Simon Legrande |
Sense Motive looks to be designed specifically for you to discern oddities about people's behavior directly towards you. That being said, I'd let you use it in this case; I'm pretty sure you'd get a sense that the two groups are hostile towards each other. I don't think it would be sufficient to determine which group is the "good" guys and which group the "bad".
Howie23 |
I would see it as a situation where you can gain insight into how the battle is going, who leaders are, what tactics are being used, who has the upper hand, whether one side is foghting in a more coordinated manner than the other, this sort of thing. In other words, elements that are subject to observation given the events. Less obvious stuff is going to be obscured by the drama and immediate concerns of the moment. of the moment. Some of these aspects may require more time.
BigNorseWolf |
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Could be
sense motive (the kobolds are wide eyed in terror )
perception (You notice that the cart is made for small humanoids, meaning it belongs to the kobolds, making the orcs the attackers)
profession: soldier (thats a defensive formation, or what used to be one)
Knowledge local: Kobolds would never start a fair fight.
Elfguy |
Or, to use an unusual example, if you used Sense Motive on two individuals fighting, you might notice if they were deliberately using the flat of their blades (indicating that they might just be sparring for practice) or if they were obviously angry at each other, or if one looked desperate and overmatched, and so on...
ngc7293 |
Sense Motive
Check: A successful check lets you avoid being bluffed
(see the Bluff skill). You can also use this skill to determine
when “something is up” (that is, something odd is going
on) or to assess someone’s trustworthiness.
I would ask players to roll sense motive when they came upon this group (assuming the intent was they were to attack the party) and anyone who made the sense motive roll would notice that these two groups 'fighting' were not actually fighting but were actually waiting for them.
Things would proceed from there.