Bluff

Epic Path \ Skills \ Bluff

• Ability Score Used: Charisma
• Usable Untrained? Yes
• Armor Check Penalty Applies? No

You know how to tell a convincing lie. Even good characters need to lie occasionally, whether to spare someone's feelings, or to skillfully deflect someone's questions. Of course, it's highly useful for the less morally constrained, also.

Bluff cannot be used to negotiate better prices from vendors (that's Barter), make friends (that's Diplomacy), or tell thrilling tales of derring-do (that's Perform (Oratory)). However, it is still an extremely useful skill in its own right.

You can attempt to use Bluff to fool someone. A successful check convinces your opponent that what you are saying is true. Bluff checks are modified depending upon the believability of the lie.
Action Required:	Varies; anywhere from a free action in combat to several minutes, depending on how involved and complicated the lie is. Some truly convoluted con jobs might even take days or weeks.
DC of Check:	Opposed by the target's Sense Motive check
Modifiers to Check	The following modifiers are applied to the roll of the creature attempting to tell the lie. Note that some lies are so improbable that it is impossible to convince anyone that they are true (subject to GM discretion). Circumstances Bluff Modifier The target wants to believe you +5 The lie is believable +0 The lie is unlikely -5 The lie is far-fetched -10 The subject knows the lie can't be true -20 or more The target is drunk or impaired +5 You possess convincing proof up to +10
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	The subject is not convinced. Particularly bad failures cause the subject to treat all future interactions with you with distrust and suspicion.
Retry Allowed?	If you fail to deceive someone, any further checks made to deceive them are made at a cumulative -10 penalty for each additional check, and may be impossible (GM discretion).
Provokes AOO?	No

You can attempt to speed up the process of convincing someone of your version of the truth in a rapid fashion, either by burying the subject in meaningless anecdotes and confusing rhetoric, or through pure glibness and rapid speech. This works much like the Deceive or Lie skill use, but only applies outside of combat, where dialogue takes several minutes (or longer). A successful check means the subject believes your lie, and the time to convince them is reduced, depending on how much you beat the target DC.
Action Required:	Varies. Normally, the Deceive or Lie action, outside of combat, is several minutes or longer.
DC of Check:	Opposed by the target's Sense Motive check, with a +10 bonus on his check.
Modifiers to Check	Success means the lie is believed in half the time. For each full 5 points by which you beat the target DC, you can decrease the time taken even further. In no case can Fast-Talk be used to reduce the time taken to less than 1 full round.
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	The subject isn't convinced of your story. Particularly bad failures cause the subject to treat all future interactions with you with distrust and suspicion.
Retry Allowed?	No
Provokes AOO?	No

You can use Bluff to pass hidden messages to another character without others understanding your true meaning. The DC of this check is 15 for simple messages and 20 for complex messages. If you are successful, the target automatically understands you, assuming you are speaking in a language that it understands. If your check fails by 5 or more, you deliver the wrong message. Other creatures that hear the message can decipher the message by succeeding at an opposed Sense Motive check against your Bluff result.
Action Required:	Delivering a secret message generally takes twice as long as the message would otherwise take to relay.
DC of Check:	Delivering the message to its intended target is easy, and requires no check. Keeping it secret a nearby observer, however, is opposed by the observer's Perception check.
Modifiers to Check	If your message is in code, it requires quadruple the normal time, instead of double, to convey the message. Each additional observer grants a +2 bonus to the opposed Perception check. To deliver a secret (non-code) message in no more time than it would normally take to deliver openly, you take a -10 penalty on your Bluff check. To deliver a secret message that is in code in merely twice the time it would normally take to deliver openly, you take a -10 penalty on your Bluff check. To deliver a secret message that is in code in no more time than it would normally take to deliver openly, you take a -20 penalty on your Bluff check.
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	If you fail, your message is observed, and bits and pieces of the message have been overheard or spotted by an observer. If the check fails by 5 or more, the gist of the entire message is known to the observer(s), and if you fail by 10 or more, all of the observers have heard/seen the entire message. If the message is in code, the observers may not understand the message, but they will realize that a code was used to obscure a message's meaning.
Retry Allowed?	Yes. Secret messages can be relayed again if the first attempt fails.
Provokes AOO?	Passing a written message provokes, conveying a spoken message does not provoke.

You attempt to convince your target you are harmless through your actions and posture. It's often useful to attempt to convince your enemies you are no threat to them. If successful, the target will (probably) choose someone else to attack. Note that particularly sadistic or opportunistic creatures may see a helpless creature as an even more ideal target than one who can fight back.
Action Required:	Taking steps to appear harmless requires a full-round action
DC of Check:	Opposed by the target's Sense Motive check
Modifiers to Check	If you are at least one size category smaller than your target and have taken no effective offensive actions that your target has seen, you gain a +5 circumstance bonus on this check. Even if you have proven yourself capable of dealing damage, an effort to present your previous success as a one-time fluke takes only a -10 penalty on the check.
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	The target is not convinced you are harmless, and may continue to target you with attacks.
Retry Allowed?	You can attempt to feign harmlessness to the same target again, but each previous failed check increases the DC to convince your target by 5. This increase resets after 1 hour has passed.
Provokes AOO?	No

Whenever you are dealt damage, you can make a Bluff check to convince foes you have been injured to a different extent than you truly have been.
Action Required:	Immediate action
DC of Check:	Opposed by the target's Sense Motive check
Modifiers to Check	You can appear to be uninjured, mildly injured (with more than half your total hit points remaining), bloodied (reduced to less than half hit points), disabled (at 0 hit points), dying (at negative hit points), or dead. For each step away from your true condition you pretend to be, you suffer a cumulative -2 penalty on your Bluff check. If you pretend to be dying or dead, you must fall prone accordingly (a free action).
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	The target isn't convinced
Retry Allowed?	Only after you take additional damage
Provokes AOO?	No

You can use Bluff to feint in combat, causing your opponent to be denied his Dexterity bonus to his AC against your next attack.
Action Required:	Standard Action
DC of Check:	A player attempting to use feint against a monster or NPC must roll a Hard DC vs. the CR of the target creature. Monsters and NPC's who wish to use feint against a PC must target a DC of either 10 + half the PC's level + the PC's Wisdom modifier, or 10 + the PC's Sense Motive bonus, whichever is higher.
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	Failure means the target creature retains its Dex bonus to AC, and your standard action is wasted.
Retry Allowed?	Yes. You can attempt to feint against someone again if you fail.
Provokes AOO?	No

You can use Bluff and Diplomacy together to make a request of a creature, without it even realizing you have made the request. You can gradually coax a target into thinking a suggestion is entirely its own idea, making the creature more likely to act on the idea than if you had suggested it outright. You discuss topics subtly relevant to the request, asking leading questions and narrowing the scope of the conversation so that the target eventually decides to take a specific action you have led it to.
Action Required:	Several minutes or longer
DC of Check:	You first attempt a Bluff check to convince the target that your request was actually its idea. This is always treated as far-fetched circumstances, resulting in a -10 penalty on the check, the DC is set by the result of the target's Sense Motive check. If successful, you then attempt a Diplomacy check to make the request of the creature, treating its attitude toward you as indifferent for this single request (regardless of its actual attitude) against the same Sense Motive check result. If both checks succeed, the target is convinced the idea was its own.
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	If only one check fails, the target isn't convinced, but doesn't realize you attempted to manipulate him. If both checks fail, he knows you were trying to manipulate him, and will likely hold this against you in all future interactions.
Retry Allowed?	If you fail to suggest your idea, any further checks made to deceive them are made at a cumulative -10 penalty for each additional check, and may be impossible (GM discretion).
Provokes AOO?	No

You can mask your actual alignment from discovery by spells and abilities which allow someone to determine your alignment. Doing so lasts until the beginning of your next turn, and sustaining it for more than 1 round requires concentration. Actions which disrupt your concentration, such as attacking or being attacked, require a concentration check to avoid dropping the effect unintentionally (using a caster level equal to your total character level). Sustaining the effect is a swift action each round after the first. (Note that this is not a stance, and may be used at the same time as a stance is used.) This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	Standard Action
DC of Check:	A Hard DC for the level or CR of the target you are attempting to deceive.
Modifiers to Check	If multiple creatures are present, you must use the level or CR of the highest level creature you are attempting to deceive, and add +2 to the DC per additional creature you are deceiving. You can reduce the time taken to obscure your alignment. To initiate it as a move action, the DC increases by +5. As a swift action or immediate action, the DC increases by +10.
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	If you fail the check, or your concentration is broken, your true alignment is visible to anyone who is capable of discerning it.
Retry Allowed?	Yes
Provokes AOO?	No

You mask your surface thoughts from scrying, divination, telepathy or other means of seeing your thoughts. You achieve this by contemplating the Fibonacci sequence, or the stats of that magic item you've been thinking of buying, or some other meaningless parade of thoughts, with the intention of hiding your actual thoughts. This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	Immediate Action
DC of Check:	A Hard DC for the level or CR of the target you are attempting to deceive.
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	Your thoughts lay exposed for anyone to read, if they are able to do so.
Retry Allowed?	Yes
Provokes AOO?	No

You can attempt to fight the effects of a truth spell, and lie anyway, you deceitful cretin. Is there no end to your duplicity? This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	Immediate Action
DC of Check:	A Hard DC for the level or CR of the target you are attempting to deceive + the spell level of the spell being used to force you to speak the truth.
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	{{{Take10-Take20}}}
Allows Assists?	{{{Assist}}}
Results of Success	{{{Success}}}
Consequences of Failure	You are forced to speak the truth (for once)
Retry Allowed?	Yes
Provokes AOO?	No