Originally posted by ShakaUVM:
So Intimidate is quite possibly one of the most powerful skills in 4ed: with a single standard action, a successful Intimidate vs Will check (against all bloodied enemies that can see and hear you) causes them to surrender.
Given that 4ed has very few save or dies, this is crazy powerful, as combined with a few AOE spells, this can end an encounter in one round. There are two main modifiers which make this tough: -5 if you don't speak the language, and -10 if they're hostile.
Race: Dragonborn. +2 to Charisma and +2 to Intimidate make this race the winner.
I ran through the PHB and compiled a list of all the abilities which can affect Intimidate.
Personal Powers:
Warlock's Curse (Fate of the Void): Get a +1 bonus to a skill check when dropping a person under your curse. (Per enemy killed; stacks.) Can be increased with Improved Fate of the Void.
Beguiling Tongue (Warlock Utility 2) (+5 to checks)
Dark One's Own Luck (Warlock Utility 6): Reroll a skill check.
Kensai 11: Action point to Reroll a skill check
Delusions of Loyalty (Warlock Attack 19): Target perceives you as a friend.
Sly Fortune's Favor (Deadly Trickster 21): Reroll a skill check 3/day
Ally Powers:
Mob Mentality (Rogue Utility 6) (You and all allies get +2 to checks)
Crucial Advice (Ranger Utility 2) Friend can reroll a skill check with a bonus equal to Wisdom
Skilled Companion (Ranger Utility 6) Weaker version of the above, but it lasts all encounter, only works if friend is untrained.
Items (all head slot):
Circlet of Authority (+2 item bonus to Intimidate)
Crown of Command (+4 item bonus to Intimidate, plus free reroll on a check)
Iron of Spite (+6 to Intimidate)
Sample Build:
Buddy Holiday
Dragonborn Star Warlock/Kensai/Deadly Trickster
Cha 20 (1st level) to Cha 28 (30th level)
1: Skill Focus: Intimidate
2: Improved Fate of the Void
4: Linguist
6: Linguist
8: Multiclass Fighter
Skill Bonus (2nd Level): 5 (Charisma) + 5 (training) + 3 (Focus) + 2 (Racial) + 1 (1/2 level) + 5 (Beguiling Tongue) = +21 to Intimidate Checks.
The DC we're going to be looking for will be around DC21 to 24, meaning you have about a 5% to 20% chance of failing per target. Otherwise, all bloodied enemies that can see you surrender.
At 6th level, we gain a reroll, which drops the percentage of failure down to pretty low levels.
At 11th Kensai gives us another option for rerolls
At 21st Deadly Trickster gives us another 3 rerolls
At 30th level: 9 (Charisma) + 5 (training) + 3 (Focus) + 2 (Racial) + 15 (1/2 level) + 5 (Beguiling Tongue) + 6 Iron of Spite + ~10 Delusions of Loyalty = +45/+55 to Intimidate Checks.
To get a bloodied Orcus to surrender is DC59. With a Ranger helping you out (adding +Wisdom and a reroll from Crucial Advice) you can essentially automatically make the check. Otherwise, you just make use of your five rerolls to keep rolling till you hit the target DC.
How to deal with the penalties...
Eliminating the -5 from language:
Take Linguist a couple times.
Eliminating the -10 from hostile:
Depending on how cheesy you want to be, it's possible to say that a creature who hasn't seen you isn't hostile to you, so you can skill train stealth and hang out invisibly until it's time to alpha strike their surrender.
Key insight: Delusions of Loyalty is a charm spell which makes a creature "perceive you as a comrade" which should remove the -10 penalty for it being hostile towards you.
So Intimidate is quite possibly one of the most powerful skills in 4ed: with a single standard action, a successful Intimidate vs Will check (against all bloodied enemies that can see and hear you) causes them to surrender.
Given that 4ed has very few save or dies, this is crazy powerful, as combined with a few AOE spells, this can end an encounter in one round. There are two main modifiers which make this tough: -5 if you don't speak the language, and -10 if they're hostile.
Race: Dragonborn. +2 to Charisma and +2 to Intimidate make this race the winner.
I ran through the PHB and compiled a list of all the abilities which can affect Intimidate.
Personal Powers:
Warlock's Curse (Fate of the Void): Get a +1 bonus to a skill check when dropping a person under your curse. (Per enemy killed; stacks.) Can be increased with Improved Fate of the Void.
Beguiling Tongue (Warlock Utility 2) (+5 to checks)
Dark One's Own Luck (Warlock Utility 6): Reroll a skill check.
Kensai 11: Action point to Reroll a skill check
Delusions of Loyalty (Warlock Attack 19): Target perceives you as a friend.
Sly Fortune's Favor (Deadly Trickster 21): Reroll a skill check 3/day
Ally Powers:
Mob Mentality (Rogue Utility 6) (You and all allies get +2 to checks)
Crucial Advice (Ranger Utility 2) Friend can reroll a skill check with a bonus equal to Wisdom
Skilled Companion (Ranger Utility 6) Weaker version of the above, but it lasts all encounter, only works if friend is untrained.
Items (all head slot):
Circlet of Authority (+2 item bonus to Intimidate)
Crown of Command (+4 item bonus to Intimidate, plus free reroll on a check)
Iron of Spite (+6 to Intimidate)
Sample Build:
Buddy Holiday
Dragonborn Star Warlock/Kensai/Deadly Trickster
Cha 20 (1st level) to Cha 28 (30th level)
1: Skill Focus: Intimidate
2: Improved Fate of the Void
4: Linguist
6: Linguist
8: Multiclass Fighter
Skill Bonus (2nd Level): 5 (Charisma) + 5 (training) + 3 (Focus) + 2 (Racial) + 1 (1/2 level) + 5 (Beguiling Tongue) = +21 to Intimidate Checks.
The DC we're going to be looking for will be around DC21 to 24, meaning you have about a 5% to 20% chance of failing per target. Otherwise, all bloodied enemies that can see you surrender.
At 6th level, we gain a reroll, which drops the percentage of failure down to pretty low levels.
At 11th Kensai gives us another option for rerolls
At 21st Deadly Trickster gives us another 3 rerolls
At 30th level: 9 (Charisma) + 5 (training) + 3 (Focus) + 2 (Racial) + 15 (1/2 level) + 5 (Beguiling Tongue) + 6 Iron of Spite + ~10 Delusions of Loyalty = +45/+55 to Intimidate Checks.
To get a bloodied Orcus to surrender is DC59. With a Ranger helping you out (adding +Wisdom and a reroll from Crucial Advice) you can essentially automatically make the check. Otherwise, you just make use of your five rerolls to keep rolling till you hit the target DC.
How to deal with the penalties...
Eliminating the -5 from language:
Take Linguist a couple times.
Eliminating the -10 from hostile:
Depending on how cheesy you want to be, it's possible to say that a creature who hasn't seen you isn't hostile to you, so you can skill train stealth and hang out invisibly until it's time to alpha strike their surrender.
Key insight: Delusions of Loyalty is a charm spell which makes a creature "perceive you as a comrade" which should remove the -10 penalty for it being hostile towards you.
