their own, require substantially greater payment before they will risk their position.

Guidelines

There are far too many possibilities, and far too many different kinds of persons, for any concise rule formula to cover all contingencies and possibilities. Bribery depends upon the circumstances, character, station, fears, loyalties, present needs and private ambitions of the individual being approached. Therefore, it falls upon the dungeon master to behave responsibly, and yet in a manner that fits with their perception of their game world, when deciding whether or not a particular individual encountered by the player or the player’s character may be susceptible to bribes at all. It should not be assumed that every person is available for purchase. Bribes can open doors, but there are doors, and people, that cannot be bribed. A person may refuse because of rank, loyalty, fear, belief, self-interest, family obligation, social standing, religious conviction, institutional trust, or because the consequences of accepting payment would be greater than anything the payment could repair.

It is a fair rule to assume that any person in the game setting who is greater than fourth level has every reason to avoid risking their status, their position, the benefits they receive, perhaps even their family and their social commitments, for the sake of a one-time bribe or even a bribe that is offered on a regular basis. Such persons have usually acquired enough income, reputation, protection, allies and prospects that ordinary corruption becomes irrational. They have too much to lose, and often too little to gain. It is therefore perfectly fair for any DM, at any time, to state outright to the player wishing to offer the bribe that no, that person over there has every characteristic that they cannot be bribed. The player will have to find another way. This is simply a limitation that occurs within a rational system, recognizing that while bribes can open doors, there are doors and people that cannot be bribed.

This is particularly true in a world where there are fewer choices and opportunities for social advance, as occurred and existed in the 16th and 17th centuries historically. A person who has obtained a secure place within a household, guild, temple, military command, court, town office or noble service may treat that place as the foundation of their life. To betray it for payment may mean the loss of livelihood, shelter, marriage prospects, legal protection, reputation and family security. In such a world, the bribe must be judged against the whole structure of the person’s survival, not merely against their immediate desire for money.