In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, persuading is a mini-game used to increase an NPC's disposition toward the player, which affects how friendly or cooperative they are. This can unlock additional dialogue options, better prices, or important quest information.

How Persuading Works in Oblivion

• When you talk to an NPC, you can choose to persuade them by clicking a persuasion button during the conversation.
• The persuasion mini-game involves selecting four different actions exactly once each: Admire, Boast, Joke, and Coerce.
• Each NPC reacts differently to these actions, showing facial expressions that indicate whether they love, like, dislike, or hate each topic.
• The mini-game features a rotating wheel divided into wedges of different sizes representing the impact of each action.
• Your goal is to strategically select actions so that the ones the NPC loves or likes align with the larger wedges, increasing their disposition, while minimizing the effect of disliked or hated actions.
• The wheel rotates a quarter turn clockwise after each selection, and you must use all four actions before the mini-game ends.
• The mini-game is timed, and disposition decreases slowly over time, so quick decisions are necessary.
• Successfully increasing disposition through persuasion can make NPCs friendlier, provide better trade deals, or unlock quest-relevant information.
• If persuasion alone doesn't raise disposition enough, you can also bribe NPCs to boost their disposition at a monetary cost.

Benefits and Skill Interaction

• Using persuasion raises your Speechcraft skill.
• As your Speechcraft skill levels up, you gain perks that make persuasion easier, such as slower disposition loss, free wheel rotations, cheaper bribes, and reduced negative effects from disliked topics.

Summary

Persuading in Oblivion is a strategic mini-game that influences NPC disposition by carefully choosing dialogue actions that NPCs respond positively to, balancing disliked actions, and managing a rotating selection wheel under time pressure. It is essential for gaining NPC trust, better prices, and quest information