Handling bribes ...

[kramis]

So how do y'all handle PC's trying to bribe NPC officials? Do you just wing it, or do you have some system?

I was thinking of assigning NPC's a Corruption DC and have PC's make Diplomacy checks against this DC to know if the NPC is bribable, how much to offer, and how to approach the offer safely. The check would be made in secret with consequences for larger degrees of failure ... such as trying to bribe the wrong person, offering so little it offends them and they get angry, approaching it too directly or too indirectly, etc.

It was just a thought, I was wondering if anyone else had any sort of system? I guess unless you run a lot of political intrigue campaigns, it probably doesn't come up much for you.

 

[Archer]

A skilled PC should have some vibe about who is bribable and how much it will take to satisfy them. Unless you are a good RP DM and you can convey that information in a way the player can pick up on then more power to you but otherwise use skill rolls and add some modifiers and base the DC of the table in the PH. The corruption DC would be revealed by the diplomacy (sense motive?) check to assess the NPC not the difficulty of the actual influence attempt.

The check is in secret because the NPC is going to say they will do something and then not do it if the check is failed?

 

[Henrix]

Possibly Sense Motive to see if the NPC is bribable. Sense Motive, or possibly Diplomacy, to know how much is appropriate.

Innuendo to imply that you want to bribe him. And Innuendo by the NPC to tell the PCs he wants to be bribed.

And it would give a (hefty) bonus to Diplomacy.
Or a solid penalty if the PCs bribe with too little, implying that the would be bribee not only can be bought, but bought cheaply.

[Edit]
Of course, in some campaigns it is more open. In my current campaign, set in a chinese fantasy world inspired by Tales from the Water Margin (or All Men Are Brothers, as it has been translated), bribes are expected and everybody is quite open about it. I have allowed a Diplomacy check to see how much would be appropriate.
But then, not bribing the guards is a certain way to get no help at all.
[/Edit]