| Tha_Dreaz |
A 1st level Half-Orc sorcerer, in Pathfinder, is really really powerful.
He can take one rank in Intimidate... get a +3 bonus for taking that rank... get a +2 bonus for being a Half-Orc... take a +2 feat bonus from Persuasive... have up to a 20 CHA since Pathfinder Half-Orcs can have a 20 CHA at first level and thus a +5 ability modifier to Intimidate.... then he can use his 1st level arcane magic to cast Enlarge Person on himself an thus get a +4 size bonus...
What does that add up to?
1D20 +17...
As you can see from the newly designed Pathfinder Intimidate rules... this pretty much makes everything in a 30' radius of the Sorcerer Shaken...
According to page 563 of the Pathfinder Core Book... "Fear effects are cumulative"... a shaken creature who is again made shaken becomes Frightened... a Frightened creature made shaken becomes Panicked...
basically this means a Half Orc sorcerer only needs 2 standard actions to make everything in the dungeon run away... 3 standard actions and you might get some of their dropped equipment too.
I dislike the Intimidate rules in Pathfinder as opposed to the 3.5 rules... the 3.5 rule involved an opposed roll which incorporated such things as a halfling's racial bonus against Fear effects.
I think what you're going to see if Pathfinder ever gets put out there in big tournament events like DND is that people are going to find a way to exploit the new Intimidate rules and pretty much ruin the dungeon.
Should either bring back the opposed modified hit die check or allow a Will save against demoralization... something needs to be done because automatic success is rampant