Sense Motive

[Thanee]

You sit in a tavern and talk to another patron for a while. With SM you can get a general idea (hunch), whether the person is trustworthy, or isn't quite honest to you. Or you could notice (sense enchantment), that the person is enspelled by an enchantment effect, since the behaviour is somewhat "clumsy" (in a mental sense, not physical). This requires a minute or even longer to do.

If someone actively tries to deceive you (Bluff), you can use SM to defend against the attempt (this - of course - does not require any time).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Cheiromancer]

In a recent thread (can't remember which) I recall reading that many people abuse the Sense Motive skill by turning it into a lie detector. My group is guilty of this abuse, and I want us to change. But I'm so used to the lie-detector version of Sense Motive that I can't even think of what a proper use of the skill would be.

So here's the situation. The players meet an NPC in a dungeon who tells them that the princess is locked up in the next room. The players say they want to roll Sense Motive. (Is it fair for all the players to get a roll against the one NPC? See my other thread on the topic of Multiple Opposed Skill Checks.)
How should the DM respond in the following 4 situations:
-the players beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is telling the truth.
-the players beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is lying.
-the players don't beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is telling the truth.
-the players don't beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is lying.
(Here's another question: if the NPC is telling the truth, does it even make sense for the NPC to make a Bluff roll?)

I'm a long-time player but a new DM. I'm trying to get a feel for how to adjudicate skill rolls, and I don't feel like I've got the knack of it yet. Any help you can provide on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Well, roll for the players, of course, so they don't know if they are getting an accurate reading or not of the NPC's motives. And give them extra information about what motivates the NPC. The higher the roll, the more relevant and informative the information might be. For instance, you could tell the PCs that:

-the NPC is afraid they will hurt him (and that someone has hurt him before in a similar circumstance...)

-the NPC is hoping for a monetary reward for helping you...

-the NPC thinks that the situation is more complicated than a simple rescue (maybe a fierce guardian or particularly difficult trap guards the princess?)

-the NPC has an ulterior motive for what he says (revenge against a third party, perhaps)

-the NPC hopes to help you in the short run, but escape as soon as possible.

In short, make having the skill worthwhile for the players to have in that it gives them more information, but don't give everything away. Remember to prepare a few bits of plausible but false information that PCs who roll low might walk away with.

If the player's roll comes up 1, I tell them "you sense that the NPC is really a polymorphed pit fiend." That's a running joke in the campaign. When they are high level I am going to throw an NPC at them who is *really* a polymorphed pit fiend, and see how they respond.

 

[Faerl'Elghinn]

In a recent thread (can't remember which) I recall reading that many people abuse the Sense Motive skill by turning it into a lie detector. My group is guilty of this abuse, and I want us to change. But I'm so used to the lie-detector version of Sense Motive that I can't even think of what a proper use of the skill would be.

So here's the situation. The players meet an NPC in a dungeon who tells them that the princess is locked up in the next room. The players say they want to roll Sense Motive. (Is it fair for all the players to get a roll against the one NPC? See my other thread on the topic of Multiple Opposed Skill Checks.)
How should the DM respond in the following 4 situations:
-the players beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is telling the truth.
-the players beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is lying.
-the players don't beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is telling the truth.
-the players don't beat the NPC's Bluff roll, but the NPC is lying.
(Here's another question: if the NPC is telling the truth, does it even make sense for the NPC to make a Bluff roll?)

I'm a long-time player but a new DM. I'm trying to get a feel for how to adjudicate skill rolls, and I don't feel like I've got the knack of it yet. Any help you can provide on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I'm running a slew of custom house rule combat feats where a Sense Motive check is required to parry attacks. By reading the body language of an opponent, you can anticipate the angle of an attack before it hits home. I feel Sense Motive applies pretty well in this situation.