Being a relatively new user, I missed the start of Agent c's "Fallout: The Apprentice", and was unable to take part. However, the "Home Viewer Contest", with users submitting possible Perks for "Fallout 4", gave me an idea for a Perk I wouldn't mind seeing in-game, so I thought I'd type it up anyway. I therefore give you the updated version of the "Smooth Talker" Perk:
Smooth Talker is a Fallout 4 (fictional) perk.
Requirements
Unfortunately, I'm apparently too new to be able to Create an infobox (I did try). However, The proposed requirements for this Perk are Level 10, and either Charisma, Intelligence or Perception of 6. (perhaps if a mod happens upon this post they'd edit it for me? Please?)
Effect
When a player takes this perk, it is possible for them to pass in-dialogue checks they do not meet the skill requirements for, turning the Pass/Fail dialogue options (as seen in Fallout: New Vegas) into probability tests as seen in Fallout 3.
For example, a player who has Medicine 60 may come across an in-dialogue Medicine check for 75. Whilst in normal gameplay this player would need to increase their medicine skill by 15 in order to pass this check (perhaps through use of a skill book and Wasteland Surgeon Outfit), a player who has taken the "Smooth Talker" perk will instead have a chance to pass the check even without increasing their Medicine skill.
The Algorithm used to determine whether or not a player can pass a check using smooth talker is as follows:
Chance of Success = ((Player Skill/Required Skill)x100)/(5-(Charisma/2))
So for a player with Medicine 60 looking to pass an in-dialogue Medicine Check of 75, with Charisma 6, for example:
Chance of Success = ((60/75)x100)/(5-(6/2))
In this instance, the player's chance of success would be 40%. If the player had Charisma 10, however, this would increase to 80%, whilst with a Charisma of only 1, their chance of success would be a mere 18% (Algorithm always rounds up).With Charisma 6 as in the initial scenario, but a Medicine skill of only 20, the player's chance of success would be only 14%.
This brings back the element of chance seen in Fallout 3's speech challenges, but does not force the game to revolve around chance, as a sufficient skill to match the dialogue requirement will mean the player always passes, as in Fallout: New Vegas.
Notes
When the "Smooth Talker" perk is taken, dialogue options which the player will otherwise fail will still display the required skill, as well as player's skill, as with all in-dialogue checks in Fallout: New Vegas. However, instead of being highlighted red, they will instead be highlighted with the Alt Colour (e.g. A Player with Amber Text/HUD will see it in Green, which a Player with Green Text/HUD will see it in Amber). This has no real effect, but shows the player that they will not necessarily fail the check merely because they do not have the required skill level.
It should also be noted that this perk only affects "in-dialogue" speech checks. So, for example, the character above with Medicine 60 could not actually operate on a patient who required a skill check of 75 to be healed (unless the Player wished to kill them), it simply allows the player to pass dialogue options. The player is a Smooth "Talker", not a Smooth "Operator".
Additional
Although the limitations would need to be more carefully considered than for this perk, a "Smooth Operator" Perk (title obviously not set in stone) could also be interesting, in which a player has a percentage chance of passing in-game skill checks rather than just in-dialogue ones, for example when deactivating explosives. However, the negative effects of failing such a check would have to be carefully considered, as if there were none, players would just continue to use the option constantly, but if they had drastic consequences, players would never pick the perk. Perhaps if another "Fallout: The Apprentice" begins, I'll try and come up with a way of including it for the "Home Viewer Contest"...