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Violence is never the answer. Except inDungeons & Dragons, where violence is frequently the answer. But mugging a shopkeeper because the potions he sells are too expensive isn’t the best solution in most campaigns. For situations like that, you want to use the Influence action.
Influence is a class of action used to change a nonplayer character (NPC) or creature’s attitude to accomplish a goal with more subtlety than just hitting it with a club until it does what you want. When should you use it, how can it help, and who’s the best character to use Influence actions? Let’s find out!
What Is The Influence Action?
Influence actions are a type of action that you can take in or out of combat in order toget a monster, animal, or NPC to do something. These actions frequently rely on Charisma, but occasionally Wisdom is also used.
If you take an Influence action, you’ll likely need tomake an ability checkto see if you’re successful. This ability check can be Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Performance, or Animal Handling, depending on the situation.
The difficulty class (DC) of the ability check is set by the DM, andit’s typically 15 or the target’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher. If you’re successful, the creature does what you want, but if you fail you can’t try again for a full day.
How Influence Actions Work
When you take an Influence action, the first thing you should do isdescribe or roleplay how you try to interact with your target. Holding a knife to a prisoner’s throat is a totally different type of check than wooing a local noble with a song.
Based on your description or roleplay and the nature of the target,the DM may decide that the target is willing to help you, and give you an automatic success on the Influence action. Or they may determine that the target is absolutely unwilling to help you, and may even be hostile.
For example, a mayor asks your party to slay the wyvern that has been slaughtering sheep from local farmers. You agree to help, but ask him to outfit your party for the task. Sincethis aligns with the mayor’s goals, your DM rules that the Persuasion action was successful, and the mayor has the local watch provide you with rations, waterskins, torches, and other adventuring equipment.
If your target is hesitant, that’s when an ability check is necessary. The standard is a DC 15 or the Intelligence of the creature you’re attempting to influence, whichever is higher. However, this is affected by the creature’s attitude.
Attitude And Influence Checks
Attitude ishow a monster, animal, or NPC feels about your party, and is divided into three categories: friendly, indifferent, and hostile.
Friendly creatures have a favorable view of you, and tend to want to help. The blacksmith that was your character’s childhood friend is friendly, and so is the silver dragon who has been watching your party make the world a better place.
Ability checks to Influence a creature that is friendly towards you aremade with advantage, so you get to roll two d20s and use the higher result for these checks.
An NPC being friendly doesn’t necessarily mean they’re willing to help. Shopkeepers would starve if they gave away all their wares, and your success probably isn’t worth a random character’s life or livelihood, from their perspective.
Indifferent creatures don’t much care about you or your party. This isthe default attitude of most monsters, animals, and NPCsif your character doesn’t have a widespread reputation. You receive no bonuses for these checks.
Hostile creatures arenot inclined to help you. Gnolls that attack in the middle of the night are hostile, as is the red dragon that caught your party’s Rogue pocketing coins from his hoard.
Ability checks to Influence a creature that is hostile towards you ismade with disadvantage. For one of these rolls, roll two d20s and use the lower result.
If you manage to gain advantage and disadvantage on the same Influence action check, they cancel each other out and you only roll one d20.
Types of Influence Actions
Deception
The Deception skill is used totell lies and otherwise deceive and misdirectcreatures. This could be a blatant lie, a subtle misdirection, or staying in character while wearing a disguise.
Deception shouldn’t be used to Influence friendly NPCsthat you’ll see again, at least not in a way that’s harmful to them. A guard who realizes that the paperwork you showed him earlier was fake is less likely to be sympathetic the next time you encounter him, and may make your life more difficult as a result.
Bards, Rogues, Sorcerers,andWarlocksget Deception as a class skill proficiency, as do characters with theCharlatanbackground.
Intimidation
When you Intimidate a monster, youmake it fear for its safety. This can come through threats, displays of force or strength, or even from a particularly terrifying appearance.
Intimidation should bereserved for monsters or NPCs that you don’t expect to interact with again. After all, if you threaten to burn down a shopkeeper’s business unless he offers you a steep discount, he’s more likely to call the local watch than to welcome you into his establishment again.
In some situations, your DM may allow you to use an ability other than Charisma for Intimidation checks. A strong Barbariancrushing a captured goblin’s helmetcould be enough to make him talk.
Barbarians, Bards, Fighters, Paladins, Rogues, Sorcerers,andWarlockscan all take Intimidation as one of their class skill proficiencies.
Performance
Music soothes the savage beast. A catchy song, a clever joke, or a rousing speech are all ways that a performer caninfluence a monster or NPC in a less direct way.
A good Performance candistract a creature or make it see you in a more favorable light, or turn it against its allies. Politicians may use Performance to rally a crowd or to turn a mob against an opponent, while Bards use them to earn a living and spread stories.
Bards are the only class with access to Performanceas a skill proficiency, but characters with theEntertainerbackground also pick it up.
Persuasion
Persuasion is the most direct form of Influence. When you attempt to Persuade a monster or NPC, you’re just trying totalk them into doing whatever you’re trying to accomplishhonestly and earnestly.
Haggling with a merchant is a good exampleof a Persuasion check. If you want to sell her goods at a higher price, you might talk about how rare an item is, tell her about how useful it is, or assure her that it will be easy to sell.
Bards, Clerics, Fighters, Paladins, Rogues,andSorcererscan choose Persuasion as one of their class skill proficiencies. Characters with theArtisan,Merchant, orNoblebackground can also be proficient in Persuasion.
Animal Handling
Animal Handling is the only Influence ability check thatdoesn’t use Charisma, instead relying on Wisdom. This is because it only works on Beasts and Monstrosities, which have low Intelligence and cannot understand your attempts to talk to them.
Animal Handling is similar to Insight in that you’repaying close attention to an animal’s body languageand subtle cues in order to gain insight, but it also represents guiding that animal to follow your instructions.
Unless the animal is already remarkably intelligent and well-trained, this can only amount to simple behavioral changes, like calming down a skittish Beast or convincing them that attacking your party isn’t the best idea.
Barbarians, Bards, Druids, Fighters,andRangersall have access to Animal Handling from their class, whileFarmersandMerchantsget it from their background.
Thanks to the Skillful feature, Humans can be proficient in any one skill, including all of these Influence skills.
