NPC "Gather Information" checks - is this ok?

NewJeffCT

First Post
I was asking our group rules expert (not a rules lawyer, mind you) about certain situations with NPCs using skills/feats against the PCs (I had created an NPC bad guy that had the "Intimidating Strike" feat - and was not 100% sure that it would work on a PC)

He has basically left it that if you use a feat to influence a PC in combat to achieve a condition, it's okay, but outside of combat, it is not.

So, I was later reading the module I'm running the players through and there is a scene where the meet up with the big guy in charge of the town where they are - not an evil NPC, but a ruthless merchant who would gladly sell out the PCs if he thought he could make a few gold pieces from it. (He'd also sell out the bad guys as well...)

But, the write-up for the scene when the players meet said Big Guy has a pleasant conversation breaking out and then asks for the PCs to make Sense Motive checks. If the PCs succeed, the module says, they will sense that the Big Guy is probing them for information and can answer how they choose. However, if they fail their check, it says to read the following passage, "The man is a master of conversation... <snipped flavor text> ...as you leave, you realize that you did a great deal more talking than he did, and although you cannot remember exactly what was said, you get the impression that you said more than you should have."

Is this an ok use of an NPC gathering information from the PCs? I would get the impression from the group rules expert that it was NOT okay? I wouldn't rule that the players give away the keys to the store and all their goodly intentions, but probably that the players are a bit more than your average Joes.
 
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Gather Information does not alter PC's behavior - they are free to decide how they act.

In this case it is what information the NPC can piece together from what they have said (or how they acted).

The descriptive text is pretty much for color to give the players an idea of what happened. It is not actually saying that they said something they didn't only that the NPC was able to put together the information contained (possibly as subtext or "omission") that the PCs said.
 

Gather Information does not alter PC's behavior - they are free to decide how they act.

In this case it is what information the NPC can piece together from what they have said (or how they acted).

The descriptive text is pretty much for color to give the players an idea of what happened. It is not actually saying that they said something they didn't only that the NPC was able to put together the information contained (possibly as subtext or "omission") that the PCs said.

Thanks - that's a good explanation.
 

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