Dirty Trick Narration


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


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So, how many of you have used dirty trick? I was looking into it because of the unarmed fighter archetype. He seems to gain a dirty trick as a bonus when performing other certain maneuvers. My problem is I'm running into creative barriers when it comes to some of the conditions.

Obvious examples
Sand in eyes - Blind
Knee to the junk - Sickened
Entangled = Removing someone's belt, pulling their pants down, or their shirt over their head
Clapping both ears (deafness)
Headbutt to the nose (blind - due to eyes watering)
Wrapping a cloak over someone's face (blind)

Where I'm having trouble is finding something would make somebody shaken.

I normally don't consider myself very creative so help me out here.

Have you used dirty trick before? What are some of the things you've done? If you haven't used it, what are some of the ideas off the top of your head?


Shaken - You actually shake them. Like with your hands.

Yes, yes, that's stupid, but nobody can come up with a use of Dirty Trick (Shaken) that doesn't seem more like Intimidate, so there you have it.


Haha yea that is silly as Shaken is a fear effect. That's why I was surprised it was on the list.

Anyone else?

If you have no ideas for shaken, please feel free to post about your experiences with dirty trick and the kind of tricks you tried to pull off and the kind of condition the GM assigned that enemy.


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Bite them. On the ear.


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Shaken - Bugs Bunny style big smooch.


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Shaken: A feather touch in a sensitive place.


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Give 'em a Wet Willie ?


Smile tranquilly at your foe and don't explain why you seem so calm.


Why does it have to be a physical action? You could lie and tell them their mother has cancer, or tell them you visited their house earlier and shot their baby.

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I had an evil Kitsune Monk (Maneuver Master ) who manifested his ki as a shadow orb and used it for dirty tricks. Shaken would just be him pushing his ki into the opponent's.

Of course, it's some heavy reflavoring, but it was a lot of fun.


I've always wanted to play either a Martial Artist Monk, or a Brawler/Unarmed Fighter who uses Dirty Tricks, and has a little referee that follows him around, admonishing him every time he does it. Never actually DQs him, though.


Jaunt wrote:

Shaken - You actually shake them. Like with your hands.

Yes, yes, that's stupid, but nobody can come up with a use of Dirty Trick (Shaken) that doesn't seem more like Intimidate, so there you have it.

I've had the same issue and eventually was able to come up with a dirty trick to inflict shaken which doesn't overlap with either intimidate or dazzling display.

For those who have seen it, I reference the mask of Zorro. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones have a sword fight at one point where he cuts holes in her clothes. She is embarrassed and noticibly shaken. (What's more she starts fighting worse when it happens, -2 penalty) This to me definitely falls under the purview of a dirty trick. It's a fighting maneuver that you could do in combat but most people wouldn't because it's outside the normal rules of engagement. It's a dirty trick.

So the next question is, how do we expand upon this. We'll her shaken condition has come from being embarrassed, so dirty tricks that embarrass an opponent should therefore be the most viable cause for shaken. If I am fighting a knight (not a paladin) I could pants him, not pulling his pants down far enough to be entangled, just enough to make him a bit red faced). Another way Zorro did this was by using his sword to cut a z into his opponents clothes, skin etc. I could maneuver an opponent (knight, not Orc) so he accidentally splashed through mud to get to me causing embarrassment. Or splash a bucket of dirty water on a noble, or snipping off the end if a dwarf's beard.

Now keep in mind, this is a combat maneuver, so whatever one does to cause embarrassment would have to be a physical action that could be physically dodged or resisted. You can't shout out threats, or insults, or gossip as a combat maneuver. That would be bluff, intimidate or diplomacy. But anything you can physically do to embarrass an opponent would be fine.

This is in my opinion an especially ideal solution to the worry of crossover with intimidate, as there is no crossover. Also, is easy to immature someone running away from an embarrassing situation, so anything that would cause them to be embarrassed into the frightened condition would make sense.

Thoughts?

Grand Lodge

front kick to the sternum, knocking the air out, shaken while desperately trying to get air back into them lungs.

Liver blows and rabbit punches might work to, but I'd rule that nauseated.


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The totally unexpected


If throwing sand in their eyes can blind them, wouldn't throwing a live spider or snake at them make them shaken? Unless they take their standard action to brush it off, they continue to be shaken....

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