Armor can give Intimidation bonus ?

[kreynolds]

I gotta go with UofMDude on this one. I couldn't justify plain armor granting any kind of skill bonus. Magical, yes, and you can get it pretty cheap. If all you want is a +2 to intimidate, your armor would need to be at least +1, costing you a total of 1,430 gp. Hey, you could always get a necklace that added +2 to intimidate. And at only 80gp or so, that's REALLY cheap. That's not that bad. C'mon man, just spend the cash. It's worth it.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I'd allow it, but charge a fee on par with the skill-granting magic items in the DMG. Basically, you're getting a bonus that doesn't go away, doesn't have much chance of breaking, and will be difficult to steal. I'd gauge that to be on-par with, say, Boots of Elvenkind.

That said, you aren't asking for a +10 bonus, so you shouldn't have to pay for it. +10 cost = 2000g / 10 = 200gp for a +1 bonus. This item won't take up a slot (being on the armor) so double that. For armor granting a +2 to intimidate, I'd require that it be masterwork, and add on an additional +800gp.

But this is all just IMO. I wouldn't charge too much, but OTOH, 50gp is so little as to be meaningless. 800gp won't break anyone's bank, but it's substantial enough to make +2 to Intimidate armor stand a cut above regular masterwork armor.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Each character gains Reputation based on class and level. Example; the Noble gains Reputation very fast, while a Woodsman doesnt gain much at all. When you do amazing/heroic/notable deeds you can gain a point of reputation as well by making a Charisma check at DC 20. Once a character has reputation the DM makes a Reputation check at every country he goes to see if hes recognized. The DC ranges from 25 in heavily populated countries to 45 in other continents. If you are recognized you get +5 to Bluff, Diplomacy, Entertain, Gather Info and +2 to Intimidate if you are generally good and Famous. If you are Infamous (deserved or not) you get +5 Bluff, Gather Info, Intimidate and -5 to Diplomacy since noone trusts you. The DC to be recognized drops -5 for home town and large cities, but rises by +5 in remote backwater areas.

Masterwork items give a +2 bonus to Reputation checks if you are seen with the item so much people associate you with it. On top of that theres a mechanic for using Reputation to gain followers as well.

Its a very cool mechanic IMO. Seems kinda broken at first but the class progression is pretty slow except for classes that arent very powerfull to start like the Noble. I'd suggest giving the bard good Reputation since theyre kinda lame anyway, maybe sorcerers as well. If you have any questions email me at mostholycerebus@yahoo.com but I really suggest picking up the Wheel fo Time RPG. Even if you don't care for the books the new magic system, the reputation system, teh character creation method, and a few other things can really enhance a regular D&D game.

 

[Gizzard]

There was a discussion a long while back about the Intimidate skill. One of the more interesting things to come out of it was the idea of liberally applying situational Intimidate bonuses. Sort of along the lines of:

I have armor and you dont. +2 to me.
I have a weapon and you dont. +2 to me.
I have magic stuff and you dont. +2 to me.

The key here is that certain things may impress certain people, but there are very few things that are impressive all the time. For example, if I have armor then I am not likely to be that impressed by your armor. The same thing if I am vastly powerful. You want to make a fancy spiky inlaid armor and then try to intimidate a Ancient Black Dragon? He'll be laughing so hard at your little foo-foo poseur armor that he might not be able to use his breath weapon, but you arent going to get any Intimidate bonus.

Summary: I wouldnt give you a permanent +2 for fancy armor, but I'd be a lot more willing to give you a situational bonus (or penalty, depending on who you were trying to work over.)

 

[Rashak Mani]

Reminds me a little of the ED 'reputation' system too... most PCs only got to level 1 and you would start getting discount at stores and being recognized by people in bigger cities...

 

[Damror]

I agree with Lord Pendragon. I would let you do it, but it would cost more than the 80 gp some people are suggesting. I would also put a stipulation on it that it only effects creatures with an intelligence high enough to understand the image. For example, anything with an Intelligence of 2 doesn't care what sort of picture you have on your armor.

 

[Rashak Mani]

[ Rant ] Should I mention that DMs in general screw intimidate and most charisma based skills ? Social skills arent exactly given due attention

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Spot on Rashak. But worse IMO is the DM that ignores game mechanics for Live Action roleplay that focus' on the PLAYERs abilities more than the CHARACTERS. Bobs character Bilbo has a 26 Charsisma and a +87 Dilplomacy check. Joes character Frodo is a fighter with a 6 Charisma. Yet Frodo always leads the group and gets everything done in town cause Joe is more charismatic than Bob. DMs who do this aint encouraging roleplaying at all.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Leaders should either be very inteligent PCs or very charismatic... Wisdom maybe after some time to demonstrate their Good senses.

Yet most of the time its the charismatic or bossy player that leads... bad rping.

Thats why sometimes its so good to play dumb fighters ... you just dont have to heat your brain up trying to figure out what the DM is doing... you just react to what is visible and present !! When I play smart PCs I have to think a lot of stuff out and be smart too... can be fun but a lot of work.

In an evil campaign we play I told the DM I had lousy charisma (10) but very inteligente and bossy. So whenever we have social encounters I try to be the irritating snob my character is... I screw up many such encounters or really do them well when I sort of "intimidate" NPCs.. or even PCs... the fact that I shouldnt be the spokesperson hasnt been "discussed" by the group thou... hehe..

Personally I hate the intimidate being tied to CHA by my DM...