SKILLS

Bluff

(Cha; Interaction)

Bluff is the skill of making the outlandish seem credible. It covers acting, fast-talking, trickery, and subterfuge.

Check: A Bluff check is opposed by the target's Bluff or Sense Motive check, whichever is higher (it's harder to bluff someone who knows all the tricks). Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two circumstances can work against you: the bluff is hard to believe, or the action the bluff requires goes against the target's self-interest, nature, or orders.
If it's important, the Narrator can distinguish between the two. For instance, if the target gets a +10 bonus because the bluff demands something risky, and the target's Sense Motive check succeeds by 10 or less, then the target didn't so much see through the bluff as prove reluctant to go along with it. If the target's Sense Motive check succeeds by 11 or more, he sees through the bluff, and would have even if it had not placed any unusual demands on him (that is, even without the +10 bonus).
A successful Bluff check indicates the target reacts as you want, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less), or the target believes something you want him to believe.

Example CircumstancesSense Motive Modifier
The target wants to believe the character.-5
The bluff is believable and doesn't affect the target much one way or the other.+0
The bluff is a little hard to believe or puts the target at some kind of risk.+5
The bluff is hard to believe or entails a large risk for the target.+10
The bluff is way out there; it's almost too incredible to consider.+20

Diversion: You can use Bluff to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives you the diversion needed to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you.

Feint: You can make a Bluff check to feint in combat.

Innuendo: You can use Bluff to send secret messages while talking about other things. The Difficulty for a basic message is 10. Complex messages have Difficulties of 15 or 20. The recipient of the message, and anyone listening in, makes a Bluff or Sense Motive check against the same Difficulty to understand your message. Whether trying to send or understand a message, a failure by 5 or more points means the receiver misinterprets the message in some fashion.

Challenges: You can take the following challenges with Bluff:

Conversational Paralysis: In return for a -5 penalty to your Bluff check, a successful check dazes your target for one round. Your claims are so outlandish the target can do nothing but sputter or reel in confusion. This skill challenge does not work in combat situations. Each additional -5 check penalty you accept increases the duration of the effect by one round.

Durable Lie: In return for a -5 penalty on your check, your target believes your bluff longer than usual. The target continues to act as you wish for an additional round. You can apply another -5 penalty to extend this to two rounds. This challenge does not work with the feint use of Bluff.

Try Again: Generally, a failed Bluff check makes the target too suspicious to try again in the same circumstances. For feinting in combat, you may try again freely.

Action: A bluff takes at least a full round, but can take much longer if you try something elaborate. Using Bluff as a feint in combat is a standard action, as is using Bluff to create a diversion to hide.