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Gather rumors (Draw Steel)

Skills

Definition

Gather Rumors is the legwork of information: buying rounds in a dockside tavern, chatting up the laundry crews, asking the right merchant a harmless question three different ways. It is a Presence skill because it depends on getting strangers to keep talking. It comes up whenever the party arrives somewhere new and needs a lead: who owns the warehouse, which guard takes coin, where the missing caravan was last seen, what the townsfolk whisper about the ruin on the hill.

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How it works

**Characteristic**: Presence. **Skill group**: Presence skills. **Test**: 2d10 + Presence; 11 or lower is tier 1, 12 to 16 tier 2, 17 or higher tier 3. Training grants a benefit and unlocks attempts untrained heroes cannot make. **How it is used**: Tier 3 surfaces a specific, actionable lead plus a name to follow it. Tier 2 gets vague but true talk. Tier 1 gets nothing useful, and the questions may reach the wrong ears. **Edges and banes**: Local dress, a shared language, coin to spend, or an existing connection grants an edge (+2). Being an obvious outsider, a suspicious town, or asking about a feared subject imposes a bane (-2).

Tips

**Best for**: Faces who open the door for the rest of the party, and any group that scouts before it commits. **Character concepts**: Entertainer career regular of every taproom, Criminal with old contacts, Troubadour collecting stories on the road. **Synergies**: Rumors to judge which of the tales are true, Culture to know who is worth asking, Read Person to spot the informant who is holding back.

Frequently asked questions

How long does gathering rumors take?

Usually an evening or a stretch of downtime rather than a moment. The Director sets the window, and a respite in a settlement is a common one.

Does a bad roll have consequences?

It can. On a tier 1 result the Director may decide the wrong person heard you asking and the target learns the party is looking.

Further Reading

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