Guessing value of shady stuff

[marune]

Hi, in my current evil-PCs campaign, many times the PC got to estimate how much "money" they should give to a contact to get some info, to bribe an "honest" guard/citizen or to pay to get access to some secret places / private clubs.

What skills/feats/mechanics should be used to deal with that kind of guess ?

 

[Dross]

Personally i'd roll after some initial communication between the PCs and NPCs then roll but to answer your Q:

For info I'd try appraise, with bonus from any appropriate knowledge, craft, profession or other skill (it has to sound plausable at least). info can be considered an item so it kind of fits.

For the bribe, Appraise?, Sense motive, bluff or maybe diplomancy, some knowledge of the guard's status and likely wealth. 10 gp means different things to a common guard and a noble after all and offering 100gp to a common guard might make him question the value of taking the bribe (and whether they would let him live afterwards). Know:Local? Several rolls probably needed

Access to private clubs. (note that they would need to look the part or the price would go up substantially so disguise is a must) Know:Local?

Secret places as if private club x10 or so, plus disguises, some type of knowledge of the group/place/password/codes etc. people here would be more loyal and harder to pass unofficially.

 

[marune]

Problem is by RAW Appraise can only be applied to object, not services. (Magical ones with Appraise Magic Items from CArc).

Diplomacy fit only when there is communication between the PC and the NPC. So, maybe a mix of Knowledge(Local) and Diplomacy. Of course, this communication could bring some opposed Bluff/Sense Motive check.

 

[Dross]

Problem is by RAW Appraise can only be applied to object, not services. (Magical ones with Appraise Magic Items from CArc).

Diplomacy fit only when there is communication between the PC and the NPC. So, maybe a mix of Knowledge(Local) and Diplomacy. Of course, this communication could bring some opposed Bluff/Sense Motive check.

True about RAW but I am not aware of any RAW way of answering your Q's and Gather information is not what you are after. There may be third party products out there, or Complete Adventurer may have something but there is nothing in my (limited ) memory that would help.

Other than making it up on the spot it seemed an easy way to go about it.

And just to be facetious, if the info is written down, it IS an object.

 

[marune]

True about RAW but I am not aware of any RAW way of answering your Q's and Gather information is not what you are after. There may be third party products out there, or Complete Adventurer may have something but there is nothing in my (limited ) memory that would help.

Other than making it up on the spot it seemed an easy way to go about it.

And just to be facetious, if the info is written down, it IS an object.

Sadly there isn't a clear mechanics in C.Adv. After all, by RAW no evil-aligned party looking around for some elf-slave to sacrifice

For Appraise, I'm not a RAW addict, but the fact that it doesn't include mundane services is a clear indicator that is not the right skill to use.

 

[Blue Sky]

Use diplomacy. Per PHB page 71 "Diplomacy includes etiquette, social grace, tact, subtlety, and a way with words." Knowing how much to tip the matre `d is etiquette, so applying it to bribes isn't too much of a stretch. DC 10 for the corrupt guard, DC 25 for deeply underground slave ring, etc.

 

[Scharlata]

[...]What skills/feats/mechanics should be used to deal with that kind of guess ?

Hi!

Just look at the salaries of wages the normal folk gets per month (DMG). Try to imagine how YOU would react if someone offers you an amount of money that's 10 times your monthly earning.

There you got your "system" for bribery.

Be careful not to apply this technique to the real world.

 

[MarkB]

Knowledge (local) to estimate the 'going rate' for a typical bribe of the type you're attempting.

Sense Motive to guage whether a particular person is amenable to bribery, and whether he's likely to require more or less than the going rate.

Diplomacy to introduce the subject politely and make him amenable to a smaller figure.

Bluff to convince him there's a good reason to accept an even smaller sum.


Also, Rich Burlew's alternative Diplomacy rules work really well for this sort of thing, because they restructure Diplomacy checks in terms of a transaction whose DC is based upon simple reward-vs-risk assessments.