What good is Intimidate?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think the half-orc is a little underpowered, though I suggest just doing exactly that: give him a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate Checks.

But remember: Favored Class for Half-Orcs is Barbarian, so he has Intimidate as Class Skill if he takes a few levels in that class.

A Half-Orc Wizard is not very impressive, I think - everybody knows good wizard must be intelligent, but half-orcs are stupid.
A Half-Orc Fighter? Such a primitive beeing should be well trained in military techniques - Nobody believes that?

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Plane Sailing]

Isn't initimidate the skill which can't be used against PC's?

Basically as written it is a useless skill because it is an inferior version of Diplomacy (CHA based skill that can change someones reaction)... except, of course, that it is far too easy to "intimidate" high level creatures. Take a 10HD hill giant. What does a 1st level rogue with 18 Cha need to intimidate him? With +8 on the roll he has a 45% chance of intimidating the hill giant! Yeah, right By 2nd level he have +11, and be intimidating them 60% of the time! The rogue hits 12th level, has skill mastery of intimidate so he can take 10 whenever he wants to a and with 15 ranks, +2 synergy from bluff, +5 from Cha now gets 32 on his check so he can intimidate Titans without even trying hard...


OK, Time to get serious now. I glanced through the revised Star Wars d20 and they have given a slight redefinition of Intimidate (and Diplomacy) to clarify how and when it could be used. That is worth looking at.

An alternative which I use is to allow intimidate checks to be made as a standard action, opposed by either intimidate, concentration or Will save (defenders choice). If the attempt succeeds, the target is "Shaken" for your CHA bonus in rounds, and gets the normal penalties for that when facing you, until such time as they score damage against you.

Cheers

 

[Skaros]

The biggest argument for using STR instead of CHA for Intimate, at least in some cases, is the half-orc example.

That is, because an average half-orce gets a -2 on CHA, he is actually LESS intimidating than the average old lady crossing the street who gets no such penalty. Seems stupid. Heck, if anything, half orcs should get a BONUS for Intimate, IMO.

In my opinion, that is the argument that shows the least understanding of what the intimidate skill is used for.

The fact that a creature is a tall, strong, aggressive looking half-orc (usually with a huge weapon on his shoulder) means that more often than not an intimidate check will be unnecessary for the player.

Intimidate, being a charisma based skill, is to be used in situations where the NPC is not scared of you, or not scared as much as you'd like them to be...not in situations where the NPC is already predisposed to be scared of huge misshapen half-orcs.

As DM, I wouldn't usually require an intimidate check to see whether a serving girl at a bar is intimidated by the sight of a half-orc barbarian that walks in and asks something of her.

I'd require it to see if a seasoned fighter, or character that knows he can take care of himself with most half-orcs is intimidated.

IMO, intimidate should be used when it is necessary to try to alter someone's perception of you. This is why it is charisma based.

-Skaros

 

[Skaros]

Isn't initimidate the skill which can't be used against PC's?

Intimidate could be used secretly by the DM, and depending on the outcome he could describe the NPC differently...as dangerous looking or whatever. I guess.

-Skaros

 

[Shalewind]

Couldn't Intimidate be opposed by intimidate. Surely that level 15 Barbarian is going to recognize the same skills used against him and be less threatened by them...?

 

[BBrendolfus]

I have to agree with Skaros.

Charisma is the social stat not strength, however the character could do something to give themselves an easier time. Situational modifiers can be many things.

As for the half-orc, tough. They are on average stupid, brutish and outcasts. These sort of figures getted mocked more often than they are feared, a penalty is appropriate. The player does not always need to assign their half-orc a stat that gets modified to a penalty.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the social skills require a meaningful dialogue to take place. Intimidating on the battlefield is measured in deeds not by dialogue.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

I'm leaning towards throwing the skill out. It's unnecessary.

If a character wants to appear more menacing than they actually are, have them do a bluff check.

If the character is naturally intimidating, like the burly half-orc staring down the diminutive barmaid, then no check is necessary.

In a rare situation, you may encounter an NPC who simply doesn't recognize how menacing you actually are. For instance, suppose he is not observant enough to notice the tell-tale signs of a battle-hardened warrior or an deadly sorcerer. In these cases, bluff would not be appropriate, since all you are trying to do is to enlighten the NPC as to the reality of his situation. In such cases, I would ask my players to do a diplomacy check. Diplomacy should not be regarded solely as a means to get people to like you, but also as a means to persuade people to believe you when you negotiate as enemies.

 

[Skaros]

Never mind....too tired to describe it properly. Carry on

 

[rankarrog]

But what does it do?

What does Intimidate actually do? Will the person be shaken, paniked? Will the intimidated person do everything I want? I think not, but from a DM's point of view there should be some guidelines.

 

[Epametheus]

Look at the the NPC Reactions chart in the DMG (sorry, don't have a DMG handy, so I can't give you a page number; it's close to the picture of the barkeep with the "No Spellcasters" sign, though); Intimidate is probably supposed to shift the target a single step towards helpful on a success (and would arguably shift the target a step towards Hostile on a failure). If I remember right, an Intimidate check is probably more likely than a Diplomacy check to effect someone who is Hostile, and certainly easier to get off than a Diplomacy check ("Back the #$%^& off!" as opposed to "We can talk this over.")

I figure the main point of Intimidate is that you can scare people away from actually attacking you. They still won't like you, but they won't risk themselves to hurt you anymore, mainly because they're convinced that you'll kill their ass (or do something else they really don't want you to do) if they try.