Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Bluff

Bluff

The Bluff skill is a social skill involving the art of trickery. With it, you can convincingly lie, hurt the image of others, and take on the identity of another individual. Those with advanced training in Bluff can even lie to spells and effects that would determine their information without giving the target a chance to lie about it.

Key Attribute: Intelligence

Minimum Rank 0 Abilities

Innuendo

Words and glances can mean different things to different people. You know what to say and how to say it, and can use that to pass secret messages to others during public conversations.

The DC for this check is dependent on your relationship with the target: 12 for close friends, 15 for those you are familiar with, 18 for casual acquaintances, and 20 for complete strangers. There is no action for this ability; it simply takes as long as the conversation takes, and you only roll once at the end to see if the ideas were passed successfully. You may choose to make additional checks for additional messages after the first has been completed, regardless of success or failure, but you continue to spend time on the attempt and the target may have a different attitude towards you after your first attempt.

Your attempt may be witnessed by others, however, and they may detect your attempt by succeeding on a Psychology check against a DC of 10 + your Bluff modifier. If their check result also exceeds your check result, they determine the meaning of your innuendo.

DC: By relationship to target
Check	Result
DC+5 and above	You pass the exact idea you had intended, regardless of complexity.
DC+0 to DC+4	You pass only simple ideas. Any complex ideas you wished to pass are lost.
DC-1 to DC-5	You fail to pass any secret meaning at all. The only thing that came across was what you actually said.
DC-6 and below	You pass a secret meaning, just not the one you had intended. You are encouraged to suggest an alternate message (preferably humorous or detrimental to your goals), but the final decision of what message was actually passed is up to the GM.

Lie Convincingly

You generally want people to believe that you are telling them the truth, especially if it isn’t the truth. You know how to craft lies well, so that they are more likely to be believed by those you are telling them to.

There is no particular action or specific time invested in telling a convincing lie. The process is the same whether you are lying about an event or about who you are, or whether you're pretending to suffer a condition you don't really suffer. You simply open your mouth to let the words fall out or act in an appropriate manner, and the lie (or lies) takes as much time as the conversation takes.

In order to determine when you are lying, the creatures you are interacting with must succeed on a Psychology check against a DC of 10 + your Bluff modifier. They gain a bonus or penalty to this check based on how well-constructed and supported your lie is. Telling a lie does not automatically grant them a check. It’s possible for a powerful creature to see through your lie automatically, however, so you may want to only tell them truth or very well-supported lies.

Minimum Rank 4 Uses

Combat Distraction

If you just need to buy yourself a moment to escape, it’s hard to beat the old “Hey, what’s that behind you!” You can attempt a similar distraction, buying yourself a bit of time to start on your escape.

This requires a swift action, and the DC for this bluff check is equal to your opponent’s base attack bonus or psychology bonus, whichever is higher, +10. This distraction causes your opponents to very briefly turn their attention away from you. In the process, they also turn their attention away from everything on your side of them, so anyone with you who was ready for a break can take advantage of your distraction. Your opponents' inattention lasts as long as indicated in the check results below. It is generally enough time for a running start, to disappear into a crowd, or even teleport away, and those actions can be invaluable if you have to escape.

If you are facing multiple attackers, you only roll once against all of their DCs. Anyone that you distract with this ability does not threaten you during your action, but they are not considered flat-footed and retain their Dex bonuses to AC. Any who are not distracted are able to act normally, taking whatever attacks of opportunity or other actions they feel appropriate.

DC: Opponents’ Base Attack Bonus +10 or Psychology bonus +10, whichever is greater.
Check	Result
DC+5 and above	You are able to take a standard action without being noticed.
DC+0 to DC+4	You are able to take a move action without being noticed.
DC-1 to DC-5	You do not distract your opponents, and you know it.
DC-6 and below	Your opponents have pulled one over on you. They act as if they fell for your clever ruse, but they witness your action and continue threatening any spaces you occupy. They are able to act as they deem appropriate.

Minimum Rank 6 Uses

Mock and Deride

Anyone can heckle a speaker or slander a public figure, but you can do it with style. When others speak and attempt to garner favor for themselves, you can twist their words and otherwise cause them to err. This allows you to counter the Improve Rapport ability of the Affability skill, blunting the goodwill they would gain or even causing them to lose it entirely.

The DC for this check is the check result that you are attempting to counter. If you can engage them directly, the effect of your derision applies to everyone your opponent was using their ability on. Otherwise, this lowered result only counts within earshot of yourself (generally a 20’ radius for a massive address). There is no specific action or time investment required for this ability, it takes as long as the speech you are countering does. You suffer an increased DC if you miss more than the first quarter of your opponent’s attempt, however.

DC: Check result of opponent, +2 if present for only ½ to ¾ of the opponent’s action, +5 if present for only ¼ to ½, and +8 if present for less than ¼.
Check	Result
DC+10 and above	Your opponent treats their check result as 15 points lower.
DC+5 to DC+9	Your opponent treats their check result as 10 points lower.
DC+0 to DC+4	Your opponent treats their check result as 5 points lower.
DC-1 and below	You fail to sway the opinions of those near you away from the honeyed words of your opponent. Their check result remains as they rolled it, and they benefit from it as such.

Minimum Rank 8 Abilities

False Nature

Most people answer inquiries truthfully when those inquiries don’t use words. So you've learned how to conceal your alignment, and even wear a more appropriate one. You don’t want evil cultists to block you at the door because you don’t pass an alignment check, after all.

When you are subject to any Divination spell or effect that would identify your type or alignment in full or in part, the caster must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 8 + your Bluff modifier to gain information about you. If the caster fails this check, they gain no information about your type or alignment whatsoever. You may suppress this ability at will (in full or in part) as a non-action, but it is assumed active unless you state otherwise. This spell defense is not Spell Resistance, however, and applies even if SR would not normally apply to the spell or ability. If the spell or ability allows a save or SR, you are entitled to those normally.

You may also specify an alternate alignment to show the world. This requires 1 minute of concentration and a successful DC 26 Bluff check. You may also change the apparent strength of your alignment, but each step different from your own adds +3 to the Bluff DC. If you successfully make a change, you are treated as this alignment for the purposes of all spell effects and abilities unless a caster succeeds on the required check as indicated above. This false alignment persists until you cancel it as a free action or you begin concentrating to select a new alignment.

Minimum Rank 10 Abilities

False Thoughts

As with alignment, so too with thoughts. You don’t want the thought police to know what you really think of them, and you don't want magic to give away a skillful lie. You've learned to conceal the aura changes that give away falsehoods, as well as how to conceal your thoughts from inspection. You can even craft new ones to wear around.

When you are subject to any Divination spells or abilities with the [Mind-Affecting] descriptor, any Divination effect that would reveal information about your actual capabilities (such as arcane sight), or any effect that would determine whether or not you were lying, the caster must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 8 + your Bluff modifier to gain information about you. If the caster fails this check, they believe that the spell has worked but gain no information about your mind, capabilities, or truthfulness. You may suppress this ability at will (in full or in part) as a non-action, but it is assumed active unless you state otherwise. This spell defense is not Spell Resistance, however, and applies even if SR would not normally apply to the spell or ability. If the spell or ability allows a save or SR, you are entitled to those normally.

You may also craft a set of false thoughts, reduced abilities (hiding any ability you desire, but not adding new ones), and history to present to these sorts of spells. This requires 5 minutes of concentration and a DC 28 Bluff check. If you successfully craft a set of false thoughts, these thoughts and memories are accessed by any Divination effect if the caster fails the required check. You retain access to all of your memories and abilities while this is active. You may cancel a false mind as a free action, and it is automatically cancelled if you begin concentrating to set a different false mind.

Additionally, while you have an active set of false thoughts, you gain the benefit of the above spell defense when subject to a Charm or Compulsion effect. If the caster fails the check, the effect is only applied to your false thoughts. In this way, you may not be charmed into revealing yourself, compelled to admit or cancel your false mind, nor use abilities not possessed by your false mind against your allies. You may not act as yourself while your false mind is under a charm or compulsion, however, and are somewhat trapped by your own falsehood. You may still cancel the false mind as a free action that may not be compelled, but any active Charm or Compulsion effects are transferred to your normal self when this occurs.

Minimum Rank 12 Abilities

False Self

As with alignment and thoughts, so too with location. Those who know who you are can simply locate you, which is often inconvenient while you’re working a job as someone else. You've learned how to hide from these magical tracking abilities, and even how to throw them off your scent entirely.

When you are subject to any spells from the Scrying subschool or abilities that have the [Scrying] descriptor, the caster must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 8 + your Bluff modifier. If the the caster does not succeed on this check, any spell which targets you directly simply fails. If the spell instead targeted an area, or if you would enter the area of effect for a sensor, you do not appear through the sensor and your sounds are not transmitted if the caster failed the required check. Objects within the area that you pick up or move remain visible, so you can write visible messages in the sand if you like, but objects that you bring in with you are not.

If you spend 10 minutes in concentration and succeed on a DC 30 Bluff check, you may set up a sort of redirect for any targeted scrying or location detection against you. You must touch a creature of your same type within 1 minute of successfully making this check, or you must repeat the preparation time and check. After a successful check and touch, whenever you are targeted with a scrying or location detection ability and the caster does not succeed on the required check, the spell instead targets the touched individual. They gain a save or spell resistance as appropriate. You may cancel this redirection as a free action, and it is automatically cancelled if you begin concentrating to select a new target.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Sourcebooks → Tome of Prowess → Revised Skills