I recently read the GURPS-based Discworld RPG and they have a fun way of blending social skills with reaction rolls!
Decide which Influence skill you’re using: Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, or Streetwise. Choose wisely! The GM may allow other skills to work as Influence skills in certain situations (e.g., Law skill, when dealing with a judge). Then roll a Quick Contest: your skill vs. the subject’s Will. In this situation, your skill is subject to all the modifiers that would affect a reaction roll from the same person (pp. 171-172), regardless of whether they would normally apply to that skill.
If you win, you get a “Good” reaction from the NPC – “Very Good,” if you used Sex Appeal, but the target may have a specific idea of what you are going to do in that case. On any other outcome, the NPC resents your clumsy attempt at manipulation. This gives you a “Bad” reaction – “Very Bad,” if you attempted Intimidation. Exception: If you used Diplomacy, the GM will also make a regular reaction roll and use the better of the two reactions. Thus, Diplomacy is relatively safe.
Maybe that’s how normal GURPS 4e does it but if so I musta missed that part of the basic set! And that extra li’l social skills pamphlet for GURPS 4e, I glanced through it but have ever used anything from it.
I don’t use reaction rolls normally but they don’t seem as bad as rolling for the entire outcome of a social situation.
Y’all know I hate the Fast-Talk skill and its ilk so much but having it replace your normal reaction roll, if you were making one anyway, that might work. That might work for Rules Cyclopedia also which has a set of similar “social skills”.
I’m curious about reaction rolls because they seem to only set the initial disposition of an NPC. The PCs can then still mess it up.
Althoug I feel that the Socialite Challenges table from Silent Legions is way more interesting in that case. Rolling to find out “Does she know, and why won’t she tell?” is more fertile ground for roleplaying than “this lady really likes the party”.