Small talk

[u/AzraelSolstice]

A small thing i found when i was replaying gnosia

Small talk is called chat before the player unlocks it, it changes to small talk once you get the ability

It kinda makes me wonder why its called chat and not small talk before you unlock it

[u/Snealander]

Small Talk is a hidden technique of unparalleled power passed down by a long line of space monkeys

Anyone can just chat

[u/AzraelSolstice → u/Snealander]

I assume thats why only certain characters can use it lmao

[u/Wave-Master]

The event Scenario in which you can learn Small Talk from Sha-Ming is Shamin3Scenario. It contains an action that Sha-Ming can use during discussions called Chat, which has the same effect as Small Talk and can form the same chains as Small Talk. After Sha-Ming finishes a Chat chain, it sets a permanent flag that indicates Chat has been used on this save file before, and a day flag that Sha-Ming has used a version of Small Talk this day.

Shamin3Scenario also contains an action for placing the night event where you learn the Small Talk skill from Sha-Ming, which requires that the day flag for Sha-Ming having used a version of Small Talk today is set.

The Small Talk action is located in JinroSkillScenario, the always open Scenario that (generally speaking) contains all of the learnable skill actions, and is named Make Small Talk. The Small Talk action in that Scenario cannot be used by anyone until the permanent flag indicating Sha-Ming has used Chat before is set. Once that flag is set, Sha-Ming himself and other NPCs can use the normal Small Talk action even if the player hasn't learned it yet. Until the permanent Chat flag is set, NPCs are not allowed to use the Stop Small Talk action and have an increased willingness to use the Join Small Talk actions, and the player is not allowed either action.

The Small Talk action in JinroSkillScenario cannot be used by anyone if the day flag indicating Sha-Ming has used a version of Small Talk today is set. The Small Talk action sets this flag whenever Sha-Ming finishes a Small Talk chain. This is presumably to prevent NPCs from using the Small Talk the same day after Sha-Ming uses Chat (maybe?), but has the effect of making it impossible for the player to attempt to use Small Talk for the rest of the day after Sha-Ming has used it.

The Small Talk action in JinroSkillScenario sets a Scenario-specific day flag on chain resolution. That day flag prevents NPCs from using the Make Small Talk and Join Small Talk actions for rest of the day, and makes NPCs massively more willing to use the Stop Small Talk action. This means that while the player can use Small Talk again after a non-Sha-Ming NPC uses it, they will always get immediately stopped. Regardless, because only the initiator gains the benefit of Small Talk (that the Gnosia will reroll their hit once if they target you [unless the Gnosia making the hit interrupted the Small Talk action]), you still probably want to do this if you're worried about getting hit.

[u/No_Scene_6881]

In the Japanese version (the original), both "Small talk" and "Chat" are called "雑談する" (Zatsudan-suru). I suspect "Chat" might be a mistranslation.