Provoke Someone

When you **provoke someone susceptible to your words**, say what you’re trying to get them to do and roll + Superior.

*For NPCs:*

On a 10+, they rise to the bait and do what you want. On a 7-9, they can instead choose one:

* They stumble: you take +1 forward against them.
* They err: you gain a critical opportunity.
* They overreact: you gain influence over them.

*For PCs:*

On a 10+, both of the following happen. On a 7-9, choose one.

* if they do it, add a team to the pool.
* if they don’t do it, they mark a condition.

## Description

Provoking someone is one of the main ways to make other characters do what you want. This isn’t just straight up manipulation, though—provoking someone isn’t about trying to convince them to do it, or oﬀering them something they want. It’s about pushing the right buttons to get them to do what you want. Your words don’t have to match your intent, so long as you’re pressing the right buttons.

You can only provoke someone susceptible to your words. If you have Inﬂuence over someone, they are, by default, susceptible to your words, but otherwise it’s down to what makes sense. Sometimes you’re able to say the right thing to get to someone, especially if you’ve already pierced their mask. But other times, they can shrug oﬀ your words—for example, Rampage, a dangerous and powerful monster, might not be susceptible to your threats of violence. But if you prod and taunt her about her transformed, inhuman form, she might be susceptible to those words.

When you provoke someone, tell the GM what you’re trying to get them to do. This is crucial! What you say in character to provoke them is about pushing their buttons—but what you actually want them to do might be totally diﬀerent from what you say out loud.

Foe example, you might provoke an adult hero, pushing them, getting in their face, as if you were provoking them to a violent confrontation. Except you really want them to back down and leave, and you’re counting on them being an adult and a hero to get them to do what you actually want. Every time you provoke someone, you must say exactly what you want them to do out of character, no matter what you’re saying in character.

When an NPC **rises to the bait and does what you want**, it means they do whatever you said you wanted them to do out of character. If you wanted them to back down, they do. If you wanted them to come after you and ignore your teammates, they do.

On a 7-9 result for NPCs, they can still choose to rise to the bait and do what you want, or they can instead choose one of the options from the list.

## Options

*For NPCs:*

If the NPC **stumbles**, it means they were tripped up, caught on something, knocked oﬀ balance by your words. They're ill-prepared to deal with your next move; hence, you get +1 forward against them. Stumbling is essentially nonaction, allowing you to follow-up with a more straightforward move against them, at an advantage.

If the NPC **errs**, it means they take action without planning or thinking and it leaves them vulnerable or creates an opportunity that you wouldn’t have otherwise had. They might take a swing at you, leaving them open for you to simply knock them out with one punch. They might accidentally let information slip in an attempt to tell you oﬀ.

If the NPC **overreacts**, it means you take Influence over them, and they take an exaggerated or extreme reaction in response to what you say, something that shows you’ve really gotten to them. This isn’t the same as erring—their overreaction might not give you any kind of opportunity or even a chance to react. Instead, it shows how much your words actually aﬀected them. They might start firing their eyebeams at you in response to your taunting. They might lose their composure and start insulting you directly.

*For PCs:*

If your choice results in them marking a condition, they get to choose which condition they mark.