Society

You understand the people and systems that make civilization run, and the history that shaped them, and you can use that to navigate a settlement's physical, social and economic workings. For each rank in this skill you gain 1 level of Advantage on Lore checks about local history, important personalities, legal institutions, social structure and humanoid cultures.

Actions

Create Forgery (Downtime, Secret)

You forge a document, usually over a day or a week, with the proper writing materials. The GM rolls a secret Society check against DC 20. If it succeeds, the forgery is good enough that a passing glance won't catch it; only someone who studies it closely and beats your Society DC with Perception or Society can. If the handwriting needn't match anyone's, you only need to have seen a similar document, and you get up to +4 (GM's call) to your check and your DC. To copy a particular person's handwriting you need a sample of it. If your result was below 20, the forgery shows signs of being fake: the GM compares your result to each passive observer's Perception save or Society check (whichever is higher), using the same result for every observer. Someone fooled at a glance can still look closely and roll Perception or Society against your Society DC; on a success they know it's forged.

Success: The observer doesn't notice the forgery.

Failure: The observer knows the document is forged.

Read Motive (Concentrate, Mental, Secret, Trained)

You study a creature's behavior, tone, reactions and place in the situation to judge what it's after. Choose a creature you can see and interact with and roll Society. If it's trying to deceive you, hide its intentions or pass a hidden message, the GM compares your check to its Deception check; otherwise the GM sets the DC. If you spend at least 1 minute watching or talking with it first, you get 1 level of Advantage. A creature can usually be Read only once per scene, unless its behavior changes a lot or new information comes to light. Questions: Is it trying to mislead me? What emotion is driving it most strongly? Does it seem trustworthy here? Is it hiding something important from me? Does its behavior seem forced, unnatural or influenced from outside? Is it trying to say something indirectly or in code? If it's using code, gestures or innuendo, a success tells you a hidden meaning is there; a critical success lets you understand its general sense; a critical failure gives you a false meaning.

Critical Success: Ask the GM 2 of the questions.

Success: Ask the GM 1 of the questions.

Failure: You can't get a clear read.

Critical Failure: You misread the creature; the GM gives you a false or misleading impression.

Scavenge (Exploration)

You try to find food, water and shelter in a town or city, for yourself and perhaps others. The GM sets the DC by the place; particularly strange places may need a minimum number of Ranks in Society.

Critical Success: You find 2d4 + 2 SUP worth of food and water, and shelter that gives you and up to 4 others a comfortable rest.

Success: You find 1d4 SUP worth of food and water, and shelter with basic protection from the weather, enough for a comfortable rest.

Failure: You find no usable food or water, and your shelter is poor at best: a long rest there isn't comfortable.

Critical Failure: You attract trouble, eat something you shouldn't or otherwise make things worse: perhaps a random encounter, or someone in the group poisoned (GM's call).