Wisdom.
Use this skill to tell when someone is bluffing or lying to the character. This skill represents sensitivity to body language, speech habits, and mannerisms of others.
Check: A successful check allows the character to avoid being bluffed (see the
Bluff skill). The character can also use the skill to tell when someone is behaving oddly or to assess someone’s trustworthiness.
In addition, a character can use this skill to make an assessment of a social situation. With a successful check (DC 20), the character can get the feeling from another’s behaviour that something is wrong. Also, the character can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy and honourable.
Spot Team Weakness: A leader can look at her own group or at any opposing group with no more than 20 members and get a clue about its strengths and weaknesses. She makes a Sense Motive check to gain information about any of the following subjects: the group’s strongest/weakest fighter, the group’s average character level, the group’s real leader, the group’s negotiator, or the group’s most dangerous member (not necessarily the strongest fighter). The character can also spot the signs of dissent in her own group. The DC of the Sense Motive check is 10 + group’s average character level – group’s average Reputation bonus, although the leader gains a +4 circumstance bonus on her check when probing her own followers.
Measure Up: After exchanging greetings and talking for a few moments, a character can take the measure of anyone she meets. The character makes a Sense Motive check, opposed by her target’s Bluff or Diplomacy check. If the character succeeds she can choose to gain one of the following pieces of information: the target’s class, level, general nature of FX abilities, or highest ability score; a general clue about the target’s allegiance; or a +2 bonus on her Bluff or Diplomacy checks during the rest of the exchange.
Action: A Sense Motive check may be made as a reaction to another character’s Bluff check. (When that’s the case, the GM may roll the character’s Sense Motive check in secret, so the character doesn’t necessarily know someone’s trying to bluff him or her.) Using Sense Motive to get a sense of someone’s trustworthiness takes at least 1 minute.
Try Again?: No, though the character may make a Sense Motive check for each bluff made on the character.
Special: A character can take 10 when making a Sense Motive check, but can’t take 20.
A character with the
Attentive feat or the
Alertness gets a +2 bonus on all Sense Motive checks.
A character can use Sense Motive to detect that a hidden message is being transmitted via the Bluff skill (DC equal to the bluff check result of the sender). If the character’s check result beats the DC by 5 or more, the character understands the secret message as well. If the character’s check fails by 5 or more, the character misinterprets the message in some fashion.
