“Look! Over there!” Okay, you’re usually more subtle than that. Still, you’re good at distracting folks from what you’re actually trying to do. An essential skill for magicians, pickpockets, seducers, and other people who prefer to redirect attention, this Ability helps you steer someone’s concentration elsewhere.

In a fight, this Skill also helps you set someone up for an unpleasant surprise. Each success in a Dexterity + Misdirection roll (difficulty 5 + the target’s Wits) lowers the difficulty of your next strike. Essentially, you throw a fake-out, your opponent responds, and you clock him. Similar applications of this Skill let you set up distractions and then do something else when your target’s back is turned… in game terms, reducing the difficulty of your next roll if you succeed with a Misdirection attempt. Naturally, this sort of trick stops working if you rely upon it too often. Each subsequent attempt with the same target (or group of targets) raises your Misdirection difficulty by +2. Dude – they’re on to you! Time to try a different tactic…

• Novice: “My God – what’s that?”

•• Practiced: “Nothing up my sleeves…”

••• Skillful: “What about that guy over there?”

•••• Expert: “You mean this hand…?”

••••• Master: “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…”

Possessed by

Stage Magicians, Hustlers, Thieves, Con Artists, Martial Artists, Dirty Fighters

Specialties

Confusion, Feints, Passing the Buck, Over There, Psych!

Ratings