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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5606012" data-attributes="member: 6668292">Well, let's take a situation.A guard is guarding a gate for a king, who has ordered him not to let anyone in for the rest of the night, as his long friend (a diplomat) has arrived. The guard witnessed the diplomat arrive, witnessed the king greet him warmly and personally, and knows what the diplomat looks like. Additionally, the king has a standing threat to have the guard's family punished (maybe even killed) if the guard messes up enough.The players are planning on bluffing their way into this castle. They do some homework, make some discreet Gather Information checks, roll some Knowledge rolls, consult some sages, etc. They find out that a diplomat is on his way to see the king at the moment. They do not know that the king knows the diplomat personally. With this information, they make their way to the gate, with the Party Face disguised as the diplomat, and the other party members disguised as an escort from the appropriate nation. They forge papers showing they are indeed who they claim to be.They show up at the castle walls twenty minutes after the guard let the last diplomat in. The Party Face claims to be the diplomat, and produces papers showing it. Now, I rule that the guard is not going to let him in based on the real diplomat already arriving and the king's orders to let nobody else in, though he probably would have 25 minutes ago. The players don't know this.I have the Party Face roll a Bluff check. He cannot convince the guard to let him inside, but he doesn't know it. If he fails the Bluff check, then the guard will actively think that the party member is lying, and react accordingly.If, however, the Party Face blows the Sense Motive check out of the water, then the guard will think the Party Face is telling the truth, as he knows it. He still won't let the diplomat in, but he might think there is some sort of mix up, and that the nation sent two diplomats instead of one. The guard will probably go get his superior to deal with this (who might get the chancellor, who would likely inform the king of what is happening, who would then talk things over with the diplomat he knows personally, who would confirm that no such mix up should have occurred). The king, chancellor, and diplomat might head to the gates (with a large contingent of guards) to see if the party are impostors or if they are legitimate (based on the judgment of the diplomat, and the king).In having the player roll the Bluff check, knowing that he would not succeed in his goal, I've determined the degree to which he has failed. If he rolls low, the gate guard knows he's lying. If he rolls high, then the gate guard believes him, and passes responsibility up.Did that help?</blockquote>

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