[Glaive]

So I have this tendancy to play high charisma characters even though I'm terrible at being a face. I can never think of anything witty or useful to say when put on the spot. Anyone have tips on how to be an effective face?

[Reaver]

Remember to seperate yourself from your character.

Just cause you're a dullard doesn't mean your character is

Use your skills in place of your own talking abilities (you did take such skills as fast talk, Con, and Etequette. ... right?!?)

[Namikaze]

Follow the helpful tips in this guide.  Normally I'd get all up in someone's grill about not using the search function, blah blah.  But the reality is that the search function didn't pull this up without a lot of work, and I already knew the topic was there.  If a moderator can see their way to maybe making a sticky of this helpful thread, it would probably be useful in the future as well.

[Glaive]

Remember to seperate yourself from your character.

Just cause you're a dullard doesn't mean your character is

Use your skills in place of your own talking abilities (you did take such skills as fast talk, Con, and Etequette. ... right?!?)

Well I'm not actually in a game currently, but if I were, then I'd certainly take the proper skills. Still, no GM would ever let me completely replace role playing with dice. And to make matters worse, most games, not just Shadowrun, incorporate penalties for unbelievable lies or social faux pas. Pretty sure going mute from pressure for a solid minute counts as a social faux pas.

Although I guess it isn't all bad. I have had my occasional strokes of genius, when the situation just falls into place in my head and I know exactly what I have to do. More often than not though, I have no clue what I'm doing. I do just need to plan better?

Follow the helpful tips in this guide.  Normally I'd get all up in someone's grill about not using the search function, blah blah.  But the reality is that the search function didn't pull this up without a lot of work, and I already knew the topic was there.  If a moderator can see their way to maybe making a sticky of this helpful thread, it would probably be useful in the future as well.

This guide seems to mostly cover what do do, but I'm more concerned about how to do it without coming off like a social reject. Lying unabashedly is fine and all, until crunch time and I literally cannot think of a lie. How do I avoid automatically failing my rolls due to having nothing to say?

[Namikaze]

How do I avoid automatically failing my rolls due to having nothing to say?

By rolling the dice.  Your GM shouldn't force you to be able to actually be a face any more than he/she should force the mage to actually cast a spell.  Sometimes it's best to just roll the dice.

[Sipowitz]

This guide seems to mostly cover what do do, but I'm more concerned about how to do it without coming off like a social reject. Lying unabashedly is fine and all, until crunch time and I literally cannot think of a lie. How do I avoid automatically failing my rolls due to having nothing to say?

Yeah you just need to plan better.
You can have a plan for most 'typical' situations in an rpg, especially shadowrun.

Write them out either in bullet statements or long form if you need to.   Memorize them and keep them with you when you game.
Nothing wrong with treading over the same water time and again.  Just keep track of what you said to whom.

If you have multiple fake SINs keep close to what each SIN is supposed to be.

How do I avoid automatically failing my rolls due to having nothing to say?

By rolling the dice.  Your GM shouldn't force you to be able to actually be a face any more than he/she should force the mage to actually cast a spell.  Sometimes it's best to just roll the dice.

I will disagree.   

[Namikaze]

What, precisely, do you disagree with Sipowitz?  That the GM shouldn't require the face to always roleplay?  Or that the mage player should know how to cast spells?  Or something else?

[Michael Chandra]

I willingly roll my Bluff dice even after a good story, knowing I'll fail them at -2 Charisma Modifier and no training in the skill. The other way around is fine too. Now a GM always can go "that's a convincing argument" and provide a modifier, but in the end the character shouldn't be punished because the player isn't a silver-tongued devil. We don't make players describe how they sneak to decide whether or not their actual sneaking works, we don't go "you didn't say you were doing <obvious thing for the character at 8 agility and 6 sneaking> so you get noticed anyway". Why would we go "you automatically fail the social roll" if the player goes "I try to get a better reward by pointing out the dangers from lack of information", despite their massive charisma and social skills?

[farothel]

I know your problem, I have had the same trouble in a L5R game where I played the courtier: the face, but much more political, where a faux pas will get you killed, or worse, shunned (and yes, that is worse).  I'm not good either and the main problem was one of the other players was and he played the gruff warrior, but was always taking over.

Have a talk with your GM about it, explain why you want to roll dice in some circumstances.  It should stay fun for you as well, and having constant stress isn't much fun.

In fact, when I GM, I always have my players roll dice (for the important things at least), but I also have them roleplay the situation, with good roleplay giving bonusses and if they make the big faux pas, they get a penalty (faux pas  here is of course really stupid decisions, not if the player is not good at this thing).

[Dr Adder]

Why can't you play a high charisma without being a face ?! Some interesting mage traditions use CHA+Will.

If you want to be seductive or intimidating, take skill 1 and a spec. Done.

CHA can be a passive magnetism and you can even refuse to manipulate everybody or to lie permanently.

[ZeConster]

Well I'm not actually in a game currently, but if I were, then I'd certainly take the proper skills. Still, no GM would ever let me completely replace role playing with dice. And to make matters worse, most games, not just Shadowrun, incorporate penalties for unbelievable lies or social faux pas. Pretty sure going mute from pressure for a solid minute counts as a social faux pas.

If your GM wants you to roleplay you facing, you can always ask for a time-out while you ask the other players for tips. Some of the best speeches given by our faces in roleplaying games have been suggested to them by non-face players.

[firebug]

I don't think a Face should automatically fail a roll if they don't know what to say, but giving them penalties at least if they specify something out of place makes sense.  It'd be like the street samurai make a poor choice to avoid cover in a gunfight or the mage treating his spirits like pawns.  Sometimes player actions cause them inconvenience.  If you stick to just "this is what I try to accomplish" then the only penalties (or bonuses) you should be getting would be on how your character looks and such.

Try if you can to phrase your actions neutrally.  If you're backed into a corner and say, someone accuses you of lying, just say "My character makes up an excuse." and roll the dice.  All you need to actual do is pick which skill you're using (Con, Etiquette, and so on).  Heck, if you can, just say "I'll roll Con."  It's better to try and leave what you're doing up to the imagination of others if you're uncomfortable with your own ability to come up with dialogue.

[Imveros]

try reading any of the fiction you can get your hands on. I frequently find myself saying, "hmmm what would Argent do in this situation?" Then crying cause ill never be as good as argent

I will also take notes of witty things to say and keep them handy for an appropriate moment. All of my war-hammer 40k charterers have had quotes sheets to read from

That being said, talk to your GM when you get one. I've been schooling the person playing the rogue trader in my 40k game. He used to be so polite and apologize to even the lowliest pesent. Now he is kicking ass and taking name, like a boss. With the right group you tend to hit your stride after a few games

[Sipowitz]

What, precisely, do you disagree with Sipowitz?  That the GM shouldn't require the face to always roleplay?  Or that the mage player should know how to cast spells?  Or something else?

For one that you are equating casting spells with talking.  I don't require the street sams to lob of body parts or have implanted mechanicals or bring real AK97s to the game either.

I wont tell you how to play.

For me and mine, if you are playing a Face and don't talk in character with NPCs, you will fail.  No I didn't say you need to be Templeton Peck, you have to give the Gm something to work with.

Like what firebug says to do will fail every time.

Try if you can to phrase your actions neutrally.  If you're backed into a corner and say, someone accuses you of lying, just say "My character makes up an excuse." and roll the dice.  All you need to actual do is pick which skill you're using (Con, Etiquette, and so on).  Heck, if you can, just say "I'll roll Con."  It's better to try and leave what you're doing up to the imagination of others if you're uncomfortable with your own ability to come up with dialogue.

[Namikaze]

For one that you are equating casting spells with talking.

Being a good face is as much about skill and natural charisma as it is about "talking."  Okay, let's change the comparison then.  Let's go with a street samurai.  Do you require the street samurai player to understand how his/her weapons work in real life?  Or let's go with a hacker instead.  Do you require your hacker's player to be able to expound upon the nature of the Matrix with any degree of technical skill?  Since there are literally hundreds of debates on the internet about how the Matrix works in SR5, I think that would be an impossible task.  Asking your face's player to roleplay every interaction is fine and dandy, but to penalize them for not being able to do it sounds like a good way to discourage players from trying the face role.

For example, in my group we have a guy who's usually really good at being the face.  But we have someone else who has been wanting to try the role for a while.  We talked it over, and we agreed that he would try to roleplay as much as he could, but at any time he could stop the roleplay and just roll dice instead.  We've given this player the opportunity to try something new, something that will broaden his horizons and make him a better player.  At the end of the day, it all depends on the table and the composition of your group.  But since I'm not running a drama school, I don't penalize people for being bad roleplayers.  Instead, I try to encourage good roleplaying.  If the player does good roleplaying (this applies to everyone, not just the face) then they get a bonus karma.