Intimidate Skill: Useless?

[Saeviomagy]

Fear effects stack. Two intimidating fighters = one frightened foe running.

So - you're saying that it takes the actions of TWO fighters, to possibly cause (on two successful rolls) ONE opponent to lose ONE round...

A shaken foe also has -2 saves, which could be a useful way of softening him up for your friends stunning blow/Tasha's hideous laughter/whatever.

Well, maybe...

 

[Henrix]

So - you're saying that it takes the actions of TWO fighters, to possibly cause (on two successful rolls) ONE opponent to lose ONE round...

Well, probably two rounds. One running away, and one coming back. Might get a couple of AoO's on the way out, or in, if you are positioned right or have reach weapons. Might also give the spellcasters, rogues and whatnot a little respite, improve your tactical positions, etc. Perhaps you want that ugly dog away from your wizard?

Not very powerful, but quite possibly useful.

Notice that intimidate is good when using reach weapons, as you can intimidate anyone you threaten (who can see you). This means that you can intimidate from the second rank.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Continuing the theme that it doesn't make sense for Intimidate to be a way to let your friends fight better against scared opponents (since they're supposed to be scared of you, not your friends)...

Maybe it should work like Dodge, which designates a target... so when you successfully Intimidate somebody, they have a -2 on all attack rolls & stuff AGAINST YOU for the next round.

....That's it! That's how I'll use it in my campaign!

Jason

Yoink!

 

[Berandor]

I have intimidate use a standard action in all cases, but if you take a minute, you can disregard penalties due to size (because a halfling godfather is still intimidating).

 

[Quasqueton]

Funny situation with Intimidate in my campaign a few game sessions back.

The party is searching the hold of a large ship for something that killed a passenger. A hatchling blue dragon hops up on a crate and growls threateningly at the PCs. Although the PCs were out of reach of the dragon, so there was no real game mechanic that could result from the Intimidate check, I figured they could role play the result.

Of the 4 PCs, 3 failed their "resist Intimidate" check, and 1 succeeded. The 3 who failed immediately charged into melee. The 1 who passed turned and ran screaming.

<shrug>

Quasqueton

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Best example of intimidate ever: Westley and Humperdinck in The Princess Bride. Classic! A great example of

Consider a character with a very low attack bonus, and/or weakened... And a lot of ranks in Intimidate...

 

[UltimaGabe]

Also, don't forget that a Frightened creature drops whatever it's holding. So if two people intimidate an enemy, not only does he lose one or two rounds, his weapon's on the ground while he's running away.

 

[Felix]

Intimidate is a standard action so the same character cannot Intimidate twice in the same round and create a one-round Frightened fear effect. In a lot of ways this would be easier than disarming.

Though it would be nice if you could... that would certainly make it a worthwhile skill to take. I'll see if I can get my DM to see things my way...

 

[ptolemy18]

Are you using 3.0 or 3.5? In the latter, intimidate in on the fighter skill list.

You're right! I never noticed! :/ That's an improvement.

Jason

 

[Saeviomagy]

Continuing the theme that it doesn't make sense for Intimidate to be a way to let your friends fight better against scared opponents (since they're supposed to be scared of you, not your friends)...

Maybe it should work like Dodge, which designates a target... so when you successfully Intimidate somebody, they have a -2 on all attack rolls & stuff AGAINST YOU for the next round.

....That's it! That's how I'll use it in my campaign!

Jason

Postscript: Hmm... what shall I post next...? I think next I'll complain about the new classes from the Miniatures Handbook!

Eh? I don't get how this makes it better. Didn't you just reduce the bonuses from intimidate and do nothing else?

Not neccesarily...

Consider a character with a very low attack bonus, and/or weakened... And a lot of ranks in Intimidate...

If you attack you may or may not hit them... and even if you do, unless you eliminate them in one blow it is highly likely they will either try and kill you then or run away and find someway to get revenge... Using the Demoralize action, especially with a high rank, you may have a much higher chance of success, which will either avoid the conflict entirely, or eliminate a few of the opponents. Additionally, and potentially more importantly, those who run from you will have no good measure of your combat ability - for all they know you could have wiped the floor with them.

Except for the fact that AS WRITTEN, you can't make them run away with a single intimidate check. You just give them a -2 to hit you.