Difference between revisions of "Discern"
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{{section|Revealing Deception|}} | {{section|Revealing Deception|}} | ||
When another character attempts to deceive you, using either a [[Bluff]] or [[Disguise]] check, you must make a Discern check to see through their falsehoods. If you meet or exceed the other character's check, you can tell fact from fiction. If your result is lowest, you believe the lie, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you trust the liar wholeheartedly. | When another character attempts to deceive you, using either a [[Bluff]] or [[Disguise]] check, you must make a Discern check to see through their falsehoods. If you meet or exceed the other character's check, you can tell fact from fiction. If your result is lowest, you believe the lie, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you trust the liar wholeheartedly. | ||
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{{section|Estimating|}} | {{section|Estimating|}} | ||
Revision as of 16:19, 30 June 2019
Typically used with: Insight.
In short: figure it out. Discern is all about sizing up a person or situation. A powerful general stands high over a battlefield deducing his opponent's objectives. A judge hears a defendant's case, and then determines if he's telling the truth. A powerful wizard sees through the disguise of an assassin posing as one of his servants. All of these are perfect examples of the use of the Discern skill.
You can't retry Discern checks; you either figure it out or you don't. However, you can try to Discern something different about the same subject.
Revealing Deception
When another character attempts to deceive you, using either a Bluff or Disguise check, you must make a Discern check to see through their falsehoods. If you meet or exceed the other character's check, you can tell fact from fiction. If your result is lowest, you believe the lie, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you trust the liar wholeheartedly.
Estimating
Estimating is useful for determining the number of troops on a battlefield, revealing the market price of a gem, guessing a woman's weight, or figuring out how long building a ship will take with six laborers. A roll of 5 means you're not close at all, a roll of 15 means you're pretty close, a roll of 30 means you've got it exactly down to the last decimal place. Characters should include ranks from an Occupation which is relevant to the estimation (e.g. a farmer can estimate when crops are ready for harvest, a sailor can estimate the travel speed of a sailboat).
Also, with a successful Discern check, you can figure out specific things about people you meet. A DL of 10 will get you comparative skill (they're better/worse/as good as you at something). A DL of 15 will get you style specifics (e.g. the clothes they wear indicate they practice fire magic). A DL of 20 will get you limited statistic information (e.g. a ballpark of how many Health Points remaining, what percentage of their Magic Points are drained, what's the neighborhood of their Endurance score) A DL of 25 or over gets you specifics — one stat (e.g. attribute, skill) per roll.
Understanding Intent
You can make a Discern check to figure out others' mood, goals, motivation, or reasoning. By reading body language, tone of voice, behavior, and other social clues, you can figure out why a person is performing an action, how they're feeling about a situation, or what their next move may be. The higher your roll, the more specific or accurate your gut feeling. This works just as well in combat as it does conversation, and it works just as well for allies as it does enemies.
You can even ascertain the strategy of entire armies. If your Discern check exceeds the commander's Leadership check, you can determine the battle strategy before it unfolds. Some of the possible information one could Discern from battles include: a place, object, or person a combatant is guarding; the next plan of attack; a likely escape or fall-back point.
