Intimidate

[DM with a vengence]

I have a character who has picked up a lot of ranks in intimidate, and I have no idea what can be done with intimidate. Depending on the interpretation, Intimidate can be one of the most powerful skills in the game, or basically useless.

Any advice on how to adjucate this?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The D20 Modern rules explain that an intimidated creature is considered effectively "friendly" in regards to questions and orders, if I remember correctly...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Malin Genie]

I agree it's a very 'interpretation-dependent' skill - but so is any social skill in DnD.

We tend to use Intimidate for (a) getting prisoners to answer questions (b) getting opponents to back down from fights before they start (c) impressing people as 'someone not to mess with' (d) taking command of ruffians/soldiers/orcs etc

The DCs for these sort of tasks would vary, but the '10+HD' can be considered a starting point for an 'easy' Intimidation task.

 

[Pielorinho]

The DCs for these sort of tasks would vary, but the '10+HD' can be considered a starting point for an 'easy' Intimidation task.

Makes sense. For most checks, however, I would try to balance it so that a highly-intimidating person has a slightly better than 50-50 chance of succeeding.

A normal check might be DC15+opponent's HD. Consider that max skill ranks=HD (or level) + 3; this means that if you had a charisma of 12-13 and max ranks in intimidate, you have exactly a 50-50 chance of intimidating someone of a level equal to your own: the DC=15+x, and you need to roll 11 + 1(cha) + x+3(max skill ranks) to succeed. (Subtract x from both sides if you want to check my math). A higher charisma tips the balance in your favor, as does any other sort of bonus.

[edited to make the equation work. Equation is this:
(DC of )15+x= (Necessary roll of) Y +1 (cha mod) + (x+3 (max ranks in intimidate))
15 + x = Y + x + 4
15= Y + 4
11=Y

where X=level of both target and intimidator
and Y=necessary roll for intimidator to succeed]

If you use something like this, consider giving plenty of circumstance bonuses and penalties. Maybe +2/-2 for every factor by which one group outnumbers the other: a party of 4 facing down a lone wizard outnumbers her four times, so the party gets a +8 on their intimidate check, whereas the same party facing down 20 kobolds gets a -10 on their check. +4 if the leader of the opposing side is killed or captured. -5 or greater penalty if the target of the attempt believes he has a secret weapon to use against the party; +5 or greater bonus if the intimidator mentions the secret weapon and explains why it won't work. You get the idea.

Finally, I'd give folks in combat the ability to intimidate their opponents by taking a standard action to do so; for this, the DC would be 20+hit dice of target. Success means opponents are shaken; success by 10 or more means opponents are panicked.

Daniel

 

[DM with a vengence]

Thank you, DC 10+HD seemd extremely low, and your other ideas of what you can do seem pretty nice.

 

[iwatt]

The modern rules use intimidate as an oppossed check versus the target's level check (1d20+HD). I did a pretty thorough analysis of the opposed check mechanic for the spot/hide checks in the modern forum. You can find ithere

It's pretty windy, but if you want to use the opposed check mechanic instead of a flat DC, I think the math could be helpful in deciding appropriate circumstance modifiers.

By the way, in d20 modern you get a +2 modifier to intimidate if the target is threatened by a gun. I would translate this to mean the same for character's threatend by bows and crossbows. In my experience, when your PCs reach that Ac 20+ mark, they never feel threatened by the Warlord's guards (War 4 at best generally) aiming arrows from parapets at them. This kind of ties your hands as a DM when you want to set up a parley were the Warlord can actually threaten the PC's woithout going for those 50 War10 elite palace guards,

 

[Sejs]

GURPS has a much better definition of what Intimidate entails. Note, any game system type stuff that sneaks in pertains to the GURPS system, but can also serve as a good guideline for D&D also:

Intimidation is a social 'influence' skill, used for persuasion. The essence of intimidation is to convince the subject that you are able and willing, perhaps eager, to hurt him. Intimidation may be substituted for a Reaction roll in any social situation, though it is at a -3 penalty when used to request for aid. A successful Intimidation roll gives a 'good' (though not friendly) reaction. A failed roll gives a 'bad' reaction. Most people will remember an intimidation attempt whether successful or not, for a long time - it can permanantly affect an NPC's attitude. When Intimidation is used against a PC (or, at the GMs option, against an NPC), this can also be rolled as a contest of Intimidation vs Will (*side note - possibly a nice alternate mechanic, particularly if you want to be able to Intimidate PCs. Instead of making it a straight roll, make it an opposed skill vs will save check. resistance to fear making it harder to be intimidated*) Modifiers: Up to +2 for displays of strength of bloodthirstiness, or +3 for superhuman strength or inhuman bloodthirstiness. Appropriate reaction modifiers certainly count - +1 for each 6 inches of height that you have over the subject, -1 if you are shorter, -2 if you are more than 6 inchest shorter. +2 for a hideous appearance.


Hope this can be of some help.

^_^


Edit/Additional: Intimidate can be VERY handy for a tank type character in a fight. - Intimidate the target that would otherwise be attacking the softer, more easily injured people in your group, saying "Hey! Over here- you better pay attention to ME because if you turn your back and attack anyone else, I'm going to tear you limb from limb" If successful, you convince the target they hey... they better not ignore you.. you could kick their butt!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Rumor is the new DC is 10+HD+Wis (+ any bonuses you have against fear effects).