doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
A while ago, I had a disagreement with my DM about how to handle taunting an enemy to encourage it to go after you.
My character has a Familiar that is a wolf (it's a whole story), and is a rogue with the Booming Blade cantrip. We were fighting the ghost of an Ettin, and I tagged it with BB, and then had my familiar spend her action taunting the Ettin and then backing away, trying to get it to chase her.
Now, tactically, I get why a DM might want to avoid letting the enemy fall for a taunt, but ettins are classically very stupid, so I figured that good tactics weren't going to be a huge factor here, and I was right. We agreed that it wasn't smart enough to not follow something it wanted to smash just because there was a spell effect and potential opportunity attacks to consider, but we hit a snag when it came to resolving the action.
My DM called for an Intimidation check, with disadvantage, because the Ettin wouldn't normally perceive this creature as a threat. I was taken aback, and confused, and argued that threat level wasn't the point. She wasn't presenting herself as a threat, she was taunting him. What creature rushes toward a thing that has convinced them that they are a threat? I argued that it should be persuasion or deception (no better chance of success on a wolf, but for the general case it was important to distinguish) or a choice between them, depending on the approach being taken, and certainly not with disadvantage.
My theory, as a player and a DM, is that taunting can be about puffing your chest and challenging the target, BUT it can also be (and more often is IME) about harrying, annoying, or insulting the target. Making them angry, so they want to squish you, and potentially do something stupid as a result.
What do you think?
Poll has two basic questions. THe last two options are separate from the first 4.
Also, I'd probably allow Performance, if the taunter is trained.
I didn't want to clutter the poll, so I always want to ask here, what would the defense be?
Insight?
Wisdom Save vs a DC = 8+cha+prof if proficient in one of the skills?
My character has a Familiar that is a wolf (it's a whole story), and is a rogue with the Booming Blade cantrip. We were fighting the ghost of an Ettin, and I tagged it with BB, and then had my familiar spend her action taunting the Ettin and then backing away, trying to get it to chase her.
Now, tactically, I get why a DM might want to avoid letting the enemy fall for a taunt, but ettins are classically very stupid, so I figured that good tactics weren't going to be a huge factor here, and I was right. We agreed that it wasn't smart enough to not follow something it wanted to smash just because there was a spell effect and potential opportunity attacks to consider, but we hit a snag when it came to resolving the action.
My DM called for an Intimidation check, with disadvantage, because the Ettin wouldn't normally perceive this creature as a threat. I was taken aback, and confused, and argued that threat level wasn't the point. She wasn't presenting herself as a threat, she was taunting him. What creature rushes toward a thing that has convinced them that they are a threat? I argued that it should be persuasion or deception (no better chance of success on a wolf, but for the general case it was important to distinguish) or a choice between them, depending on the approach being taken, and certainly not with disadvantage.
My theory, as a player and a DM, is that taunting can be about puffing your chest and challenging the target, BUT it can also be (and more often is IME) about harrying, annoying, or insulting the target. Making them angry, so they want to squish you, and potentially do something stupid as a result.
What do you think?
Poll has two basic questions. THe last two options are separate from the first 4.
Also, I'd probably allow Performance, if the taunter is trained.
I didn't want to clutter the poll, so I always want to ask here, what would the defense be?
Insight?
Wisdom Save vs a DC = 8+cha+prof if proficient in one of the skills?
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