As the Uncanny Influence section points out, the difficulty for a typical mental-influence Effect uses that target’s Willpower as a difficulty; if that Willpower is below 4, then that difficulty is simply 4.

If it’s directed against several characters, then that difficulty depends upon the usual coincidental, vulgar, or vulgar with witnesses situations. Thanks to the “mob mentality,” crowds tend to be more easily controlled than individuals.

An influence-based Effect that’s used against another mage has an automatic difficulty of the target’s Willpower + 3. The same holds true for Night-Folk, some of whom might have a difficulty of Willpower +5 instead.

For more details, see Influence-Magick Difficulties, p. 116. Resistance

A bored, distracted, or unmotivated authority figure can be fooled easily. A loyal or determined one, however, or one who’s confronting an obviously dangerous character (like some weirdo who just ran all the stoplights and led the cops on a not-so-merry chase) will be extremely resistant to the idea of letting someone go their way.

As also detailed in the Uncanny Influence section, a resisting character can roll his Willpower, difficulty 6, in order to shrug off that influence. If the target manages to roll more

successes than the mage did, then she retains her proper state of mind. If the mage wins, though, then the target endures the desired Effect for the Duration of that Effect. For more