Acceptance (sage ability)

Acceptance is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Guile, that enables the character to "fit in" among persons of different cultures and social class, and thus be "accepted" as one of them. This assumes the character has entered the social realm of these persons, by attending a social event of some kind where meeting new persons is expected. The character may have to obtaining an invitation by some other means or literally "crash the party." This is up to the player.

The character is assumed to have the correct habits, manner of speaking and sufficient knowledge to fool the assemblage ... but some responsibility falls on the player, who must role-play conservatively if the charade is to last. Stupidly foolish questions, acting in a blatantly unsocial manner or failing to show respect for others will immediately end in the player's character being ostracised and black-balled from any future participation.

Relationships

Played politely, the ability will allow the player's character to approach leaders, officials and administrators, and to initiate a friendly relationship with these people — though it may be necessary to adopt a pseudonym, if the character also has a relationship with their enemies. Due to this relationship, the character will be able to spy and obtain information. Again, this will require some role-playing.

As a guideline, the character is able to obtain meaningful information about the social event's organizers: their numbers, their agenda and their influence, through the conversational maneuvering that's assumed to have taken place through the social event. The nature of the information is left to the DM, but what's learned is meant to be true, so that the players will be able to act upon what they've learned in a practical way. The player should expect to obtain some clues about how to subvert the organisation, who its enemies are and who's nominally in charge.

Preparation

The character must obtain suitable clothing, and possibly a servant capable of role-playing the part. The character will also need a cover story, to explain his or her purpose for being there, background, commensurate wealth and other details. This can be worked out with the DM in advance. The player is expected, should role-playing occur, to maintain the story if questioned. Failure to do so could mean dire consequences, as the player's character is exposed. To enter a cabal would require even more: evidence of the character's pedigree, proof of office and other matters that would need to be forged if they did not exist.

Therefore, while the ability is a free pass into the esteemed halls of power, some responsibility falls on the player to use the ability intelligently and carefully.

See Guile