Affinity is a measure of how a non-player character reacts towards a character. It is only used for non-player characters. There are seven degrees of Affinity, each granting benefits or penalties. The table below lists the seven steps, including the Target Number or skill penalty typically needed to improve the character's Affinity, and includes a roll-up table in case the Director decides that he needs to determine Affinity randomly.

The degrees of Affinity are listed below, from worst to best. For purposes of these rules, the social skills are Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation and Performance.

The NPC's hatred of the PC is so severe that they feel the need to physically attack them. If the NPC is sufficiently intelligent, they might decide that this is unwise, but they will certainly do nothing to help the PC, and they will likely insult, heckle or jeer them. They will certainly derive delight from any misfortune that affects the PC. Otherwise, the NPC reacts as though they were Hostile, below.

The NPC wants to do nothing to assist the PC, and will, if they feel they can get away with it, hinder the PC in any way they can. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will suffer slight, and in many cases will fail outright—requests for aid or information will fall on deaf ears, and the NPC is unlikely to even maintain basic civility.

The NPC has an active dislike for the PC. They will not actively hinder the PC, unless they have a really good opportunity, but they won't assist them unless well compensated, and they will go out of their way to make any interactions unpleasant. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will have slight.

The NPC doesn't like the PC. They won't try to actively hinder the PC, but they won't aid them without pay or other compensation. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will have slight.

The NPC's opinion of the PC is insufficient to impact their dealings with the PC.

The NPC thinks well of the PC, and while they are unlikely to aid the PC without compensation, they will go out of their way to be pleasant. They can be convinced to offer aid as long as it costs them nothing. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will have favour.

The NPC thinks quite well of the PC. They will volunteer information and any aid that costs them nothing, and can be convinced to help in substantial ways for small compensation. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will have favour.

The NPC thinks very highly of the PC. They will volunteer aid or information even at moderate cost to themselves, though they cannot be convinced even to put their life on the line for the PC. Social skill checks made for any purpose other than to improve the NPC's Affinity will have favour.

The NPC is convinced that the PC can walk on water, or swim on land. This might be the blind worship of a religious fanatic, or the obsession of a creepy stalker. They will volunteer aid or information without hesitation, and can even be convinced even to put their life on the line for the PC. Though this level of Affinity cannot be improved, the PC will have favour on any social skill checks.

It is typically very difficult to affect a non-player character's Affinity permanently. Any skill checks made to affect the NPC's Affinity affects only their temporary Affinity. After five minutes with no interaction with the PC, the NPC's Affinity will revert to its normal value.

As a rule of thumb, a character should have to do quite a bit of work to improve a non-player character's permanent Affinity. For a rules-based approach, consider the following suggestion: The PC must, over the course of a week, score five successes on five separate days to improve the NPC's Affinity, without ever lowering his temporary Affinity.

You can attempt to adjust a character's Affinity towards a third party, such as convincing a guard that their boss is working against their interests. This is more difficult; you automatically suffer slight to the attempt.

You can use Deception to try to influence a person's Affinity. Typically, this is done if you are attempting to pass yourself off as someone you are not (such as a noble, a religious figure or the like), or if you misrepresent a situation (such as convincing a person that you just saved their life). If your deception is ever revealed, the subject's permanent Affinity will be worsened one step.

This is the safest option; it is nearly impossible to suffer loss of Affinity when attempting to be Diplomatic. If you are attempting to reduce another's Affinity towards you, you actually suffer slight to the attempt if you choose to use Diplomacy to do so.

It can be quite easy to scare somebody into compliance. However, if you do so, the moment that you are out of sight, the subject's permanent Affinity is reduced one step, to a minimum of Hostile.

Perhaps the most subtle of social Skills, Performance has the benefit of usually not causing loss of Affinity. However, any attempt to use Performance to affect Affinity carries a slight chance of being misinterpreted. If either die comes up showing a one, the attempt is a Failure, regardless of the total rolled.