Intimidate in combat: viable?

[Old Gumphrey]

I've got a level 4 character with +21 Intimidate, boosted to +23 1/encounter. I want to use Intimidate to get bloodied foes to surrender. On average, I'll need something like a 4 or higher on a d20 to get an even-leveled enemy to surrender. How viable is this tactic? Has anyone seen it used before?

 

[Flipguarder]

half level + trained + Feat bonus + max Ability mod + Largest item bonus + racial
2 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 20



and thats with a lvl 17 item. How did you get it up to 21?

 

[Old Gumphrey]

By being more creative than you. =P

5 trained
4 cha
2 half level
2 background
2 racial
1 item
2 familiar
3 feat

Which is completely irrelevant, because I'd like to know if anybody's actually tried this. I don't want my DM pulling some hokey "well, their allies are still fighting so they refuse to surrender" crap. If the skill works, it works. You don't tell a player "no" just because his attack bonus is through the roof, yet I can forsee it happening with a skill use because it'll catch the DM off guard, so it's "clearly" broken. =P

So if that's common, I want to hear about it.

 

[Mad Hamish]

half level + trained + Feat bonus + max Ability mod + Largest item bonus + racial
2 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 20



and thats with a lvl 17 item. How did you get it up to 21?

There are (iirc) several items that add to intimidate that use different bonus types so they stack

 

[Flipguarder]

That is more creative than me .

And to be technical you simply *can't* catch the DM off his guard. It states simply that the DC of the roll can be set by the DM.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

No.

Opposed Check: Intimidate vs. Will (see the table for modifiers to your target’s defense). If you can’t speak a language your target understands, you take a –5 penalty to your check. If you attempt to intimidate multiple enemies at once, make a separate Intimidate check against each enemy’s Will defense. Each target must be able to see and hear you.
Success: You force a bloodied target to surrender

You don't just say "well, the DC is 45 because I said so". That's horrible, awful DMing. Going after someone's Will +10 at level 4 is already a DC 25+ check. That's normally hard for a level 4 character already (without ridiculous ad-hoc DM metagaming), it's juts that I powergamed the heck out of my skill bonus. You don't suddenly change someone's AC just because you discover the fighter has +4 more attack bonus than you thought, so anybody worth salt isn't going to do it for a skill check.

 

[Nightson]

The DC is set by DM fiat by the rules.

 

[Flipguarder]

DMs aren't told directly that they can set the DC to hit an enemy. That's why they shouldn't change the ac willy-nilly

As for this "strategy" you've worked out. You've taken a skill option, and have decided that since you min/maxed the heck out of your character that the DM has to suck it up and let you intimidate your way through campaigns. Any DM worth his salt is going to set a DC that you can't accomplish in certain circumstances for a few reasons

1. If you roll above a 4 and can end a combat instantly (even if the enemy is bloodied) that's not challenging and less fun for the group as a whole
2. It doesn't make sense. You aren't going to make an Otyugh bow to your will just because you are scary. In that scenario I would set the DC much higher than their will, because surrendur simply isn't something they do.
3. You making the rest of your party useless after your enemies are bloodied 4/5 the time is not fun for everyone else.

Is a good DM going to let your min/max go to waste, of course not. Is a good DM going to let you win most battles through intimidate, of course not.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Does anyone have any worthwhile answers to my question?

 

[Nebten]

I've used it before, but I use it sparingly. I pretty much use it in situations where the enemy could give up if given the chance: a major NPC just went down, majority of his fellows are blooded, its by it self. Its pretty much a time saver and then you can question the person afterwards. Being a DM myself, I try to use it against enemies that would make sense (mostly things with intelligence). You are more then likely to use it against other creatures that seem out of character, but I feel that would just piss off your DM. While its with in the scope of the game, its within his scope of the game to crank it up a couple notches too =v).