Influence System - Help Please

[Terrh]

Hi,
Hoping someone here can spell this out for me, as I've become rather confused :/ I've just rolled up a character using Book 7: Merchant Prince and gotten a character with an Influence of +2 and a SOC of 13. I served 4 terms in Royal Merchant (Financier) and due to some lucky rolls got a rank of 6.

This is where it gets fuzzy for me. I believe this means I have an Influence rating of "Specialist (9+)" and with a SOC of 13, I get a -3 or +3 modifier to the table - meaning I need to roll a check with a target of 9+ (For my Specialist rank) and if I succeed I can add 3 to the trade table result for 6 days and with a failure must subtract 3. Correct so far, yes?

But what is the roll? Is it a straight 2d6? Are there modifiers? Am I even correct about two ranks of Influence making me a Specialist and the check required being 9+. If so, does that mean on an Influence 1 I'm an Amateur and require an 11+ to succeed? (Why would you even try without a modifier?)

Thanks in advance,
Terrh

[ieqo]

The Trade Table is a 3d6 roll and gets a raft of modifiers. You'll find it in the latter chapters of Book 7. Now, the way I understand Influence, what you can do is tack your +3/-3 as an additional modifier to everyone's rolls on that table for that world for that specific item for six days. Thus you can inflate the market if you or an ally is sitting on a large lot of something...or you can tank it to hurt a competitor.

Everything else you mentioned agrees with the way I understand things.