Playing Dead

[Sejs]

Quintessential Monk has Feign Death as an operation of the Concentration skill - opposed Concentration vs Spot.. but that's also doing things like reducing your breathing, slowing heartbeat, etc..

For just playin' possum I'd say an opposed Bluff vs Spot check sounds good. Have injury require an immediate re-try with the faker having a penalty equal to the damage dealt.

I don't like the idea of a Perform check to play dead, really. I could have 10 ranks in Perform and have them all be with musical intruments.. nothing that would pertain to pretending to be a corpse.

 

[Sejs]

A good Perform result could lead to the villain applauding you, saying "Bravo! Great death scene!", and then CDGing you anyway

Bardo the Bard: OKay, I get a 27 on my perform/acting check to play dead. Do the bandits buy it?

GM: Why yes, yes they do. 11 of the bandits put their weapons down and erupt into great applause, hollering and whistlying. Out of nowhere a bouquet of roses is tossed at your feet...

Bardo the Bard: uh...

GM: ...and then the 12th bandit runs you thru with his longsword. Go ahead and make a CdG fort save for me please.

 

[AuraSeer]

Ooops, I'm in error. If you're not actually helpless, the villain can't CDG you. I would give him an AoO as you drop helpless to the ground, though.

 

[Deset Gled]

I looked up the Ghostwalker's Feign Death class ability in hopes that it would provide some insight, but it doesn't go into any detail about how an enemy could tell that he was playing dead. The Ghostwalker does, however, have Bluff as a class skill, but not perform (also, no concentration, which seems kind of odd to me given the nature of the class).

Also, the only things I found referencing to feigning death in the core rules are the spells Command and Deathwatch. When a person is Commanded to die, they feign death. Deathwatch specifically states that it thwarts any attempt to feign death. Sadly, there are no details with either of these.

 

[Pielorinho]

A Bluff check is opposed by the target's Sense Motive check. Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two circumstances can weigh against the character: The bluff is hard to believe, or the action that the target is to take goes against the target's self-interest, nature, personality, orders, etc

A successful Bluff check indicates that the target reacts as the character wishes, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less) or believes something that the character wants him to believe.

A bluff always takes at least 1 round (and is at least a full-round action) but can take much longer if the character tries something elaborate.

I'd say this is ample rules support for the bluff-vs.-sense-motive check. The character wants the target to believe he's dead, so he makes a bluff check. If the target fails her sense motive check, she believes that the bluffer is dead.

If she just saw the bluffer dodge a blow, and then the bluffer falls motionless to the ground, then "the bluff is hard to believe," and an unfavorable circumstance penalty applies to the bluffer's check. If, however, she just saw the bluffer take a critical hit that made blood spray everywhere, and then the bluffer falls motionless to the ground, then the bluff would be pretty easy to believe, and a favorable circumstance bonus would apply to the bluffer's check.

It's not a specifically mentioned use of the skill, but it clearly falls within the skill's purview, as emphasized in the quote above.

Daniel

 

[Christian]

I'd make it Bluff vs. Sense Motive, with a +2 circumstance bonus to Bluff for 5 ranks of Perform (acting), and a +2 circumstance bonus to Sense Motive for 5 ranks of Healing. (He sure looks dead-except for that strong, rapid pulse I can see at his throat.)

 

[Pielorinho]

I'd make it Bluff vs. Sense Motive, with a +2 circumstance bonus to Bluff for 5 ranks of Perform (acting), and a +2 circumstance bonus to Sense Motive for 5 ranks of Healing. (He sure looks dead-except for that strong, rapid pulse I can see at his throat.)

I agree like 99% with this solution: folks with perform might draw on some classic death-scenes for inspiration, whereas people who know lots about injuries ought to be harder to bluff. Excellent modification to the basic checks, Christian.

My 1% disagreement? I'd call them synergy bonuses (or possibly competence bonuses), not circumstance bonuses. But that's a totally nitpicky point: overall, this is a great use of different skills.

Daniel

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

I concur.

A bonus for having ranks in some other skill is by definition a Synergy Bonus.

The circumstance bonuses would come from how big the blood spray was from that last hit.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I would give him an AoO as you drop helpless to the ground, though.

Yeah - by Celtavian's inanimate object rule, if he were really helpless, you wouldn't get an AoO, but because he's just pretending, you do...

Ahem.

But to be technical :

Drop to the floor [Free][AoO: No]
Description: The character is considered to be prone.

-Hyp.

 

[AuraSeer]

Drop to the floor [Free][AoO: No]

That action represents simply changing position, while remaining "combat ready." Note that it doesn't include making a Bluff check.

If you drop to the floor and pretend to be helpless, you are explicitly letting your guard down. It seems to me that this would draw an AoO from an opponent who is not fooled by your bluff. That's a DM call, though, so I won't argue if you do it differently IYC. (Please don't restart the debate about whether a really helpless person draws AoO; there's whole other threads about that one.)

Note that regardless of AoOs, you're also giving up your Dexterity bonus to AC. If a rogue is nearby you're gonna get a hurtin'.