Telling jokes...as good as Intimidate???

[Dark Magus]

Intimidate changes the targets attitude to friendly, for purposes of getting information, or whatever.

But, couldn't telling a joke do this aswell? Albeit to a lesser extent.

Now if so, would telling a joke be bluff, diplomacy, or perform?

And what would be/how would you handle the DC?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Diplomacy with a synergy bonus from Perform (humor).

Though, the right joke could be a form of Intimidate, too, with a similar synergy bonus-- the idea being that you joke about something so callously, with a proper sense of mirth, that they decide that they don't want a piece of your sickness.

 

[Rune]

I'd call it diplomacy or perform, depending on the format. If it's a polite, breaking the tension kind of joke, it's diplomacy. If it's rehersed (or improv-comedy), it's clearly a perform check.

 

[Dark Magus]

Yeah, I ment more of an "on the fly" kind of joke, the kind of thing you'd say to an uptight Barkeep that isn't forthcoming with the info.

 

[Christian]

Definitely Diplomacy.

Intimidate is good when the subject (a) has a very negative attitude (making for a high DC Diplomacy check to change him to friendly) and/or (b) significantly less powerful than you. It's also a good idea to keep in mind the possibility of future interaction ...

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Though I do agree with Korimyr, in that I think you can also Intimidate by joking. Anything meant to taunt or otherwise humiliate its target is much more a form of Intimidation than anything else.