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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Razz" data-source="post: 3555185" data-attributes="member: 3014">Sword&Fist also has another use of the Sense Motive skill in combat. Oriental Adventures also allows uses of the Sense Motive skill to assess a character's level, total attack and damage bonus with primary weapon, and Iaijutsu Focus ranks. I'll list them all here that I typed down in my Skills file for reference. These are all either from WotC official books or Dragon Magazine. The one's where the you try to read an opponent's skill ranks, attack bonus, level, class, affiliation, etc. can be countered with a Bluff check:Sensing a Bluff: A successful check against an opposed Bluff check lets you avoid being bluffed. You can also use this skill to determine when "something is up" (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone's trustworthiness. Your DM may decide to make your Sense Motive check secretly, so that you do not now whether you were successful or not. Hunch: By making a Sense Motive at DC 20, you can make a gut assessment of the social situation. You get the feeling from another's behavior that something is wrong, such as when you're talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy. Trying to gain information using Sense Motive takes at least 1 minute, maybe more.Sense Enchantment: You can tell that someone's behavior is being influenced by an enchantment (mainly mind-affecting effects), such as charm person. The usual DC is 25, but 15 if the person is dominated due to the limit of the target's activities. Trying to gain information using Sense Motive takes at least 1 minute, maybe more.Discern Secret Messages: You can use Sense Motive to intercept a hidden message being transmitted via Bluff skill by making an opposed roll. For each piece of information relating to the message that you are missing, you take a -2 penalty on your Sense Motive check. For example, if you eavesdrop on people planning to assassinate a visiting diplomat, you take a -2 penalty on your check if you don't know about the diplomat.     If you succeed by 4 or less, you know something hidden is being communicated but can't learn anything specific. If you beat the DC by 5 or more you intercept the message and understand it.    Failure by 4 or less means you do not detect any hidden communication. Failure by 5 or more means you infer some false information.Appraising a Character's Level: A DC 15 check lets you learn the character's level.Appraising a Character's Ranks in Iaijutsu Focus: A DC 20 check lets you learn the character's ranks in Iaijutsu Focus.Appraising a Character's Total Attack and Damage Bonus: A DC 25 check lets you learn the opponent's total attack bonus and damage bonus with their primary weapon.Combat Prediction: You must spend a good 3 rounds observing an opponent in combat you get a good general idea of their skill. You must take no other actions other than moving your normal movement rate. You must keep your subject in view at all times. You roll a skill check at a DC of 20 + 1 per character level they possess. If you succeed, you receive a +4 bonus on your first attack roll against the observed opponent. This attack must be made within 24 hours, and you cannot gain the bonus twice against the same opponent unless their character level has changed since you last observed him.Decipher Strategy: You can assess a combat situation and determine its true purpose. By observing the combat for a minimum of 3 rounds, you can make a skill check at DC 15 + 1 for every opponent you face. If successful, you determine your opponents' true motive (cut you to pieces, lure you away from or drive you toward a particular spot, rescue a captive, etc.)Assess Opponent: As a standard action, you can use Sense Motive to determine how challenging an opponent poses for you, based on your level the the opponent's Challenge Rating. This skill check is opposed by the opponent's Bluff check. You must be within 30 feet and the opponent must be visible to you. If you have seen the opponent in combat, you gain a +2 circumstance modifier on the check.A successful assessment reveals that your foe belongs in one of two categories. If you beat the Bluff check result by 10 or more, you can narrow the category down to 1.If the target's Bluff check exceeds your Sense Motive check by 5 or more, you may accidently assume the opponent to be weaker or stronger than normal within one category. If it exceeds your check by 10 or more, you gaina  false assessment of 1 category. These false categories are chosen by the DM.A target that is vulnerable to your attack routine (such as a vampire facing a cleric of Lathander) registers as one category less challenging; one who is resistant to your attack routine is considered one category more challenging.The categories are: pushover, easy, fair, tough, dire threat.Gauge an Opponent's Strength: This skill can be used to gauge the approximate prowess of an opponent in battle. Making a DC 0 skill check is enough to discover whether or not a creature is more powerful than you, so long as the creature does not care if that information is known. Similarly, succeeding at a DC 15 skill check allows you to ascertain a fighting foe's level, and succeeding at a DC 25 skill check lets you know the creature's level, total attack bonus, and the damage it causes with a weapon it uses. When the creature is not fighting, your Sense Motive check suffers a -10 circumstance penalty. However, if the creature does not wish to allow others to know its power, it can convey false information or simply hide the information from you (see Bluff skill).Anticipate: By making a Sense Motive check (DC 10 + opponent's level), you may attempt to anticipate your opponent's first move before the match begins. This roll can be opposed by a Bluff check; if you succeed, you gain a +1 insight bonus to initiative.Opposing Character's Political Affiliation: DC 15Opposing Character's Class: DC 20Opposing Character's Ranks in a particular Skill: DC 20, You must be able to observe a character using the skill before you are able to determine the character's skill level. Discern Alignment: You can discern someone's partial alignment with a DC 60 Sense Motive check, or their entire alignment with a DC 80 skill check. The target must be visible and within 30 feet of you.     If discerning partial alignment you must state which axis you're trying to determine (good and evil, or law and chaos). You cannot use this part of the skill more than once.Detect Surface Thoughts: This works like the detect thoughts spell except the target may choose to counter this with a Bluff check. The DC for this check is DC 100 and the target must be visible and within 30 feet.</blockquote>

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