Skip to main content

Persuade (Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition)

Skills

Definition

Persuade is the slow social skill. You lay out a case, you address the objection the other person has not said out loud, and you leave them convinced rather than briefly confused. It is how investigators get a coroner to release a report, a widow to open her husband's study, or a sheriff to take a warning seriously. At the table Persuade is what you reach for when you have time and a plausible position, and it is the skill that keeps producing after the scene ends. A persuaded contact stays helpful next session. This is exactly what separates it from Fast Talk, which buys you thirty seconds and a problem later.

Ask AI about this term

How it works

**Base Value**: 10% **Key Uses**: - Convincing a witness to talk on the record - Negotiating access from officials, doctors, and archivists - Talking an armed or frightened person down - Building a working alliance that survives the scene **Special Rules**: Persuade normally takes real time, from several minutes to hours, and the Keeper may rule that a rushed attempt is Fast Talk instead. It is opposed by Psychology when the target is weighing you up. Asking someone to act against a strong self-interest raises the difficulty to Hard or Extreme rather than being impossible.

Tips

**Build Advice**: One investigator in the group should carry Persuade above 50%. It starts at 10%, so it is cheap for a party face and it is on almost every occupation list. **Occupation Synergies**: Psychology tells you what the person wants and Persuade supplies it. Credit Rating lends the authority that makes a reasonable argument sound like an expected one, and Law or Medicine gives you a case that is true. **Character Concepts**: Lawyer, doctor, clergyman, journalist, professor, police officer.

Frequently asked questions

Persuade or Fast Talk?

Persuade when you have time and want cooperation that lasts. Fast Talk when you need the guard to look away in the next few seconds and can live with him working out what happened afterwards.

Can I Persuade someone into obvious danger?

Only against raised difficulty, and most Keepers will refuse for actions that contradict a character's core drives. Persuade works with self-interest, not against it, so give them a reason that is genuinely theirs.

Can I push a failed Persuade roll?

Usually yes, by pressing harder, staying longer, or making it personal. A pushed roll that fails again means real consequences: the door closes, the contact reports you, or the relationship is spent.

Further Reading

Fast TalkCharmAll CoC7e Skills
Previous
Operate heavy machinery
Next
Pilot
Explore Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition
Full system guide and terminology.
Back to glossary
Browse all terms and categories.