Intimidate!
- Thread starter Droid101
- Start date
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Intimidate is a roll vs a DC of 10 + target's Hit Dice.
Word of advice - use lots and lots of circumstance modifiers.
-Hyp.
Word of advice - use lots and lots of circumstance modifiers.
-Hyp.
Droid101
First Post
Yeah I did.Hypersmurf said:
My pc is a Curst (See FR template) rogue. He cut off a cloud giant's head and was trying to intimidate them to make them enraged and follow. He cut off the top and began to eat its brains in front of them. Needless to say it worked.
Where does it say that, by the way, dc 10 + level/HD?
Celebrim
Legend
Some house rules you may find useful.
1) Intimidate can be used to oppose intimidate. If you hit me with an ominious one liner to break my nerve, I can by successfully responding with an ominious one liner of my own restore my confidence by seeing that you maybe aren't as confident as you appear.
2) Apply a size modifier of -4 per size below the target. A halfling has a hard time intimidating a Stone Giant (-12 penalty).
3) Any modifiers that enhance Will rolls, like Iron Will, high Wisdom, and so forth also serve to protect against intimidation.
On the surface, it doesn't sound like that circumstance required an intimidate roll. He was trying to get the Stone Giants to do something that they would have naturally done. It would have required an intimidate roll if the player character was trying to NOT get the other stone giants to charge the murderer. Eating raw stone giant brains would possibly qualify for a 'good role playing' bonus to the roll, but more than likely I would made coming up with something intimidating like that a requirement before I'd let you roll an intimidation check without a penalty.
1) Intimidate can be used to oppose intimidate. If you hit me with an ominious one liner to break my nerve, I can by successfully responding with an ominious one liner of my own restore my confidence by seeing that you maybe aren't as confident as you appear.
2) Apply a size modifier of -4 per size below the target. A halfling has a hard time intimidating a Stone Giant (-12 penalty).
3) Any modifiers that enhance Will rolls, like Iron Will, high Wisdom, and so forth also serve to protect against intimidation.
On the surface, it doesn't sound like that circumstance required an intimidate roll. He was trying to get the Stone Giants to do something that they would have naturally done. It would have required an intimidate roll if the player character was trying to NOT get the other stone giants to charge the murderer. Eating raw stone giant brains would possibly qualify for a 'good role playing' bonus to the roll, but more than likely I would made coming up with something intimidating like that a requirement before I'd let you roll an intimidation check without a penalty.
Kae'Yoss
First Post
Here is how Intimidate works in d20 Modern (and I'd bet my farm on it that they adapt it for D&D 3.5. If I had a farm)
You make your check opposed (gaining +2 for every size categorie you're smaller) you are above the target, or -2 for every size category by a level check (1d20 + target's HD / character level). The target's bonuses for will saves against fear apply to its roll, and characters immune to fear effects cannot be intimidated. If you succeed, you may treat the target as "friendly", as in the attitude (its attitude doesn't actually change, but will behave as if friendly if around you: it will chat, offer advice, offer limited help, and so on. It will not obay you totally or do things that will endanger it).
If you fail by 5 or more, the target may actually do the opposite of what you wish, frustrating you or providing you with wrong info.
Circumstance modifiers apply for good or bad circumstances (you are more open to intimidation if the intimidator holds his weapon at your throat, and is backed up by half a dozen competent looking guys. But that guy half as big as you with the quavering, high-pitched voice will not be so intimidating.)
The part about becoming outwardly friendly wraps up the way intimidate is meant to be (many like to use it wrongly: for example, we encountered a drow scouting party, which was much lower level than we were. Our attempts to solve it without bloodshet failed and they drew weapons. Then I split one of them in half, reducing him from full HP to - 20 or worse, and then made an intimidate check against the others to make them stand still, so I can get what information I want. I succeeded, but they ran away instead of helping me....)
You make your check opposed (gaining +2 for every size categorie you're smaller) you are above the target, or -2 for every size category by a level check (1d20 + target's HD / character level). The target's bonuses for will saves against fear apply to its roll, and characters immune to fear effects cannot be intimidated. If you succeed, you may treat the target as "friendly", as in the attitude (its attitude doesn't actually change, but will behave as if friendly if around you: it will chat, offer advice, offer limited help, and so on. It will not obay you totally or do things that will endanger it).
If you fail by 5 or more, the target may actually do the opposite of what you wish, frustrating you or providing you with wrong info.
Circumstance modifiers apply for good or bad circumstances (you are more open to intimidation if the intimidator holds his weapon at your throat, and is backed up by half a dozen competent looking guys. But that guy half as big as you with the quavering, high-pitched voice will not be so intimidating.)
The part about becoming outwardly friendly wraps up the way intimidate is meant to be (many like to use it wrongly: for example, we encountered a drow scouting party, which was much lower level than we were. Our attempts to solve it without bloodshet failed and they drew weapons. Then I split one of them in half, reducing him from full HP to - 20 or worse, and then made an intimidate check against the others to make them stand still, so I can get what information I want. I succeeded, but they ran away instead of helping me....)
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Does anyone understand what he just said?
-Hyp.
Gunslinger
First Post
Intimidation needs to have some sort of opposed save or check when its used against PCs. An equal level character will nearly always beat the DC. Assuming an average roll of 10 for the check, that character only needs as many skill ranks as he has levels. That doesn't include a charisma bonus.
A 3rd level character with 6 ranks in intimidate and an 18 charisma has a 50% chance to intimdate any given 10th level PC.
How is that not broken???
A 3rd level character with 6 ranks in intimidate and an 18 charisma has a 50% chance to intimdate any given 10th level PC.
How is that not broken???
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