Persuasion – Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

by Falagar / Articles, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord / 06 May 2022

At various points in the game, a player may wish to convince a character to take a certain course of action. A player will rarely be able to convince NPCs to do something that is completely irrational or against their interests, but often may be able to give them an excuse to do something that they would consider anyway.

The chance that a persuasion will succeed is dependent on a player’s skills, on his or her Personality Traits as well as those of the lord to be persuaded, and on external circumstances. Many checks, especially in quests, are relatively simple and require a single pass/fail random check. Lord Defection and Courtship and Marriage however require more complex persuasion tasks. The target NPC will raise several reasons why they would hesitate to follow the player’s advice, and the player must attempt to address these reasons.

At every point in a persuasion check, a player will be given several options. Each option is linked to a skill and a trait. Among the skills, Charm is useful when a player is trying to establish a bond with another character, Charisma helps the player appeal to general principles, and Roguery when the player is attempting to intimidate or otherwise show familiarity with the darker side of human nature. The trait will vary according to what aspect of the NPC’s personality the player is attempting to appeal. Both the player and the NPC should have similar personalities in this regard. For example, a Calculating player might do well by persuading a Calculating NPC to think of long-term interest rather than immediate gain, but only if both player and NPC don’t have a reputation for being impulsive.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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