Sense Motive: How do you do it?

[Stormonu]

Generally, I only do rolls when the PCs specifically ask for one, or if they are abnormally suspicious (perhaps they are aware the NPC has lied to them on a regular basis) or if the NPC is acting oddly (perhaps charmed or distracted by recent occurrence).

Even if the roll is made and succeeded, generally all a PC learns is something is something is amiss or a lie, not exactly what the truth is.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

My method is kind of idiosyncratic. If the player does not ask for a roll then I treat it as a passive skill. It is compared to Bluff as usual, but with a -3 penalty. As an active skill (when the player asks for a roll) then there is no penalty - you are more likely to notice things if you are actively looking for them.

For passive skills I use a sheet of randomly generated numbers, from 1-20, crossing them off as I go, so there is no tell tale rattle of dice. If successful then I pass the successful PC(s) a note. If it is a fumble (natural 1 followed by a failure) then I also respond with a note.... I treat the passive Spot and Search checks the same way.

The Auld Grump

 

[Friend of the Dork]

Not at all. I'm suggesting this would be the way to handle a person who wants to roll Sense Motive each time an NPC says anything, as was offered as a potential problem earlier in the thread. I'd start requiring THAT player to justify their game-slowing behavior and borderline paranoia.

No one's going to bother to do that, but if you're playing say a murder mystery, I would want to use Sense Motive each and every time I interact with a potential witness or other source of information... which essentially boils down to the DM might as well roll secretly anyway.

I would probably also request one if a fair maiden ran up to my horse and wanted my to come with her into a cave and help her child or something. Adventurers tends to become quite paranoid after awhile.

 

[ruemere]

[...]For passive skills I use a sheet of randomly generated numbers, from 1-20, crossing them off as I go, so there is no tell tale rattle of dice. If successful then I pass the successful PC(s) a note. If it is a fumble (natural 1 followed by a failure) then I also respond with a note.... I treat the passive Spot and Search checks the same way.

Lovely. Still, I have two reasons I like rattling the dice - it rattles my players, too, and, since I have pretty good memory for little numbers, saves me time on actually rolling dice.

Regards,
Ruemere