Body Language

#skill
Per/Average; Defaults: Detect Lies-4 or Psychology-4.

This is the ability to interpret a person’s facial expressions and body posture in order to gauge his feelings. You can use it like the Empathy advantage (p. 51) or Detect Lies skill (p. 187), but only on a subject you can see. You can also use it to get a rough idea of what a party member is doing or about to do in a situation where he cannot communicate with you directly (for instance, when using Stealth). You can only observe one subject at a time.

The ability to read body language in combat is a standard part of any Melee Weapon or unarmed combat skill; see Feint (p. 365).

Modifiers: All Vision modifiers; Physiology Modifiers (see link); +4 if your subject is Easy to Read (p. 134). Anything that makes the subject harder to “read” gives a penalty: baggy clothing gives -1, a shield or a voluminous cloak gives from -2 to -4, and a mask gives -5 (and makes it impossible to use this skill if you cannot see the rest of the body!).

Source: B174