Sense Motive
The PC is skilled at seeing through bluffs and lies, or sensing when someone is under the influence of a spell. Unlike Perception, this skill involves watching body languages, mannerisms, and gestures.
Check: A successful check lets the character avoid being bluffed (see the Bluff skill). The character can also use this skill to determine when “something is up” (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone’s trustworthiness.
Task | DC |
---|---|
Hunch | 20 |
Sense enchantment | 25 or 15 |
Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. The PC can get the feeling from another’s behavior that something is wrong, such as when the PC is talking to an impostor. Alternatively, he can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.
Sense Enchantment: The PC can tell that someone’s behavior is being influenced by an enchantment (by definition, a mind-affecting effect), even if that person isn’t aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate person), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target’s activities.
Action: Trying to gain information with Sense Motive generally takes at least 1 minute, and the character could spend a whole evening trying to get a sense of the people around the character.
Try Again: No, but the character can make a Sense Motive check for each Bluff check made against the character.
Special: A ranger gains a bonus on Sense Motive checks when using this skill against a favored enemy.