Optional Rules: Sadane and Monologue

Sadane

Sadane, taken from the courtly game of insults from Legend of the 5 Rings. The idea is that the contestants take turns making backhanded compliments or outright insults of a given object until one has nothing further to say.

"Nice kimono, my grandmother had one just like it when she was your age."
"I am honored by this (inexpensive) gift, which must have cost you a large percentage of your wealth!"

Sadane also has its place in superhero fiction, usually where the Hero and Villain taunt each other back and forth before the battle begins. Nowadays it's usually played for comic effect (such as in Mystery Men where Captain America cannot pronounce the word "Nemeses", or in Megamind, where MetroMan and MegaMind go back and forth until Roxanne has to interrupt them and say "Girls, You're Both Pretty!"

Sadane is a nice way to get the PC and the villain going back and forth before the big combat. Usually the GM would start it off by having the villain make some claim of power, or perhaps monologue, and leave the PC open to respond.

1) This is a game for both sides, and it must hold to the original coversation. If a metaphor was used, the metaphor must be carried.
        Example:

2) The game lasts until 1 of 4 situations happens

• The villain can't respond: Hero wins, gains a hero point, go to initaitive.
• The Hero can't respond: Villain gets use of a hero point during the encounter, go to initiative
• A third party interrupts: If the third party is an ally of the villain or the hero, that team person is assumed to have lost the fight. If the third party is not aligned with either the hero or the villain, no one gets a hero point and go to initiative. Interruption can come from someone speaking or someone attacking. 
• A "situation" happens: Such as something exploding, a volcano erupts, etc. This can happen in one of two ways: If this was a completely unexpected thing, no one gets a hero point and you go to initiative. If however this was planned by one party (and Sadane was being purposefully used as a stall tactic), the person who set the situation up benefits. He gets the hero point, and the loser is considered flat footed for the 1st round of combat (unless he has uncanny dodge). 

3) Role Playing Matters: What the character says can be silly, or it can be actually intimidating. Or the PC might not be able to think of things to say (but the character might be better at it). The PC can roll Intimidate in place of a line. The TN starts at 10, and goes up by 10 for each person who speaks (so the PC starts at 10, the villain must beat 20, then the PC must beat 30, etc). If the PC/GM is able to come up with a witty retort on his own, he auto-succeeds his roll. If the results is considered to be especially "awesome" by the party/GM, he may make a free demoralize attempt against the other player. If the contest continues, each additional demoralization attempt may be used against another person in the losing side's group. (So the villain, then some of his henchman, or the speaking PC, then some of the other PCs). A PC who is able to complete a round of Sadane of at least 3 rounds without resorting to rolls gets a free hero point (regardless of who wins) which must be used during that combat.

Monologue Bait

A villain should be assumed to have the fascinate feat and perform:monologue for his monologue- this forces the PCs to listen as he explains his evil plan and stops them from simply attacking him while he gloats. 

But sometimes the PCs WANT the villain to monologue. Maybe they need to hear his evil plan, maybe they need to stall until backup arrives or the computer virus uploads or the bomb counts down. That's when they need to use monologue bait.

This is an interaction effect (and this villains immune to interaction effects cannot be baited). It uses the Bluff skill. This is language-dependent and requires intelligence. 

The Bluff skill is opposed by the better of the villain's sense motive, or will save. Apply the following modifiers:

Heroes Incapacitated: Only works if all the PCs that the villain considers a threat are apparently incapacitated. (Unconscious/Dead/Tied Up/Pinned etc). +5 to bluff check.

Hero Has the Fascinate Feat: +5 to bluff check (he is effectively fascinating the villain using the villain's own performance)

Villain has no ranks in Perform:Monologue: -10 to bluff check as villain is not prone to monologuing. 

Villain has fallen for this before: -10 to bluff check

Villain is not the plan mastermind: -10 to bluff check- henchmen are much less likely to monologue.

Villain's Evil Plan is about to happen within minutes or assumed to be too late to stop: +10 to bluff check.

Villain needs the distraction also: +10 to bluff check

If the check is successful, the villain will begin his monologue. He will use the fascinate feat, which the heroes must still save against, but the hero who goaded the villain automatically passes his save. The villain is considered flat footed, but not unaware- if the hero (or his team) is taking actions or new people show up, it will break the effect. If the hero has the fascinate feat for a a conversation skill, he may use it to ask follow up questions or to goad the monologue into continuing, giving the villain the standard penalties for being distracted by fascinate (no save). 

If the villain's monologue is interrupted, he has "fallen for this before" and will then on give the -10 to checks on subsequent encounters (he will not be tricked again during this encounter). If he completes his monologue and is preparing to attack the party, it will become apparent in the monologue- no one is flat footed.

Baiting a monologue is a standard action, but by using a hero point, the heroes can attempt this as a reaction, perhaps interrupting combat with a big bad before it begins to get him speaking and allowing them some advantage. 

During a monologue, a character who is not fascinated can try sleight of hand moves or stealth moves to make actions without the villain noticing and gain additional advantage.