Have I been botching skills for my players?

[takyris]

So, as always, prepping for d20 Modern campaign. I take a look at the Investigator:

"Discern Lie: At 7th level, an Investigator develops the ability to gauge whether another character is telling the truth by reading facial expressions and interpreting body language. The Investigator must be able to see and hear the individual under scrutiny.

With a successful Sense motive check opposed by the subject's Bluff check (or DC10), the Investigator can tell whether the subject is deliberately and knowingly speaking a lie..."

Er? I thought that was how you used Sense Motive in general.

After looking at this, I realized that I may have been making Sense Motive way too powerful in my game. My players are used to using Sense Motive multiple times in a single conversation, every time they hear something that they think might be suspect. Looking at the Investigator, who needs a class ability to do that, I'm wondering if I've been completely misusing Bluff and Sense Motive in D&D.

When you use Sense Motive and Bluff, do you do it on a once-per-statement basis, or on a once-per-conversation basis? That is to say, do you let them use Bluff and Sense Motive as a per-lie or per-lie-detector tool? Or do you have them roll their bluff and then base their conversation on that bluff attempt? And for Sense Motive, do you have them use it once per conversation against the once-per-conversation bluff of the other person?

-Tacky

 

[Ranger REG]

Well, if you use check per-statement, then the person being examined may feel uncomfortable at the way the character is paying attention to him, and probably clam up.

As the GM, you have to decide how the conversation should go, because rolling Sense Motive check after every sentence may slow the progress of the game.

Then again, once a person is caught with a lie, most characters would construe that anything coming out of his or her mouth will be false. IOW, there is no more reason to continue to Sense Motive.

 

[Mistwell]

Generally I only allow one sense motive check for an entire conversation, and it only gives you a sort of general sense for things, nothing real specific. So you cannot use it to detect a specific lie, just that you feel someone might be untrustworthy or leaving something out.