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Message: <blockquote data-quote="aboyd" data-source="post: 5080588" data-attributes="member: 44797">I haven't quite read the responses, although I skimmed a bit.  I wanted to try to write what I'd do without being influenced by other posts.Basically, if I think an 8th level wizard has blown his intimidate against a low-level merchant, I'm going to take it one of two ways.  Either the merchant doesn't understand the predicament he's in, or the merchant fully understands and already has a revenge plot cooking.So if the merchant doesn't understand the danger, then he's really going to get hurt.  If he lives, there is no more need to go by the intimidate roll -- he's been attacked and can gauge how long he has left to live, and make some decisions.  If there is any variable that might cause the merchant to remain stupid, it would merely be a low wisdom score.  Otherwise, up against a show of force, he shouldn't be so doggedly unintimidated that he just dies from bullheadedness.However, if the merchant does understand the danger, then what's happening is that he's willing to capitulate at the moment so that he can utterly slaughter the wizard later.  Perhaps he's friends with the local level 20 mage and knows that said mage will happily disintegrate the wizard on the merchant's behalf.  Or perhaps something more mundane will happen -- perhaps that merchant sits on the local council, and after the wizard leaves, every seller in town will know to claim that they have nothing to sell but the lamest goods.  An alchemist will suddenly have only 4 acid flasks left, sorry.  No alchemist's fire flasks at all.  A blacksmith will suddenly have no magical items appropriate for an 8th level character, but hey, he's still got a cheap masterwork mace.  And so on.Or perhaps the merchant has just done something similar to what some of the weaker NPCs did in the Baldur's Gate 2 video game -- have a group of assassins on retainer as paid protection, and once the wizard leaves, he's a hunted man.  Maybe all the wizard's items are secretly stolen and returned to the merchant (including things the merchant never owned), or maybe the wizard is outright killed.  What would be awesome would be to steal back all the stuff and replace it with cursed items, so that the wizard blithely continues using the (now dangerous) items.Anyway, the point is that while the merchant will behave intimidated, he's really not.  He's willing to go to the police.  He's willing to describe his attacker.  He's willing to sit in a courtroom and point out the lawbreaker for everyone to see.  He'll stand up to the wizard, it just might take some plotting.....</blockquote>

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