I was watching a movie, and a 12 year old boy is trying to get blueprints to a bank building. The lady he is trying to get it from won't give it to him, because they don't want bank blueprints floating around, for obvious reasons. The boy then says "Well, it's just that my step-dad, he gets a little...." and then shows her a burn that he got in an accident a few days before. (Implication is that his step-dad burned him) He then gets the bank blueprints. (The movie is Catch That Kid, 3 kids trying to rob a bank, very good movie.)
Is there any kind of contingency in Multiverser for this? You fail the initial persuasion check, but then are able to change the circumstances to bonus it in your favor? Perhaps in the same way that the kid did it? Or perhaps you fail the persuasion check, and then pull out a wad of $100 bills, to change their mind? Is their any way to bonus the check to the point that you cannot fail it? If you have not seen the movie, check it out. Very cool flick. You would have to see the scene I am talking about to fully appreciate it though.
Yes, and more than one way.
If you're talking about a "simple" attribute check, what is required for another check is a "change of circumstances"--which can be as little as trying again a little later. With a "difficult" attribute check, the assumption is that you've tried all the obvious things (including that trick with the burn) and need a rather larger change in circumstances (probably something outside your control) to make a difference--but it's not a permanent answer even if it gets you stuck for a few days.
At the same time, there's no reason a character can't have skill in bribery, or in "persuasion" (of the sort used by mob bill collectors), or charm, or insight (to recognize what it is that would turn this person), or anything else narrowly defined that would give him an extra chance. This would mean that the character gets his attribute check plus his skill check, and can succeed either way. It would also require that the character take the time to do each thing, usually, although sometimes both can occur simultaneously. As an example by analogy, a character with steal initiative gets to roll both his initiative roll and his steal initiative skill check, and he goes first if he succeeds at either (barring a better success by someone else, in which case he goes second). In reality you would not be able to tell whether you went first because you were simply quicker, or whether you went first because you've got that honed skill at acting more quickly--either way, you went first.
Hope that helps.
--M. J. Young
I'm just thinking about life in terms of Multiverser. I see something done, and I wonder how the rules of Multiverser would apply to that real-life situation. I find it very interesting to think about. Thanks.