Board Thread:Midian Ideas/@comment-24302820-20151006061453/@comment-24302820-20160411165432

While this skill is really intended more for the one using it (in defence of another's use of a social skill) bystanders do have an important effect on social skills. This isn't something very obvious, and I don't think that I've yet spelled it out clearly enough.

There are two such effects that bystanders have. Most importantly--and germane to the discussion at hand--is that, while you have control over your character's actions, it is the bystanders that see the true effects of the skill roll. That is, you can say anything you want, such as in reply to an insult or threat. This is player agency. However, you don't always succeed in an attempt, which is what a skill check is for. So if your roll is low, no matter how badassed you think your response is, you mumbled, it came out after too long a pause, you stuttered or stammered, the tone was wrong, you were visibly cowed, you were too quiet, or it otherwise didn't come out right. Any bystanders can easily tell that you failed your social skill roll (or saving throw against, et cetera).

The second effect that bystanders can have is more general in use, but still social in nature: statuses. A rough guideline for gaining a status is if a dozen or more people would think of a character in a given way, particularly in response to witnessing a noteworthy event or action, or persistent character trait.