You can make outrageous claims or untrue statements seem plausible. This skill encompasses conning, fast-talking, misdirection, prevarication, and deception through body language. Use a bluff to sow temporary confusion, get someone to turn his head in the direction you point, or simply to look innocuous.
You can use Bluff to send and understand secret messages while appearing to be talking about something else entirely.
Check: A Bluff check is opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check when trying to con or mislead. 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 that the bluff requires the target to take goes against the target’s self-interest, nature, personality, or orders.
| Example Circumstances | Sense Motive Modifier |
|---|---|
| The target wants to believe the character. “These jewels aren’t stolen. I’m just desperate for money right now, so I’m offering them to you cheap.” | -5 |
| The bluff is believable and doesn’t affect the target much one way or the other. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. I’m just here to listen to the mayor’s speech.” | +0 |
| The bluff is a little hard to believe or puts the target at some kind of risk. “You want to fight? I’ll take you all on myself. I don’t need my friends’ help. Just don’t bleed on my new shoes.” | +5 |
| The bluff is hard to believe or entails a large risk for the target. “This limo doesn’t belong to the police commissioner. It just looks like his. Trust me – I wouldn’t rent you a car that would get you arrested.” | +10 |
| The bluff is way out there; it’s almost too incredible to consider. “You might find this hard to believe, but I’m actually a billionaire who’s been sold into slavery by a religious cult. If you help me escape now, I’ll make you rich beyound you wildest imaginings.” | +20 |
If it’s important, the GM can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it asks too much of the target. For instance, if the target gets a +10 bonus because the bluff demands something risky of the target, 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 has seen through the bluff, and would have succeeded in doing so even if it had not placed any demand on him (that is, even without the +10 bonus).
A successful Bluff check indicates that the target reacts as you wishes, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less), or the target believes something that the character wants him or her to believe. For example, you could use a bluff to put someone off guard by telling him someone was behind him. At best, such a bluff would make the target glance over his shoulder. It would not cause the target to ignore you and completely turn around.
A bluff requires interaction between the character and the target. Targets unaware of the character can’t be bluffed.
Feinting in Combat: You can also use Bluff to mislead an opponent in combat so that the opponent can’t dodge your attack effectively. If the character succeeds, the next attack the character makes against the target ignores his or her Dexterity bonus to Defense (if the opponent has one), thus lowering his or her Defense score. Using Bluff in this way against a creature of animal intelligence (Int 1 or 2) requires a -8 penalty on the check. Against a nonintelligent creature, feinting is impossible.
Creating a Diversion to Hide: A character can use Bluff to help him or her hide. A successful Bluff check gives the character the momentary diversion needed to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of the character. (See the Hide skill)
Sending a Secret Message: A character can use Bluff to send and understand secret messages while appearing to be speaking about other things. Two Department-7 agents might suspect that their phones are tapped, for example, and decide to pass along information about their mission while appearing to be discussing last night’s baseball game. The DC for a basic message is 10. Complex messages or messages trying to communicate new information have DCs of 15 or 20. Both the sender and the receiver must make the check for the secret message to be successfully relayed and understood.
Anyone listening in on a secret message can attempt a Sense Motive check (DC equal to the sender’s Bluff check result). If successful, the eavesdropper realizes that a secret message is contained in the communication. If the eavesdropper beats the DC by 5 or more, he or she understands the secret message.
Whether trying to send or intercept a message, a failure by 5 or more points means that one side or the other misinterprets the message in some fashion.
Try Again?: Generally, a failed Bluff check makes the target too suspicious for the character to try another bluff in the same circumstances. For feinting in combat, the character may try again freely.
Special: A character can take 10 when making a bluff (except for feinting in combat), but can’t take 20.
A character with the Deceptive feat gets a +2 bonus on all Bluff checks.
Time: A bluff takes at least 1 round (and is at least a full-round action) but can take much longer if the character tries something elaborate. Using Bluff as a feint in combat is an attack action.