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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GoLu" data-source="post: 4359358" data-attributes="member: 58460">To be fair, it was clever.  The first time.  When Lore wrote it.  Anyway, why do orcs have intimidate?  Same reason some 3e monsters have diplomacy.I actually wrote up a pretty big (although rambling) paragraph talking about this and ended up deleting it because I thought it was off topic.  But basically, many players bring to the game the implicit expectation that social skills (diplomacy especially, but also bluff and intimidate) do not work on PCs.  This isn't true in every game, and is not required for a game to be fun.  But it's not something you want to surprise people with.Like being able to arbitrary set the DCs of intimidate, the DM can decide whether the orcs use that skill on PCs or if they just scare off the torch-bearers and panic the horses.  Sure, being able to houserule it doesn't mean it isn't broken.  But the DM has all kinds of crazy powers, and deciding that an orc swings his sword rather than growls menacingly isn't particularly high on the list of possible offenses against RAW.  (Besides, it technically isn't a houserule to set DCs impossibly high when the skill is used on PCs, because the DM does specifically have the power to adjust intimidate DCs for any or no reason.  It's just the DM being given some arbitrary power, and the trust that it will be used to make the game more fun.)</blockquote>