Deliver a socially acceptable insult so sharp it destabilizes your target’s composure - provoking careless reactions without stepping outside the bounds of etiquette.
Roll 1d100 + Dignified Contempt skill vs. DR 80 + target’s Resilience
Target suffers a –5 penalty to all reactions to your skills (not attacks) for the rest of the round or the duration of the current social situation.
This penalty increases by –5 per 10 points of Success Rate.
+10 to +30 DR if the setting is formal, ceremonial, or highly hierarchical
–10 to –30 DR if you have social leverage, support from peers, or history with the target with you having the edge
–20 DR if target has shown insecurity or lost face recently
-20 to +20 DR from personality such as being easy/hard to anger
At a noble dinner, you casually compliment a rival’s “charming lack of concern for fashion”:
DR = 100 + 20 (formality) + 10 (target is high-status) = 130
Roll = 154 → SR = 24→ Target suffers –15 to skill reactions towards you for the rest of the dinner.
Distracting a tactician mid-coordination: You call out, loud enough for allies and enemies to hear: “Nice plan. It almost looked intentional.”
DR: 100+12 resilience = 112
Roll: 132 → SR = 32
Effect: Target suffers –20 to reactions to your skill use (e.g. Tactical Deception or Persuasion).
Dignified Contempt is a weaponized form of diplomacy, used to provoke and destabilize without losing social standing. With careful wordplay, veiled barbs, or layered flattery, the user triggers irritation, embarrassment, or pride in a target—causing them to act less thoughtfully when resisting further interaction. The insult must remain tactful enough to avoid backlash, but cutting enough to hit where it hurts.
This skill is highly effective during negotiations, social infiltrations, and rivalries where provoking a misstep opens the door for persuasion, manipulation, or social dominance. It does not affect physical attacks, but undermines the target’s ability to counter skills such as Persuasion, Bluff, Strategic Deception, or Crisis Negotiation, turning their pride or irritation into tactical weakness.
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