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<blockquote data-quote="Sekhmet" data-source="post: 5987097" data-attributes="member: 97602">[MENTION=6669384]Greenfield[/MENTION], [MENTION=6698275]Dozen[/MENTION]: I think Dozen has it more or less right. The first non-answer isn't a bluff attempt at all, whereas the second &quot;out-of-your-ass&quot; answer is. Conversation is full of implication and non-answers, and sense motive at it's best only lets you know that something is off. It doesn't mean he's lying (I don't know where X is), it doesn't mean he's stretching the truth (mechanical defect), it doesn't mean he's veiling the truth (I'm not sure where he is), and it especially doesn't mean he's giving you a non-answer (He isn't here, I haven't seen him today). &nbsp;The Sense Motive skill simply does not do that, and it is a stretch of the imagination to say that it does. &nbsp;Specifically, &quot;a hunch&quot; is a guess - if the man says &quot;I haven't seen him today&quot;, you might suspect that he actually has, you might suspect that he is hiding his true feelings for you, you might suspect that he wants to be a movie star if he could only get out of that place.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sekhmet, post: 5987097, member: 97602"] [MENTION=6669384]Greenfield[/MENTION], [MENTION=6698275]Dozen[/MENTION]: I think Dozen has it more or less right. The first non-answer isn't a bluff attempt at all, whereas the second "out-of-your-ass" answer is. Conversation is full of implication and non-answers, and sense motive at it's best only lets you know that something is off. It doesn't mean he's lying (I don't know where X is), it doesn't mean he's stretching the truth (mechanical defect), it doesn't mean he's veiling the truth (I'm not sure where he is), and it especially doesn't mean he's giving you a non-answer (He isn't here, I haven't seen him today). The Sense Motive skill simply does not do that, and it is a stretch of the imagination to say that it does. Specifically, "a hunch" is a guess - if the man says "I haven't seen him today", you might suspect that he actually has, you might suspect that he is hiding his true feelings for you, you might suspect that he wants to be a movie star if he could only get out of that place. [/QUOTE]

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