PDA

View Full Version : how does one be the face of a group?



pseudodragon
2015-03-24, 08:53 PM
i am part of a group, and i am planning on being the face of the group. does anyone have any advice on how to be the face of the group? any ideas about how one should operate? any good stories when you were being the face?
thank you and have a nice day.

themaque
2015-03-24, 09:13 PM
First, Watch the movie "Thank you for Smoking". Be that guy and the world is your oyster. :-)

The whole Idea of the "Face" is you are the PR guy for your group. You spin things, talk things out, get people to see things your way. Are you good at that yourself or are you going to rely on the dice? How much does the GM require you to roll vs role play? What system?

Bad Wolf
2015-03-24, 09:24 PM
Get Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate as class skills, and keep them maxed out. If you were a Half-Elf Warlock, with max ranks in three of those (assuming an INT mod of at least +1), and chose Beguiling Influence as your first invocation, with let's say an 18 in CHA, you could get a +16 modifier right off the bat. Take the Honest train from Unearthed Arcana to get another +2 to Diplomacy, the best of the three.

jaydubs
2015-03-24, 10:11 PM
Being the face is about getting NPCs to help out your party. And at the end of the day, you need to remember that the NPCs are all played by the same person - the DM. So being the face is really about convincing the DM to help out the party. Now, most good DMs are really on your side. So it's about giving them a good excuse to help you out. Here are some tips:

1. Have both a mechanical part and an RP part of the request. As DMs, we usually want some possibility for failure, and some player effort. So build a character that uses the game's social system, and then talk it out in a way that is actually convincing. If the game tells me to give you something, and your effort also tells me to give you something, I'll want to give you something.

2. Make your requests reasonable both in-character, and out-of-character. Most DMs want to run a game that is both believable and interesting. So make requests that, in-character, NPCs might be willing to fulfill. And make requests that, out-of-character, the DM can agree to without trivializing or breaking the game. For instance, don't try to convince the king to make you the new ruler (unless it's that type of game). Do try to convince the king to provide some assistance with a task that will also serve the kingdom. Like, horses, a ship, equipment, a guide, etc.

pseudodragon
2015-03-24, 10:15 PM
the system is pendragon, 5th ed, i think

Geddy2112
2015-03-25, 01:08 AM
First, Watch the movie "Thank you for Smoking". Be that guy and the world is your oyster. :-)

Absolutely golden advice. Remember that you control the stakes and play not just to win, but as if you have won.


Get Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate as class skills
Not 100% sure you get all in 5th, but you need to be able to sell your story(diplomacy), lie your ass off(bluff), and when all else fails let the NPC's know you are not a force to be messed with. Intimidate is not the face winning the fight, it is the face explaining how your friends will ghost the NPC if need be. A face has 2-5 people willing to fight to the death for a cause, and if push comes to shove the face is not the one taking the hits or blasting.


Being the face is about getting NPCs to help out your party. And at the end of the day, you need to remember that the NPCs are all played by the same person - the DM. So being the face is really about convincing the DM to help out the party. Now, most good DMs are really on your side. So it's about giving them a good excuse to help you out. Here are some tips:

1. Have both a mechanical part and an RP part of the request.

2. Make your requests reasonable both in-character, and out-of-character.

This is very important. If you play it well enough, you don't even need to roll.

One major thing not mentioned is to have a backup plan. There will come a day when you roll up with glibness and a +50something in bluff, combined with the best disguise ever, but the dang BBEG will somehow roll 2 natural 20's to see your disguise and call your lie. BS, sure, but it happens. A good face keeps on despite things going bad- a bad face cuts and runs and ends up with a dragon attacking the party. Sure, you may be digging the ditch, but you will be the only one with a shovel and you are proficient with it. Sometimes the best plan is to keep on keeping on, but always be ready for the unexpected and for dice to utterly screw you after your game winning speech. Always have a secondary option to solve an encounter, and don't go into any situation without at least three- you and the party's life depends on it. My go to plan is words then magic then force. At every step, I try to have multiple options.

The other is to let other characters shine- don't hog the spotlight, and let other characters shine at their "thing". There will be non face characters who will be key to solving encounters, and you need them as much as they need you. Facilitate the encounter if you must, but don't be afraid to step aside and let them shine when they are the best tool for the job. A face is not always doing the talking, but it is about knowing how to always end encounters in your favor.

Joe the Rat
2015-03-25, 10:29 AM
the system is pendragon, 5th ed, i think

I suppose it depends on your flavor of "Face," but I would think Courtesy and Orate would be key in any setup. From there you probably want to pick your approach to Court matters.

goto124
2015-03-25, 11:19 PM
* May not make immature jokes about having high ranks in Perform (Oral).
** May not post in the wrong thread.

A_Man
2015-03-26, 10:07 AM
One thing I've noticed is that it's really important to make sure that when you're playing as the party face, that the party (both IC and OOC) like your character and that there isn't any party friction. Otherwise it leads to a ton of arguments and anger.

Currently in one campaign where another pc tried to become the face by defaming the current one, and the campaign is on the path that even if we all manage to save the world, the group'll end up killing each other just to satisfy their 'in-character' needs. Ugh.

Red Fel
2015-03-26, 10:38 AM
One thing I've noticed is that it's really important to make sure that when you're playing as the party face, that the party (both IC and OOC) like your character and that there isn't any party friction. Otherwise it leads to a ton of arguments and anger.

This is a big one. You absolutely cannot be the party face if (1) the PCs don't like you and (2) the players don't like/trust you.

Note that I didn't say the PCs have to trust your PC. If they're smart, they probably never will. But that's beside the point.

Other than that, I'm going to suggest a non-mechanical route - quick thinking. Being the party face, as others have mentioned, means being the PR guy, the spin master, the one with a kind word and a gun (you get more with both than just with the first). It also means knowing how to fix a situation gone south, fast. It means knowing what to look for and what to say.

Now, some of this can be resolved mechanically. The trick is knowing what to look for. For instance, if you know you're meeting with the Duke, it helps to know what his favorite vices are (and bring him one), what his darkest secrets are (and whether and how to drop hints in conversation), what makes him mad (and how to avoid it), and so forth. You need to be able to think enough to ask to look into each of these things. You need to be quick enough on your feet to know when to make use of them.

Another example is the spontaneous encounter. You're confronted on the road by some men with rudimentary weapons, clearly not the royal guard, who claim to be militia and want your money. Get your spin on. Look at the condition of their clothes and weapons. Listen to their accents. Look at their bodies - are they well-fed or underfed? Look in their eyes - are they desperate, are they killers, are they frightened? Then spin the situation accordingly. They're desperate and hungry - there's no need for violence or robbery, you know someone in the treasurer's office who can direct care packages to their village. They're well-fed and lethal - these aren't militia men, they're highwaymen, and a fight is inevitable, unless you can figure out what they're afraid of, fast.

That's your role, as face. To give people what they need, whether it's hope or fear, friendship or praise, honeyed words or poisonous threats. You represent the company. Now get out there and sell, sell, sell!

Beta Centauri
2015-03-26, 10:43 AM
The main thing I recommend is ditching that label and that position. Could be that the game you're playing is a lot different from the ones I'm used to, but when I think of a party having a "face" I think of there being a lot of situations in which one player is playing and the rest are sitting back and watching. There's no reason not to have someone who is marginally better at NPC interaction, and maybe one person who is marginally worse, just as with any other kind of situation, but if there's one person who is so much better that it's folly to let anyone else try to speak up (or sneak, or fight, or do anything else) and everyone else has to cool their heels.

So, take the advice you get here and pull it way back. Be good at it, sure, but don't max anything out.

Segev
2015-03-26, 11:01 AM
The best Faces tend to be the ones who don't have to tell the rest of the party to shut up and let them talk.

This can be difficult to pull off, especially if your personality is not as strong and forward as that of one of the other players. What you need is enough clout with the party to get them to follow your lead (including backing down if they're really putting their foot in it), but also to let the other players participate. Let them talk and respond to queries. But be ready with the spin to turn their responses into humor, illustrative quips, or the like.

You're the one who needs to be making the opening and final pitch. You need to be smoothing and clarifying, while at the same time making the party sound believable and trustworthy. Play the good cop if you can, and cast the most bellicose and contrarian of your fellow PCs as the bad cop. Play up how dangerous they are but also how much in control you and the rest of your party are while minimizing direct insult.

There's an art to intimidation without offering insult. There's also an art to taking insult and spinning it as intimidation or, better still, a joke. If needs be, make people who are annoyed with your fellow PCs like you by being on "their" side. Make them feel sorry for you having to deal with that lout, rather than lumping you in with him. Make it up to your party member(s) later, but as the Face, your job is to be on the NPCs' good side (or have them so petrified of being on the party's bad side that it doesn't matter).